THE LATE MR. GEORGE DOBSON.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 8, Issue 396, 23 July 1866, Page 3

THE LATE MR. GEORGE DOBSON.

SOXIITAH’S CONFESSION ' RESPECTING DOBSON*S ' MUEDEB, The following are the particulars contained in the police telegram sent to Greymouth; for the discovery of the spot where Mr Dobson’s body was buried, . It will be seen that it forms a detailed portion of Sullivan’s confession; and is copied from the Grey River Argus, of sth inst.:— Sullivan said that a party of three— Kelly, Murray (who is now supposed to he the mate " disposed” of), and himself werq on the track for the purpose of sticking up' Mr E. B. Fox, of Maori Gully, who was known to bring down large quantities of gold. ' Sullivan, was watching ‘ the track, while the other two remained at their tent, which was pitched a short distance'into the scrub. About half a mile from the coal-pits, he was met by a young man (Mr Dobson), iwho asked him how far . it was to the coalpits; He replied, “Half-a-miie,” and al-' 'lowed him to pass. Shortly afterwards he I met a man and a woman, and he also' 'allowed them to pass. Rain then began to fall, and he made for the tent for shelter. Close alongside the tent he saw the young man who had passed him, sitting apparently against the trunk of a tree, but quite dead, having been 'strangled: Sullivan knew it was not Fox, and he suggested that the body should be buried. Kelly remarked that it was better to leave the body so, as it would make the people who saw it think that he had died from exhaustion. Kelly further remarked, “ I and another man have put many away that way.” Sullivan then returned to the track, to watch with a doublebarrelled gun, and he was shortly afterwards joined by Murray and Kelly, who said they had buried the young man’s body. Sullivan further adds that on the body they found a silver watch and gold albert chain, a pocket compass in a leather case, and a bill or deposit receipt Tor A'32 or £22 bearing the name “Dobson.” The papers were burned by. Sullivan, and Kelly said they buried the watch, compass, and other articles with the body. RECOVERY OF TUB BODY, The Grey River Argus of the 7th inst. says:—We are happy to be able to announce that the search party which has been out for the last four days, under Mr Inspector James, was yesterday successful in recovering the body of Mr George Debson, who was murdered on the Twelve Mile track about six weeks ago.

In our last we detailed the proceedings of the search party during the first day, Tuesday. On Wednesday, the search was continued near the spot indicated in the instructions received by the police, about a mile on this side of the coal-pits, until dark, but without any result. They had scoured the bush, waded every creek in the vicinity, and underwent an amount of fatiguing labor which was enough to dispirit the most sanguine ; bnt Inspector James determined not to give up the search until he had found the body, and, accordingly, the party returned to the coal-pits, where they spent the night. On Thursday morning the search was again commenced with renewed vigor, and as Inspector James thought the spot indicated might be one on the track above the coalpits, the search was there continued until mid-day, but without success, and the party were retracing their steps when they were met by special constable O’Brien, who had arrived in town on the previous evening, and had that morning started up the river to deliver to Inspector James the tracing which he had-brought from Nelson of the supposed spot where the murder was committed. The party thus strengthened found the spot pointed out on the sketch, and the remaining .portion of the day was spent in searching this spot and its vicinity, but without any result. Again on Friday morning the party commenced their weary search through the bush | and Inspector James, feeling convinced that the murdered- man was buried nearer town than indicated on the tracing, directed the search to be made about a mile further down the track, below the upper or small island, while on the plan it is pointed out as being considerably , above the small confession, Sullivan mentioned that a man and a woman passed the tent about the time when Mr Dobson was murdered. On inquiry, it was found that this man and woman did not reach the coal-pits until after dark and this circumstance led- Sir James to the conclusion that the scene of the murder must have been nearer the town than the spot indicated on tie sketch. He despatched one of the constables to the Arnold Gully, In order to find out who this man and woman were, and to endeavor, if possible, to bring

one of them back to point out the spot where the tent which they passed was pitched; The. search, party, was thus reduced to Mr Inspector James, .constable M-Tlroy, and special constable O’Brien, and they.continued the search,, as we have , said, a mile below the spot pointed out in the sketch. At five minutes, to: twelve o’clock, the party were following up a blind dry creek, and. Inspector James was- at the; foot -of a large fallen log over the creek, when he remarked to constable M‘llroy, who was following, that he felt a most unusual smell. Constable MTiroy immediately observed, lying in the creek, a brandy bottle, and he. replied that be thought the smell came from the brandy bottle. Mr James said it was not that, and an examination of the bottle showed, that the label was quite fresh, and it could not have.been there long. A close of ctbe-ground was immediately commenced, footprints were seen; -and within i three yards of the spot where they ; were : standing, constable MTlrqy observed the | toe of a boot sticking up .about an inch above the ground, and in a minute the party had the satisfaction of knowing that their labors had terminated successfully. The body was buried under a high terrace, and it was rather mortifying to Mr James to see that on the first day of the search he. had been on the top of this terrace,: within about thirty feet of the spot where the grave was. We" may here notice if is a strange coincidence that at the same time, and on same day last week, the bodies of the four murdered men on the Maungatapu were recovered, and .that Constable O’Brien was present on both occasions.

A few minutes after- the discovery, Mr James cooeed to O’Brien, who was on the track, and he was answered by Mr Russell, a storekeeper, who said there was a large party coming up to join the search, and Mr James delayed further proceedings until the party arrived, which they did in about half an hour. This party consisted of Mr Todhunter, the brother-in-law of the murdered man ; Mr Bain, District Surveyor ; and a number of gentlemen who had that morning volunteered to assist in the search. The earth was then-removed from the body, and it was found to be lying full length, covered by from ten to twelve inches of earth. The murdered man’s coat had been taken off and thrown over the legs and the lower part of the body; his gold chain hung on his vest, and his silver watch was in his left-hand vest pocket. It was taken out, and it was observed to have stopped at twenty-eight minutes to four o’clock. On removing the coat from the legs, they found the murdered man’s compass in the case, his field book and tape, and four straps lying loose, and his hat. The body was removed as nearly as possible in the position in which it lay, and the earth was not removed from the face; but it was noticed that the lower part of one of the jaws was injured, which may have been caused by decomposition. The trees near the spot leading on to the track were marked, and the grave was found to be thirty yards off the track. The body was removed on a stretcher, which had been taken up by the first party, and conveyed to the boat which had come up that day. The whole party, with the melancholy burden, arrived in town about 3 o’clock yesterday. A large crowd assembled on the river bank, and followed the corpse as it was borne into the Union Hotel, where an inquest will be held to-day, at noon, by Mr Warden Eevell. We cannot conclude this notice without stating that the' best thanks of the community are due to Mr Inspector James, and the other members of the police force who were engaged in this search, for the hearty and determined manner in which they both entered into and prosecuted*the search, and we must congratulate them upon its successful termination. THE INQUEST. An inquest was afterwards held on the body at the Union Hotel. The father and brothat-in-law of the murdered man were present, and also the prisoner James Wilson, who stands accused of the murder. Charles Foppoliy, the medical practitioner, examined, said —As to the cause of death, the four wounds on the head are the effects of blows given by a blunt flat instrument, such as the stock of a gun. Although-these wounds were not sufficient to produce death, they were sufficient to stun a person, and render him insensible. The alteration we found in the respiratory organs are visibly the effect of the violent' pressure of a hand on the throat. The mark on the jugular vein may be caused hr a thumb, and the person who committed the deed must have

used the left hand. The cause of death was the blows Oil the head, and the pressure of the larynx in an upward direction until suffocation ensued. The handkerchief was not used to strangle the deceased, for If it had, it would have caused a circular mark round the neck, but would not have displaced the larayx as was done. the fukehal. On Saturday afternoon the mortal remains of Mr George Dobson were buried in the cemetery, South Beach.' Unfortunately, the weather interfered sadly with the event, which was intended to be a public one, as the rain commenced to fall early in the day, and continued to pour down almost without intermission until night. Notwithstanding this, the inhabitants of Greymouth turned out in large numbers, and we were glad to observe that representatives of every class of the community and of nearly every business house in town were present. The chief .mourners were Mr Dobson, senior, the father ;of the murdered man, and his two sons-in-daw, Dr Haast, and Mr Todhunter. They were followed by his Honor the Superin-tendent-of the Province, Mr Commissioner Sale, Mr Warden Bevell, Mr Warden Kyanersley, and a number of the personal friends of the deceased.