Mysterious Tragedy.

Feilding Star, Volume XVIII, Issue 151, 28 December 1896, Page 2

Mysterious Tragedy.

DISCOVERY OF TWO SKEIA&TONB NEAR PLIMMERTON. There comes to us tbe news of a most j extraordinary discovery that bas been j made in the vicinity of Plimmerton, the j well known seaside resort, situated on tho Wellington-Manawatu Railway line. Tbe story, so far as we are able to understand it, contains all the elements of a romance of a most gruesomo character. The facts relating to the discovery are tbat Constable Hutton, who is stationed at Johnsonville. went into the bush yesterday a couple of miles from Plimmerton, and while brushing through some rather dense scrub came across a small cleared space ou a spot overhanging a cliff. There an uuexpected sight met his gaze— the remains of two bnman beings laying in close proximity to each otber. They had apparently been there a considerable time, all the flesh having disappeared and only the bare skeletons remaining. On closer examination the constable found that a terrible tragedy had been enacted. The remains were apparently those of a man and a woman in each of whose skulls there were un doubted bullet- holes. A bullet was ac i tually found in one of the skulls. Close by were two revolvers and also a bottle. On opeuing the bottle, the constable found a slip of paper, on which was written: — "Never mind who we are. We are tired of life. We have left seven pounds for burial expenses." On further examination, tlie constable found seven pound notes, well preserved, inside the bottle. A little further away was a portmanteau, very much knocked about, deterioration having no doubt been caused by lengthy exposure. This revealed the only clue as to the date on which the tragedy occurred. A copy of the New Zealand Times, of the 24th of October, 1894, was found inside the portmanteau. The clothing, or what remained of it. that hy near showed conclusively that the deceased were a man aud a woman. The terrible tragedy which was enacted in that lonely spot x couple of years ago is, so far, shrouded in mystery. No one is known to be missing from Johnsonville or the surrouudiug districts, and nobody can re member any couple tliat went away at about that time. Tlie enquiries made relative to the case so far have been fruitless. The remains and the portmanteax aud bottle were gathered up and conveyed to Johnsonville yesterday afternoon, and a Coroner's inquest will be held to-day — Times