THE NELSON MURDERS.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 8, Issue 391, 5 July 1866, Page 4

THE NELSON MURDERS.

SUSPECTED MURDER OF FOUR MEN ON THE MAUKOATAPU. Although the bodies of the missing men—of the murder of whom there can now be no doubt—h.ive not jet been found, they can scarcely remain much longer hidden, if the search now • making is prosecuted with the vigor which has .characterised it during the last three days. We stated that on Wednesday, the horse which the it'.vn kad hired to carry their packs to Nelson had been trucked; on the following morning a dog, belonging to a half-caste named Martin, discovered the carcase of the animal, which lay at the bottom of a steep bank below the road, which is formed by aside cutting of the mountain. The horse was hidden with branches of trees and other herbage and was found to have been shot in the head. The pack? which the horse had been carrying were still strapped to bis back, save a portmanteau, when hud been taken and broken open. . All these packs were removed from the dead animal, and were brought into Kelson yesterday, together with the bullet which had caused the horse’s death. Hie fruits of the search of yesterday were a doubled-banelled gun, a long bandied shovel, aud Crimean shirt, which it is said was worn by Levy wi.cn at Deep Creek on the previous Sunday. Tracks of the supposed murderers have been found in the old road over the mountain, which is about a quarter of a mile above the present roaa; but whether the.-e were made before or alter the supposed murder cannot be said. The probability is, the outrage was committed close to where the body of the horse was, found, and that, having disposed of the horse by shooting it, and throwing it down the ravine, the unfortunate men were marched into the bush, and enjoined ui der a threat of violence. Once removed a sufficient distance from the track to be out of hearing, the victims might have been kept quiet until evening, then marched off to a considerable distance, and there put out of the way. VVe doubt very much whether the bodies will be found in proximity to the spot where the men were attacked. It will be necessary, we think, to continue the search further afield, aud even to examine the pools of the I’elorus at the confluence of Te llermga, to which the men might easily have been led, although their bodies could not have been so well carried there. The time to dispose of the bodies was not long. The men must have been assaulted a little alter one o’clock ou Wednesday, ami on Ihuisday evening their sus; acted murderers reached Kelson ; and from Franklyn’s I’iat the distance is sixteen miles—nearly live Lours’ walking.—Kelson Examiner.

(From the Nelson Examiner, 2Cth June ) tlie active search that lias been prosecuted for an entile week, the bodies of Matthien, ivempthornc. Dudley, and Pontius, who left Deep Creek, kVakamarina, for Aelson, this day loitiiiidit, and were seen asce-ndmg the Maungalupu on the following day, have not yet been found. Th re can be no doubt that the men were sttick’tip on the road within ten minuus of the tune when they are reported to have been last seen, hnnied off to a convenient spot, and murdered, and that we have the four murderers now in custody. The feeling of disappointment that no ttaee ot the bodies ol tho missing men can be found, is most intense.

Since our publication on Saturday, there has been nothing fresh of importance* discovered, though on important piece of evidence was elicited by the Search Committee on Saturday evening. It had been conlidcntly stated that the men in custody only readied AMson on Thursday, the day alter the murder must have taken place; but evidence was elicited by the committee which cleat Jy proved that the men came into town on Wednesday evening at about ten o’clock. This fact is highly important, as it reduces most considerably the time the murderers had to dispose ot the bodies, and correspondingly le.sens the area ot ground necessary to be searched. We diu not, we believe, mention in our previous notices of this mysterious ulrair, that the remains of a camp had been found a little way back on tiie upper side of the road, about lialf a-mile on the hi eh on side of Fratikiyu’s Flat, and that there, behind a rock, was discovered a tin pannikin containing some moistened gunpowder, as if it had been prepared to blacken men’s faces. A'ear to tins spot stands a tree which had been struck by a bullet. It was very c;ose to this spot that the missing men were last seen by the man and woman who were travelling in the opposite direction, and it is believed that there they must have been lirst assaulted, .but the perplexing question is, How were the four men and horse disposed of when Mr Uowu rode past the spot within half-an-hour afterwards? We know that the horse was found shot, a mile further on tho road, cleverly got some way down the bank on the lower side of the track ana covered wuh brunches of trees and herbage; but it was impossible the horse could have been ti.us disposcu ol when boivn rode by ; or still later bj perhaps another halt-hour, when the man who owmd tiie horse, and was jollowing the party to A ebon to bring tiie animal back to Wakauiarmu, readied the spot, as nothing was seen to awaken suspicion It seems almost demonstrable luat tue Massing men were surprised at that part ot the roan near v\ acre the camp mentioned has been found ; that they were hustled into the wood, together wail tiie horse ; that they were made away wuh very quietly at some place not tar distant; ti nt the hu)-»e, at some subsequent lime in lac afUrnoon, eithei got aw ay or was led from where it v.as first taken, and regained the track, along winch it travedcu tor noout another mile to tue spoil where it was prubus Jy backed to the edge of the batik, and shot. \v e cannot give the measured instances, but we can give the time which it took « gentleman, on tennuay, to ride upt the road from F rat.kiyii’s Dial to wjtcie the horse was found, at a pace such us uitu would travel on foot with a b pmek-Loi'se. Jt was thus: —From Frankiva’s Fiat to the camp where the attack is suptposed to have been matic, lilleen minutes; from tue latter fyot to where the horse was found, twenty minutes.

As the suspected murderers were in Nelson fay ten o’clock the same evening, and as they must have left the scene of their guilt not later than five o’clock, about three hours and a half, or four hours atthe utmost, is all the time they could have had to perpetrate the murders and dispose of the bodies. This dispels the possibility we hinted at on Saturday, that the missing men might have been forced to march back, late in the day, towards the Pelorus, there murdered, and their bodies conveniently disposed of in a pool of that river. Another surmise has been started : That later iu the afternoon the victims were marched towards Nelson and murdered nearer this wav. This does not seem to us feasible. The fact of live persons (three singly aud two in company) passing along the road besides the murdered men within the space of an hour, must have shown the murderers the danger of keeping on the road during the mid-hours of the day, and it would have occupied too much time and caused too much treacle, to Lave sought to gam tiie old road to x\ exSoil, now uiaueod. Ait..uUgU the search for the bodies lias hitherto been unsuccessful, looking at all the circumstances, it does seem as it tney cannot be far removed from where the men are sup;i; sec to have been stuck up. x\ early lou persons left Kelson on Sunday, for the scene of the search, some of whom went for the pimpose of giving their assistance, while the majority were attracted there by curiosity. We learu that there are now about 120 men on the spot engaged in searching for the bodies of the supposed murdered men, fifty of whom are under the direction of Mr C. Saxton, while the remainder act in independent bodies. The search is being made so closely and systematically, that it seems next to impossible that it can fail, if steadily pursued, as, rough as the ground is, every yard passed over is examined.

His Honor the Superintendent, who had been absent from town, returned on Friday night last, and has expressed his willingness, on the part of the Government, to find any additional funds that may be needed, beyond the sum subscribed, to defray the cost of maintaining the search-party. From the manner in which the men have worked who volunteered their services, no additional stimulus to exertion has appeared necessary, yet it would be well, we think, for the Government to offer a reward for the discovery of the bodies. Among the men who are now engaged in the search, are many well-known excellent bush men, and we do not think ill-success will much longer attend the efforts that are being made to clear up one of the most horrible murders we ever heard of, all the circumstances of which at present are involved in the most complete mystery.