LONDON TRAGEDY

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 8 September 1924, Page 5

LONDON TRAGEDY

A SENSATIONAL CASE.

MURDER AND SUICIDE

WEALTHY MAN AND PRETTY GIRL.

BY CABLE— iUiESd ASSOCIATION —-or I;U-i u I LONDON, Sept. 6. The discovery of the dead , bodies of a manand woman in a flat at Battersea has (developed into one ; of London’s most sensational tragedies. It is supposed t£at the woman shot the man and then, committed suicide by blowing out her brains with the revolver which was still clasped in her hand. The first report stated that she and a servant were left in charge of the flat three weeks ago, while the tenants were away on a holiday, and that she had been visited frequently by a man twenty: years her senior. The man has been identified as Albert M. Joshua, of No. 3 Great Cumber-: land Place. ■ At first it was thought he ,was a chauffeur there,, but it has now; been discovered that; he. was a wealthy man who lived in a huge mansion in a most fashionable quarter-. The house was- last night in dark ness, - the windows being shut and barred. . All the servants are at present away..

It is; understood that Joshua, who was .cohnected with one of the biggest furnishing firms in the West End* kept, up -. a big domestic establishment. He was aged about 45, well-built, sft. lOin. in height, and had a light moustache. The woman was known as Miss P e ggy Mercer, but the Daily Chronicle says the police believe she, was the wife of Joshua, and the couple had been separated for three years. The household of the flat on the first floor of the Prince of Wales Mansions consisted of Mr. and Mrs. McMurtrie, their, child, and ;tWo maids, : one named Griffiths and the other named Mercer. The latter had been in the employ of the McMurtries for over a year. She was described as a superior type of girl,' who would appear to have known better circumstances. She was a slim, pretty, bunette, an# was regarded by her mistress more as a companion than as a servant. She was last seen alive oh Tuesday, An examination by a police surgeon reyealed that the man had three bullet woupds in the abdomen and one in the head, and the woman, was wounded in the right temple. The room was in confusion. The girl evidently' committed suicide while on a settee, and slipped off on to the- floor. The man was found on the other side of the settee. The police extracted papers from the man’s breast pocket and afterwards took flashlight photographs of. jthe drawing-room.: A later message says that Mercer and Joshua were not' husband and wife. Joshua and .his wife and family were well known in society. They were refentty members of a shooting partv in Scotland, aiid Joshua returned to London a few days ago, arranging for his family to follow.