WAIROA TRAGEDY

Dominion, Volume 35, Issue 280, 25 August 1942, Page 4

WAIROA TRAGEDY

Preliminary Inquiries RAPID POLICE ACTION

Dominion Special Service. WAIROA, August 24.

It has now been established that the. discoverer of the bodies of Brigadier Annie Smyth and Miss Rosamond Smyth, who were found murdered on Friday, was Mr. Arthur Percy Earn, who looked in a window and told the police. There were articles of sewing on the table, but there is no indication of what work was in’hand. Possibly one of the victims noticed that the person for whom the meal was being prepared required clothing repairs, and she intended to carry this out, but was attacked before beginning the work. Inquiries regarding the non-collec-tion of mail show that a woman postal clerk saw that the gap in the-door-way was jammed by papers left earlier and use was made of an open window, through which mail was dropped. It has now been discovered that mail was not collected since August 7. A local resident accustomed to call, for the brigadier and drive her to engagements at Frasertown, says he had arranged to call at the hall on August 9. He found no sign of the brigadier and the doors of the hall were shut. Thinking she was out, he went on. The brigadier was expected at a meeting of the Presbyterian Church on August 14, but failed to attend. It had been the brigadier’s custom to call at the “Wairoa Star” office on Fridays to advertise the Sunday services. The records show that she made her last call on July 31, advertising for August 2. The usual practice is for the detectives to concentrate primarily on dates in an endeavour to fix the time. At the moment August .10 is suggested as the last date the brigadier was seen. It is stated that a tradesman called with wood on August 11. There was no response and he left the wood and went away. . Very creditable to the police force is tlie rapidity with which Hawke’s .Bay and other officers arrived at Wairoa. Police officers normally have several matters in hand at once and must arrange for their colleagues to take up their duties. The discovery of the tragedy was not made till the middle of Friday evening, yet the first party, of Hawke’s Bay police was on the scene at 1.30 a.m., under DetectiveSergeant Revell. While this party began investigations within two minutes of arrival, a further party of experts was being organized in Wellington. They flew to Napier on Saturday morning and went on by car, arriving at Wairoa at lunch-time.