MYSTERIOUS SUICIDE AT TERRACE GAOL

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 2964, 19 November 1925, Page 3

MYSTERIOUS SUICIDE AT TERRACE GAOL

DOCTOR DEMONSTRATES HOW IT WAS DONE.

Wellington, November 18.

The method used by the prisoner William Hayden at Terrace gaol of committing suicide on Saturday last has been solved.

The prisoner was about to be committed to a mental hospital and had to be placed in a refractory belt on Saturday morning, owing to his violence. Shortly after one o’clock, he was found dead. Although securely bound and handcuffed, he managed to take the strap off his legs and place it. in a running noose round his neck, then attach it to an iron ring bolted to the wall about two feet above the floor. How this was possible was demostrated at the Coroner’s inquest to-day. Dr. McEvedy was placed in the refractory belt handcuffed and bound round the ankles with a strap. By drawing up his knees and spreading them apart, he was able to unfasten the buckle on the belt, place the belt round his neck and attach it to the ring. The solution of the mystery was thus given. Evidence was even given as to the finding of the body of deceased. It was stated that strapping - was perfectly warranted and in the ordinary way would have been quite safe.

The pathologist at the gaol said death was due to heart failure following concussion. The injuries to the deceased’s head could have been caused by bumping against a brick wall. Death was not due to suffocation.

Chief Gaoler Scanlon gave evidence as to the reception of prisoner, his conduct generally and to the fact that he commenced getting very restless, until his condition be-r-nme such that he had to he confined in a refractory belt. The first witness was mystified as to how deceased could have got in the position in which he was found, but after seeing the demonstration by Dr. McEvecly, recognised how easily deceased could have done what he did.

An ordinary straight-ja'eket was not used at the gaol and there was no padded cell, owing to the prison being partly demolished. Witness said that before the belt, was placed ’on Hayden the latter was injuring his head and rolling about the cell before he was bound.

The coroner reviewed the facts of the case and said it appear strange how prisoner could have committed suicide, but looking at the methods adopted, it was evident that at the time the procedure adopted seemed a safe one. It could not be shown that the officers had acted other than reasonably. There was no padded cell at the gaol at the time because part of the building had been removed, but in a short time the whole of the prisoners would be removed. Regarding the method of securing a warrant to committal from the gaol to an asylum, an amendment of the Statute would be necessary to enable the procedure to be shortened. A verdict of suicide, no blame being attachable to anybody, was returned.