A SORDID TRAGEDY

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 2390, 9 February 1922, Page 3

A SORDID TRAGEDY

MURDER AND ATTEMPTED SUICIDE. Thames, Feb. 8. It was reported to the police yesterday afternoon that a tragedy had occurred near Pipiroa on the Hauraki Plains. The police and a doctor proceeded by launch and a Lands Department tram to the scene. Near a little hut standing back from the road they found a man, Arthur William Page, aged 33, lying with a gaping wound in his left breast. In the cottage lay Mrs Gladys Hutchinson, aged 30, shockingly wounded. The right arm was practically severed, the lower part of the face and jaw were smashed, and there were other injuries. Both parties were conscious. The woman died before reaching the hospital. Page tvas attended to and it is stated that his injuries are not serious.

It appears that the woman was married to Thomas Hutchinson, a man of Maori descent, living near Turun. They were married 15 years and there are three children. About five months ago the woman left her husband and went to live with Page. Apparently the woman meant to leave Page and return home, judging by parcels that were found alongside the scgie of the tragedy. It is reported that Page secured a gun from a neighbour’s house. When found it was fully loaded. The scene was appalling. Page was lying on the bank of the Pipiroa road, about half a mile from the wharf, covered in blood. A constable took charge of the party, and they returned to the whare. Near by it was a hat, a bag, biscuits, a cardboard box, and much blood. Within on a wire mattress lay the woman, her face unrecognisable. The right arm was practically severed, and a bone protruded from the lower jaw. The' roof of the mouth was smashed. She was still bleeding freely. Two cartridge wads and pellets were taken out of the wound while the woman was still conscious. The woman was placed on a door put across the motor seats for the long journey to Thames. Page followed in the next car ,and smoked freely and chatted to the police.