WANGANUI TRAGEDY

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 2307, 26 July 1921, Page 3

WANGANUI TRAGEDY

A GRUESOME STORY.

Wanganui, July 23

Kinsella was ‘ charged at the Court this morning with murdering George Gordon, whose age is given at sixty. The tragedy occurred in a whare, at which place Kinsella arrived on Thursday, bringing two and a-half bottles of whisky. Yesterday morning, according to Kensella, Gordon produced a curved butcher's knife, and requested Kinsella to cut his throat. The latter states that he took the back of the knife and drew it across Gordon’s throat. Gordon felt his throat with his hand, and said: “Well, you have made a bad job of it.”

Later in the day Kinsella went to (lie Mangamahu Hotel and procured two more bottles of whisky. He invited a mailman named Gibson to join in drinking the liquor at the whare. In the evening Gibson was attending to the fire, and Gordon, in a determined manner, stretched himself down on the floor, unbuttoned his singlet, folded his arms on his chest, and asked Kinsella to cut his head off. Kinsella went out to the wood-heap, procured a heavy axe, and practically severed Gordon’s head from the body’. Gibson, while the tragedy was being enacted, was attending to the fire only a few feet away, and looked round when he heard the blow. Beyond this he could give no information, except that the two men were mates and perfectly friendly, and had no quarrel of any deserption. On the way to Wanganui the accused remarked to the police: “Poor George. We were mates together, and I won’t he able to go to his funeral.”

Kinsella had evidently been drinking freely of laic. TTis relatives live in Wellington. Deceased was well known in Wanganui, and was a labourer. The accused, when before I lie court this morning, appeared unconcerned, and apparently did not realise iho enormity of his offence. He was remanded for a week.