THE ONEWHERO MURDERS

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2386, 16 February 1915, Page 6

THE ONEWHERO MURDERS

CAPTURE OF KEALS

TAKEN BY A PARTY OF MAORIS

(By Tcletrr&ph' - !Press Association.)

Auckland, February 15. Details of the capture of Norman Reals, charged with the murder of Mrs.Edith Emma Keals (his sister-in-law) and her infant, show that a force of about two hundred police, settlers, and Maoris searched the bush near the Keals's house all Saturday morning. Early in the afternoon a cry was raised about a mile from the house that Keals had been sighted. The alarm had been raised by a small party of searchers who had just been on the point of leaving this particular portion of 50 or 60 acres of bush close to the house. One of them had noticed a rata tree, tho trunk of which leaned well over and was easily scalable, and on which grew in thick profusion great clusters of kie-kie. Tho tree was in full view of the house. As he called to his companions to come back with him and examine this tree more closely, < young settler saw a man scramble out of the tree and disappear into tho bush. It was then that the hue and cry was raised. The men ran out of the bush into the open, and then, guided by the cries of those who were hot on the trail of the suspect, they ran in under cover again, and joined in the pursuit. Soon news came through from the bush that the quarry had dropped, an unloaded revolver. ,'lt was realised that Keals could not longer do any material harm, either to his pursuers or to himself. The hunt 'had been in progress for three-quarters of an hour, when a Maori was heard to cry: "All right, we got him." Down in a little clearing at the bottom of a bush gully Keals had been brought to bay. A party of Maoris had come across him lying full length against a log. Standing off a few yards one raised a double-barrelled shotgun to his shoulder and covered his man. "I shoot, Norman," lie said. "Put up your hands." ' Raising himself from tho ground the man threw up his hands with the remark: "I'm done," and quietly surrendered. Detectives Powell and Sweeney formally took him in custody, charged with murder.

Keals displayed complete indifference and voluntarily made a confession. He said that in the early morning of Tuesday last he had fired a shot from a revolver at lis, fiister-in-law. Afterwards be did not like.to leave the baby, as it was "singing out." He therefore took it out, and within five ninutes strangled it, and then wont right away into the bush. He described tho place where he had left the baby's' dead .body under a tree, with a nikau branch over th» body. He stated further that ho had gone to the house on the Monday night, intending to kill bis brother and "all of them," but that after he had fired one shot he thought he had done enough. His motive for t'he crime was revengo, because when lie was in Australia he heard that an (interest in a property near Onewliero bad been taken away from him. On learning of that; be bad made up his mind to have his revenge on someone some day. In conclusion the captive calmly remarked: "Well, it is all over now, and I suppose I have got to face the music." He then signed the confession as an entirely voluntarily one on his part. A search party was dispatched to t'he spot where, Keals had stated he had left the body of the infant. It was at the top of a high and comparatively bare ridge, in full view of the house, and about a mile distant. There the seekers found the remains.

KEALS IN COURT REMANDED FOR EIGHT DAYS. Auckland, February 15. At the Police Court, Norman Keals, charged with tho murder of Mrs. Edith Keals and her infant, was remanded for eight days.