BRUTAL MURDER AT CHATHAM ISLANDS.

Globe, Volume XXII, Issue 2122, 11 December 1880, Page 3

BRUTAL MURDER AT CHATHAM ISLANDS.

|>BOH A COBBBBPONDBNT.] About three years ago a young girl named Susan Snoswell, a native of Lyttelton, came down to the Ohathams, having been engaged as servant by a equatter, Mr Charles Kerr, residing at the north end of the island. About the end of a year from the time she was encaged, a Maori named Wi Warepa, one of the principal natives of the Ohathams, asked her to marry him. She, no doubt led away with the idea of becoming the wife of a man who owned a great deal of land and soma 1200 sheep, consented. She was very young, about seventeen, and rather good looking- The idea of a white woman marrying a Maori was looked upon, even in these isolated regions, with disgust; everyone could foresee that her life would be miserable and wretched in the extreme, and that she would put herself out of the pale of all social . intercourse with her own country-women, but the sad and dreadful fate that has been hers should prove a warning to all white women who should contemplate suoh a mis-alliance for a moment. This Wi Warepa was of a most suspicious and passionate disposition, and a fervent disciple of Te Whiti, exceedingly jealous, although, accordißg to Native reports, his j own character was immoral in the extreme Hia wife, finding herself "cut" by most of ' the respectable people, seemed to lose all , respect for herself, and rode about straddle- . legged like a Native woman, generally very , dirty-looking, but occasionally coming out j tidy and clean. On Friday morning, the . 19th of November, a blacksmith of the name J of Child, who resided on the Waitangi , beach (whose wife was about the only white ( woman with whom Mrs Warepa seemed on ; intimate terms), noticed Wi Warepa passing 3 his shop with a bundle in his hand. ( He called out to him that breakfast was j ready, would he come in. The man did not ] reply, and his whole appearance looked bus- j pioioui. He was without a hat, and looked j to wild, that Mr: Childa exclaimed, " Some- , thing has happened; Warepa has murdered , or injured his wife." This was further f corroborated by a dog belonging to the unfortunate woman rushing into the house and j searching through the rooms, and finding nothing, dashing away. Ohilds then went to Warepa's house, whioh is about three-quarters - of a mile from the beach. Finding it locked he looked into the windows; and, seeing blood on the floor, he went right away to Mr Deighton's, the R.M. They both went together and found the room, whioh is 10ft. i square and 7ft. high, in a dreadful state. A large dried-up pool of blood was on the floor, whioh had evidently been attempted to be •leaned up. Blood stains were on the side of the room, and even the ceiling was splashed all over. It was a terrible sight. They then saw the marks in the passage r leading to the back door of a bleeding body having been dragged out. They searched, but found no body. A party then went up, and about 130 yards from the house, lying in a small gully, there was the body of the unfortunate creature, literally from the mouth s upwards smashed to pieces. In looking into the house, under an old pea coat and some bloody clothes belonging to Warepa, a piece e of her jaw, skull, and some teeth were found. The man was then arrested. He struggled a little, but was thrown down and handcuffed, and lodged in the lock up. e An inquest was |held upon the body, and although the signs of death and the manner in which it was committed were apparent to all, the doctor insisted on holding a post mortem examination, the necessity of whioh was doubtful. Most people look at this with ° horror, that the poor woman's dead body should be exposed to further desecration, as the evidence of death was so awfully apparent. However the operation was gone through. One of the jurymen on the inquest found the weapon with which the murder had been committed. This was a pair of tongs all bent, twisted and bloody. Warepa has confessed, and said he only did what he thought was perfectly right, as his wife had been unfaithful to him, both with white people and Natives ; that he had had a severe quarrel and looked her out, threatening to murder her, or as he expressed himself, kill her outright if she came into the house again. She did so, and he did the horrible deed. He is a very powerful man,. and must have beaten her until he had no breath to continue. He is fully committed for trial and has reserved his defence until before the Supreme Court. He goes up per the Omaha.