“A WILD GERMAN BEAST.”

Hokitika Guardian, 13 August 1921, Page 4

“A WILD GERMAN BEAST.”

SHOT BY HIS OWN SON. A powerful German, who was known to tear live birds a port with his tooth, and stick the warm blood from their bodies, was fatally shot by his Australian son in Elizabeth street, Sydney, on June 28th. The City Coroner found that- tho son (Ernest Walter Seidel, aged 17), who had been charged with the murder of his father, shot the German while acting in his ow n defence. Rarely, if ever, has any Court in Australia listened to the description of such :t man as was Ernest Hugo Eeidcl (57), the dead German father (says the "Sydney Daily Telegraph”), lie was described by witnesses at the Court as "a wild beast,” and a man "with the worst reputation” one policeman know. The policeman, after saying that the German was very violent and vicious, saill that lie would go home, and, lor no apparent reason, kill anything lie could get hold of. heat his wife and children, and lock them out in the street all night. In the opinion of the policeman, no ordinary being, placed as the lad charged with murder was situated at the lime of the tragedy, would have any reasonable chanee oi getting aua\ from this ferocious German. What actually happened in the home m Elizabeth street at the time ol the shooting "tts told by the dead man s daughter, Christabel Rosa Seidel, in a trembling voice. Late in the alternoon her lather knocked tit the door, which site opened, lie asked for her mot and, being told that she would he home in a few minutes, he broke into German, and then yelled. "I’ll murder you Australian s to-night !”

110 put his hand in his hip pocket, nml the girl ran out of the house lor the police. Outside, she met her lire llier, Krnest Walter. He suggested that they should go into the house, and see if the other children were al right. When they went in. their lathe was gone. Shortly afterwards there came another knock at the door. "Who's there?’’ they asked, and the answer from the outside was, "The police.” The girl, he mg suspicious, ran upstairs, and, looking over the balcony, saw her father there again. When she clime downstairs, after calling out a warning to her brother, she found her father inside the dining-room. "I’ll murder all you Australia! mgrels to-night," he threatened. He kept on repeating his threat, and her brother said, "If you don’t stop. I'll have to tlo soineting. do out.” After that the shot was fired, as the father rushed at the son. The dermal) staggered back to the hall, muttering. "You Australian mongrel; you have shot your father.” To Mr McMahon, who appeared for young Seidel, the girl said that her father had an ungovernable temper, and that he was vi lent to them all. She described bow lie bad killed a magpie and a parrot and sucked the blood from them. On one occasion a ’possum he had in a cage bit him, and he tied it up with a rope and let two dogs worry it to death, lie had attacked her brother without reason. He would hit him or smash crockery over his head nearly every day. fie carried a chisel with him to kill Sergeant C'oglo for arresting him. Constable Terry told how the soil said Ito him at the Central Station, after the tragedy, "I have just shot my father in the leg. If I hadn’t stopp'd him he would have murdered me. I didn’t mean to kill him, but if I bail let I him get hold of me lie would have killed me.” It always took half a dozen I policemen to arrest the Herman, t •Sergeant ('ogle described the Herman as an exceptionally powerful man, with a very bad reputation, of whom the police were always afraid. On one occasion lie lniil seen him walking up and down the verandah of his place grinding his teeth like a wild beast, with a bar of iron in bis hand, with which lie threatened to murder his wife. Krnest Walter Seidel corroborated his sister’s story of the tragedy. The Coroner found that Seidel died from a gunshot wound inflicted by his son, Krnest Walter Seidel, while acting in his own defence. In returning his verdict, he said: "This is a very sad ease. We have the most distressing feature, where the matt lost his life hv the action ol his own son, and our law provides that only in extreme cases can one take life without paying the consequences. "Here, when one considers the whole of the circumstances, past and present, one can’t help feeling satisfied that this young man, tit the time he pulled the trigger, was at the extremity of mortal J terror. The probabilities are I bat tliej soil believed flint bis own iite would be i sacrificed when be saw his father making an advanee towards him if lie did I not attempt to shoot him in the way , he did.” ! The Coroner then sat. as a magistrate, I and discharged Seidel on the charge of murdering his father. >

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