THE POLICE THEORY OF THE CRIME.

Manawatu Herald, 29 April 1899, Page 2

THE POLICE THEORY OF THE CRIME.

••y«4S, ff said H x Parry Okeden, tho Chief Oommiisipner of Police in Q leemlaod, to a t^ent visitor to ■ Brisbane, "I {Billy Relieve tbit when I die 'GatAta' will be found written on my heart. Vo: that the crimo should hat* been difficult ti solve, but umUkes were at the outset, and the stars ia foeic courses ?eem to have fought against as ever

jiincft."

It would now seem, from the message printed above, that the " stars " have ceased to fight against the course of justice. At any rate, i hare is renewed hope that the gallowa may yet claim the perpetrators of one of the mast abominable crimes known to the present generation. And through this same Melbourne visitor's account, as published in the last issue of the Australasian, we learn for the first time the now almost settled policy theory of the commission of the crime. We hold the opinion that there are some serion* flaws in this theory, but. the men who have evolved it hay* tafc fcbfl best opportunity to judge, n mi Tat uaft casa it ia of interest. Here h mi.-r *•>

The theory tm«t generally «fi«£^ ted now k that the murderer of llhr j Murpbys, whose rn^^-wAS undoub^. edly last, slopping ihe dogcirt as the old horse was toiling up a stony rue a few hundred yard* fmra the sltp panels; that he stood on the, axle, and with the r* v >lver pointed at Michael's taad ordered him to drive through the slip rails in ihe direction he indicated. The ppU bad' boen skilfully 3elpcsf>d. A* you drive through the parfd >ck following the track of the dogcart, you can see hnw the rnnrdwwr^who Wi9 tha director of the vehfolf, d-via f ed to the right to get a small hill between him and a residence not a quarter of » mile away. This brought him alrm*t up to a dividing wire f nee, and on a sin ill clear pitch heie be ordered a hnlt. From this spot the Tent-hill road can be seen in thefts*. t inoe, imd if there had beep much streaming it must have been heard all round ths neighbourhood, for Gatton is not the wild country many 1 were led to believe it to be by the . statement!) that such-ind auch d constable had been specially transferred to assist in unravelling the crime, becanse he was go splendid a bushman. It ia a comfortable settled forming district of 300 inhabitants.

This, however, is a digression. On arrival atlhe spot selected, it is surmised that the murderer ordered the three to dismount-, and instructed Murphy to unharness the horse and tie it to the tree, and after that to tie his sister's hand behind their backs. All these commands were, of coWge, enforced at the point of the revolver. Then (he spreading of the rug shows with what deliberation the murderer pursued his plans. In the struggle with Norah, whose body was found on the rug, it is supposed that the murderer's disguise was disarranged, and that when he knew bia identity had been discovered, and that his o?ck was in jeopardy, he resorted to lh<> desperate remedy of murdering the three persons, robbing Miohael and bruising and scratching the body of th* younger girl to divert suspicion from the one- man theory and make the crime appear the work of a gang. Why the horse was shot is not aho. gether clear, unle?s the murderer feared that when it became hungry it might break away from the tree, and in wandering about the paddock attract attention to the spot, and lead to the murdera bdn?( quickly discovered. A* events turned pni this precaution was unnecessary, lor the tracks of the " wobbly " wheel provfd a much surer guide.

Io «till farther support of this theory if the evidence given by Dr Wi-ay, the G)Vt»tomjnb medical officer. His statement it thai 9,11 of the three skulls were fractured by a similar blow administrated by the Bimo person, who mint have been able to u*e> his right and lefr. hand • q>iilly we'l. All th* blows ware in flieted while tin victims were lying down, and there were no traoes of

straggle. Had their been a gang, it ia unlikely that only one of their number would be selected to commit, the murders, and though the actual culprit seems to have disappeared in almost miraculous way, two or three m?n could dcarcoly h*ve vanished so successfully. — Exchange,