TERRIBLE MURDER.

Dunstan Times, Issue 1137, 15 February 1884, Page 3

TERRIBLE MURDER.

‘ Napier, February llth. A shocking murder was ...committed yesterday at Ormomlvi le, a 4 settlement at tbe Seventy-mile Bush, on the Napier-Wood-vibe Railway A man nam- dE * war-la had been oh the spree, and in his delirium cut the throats of his wife and four children, and afterwards,--attempted to cut his own, but only i flicted slight wounds. Edwards was arrested - and takwi tfli ■the .Waipawa' County J9'i*pital, where his wdnpds were dressed; " He was taken back to Grdieii'dVilie frir-fhe inquest, which will be held: to. day.; Edwards, who was a plate layer, ipted to drink Be has been twice telfore the.C jurt,ehaiged wifih lunacy, • brought on by excessive drinking,' and been discharged from the Asylum on medical certificates. -• Later. From particulars furnished by the Herald 1 * Ormondvillo correspondent, it appears that the murder of the Edwards family was car* .led out in a moat deliberate and determined manner. Edwards, although conscious, keeps a strict silence, but. the sppsarance of tbe room in; which the bodies lays tells the tale only too truely. Three of tho four children went to church on Sunday .evening, the. mother staying at bongo nursing the Why. On their return .they went to bed, and the mVither lay down dressed on the bed awaiting for her busband. returned;- it yroulA "seoih froin a heap of chips at one corner he t ok a half-charred log from ths.fire and with his pocket k'ttTfa coolly cut biiefend (into shape for a convenienthandle. ; He must tnen have stunned the child i-ei). as they lav on the bel, the fpreheads of-all being .cut and bruised. The wife’s thrnab was cut.on the bed.' From the ’ endrraoij* quantity of. blood in the middle of the ii.ior, on the tnarilera l ’® -trouMrs,-;. and- pn ra ;chair it would appear’that he lifted, the children from tbe .lied, and, taking them between his knees bne by one, cut their throats a 150,., He placed th-m again on -the bed, their arms entwined about 1 each other. Probably, ho, .cut his but-noE/ deey'y.- The tragedy miiit have occurred hrf-ie midni ht. Early in the m- ruin-/,., before day he yash'- tePdfie house of a* neighbour named. Plank-a.ske.iqLdit water. PUnk says he had a preientnent that all was not right, and 'he refused thewa'er;and when Edwards Weht awny Plank followed him with-'a loaded-cun, but soon lost him in the darkness. Edwards'next called-at- another’s .neighbour’s,- named Pyke, and theie got Water. In being dark, P-ykejiaw-no blood, but Edward's maimer was so strange that Pyae became uneasy, and went and. roused the Ipqal ..cnnstanlei' They wrnt to "E Iwards’s hogae, and there discovered the h'lrriWe truth: 1 When, daylight br k* Edwards was found on the trestles of a high bridge, from which be ■ threatened to jump, but he was ultimately secured with great diffi ulty. He was taken to Waipukurau Hospital to have bis wounds dressed, and he is not now in any danger. Edwards is a man ojt Sams education, and a praoticl engineer.. For some j years he was chief engineer on one of the coas al steamers, but was discharged for drunkenness. He received 'remittances from Horn*, his friends being wail conneunected, and a short time since received a Thousand Pounds -with which he bought land at Ormonnville/ Ho was given to drinking, and when drunk was like a madman. Twice he has been charged with being a lunatic, an l- kept" in confinement until the effects of his drinking bout passed off. It has transpired that when drunk he has more than once severely assaulted his wife, and a short time ago he placed a quantity of gunpowder under hlv wife’s bed and expioded.it, fortunately without serious damage. Napier, February 12 A visitor to the scene thus describes what. he saw upon entering the “.The bedroom is on tie right si re hj • the front door ; the sittiqg-roorn on the left In the latter room, besides- the ordinary furniture, .there was a small iron bedstead, but it does not appear that anyone slept trait, although articles of clothing wer* U(<ra it; Tn the tiedroom were two bedsteads—one a smalt iron one capable of holding three children, and the other an ordinary double be lstead. The sight, that met my horrified eyes when I entered the bedroom made my blood run col l. On the -mall '-edstoad there lay three children, naked. One of them was lying nearest, the side of ho te l. O-i her temple was a large brui-e as if she ha-1 beOn' struck with same heavy blunt inatru-n-nt. an t after inquiries fully establishad this fact in my mind, and l»d me to believe that it was., the proximate cause of death. A gash across the throat from .eir to. ear had lieen inflicted after the victim was atoned.. Lying next to the poor murdered girl was i by apparently about three years of age. , H-a arm was thrown, around the neck of his dead eister as if embracing her—a position that had evidertly been arranged;, after dea'h by their father an 1 murderer. On the boy s temple was a bruise sim lar to that describe 1 on the girl’s, and his throat was also cut right across. The third chil i—a hoy, apparently ten- years of -ago—was lying next to the two victims already referred to. He was partly on his hack. His temtde bore similar bruises, except that they were a little further back on the skull. His fingers and thumb were also bruised, as if he had been attempting to defend himself when struck at. and had pariia'lv pvried off tho blow intended to stun hipi, lie had probably heen awakened hy the attack on his brother and sister, bat not quickly enough to escape. His throat was disc cut. On the large bed was lying the corpse of the murdered children’s mother. On the murdered woman’s forehead were two bruises, one pn.each side, the one on the left side being evidently caused by a very severe blow. Her throat was Cut across from ear to ear. Beside her,.. to complete the chapter ot horra s, lay the body of the infant, with its throat on* also.”