BUNGALOW DEATH SECRETS

Hokitika Guardian, 21 January 1930, Page 8

BUNGALOW DEATH SECRETS

WIFE BURNT AND HUSBAND

KILLED

LONDON, December 3

A woman’s charred .body among the ruins of a burned-out bungalow, a blackened revolver which appears to have contained one cartridge, and half a mile away, on the main Cambridge railway line, the mutilated body of a man believed to be the woman's —husband—these are grim elements of my serious drama which the police here were trying to-day to solve. The bungalow was one of a cluster of half a dozen on a lonely road close to Dobb’s Weir, about two miles from here. It had been occupied since September by Mr John Seabrook and his wife, each about 50 years old, who had moved to Dobb’s Weir from a flat in Knatehbull-road, Camberwell S.E. About four o’clock this morning the neighbours were awakened by the crackling of blazing timber to find the bungalow fiercely alight. The front door was wide open, and as calls for Mr and Mrs Seabrook produced no response it was presumed that they had already left.

AFTER THE FIRE

The spectators were powerless in any case, so fierce were the flames, and when the Hoddesdon Fire Brigade arrived the firemen had to confine their activities to preventing the fire

from spreading. It was not until the entire interior of the bungalow had been burned out and the flames had died down that the firemen and police were able to make a search.

They then found among the debris of a bed—the clothing of which was in ashes and the iron frame-work twisted and shapeless—the unrecognisable body of a woman. Parts of the body had been completely burned away and there was no means of ascertaining by an ordinary examination how the woman had met her death.

In another part of the bungalow the police found a six-chambered revolver. The flames had burned away the wooden butt and melted the metal and removed in consequence all identification marks: but it is believed to be of the ordinary pattern used by Army officers.

Further investigations have led the police to believe that the fire was started in the bedroom, and that the bedding and other articles in the. bungalow had been saturated with paraffin or some other inflammable liquid.

While the ruins were still being searched for clues, the police were informed by telephone that the body of a man, apparently struck down by a passing train, had been found at a point where a footpath starting near the bungalows crosses the London and North-Eastern line.

Proceeding to the spot, they discovered the man mutilated beyond recognition, and there was nothing in his possession giving any clue to his identity. But the police are satisfied that the dead man was Mr John Seabrook.

How did Mrs Seabrook meet her death? Was she shot while lying asleep in her bed, or was she suffocated by the fire—which was so strong that it demolished the entire dwelling in half an hour?

In an attempt to answer these question the police, under Inspector Sharp of the Mertfordshre Constabulary have questioned the Seabrook’s neighbours. Two people state that about 10.30 last night they heard a report which they thought might be a fog signal, there being a heavy fog at the time. The police, however, are inclined to regard the incident as support for the view that the woman was killed and the place then set on fire.

NEIGHBOUR’S STORY. A dramatic story of the fire was given to me by Mrs William Donovan, whose bungalow is next to that occupied by the Seabrooks. She said: About four o’clock this morning my husband and I were awakened bv a series of reports and found flames sweeping [last our windows. We rushed out of bed, [licked up our baby, and dashed into the road in our night-cloth es. The Seabrooks’ bungalow was blazing furiously.

' I noticed that the front, door was mien. Mv husband called the Seabrooks by name, but he got no answer,

As we stood in the roadway the explosions continued, and we found that it was the asbestos tiles which were being hurled into the air and were falling all round us red-hot. During their stay here—they had taken the bungalow for three years— Mr and Mrs Seabrook were very retiring. Neither told us much. On one occasion Mr Seabrook said he had served in Egypt during the war, and that they had a son in New Zealand and a daughter somewhere .in London. This daughter was the only visitor I ever saw call at the bungalow.

M.r and Mrs Seabrook seemed to be on affectionate terms—a real Darby and Joan.

It was not until to-day, when the revolver was found that we connected a report we heard last night with the tragedy.