DETERMINED SUICIDE.

Grey River Argus, Issue 77, 10 July 1866, Page 2

DETERMINED SUICIDE.

J About fiye <>'clock on Saturday^nlbiiiing a very determined suicide was Committed by ._.j-<. Mr Thomas" Webb Itees, -manager of thggip!* branch of the Bank of NemZealand in thip^ town, Be cut his throat with a razor, in - the bedroom of his house in Mackay street. The full particulars of the case were elicited at the inquest, which held yeiErterdajr by. Mr Warden Revell, at' Muisjy!s" Hotel, Boundary street. r The evidence then; given 'was asiollowB :— - '.■ . V ,- Ann Eraser: I have been livuig with tfie deceased, : but am not married to 'him. -I have had one child by him. On Friday night last we went to lied "atfnalf-past eleven o'clock. He was apparently feen ; ' ii bette r *' spirits than; he had been in for three or four nights previously. He had been, i* lowspirits ; but when I asked him what was the matter, he would not teli me. For the last four nights he was alive he was. very restless often getting up during the night and taking a drop of gin and water,- and thgn: coming to bed again, I cannot recollect how often he got up during Friday nighty but the last time he spoke to me .was when I felt him coming into bed, I then asked what was making him so; restless, and'he said,: tf Qh, Annie, I ■cannot sleep." He alsa asked me turn round and speak to him. I did so^ and gai4 "Well, what is ihe 1 ' Irot 4j^ TO*fe me no answer. I cannot tefl what'tim^ $hi§ was. I had been asleep 1 for a time when I was awoke by hearing a noise like a gush, a* |f the de. ceafted was vomiting. I" sat up and called put a good many times, but got no answer. The room was pite dark tjpen, J screamed. - out for Mrs M'Lean, and got up to look for the ipatcheSj but 66uld not find them. I j»ut my hands down and felt the deceased lying on the floor, and as I p|i#§ed my hajfas np towards h^s. head I felt a cut under has neck. I put my arm under his Jbead and heldrhu n -up until the doctor came. , He had the basin under his head when I;found him. I called out tP Mrg M'Lean that /*|*apa;ha4 gut his throat," and asked her to. go' and- call Mr Finlay, Mr Pain was the first who entered , the house, and he went for the doctor, who arriyed shortly afterwards. The only other persops.whq slejpVin tihe ho«ge th^ nigbt were Mrs M'Lean and MriMartdn^''jifa^per--gon glept in pur- bedroom^ except deceased, myself, and'Ony little boy. The deceased and I were living yn good terms., and ; never ; had anytHing iiiPJe tfewi a, few words with each other. I cannot exactly sayy-^but I think the last time'we had a 'dispute; 'flight have been about threg weeks ago. ; Two or three days before the deceased cut his throat J thiftk on Tuesday or Wednesday^ he said tome, be surprised, Annie, if! cut my thi'oat;" '■ Before he said so he, gave me some money, £11, and T*e had had some conversation that day about :me going to Mel. bourne. It was in the forenoon he gave me the money ; in the afternoon I asked him why he gave it me, and it was then he made $§ reply that I was not to be surprised if he cut his throat, ' I'tqld him never;t6 : be so fooUsh as to do that, and he made no reply. He started to go to Hokitika oil Friday last the 6th inst,, for the purpose, of seeing AlMflfe Murray anf[ 'Roberts; of the£Bank" of Zfoiland, J'-'with regard to allowing me to re. main where I was, as t'ley both wished him topiitmeaway, Before going he piade over *" tome the house wo were living in by a written document, He did not go to Hokitika, but returned home wet, and told me he was pearly drowaed in the Teramakau Riyer^ He said he met -My Tr-enerjv and he got a message from the Bank of New Zealand; I asked him if there was anything it it about me, ajid he said "No. l V He seemed as if he had hail a good deal of drink. I hadino-sus-picion or fear that he would^cut his "throat . if I had I should hajye watched him. On Fridaj^, before he went away,; I asked him what was troubling him, .but he tell me! I knew nothing at all "<rf his jfmsi- • ness affairs, and I never knew, b^hini being pressed formc^ey, oriu difuculties of any kind..! . ; ■. = ..'.■■.-. .. .;;■,. -v-^%^;; .;_-•-...-. / .» By Inspector James : The deceased made over to me the property vbluiitarily. -^. I did not insist on him doing so. -tpro- 1 duce the document which he wrotevand gave me before he left. He road it o^ertome.- (Itwras a simple transier of the cottage in Mackay steeet- and all that ' it contained from himself to the witness.) V , I By the Magistrate : When he gave me ' this, j^per I had no susjpicioh'that'ne intended to desjtjroy himself while he was away ; if I hakkl-*hould -have told either Mr Davis or Mr Finlay. * ' By Jurors : I do not tluWta oi j^y^pit^ pje^ioua to rtiis- departiure for Hokitika ; but he Had a glass . of gin on his i return afterdinner. He returned and kissed me three or four times before Jig wsut away, because I was crrong at bis departure^ There was , nothing remarkable in this, for he. often : did so. " I am prepared to state that the^'ia. " signature to the transfer of the p'rSperty 1^ is that of the deQeaged^and that 1 saw V himwriteit. ■ : C By the. Magistrate : I did not see razor o* fenife lying on tKe,ground wheni I was holding the head of the deceased, aa the room was dark at the time, andl left : it when a lightwas brought. No person^ could have come into the ixioni orvleft it : when I heard the gush^ without my noticing ; them v Tiie bedroom door w^si always 1 left open; a few inches at night ; ■:-0 but! coiild not say wliether thedoor was r ft open^igJiut: <xn Efiday night, as .1 did i HQt taketnotico of it; ...■■;■ ; /-. r^;.; - •' . . ;i By Inspector James : The deceased Was' -ia alive when I got r.p to iim^ ■-■ lieSnever * 'A' : jM spoke, but he gave his last 'breathjoh my arm, just as tiie. cloctorwas coimuig^ mi i« I held his head from the time T rose -untii ?jH the doctor came in, .-which I do not - ;^B think was a quarter^ of an^ hour. There i^B was noliglit iffi the room,until} tive! .^fl :came; feiit Mrs' M'Lean fiad'^Sne in .MM when I called, and ' :^^| -blind to admit someilighti -yS >f;; f? - j^^H -A. L M'Lean :i am *marriedVofeani^^H arid a dressmaker residing -in Greymou^^^^H I have been i living at i 'the house of -^^^^R deceased ..sin^e the Ist h M ; tiie) pres^^^^l moi^th ; but I have only knoyra hinyJ^^^^H I came itereV; '• : :/l have kno^nv^fPUl^^H witness for ; four; years,- and latterly she^H has been -lining; with him as his wife noticed nothing the, matter ■i r iths4;ae i'deT^^ ceased during :the week ihat I w^ Ibritif "' there ;;he and thei last withesa'appeared to get along . very a^eeal% aiidsbAppii v together.^ I have neve^ seen aiy disputes between them, except only ari .occasional word or t^o ; ; 1 mcM

"= - dvy mo <^|||^ifore he starfc^f/fbr Holri--1 tika. HfjEadfWall good-bye together/ He then returned twice, butVhe kissed >the last -witness three times. \She was dull and was crying, as she always when he went away anywhere. • The returned about five o'clock in "in 3 afternoon, and as he was very wet he • .changed his clothes. He said he had at- ■ tempted to swim the Tereniakau, and was ' nearly drowned. We all dined together, • and he appeared to be in his usual spirits. : : .The. servant' girl and I went to the theatre in the evening, and when we returned home he appeared to be all right. It was half -past eleven before any of us went to ; bad, and I think that Ann Fraser went to bed first. The deceased and I had a glass of toddy in the sitting-room, and his bedroom was off that room, bo that if any person passed in or out they would have to pass where I was sleeping. I think I went to bed about twenty minutes to twelve o'clock, and I heard nothing until Ann Fraser awoke me by screaming out, and calling for me; She called for a ' light, but before, getting one I rushed into the.roem to see, what was the matter, and she. told me that the deceased had killed hiinsiQlf , and asked me to get a doctor. I had no light, but I turn§d the windowblind rouhdj and I coiild see Mr* Rees lying on the. ijooj with his head resting' pn a basin. Ann Fraser was holding his head up with her han \ I think this * must have been between four and five on Saturday morning. ; I could not distinguish any blood, as it waß too . dark ; but Ann. Fraser told me that ." Pa had cut his throat. 1 ' I went out three times to call Mr Finlay, who was sleeping in ' the -store next our house; but the first who came to our assistance was Mr Pain, '; who lives next door. When I went back the third. ■time there was a light in the room. 'Mr Pain had by that time been m the house, and gone for a doctor. I saw nothing further until the doctor came, when I, saw him bring Ann Fjaser out of 1 the. room, and put a coat round her, as she was undressed. I sa,w blqpd on the floor in the room, and* also outside the door, as I had, in the drrk, stepped into the blood, and b. ought some of it into the . parlor on my feet. Hooked the front door of the house before- 1 went to bed, and also the door leading into, the kitchen. When I got up I found both these doors locked as I had left them, and I am certain that no peiabn could have got into the deceased's bedroom without my having heard them. On Friday morning, I was called in to witness Mr Rees' signature to a document, whereby he transferred his house to Ann Fraser. I saw him sign it, and I signed it as a witness. lam not aware why he transferred his. house to Ann Fraser.. I was in the kitchinwhen. he called me into the parlor, and asked me to witness his signature. I asked him what it was for, and he replied, "I am - assigning this house over in Annie, and I want you to witness it." I .never heard the deceased threat§n to destroy himself, or. that he had ever attempted to do so, and Ann Fraser never told' me that he had said he would destroy himself. Bafore. he left on the Friday, I asked him why he was going, if anything was wrong, and he replied, : "O, you know it is about Annie." I knew nothing about the affair. By a, Juror: I was sent fop by Mr jfa^Jßees, and brought from the beach, for purpose of going to Melbourne 1 with . : "Ann Fraser, because she was delicate and generally very sick on board ship, and . wjuld r.oibe able to-manage the children herself. Ido not know the cause why Bhe was going. The deceas§d only told me that he wished her to go to Melbourne. We were to have sailed by the Gothenburg torday. ' Henri Pain : lam a lemonade manufacturer,.residing in Mackay street. Between 4 a,nd 5 o'clock on Saturday mom.-- --*" ing I was awoke by hearing the scrgams of . a woman, and 1 went out -tp the dobr to ccc what was the matter. 1 heard some; one say " he was dying," or words to that effect, and I then got on some of my clothes and ran out. I saw Mrs M'Lean outside and asked what was the matter. She replied, "For God's sake, gp in," pointing to Mr Reos' house. I went right into the bedroom, and saw Sfr Rees lying on the floor on his side, with a : basin at his head, and Ann Fraser was holding his head up. The moment* I got into the room she said, " Oh, Mr Pain, he has cu^ • his throat," and I then looked down to see what-was the matter. 1 saw a fright-" full cut still bleeding in the throat of the deceased, and as I saw I could d.Q nothing ■ * tp it I ran for Dr Foppoly, and he returned with me. The moment we got back to the room 1 took Ajui Fraser outi, She had been holding the deoeased's heaa over the basin. The doctor and I shifted the body out of the blood and laid it on its back alongside the, bed. The deceased was by this time quite dead. I believe he was dead when I first went into the room. When we/ha/l shifted the. body we found a razor lying on the floor in a pool of blood. I believe the razor now produced to be the same. : The front door was shut, but the back door was open when I first went into tjie house. The front door was not locked. J have known the deceased for five or six months, but neyey noticed anything wrong with him. I live next door to the deceased's house, and I never heard a dispute between him and Ann Fraser ; they lived very quietly together. By Jurors : I do not think more than five minutes elapsed between the time; 1 heard, the screams and the t arrival of the doctor, I last saw the deceased alive r about half-past ten o'clock on Friday, evening. He, appeared to bo. rather, excited, Q£ to have been drinking a little. He got from me a bottle of sodawater. * Sergeant Walsh : At t wenty-five minutes to six o'clock ojv Saturday morniug, the 7th inst. , aman nsjned Edward Fenwick : r called at the camp and said, that Mr Rees P| had cut his throat. I a,t once proceeded toiiiyiouMf-iancLf bund the door leading jg^^^figpHHaHS^^yarlaitr, and he told me dead.. I then went #^|^|^som where deceased was lying. on his left Bide on the floor H^^^H^pf the bed, with his head resting ig^i^^^pillote. I saw that his throat was P^lJPlipid there was a basin of blood, about g|^|§i£full, near the centre of the room. I j||igfound the razor produced lying in a mass Wmpi coagulated blood on the. floor. - The Panhandle of it was pointing towards the room door. \ observed . that there was blood sprinkled about various articles of furniture in the room, particularly on the washhand-stand, and there was a mark of blood on one of the sheets of the bed ricfc? . the head. - 1 searched the clothes of the deceased, and found on him fifteen papers,and tMifeen letters, a deed of assignment, a. £10-: note on the Bank of New

twp;ha&-sovereigns, and 4s 10d in silvery seven keys, one small nugget, of gold, one* gold- ring,; and. other small articles. ;Amorig*the lexers is the one I now produce. It is dated the-5 Jh.July, 1866, arid addressed to his broiher, W. C. Rees, Esq., Williamstown. It is. as follows : — "My Dear William— Through heavy ox-, penses attendant upon gold fields, . my position-has become embarrassed to such an extent that, to avoid anything un- ' pleasant, I purpose committing suicide. Your attached brother, T. W. Rees/v I &m not acquainted with the handwilthig of the deceased. William Ste » *t : I am accountant at ' theßank of .New Zealand at Greymouth, and knew the deceased, who was agent for that Bank here. lam aware that he. was in difficulties t ,with regard to Ann Fraser, in so far as it interfered with liis position in the Bank, but I did not know lijin to be in difficulties in money matters previous to his death. I have since learned that: he is. indebted to a considerable.^ 'amount tp friends of his own. I have made a rough examination of the Looks, cash, and accounts, in the Bank, and so far as I have yet gone, I have found everything; to be correct. For two or three weeks bagk I have noticed the deceased to be mattentive" to business, unable; to pay strict attention to any fching, and quite absent. On Thursday last, the sth inst.j he called me aside, and told me that he was afraid he could not get quit of that woman, and he knew that if she remained much longer there it would endanger his positign in the Bank.. He also said that he hadgene twice into the bedrooms at the Bank, and held one of the loaded revolvers to his head intending : to have shot himself. I treated the affair in aa off-hand manner, as 1 believed that he spoke under the pressure of his feelings, arid advised himto go and report himself to the manager and inspector at Hokitika, in order to have the affair- settled regardr in? h S separatiqr&from Ann Fraser. He raid he' would j 3» this, and I told him to go home" and I would arrange about getting a horse for him next morning. I then bade him goocViye, and I saw no more of him until I heard of his death on Saturday morning. He did riot come to. the Bank on Friday, lam acquainted with his hand writing, and. I can state that the letter now shown me was written by him and bears his signature. James Davies -.;.' I am a merchant in Greymouth. I was well acquainted with the deceased, and enjoyed his for some time past. We had many conversations regarding his position and affairs, th© las,t of which was on Thursday, the sth inst. .At his request.we walked .up the river, and he cbriimenced the cdnversatibn by saying, " lam nearly driven crazy," or words to that effect. I told him he took too dark a view of matters, and he asked my advice. I advised him to act with some decision with regard to Ann Fraser, arid get rid of her 5 but he replied that he had offered her everything, but she would not. leave him. I advised ;him to live in his own room at the Bank, a,nd Jlshe came to annoy him to give her in charge of the police. He -said he was afraid of her ; he could not do that; and if he did not owe myself and others, some money he would leave his situation and leave the country, but he wished to pay -his debts. There was some further conversation, during which the deceased talked very foolishly about being nearly out of his senses, but he promised to do something decisively -either that day or the, next; He r came into our store on last Wednesday evening, when Ann Fraser came in after him, and abused him veiy nyach with her tongue, and compelled him to go home with her. I met him. pn Friday coming back from Hokitika, when he said, in answer tp a question Iputtohini,. thaj ho had changed his mind attheTeramakau, where he met Mr Trenery, and thought he. .would ride back with liiiri. He made an engagement to meet me that evening about eight o'clock, but he did not keep it, arid I next saw him dead in his r jom. I know that the deceased and Ann Fraser lived ' • a c.ai and dog life," constantly quarrelling, \ she was very jealous, and let hirii have no peace. I nave seen Ann Fraser lift a tumbler and threaten to throw it at him, and the deceased told me, several timea that she tLrjatened to use a knife to him, and he was afrjvkl that she would*do it. I have laefcifeard him make use of a remark of that sort within the last month. During the last three days- the deceased was alive h.e appeared to me to be. much out of his usual state,' very much excited and ■[; Dr. C. Fpppply : On Saturday morning, at half-past four o'clock, I was aroused by Mr Henri Pain, who asked me to run immediately down to the house of Mr Rees, who, he said, had cut his throat. I immediately went down, and found Ann Fraser holding the deceased's head, and; calling loudly, " Take, him from me--I' cannot hold him any longer. ''. : J examiried a wound in his neck, found it was a large incised wound from ear to ear, severing almost entirely the upper part of the wind-=pipe, both of the jugular veins, the arteries, and muscles. The direction of the cut was slightly oblique at the windpipe. The blood had ceased to flow, and life was extinct. The body was a little warm on the chest ; but the brow was almost cold. Thj> wound could have been inflicted, either by 'the deceased himself, or by any other person, but there was no sign to show by whom it was comriiitted. Tliere were no other marks of violence oii the body. The cut was a very clean one, much,- cleaner than it could possibly have been if it had been done by another person, and there had been any resistence on the part of the deceased. I have before seen as deep self-inflicted wounds. , This finished the evidence. The Magistrate summed up, commenting upon the evidence at length, and putting it to the jury to say, first, whether the deceased cut his 'own throat, and, second, whether, at the time of his doing it he was in his sound mind, or was labqring under temporary .insanity. The jury returned a verdict that the deceased cut his throat while laboring under a fit of temporary insanity. . ,