THE WAITARA TRAGEDY.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 443, 17 December 1908, Page 3

THE WAITARA TRAGEDY.

Victim’s Serious State.

New Plymouth, December 16. Mrs Klenner, the victim of the Waitara shooting affair, is in much the same condition this morning there is not much hope of her recovery. In reply to questions, Mrs Klenner made the following additional statement:—“The accused was drunk. I could not say how long he was in the room. He was very excited and his language was most unusual. He was very angry before I refused his request. He had been drinking for days. I could not say if he could walk straight. He tried to shoot himself, but the revolver would not go off. He was always my medical adviser since he has been in Waitara. I was quite friendly with him, and think he must have been out of his mind, or he would not have done what he did. He was mad with whisky, judging by his appearance.”

Mrs Klenner came from Sydney about 12 years ago to marry Mr Klenner in Wellington, and has since resided in Waitara, where she was well liked. She has five children.

[Dr Goode, who was arrested on Monday for shooting a woman, has been in practice in Waitara for about 11 years (says the Taranaki Daily News). He is probably about 60 years of age, and is very well known throughout the district. Prior to settling down in Waitara, he practised in other parts of the colony, in Australia for some years, and is said also to have been in South America. He is a married man, but has no family.] Death of Mrs Klenner. New Plymouth, December 16. Mrs Klenner, who was shot at Waitara on Monday, died this evening shortly before seven. She was conscious till within a few minutes of death.

There was little hope of recovery, as the doctors experienced difficulty in supplying nourishment owing to the injury to the throat. The bullets embedded in the back of the neck were not extracted. They were presumably pressing on the vertebrae. One bullet fractured the jaw, burying itself in the neck. The other entered the neck, severing the windpipe.