MIDNIGHT SCREAMS REVEAL GRISLY LOVE TRAGEDY

NZ Truth, Issue 1187, 30 August 1928, Page 1

MIDNIGHT SCREAMS REVEAL GRISLY LOVE TRAGEDY

Hospital Nurse Brutally Battered To Death By Rejected Suitor In Jealous Rage

SUICIDE OF FOUL SLAYER CLOSES CHAPTER OF HORROR

A Hideous Sight

f\F a truth, jealousy is the paralysis of love. It drains the well of fine endeavor, makes beasts of men and winnows the finer instincts of womanhood to the shallow hull of uncharitableness. To this contention is subscribed the brutal slaying of Nurse Mclnnes, whose death provides a terrible example.

(From "N.Z. Truth's" Special Dunedin Representative.) THE CRUEL EYE of jealousy has instilled its venom into the lives of countless thousands of men and women, bringing with it a litter of tragedy and bitter ruin. The poignant spirit of unrequited love is often no less cruel m its aftermath, of which there can be no more ghastly example than the murder of Margaret Mclnnes by her erstwhile lover, Thomas Ellis, at Waiiati, near Dunedin, last week* Jealousy— and a frustrated passion for the girl who had consented to become his wife — set a flame to Ellis' kindling brain, quickening his desire to carry with him the soul ofthe girl who had forsaken his love for that of another suitor.

SHORTLY before midnight on Thurs- I day of last week, "Peggy" Mclnnes | was smashed to her death by the blows of a man she no longer loved sufficiently ever to call him "husband." It must be assumed that m his insensate passion for her, he decided to quench for all time, her love for his rival. When the sad news of the dreadful j affair became known, every village and hamlet for miles around was infused with a ceaseless, babbling conjecture. The gruesomeness of the ' situation penetrated the normal tranquility of the countryside and. all routine seemed broken by the suddenness with which the news descended upon.it. It appears that shortly before—midnight on Thursday, August 23, an attendant named Ashworth was making his rounds of the .Orokonui mental asyluriiv 'situated £a^f ew- miles, to thenorthward of Dunedin. Suddenly, through the still corridors of the hospital, he heard a loud moaning sound, apparently coming from the direction of a plantation which stretches along the roadside on the way toWaitati. As the cries were so> insistent and clearly emitted by someone m intense pain, lie hurriedly left the hospital and quickly ran down the road. As he proceeded towards the plantation, the man's cries grew m intensity. When Ashworth had thrust his way through the bush, he came upon a dishevelled man, gesticulating wildly and writhing m agony, blood issuing from a terrible gash m his throat. He was hatless and coatless, while his collar ahd tie. had similarly disappeared. By the time the attendant was seized of the full possibilities m tho situation, the flow of blood from the injured man's neck, had somewhat diminished and Ashworth decided to enlist the help of the hospital authorities, as Ellis was clearly m a dying condition.

Hastening- to the hospital, the attendant secured a stretcher and further assistance 'from another hospital employee, meantime telephoning to the local constable. Securing, lanterns, Ashworth ancl Stewart, the other attendant, hurriedly left 'the asylum, directed by even louder screams than those previously heard' toy Ashworth, when first the tragedy was made apparent to him. They came upon Ellis m a leafy, secluded little byway, through the bush at the roadside, gasping out some incoherent mumblings which they were unable to understand. He was then lying on his side, his neck almost severed by a deep knife wound, whilst his left wrist also disclosed a minor incision, obviously inflicted with some sharp instrument. Gently raising the man, they placed him on the stretcher and carried' him —carefully, yet with expeditious haste — m the direction of the hospital. So well had Ellis carried out his intention, however, that before Ashworth and Stewart could bring him within the care of a doctor, he had expired when the party reached the hospital gates, leaving no indication as to his identity or the reason for his self -mutilation. At that time' there was nothing to show that Ellis' was anything more than a case of suicide and when Constable Pearce arrived from Waitati, it was decided to place the body m the hospital morgue, pending identification and the customary inquiry. Four hours later it was discovered that Nurse Mclnnes was missing from the nurses' quarters and once again the attendant, Ashworth, was roused Irom his bed. "When he received intimation that the girl was missing—and realizing, perhaps, that the suicide of Eilis mignt have some connection .with the disappearance ot-Miss Mclnnes — Ashworth immediately telephoned to Constable Pearce, who hurriedly made his way tb the hospital grounds, where he met Ashworth and straightway proceeded^ to search. At half- past five, after a most thorough search of the neighborhood contiguous to the grounds of the institution, they came upon the hideous spectacle of Nurse Mclnnes' inert body, the head shockingly battered and resting on the base of a large pine tree, her throat horribjy slashed with knife wounds. Although there were no signs of a struggle, a number of personal belongings of Ellis and his sweetheart

iiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuimiiiiiiniiifiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiititiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiniimiiiiiiiii were strewn over the ground; his overcoat, coat, waistcoat, collar and tie, a pair of kid gloves, with the hats belonging to the man and the girl, were found quite close to where her body was found. The left side of her skull was almost shattered by the ferocity of the blows which Ellis showered upon her, a gaping Avound had cleaved the. top of her forehead, whilst her throat was. opened with a wide slash, commencing from her left ear and indicative of the, tremendous force which Ellis must have exerted to carry out his frightful act. -In the ■ flickering lights of the two lanterns, the men, horrified by the pitiful mutilation of the dead girl, could

Just behind the murdered girl's nead was a large handkerchief, drenched with blood. Inside this handkerchief was a huge stone, some fourteen or sixteen ounces m weight, around which the fabric had been knotted, forming ; the deadly weapon with which Ellis had undoubtedly com- .' mitted the murder. The attention of the. searchers was then, directed to the finding of the knife with which Ellis finally dispatched, his one-time sweethearts To and fro, backwards and forwards, went the two men, until at. length they discovered" an ordinary pocket-knife,

noon following, at which the coroner (Magistrate Bartholomew) intimated th&t.the facts of the tragedy were only too plain. "It is obvious that Nurse Mclnnes was murdered by Ellis, who then cut his own throat," was his comment at the conclusion of the coronial proceedings. A verdict m those terms was recorded. There are many poignant elements underlying the deaths of these two, people; a narrative of passion which never was ■to be satisfied; of a man's love which was turned aside for the affection of another man. The fount of the story seems to be m the meeting of Ellis and Miss Mclnnes some six months ago, when she was stationed as a nurse at the Seacliff mental hospital, .whilst he 1 was employed by the Love, Construction Company, •m the erection of- a new wing at the asylum. In point of ability, she was unusually capable, whilst her disposition had attracted many people towards her. She was twenty-fi^e ' years of age, v whilst her murderer,'* a plasterer by trade, was nine years her senior. It is understood that he was - divorced from his wife. , According to a young nurse named Muriel Adele Laurent, who appears to have been the confidant of Miss Mclnnes, the girl was enamored of two men, between whom she could not decide as to which should be her life partner. Nurse Mclnnes had attended a dance less than a week before she met her death — and it was then that she aroused the ire of Ellis, because she danced with a number of other men and had not given him an opportunity of paying attention to 'her. She danced with so many other men that after the function he taxed her with her apparent casualness towards him. Their argument finally resulted m a quarrel.

Avoided A Scene

Afterwards, he took her to a relative's house m Dunedin, late at night. On the Tuesday evening, the dead girl had told Nurse Laurent that she was "finished" with Ellis, particularly as the result of his attude when she was returning to Waitati. It seems that on the Monday afternoon, Ellis went to where Miss McInnes was waiting: for the bus. In order to avoid a scene, she stepped into the taxi m which he had arrived and returned with him to Waitati. • • / On the evening following, the girl handed a letter addressed: "Mr. T. Ellis, care of Mr. McKenzie, Seacliff," to Nurse Laurent, asking her to post it m Dunedin, stressing the importance of its being posted m the city. When Thursday morning came and no reply had been received, she seemed overcast with worry, for she was expecting a response to her letter, which had contained the intimation that her love for Ellis had dwindled. Although outwardly she showed no sign of uneasiness, to her friend she confided that she dreaded his reply, though she hoped he would answer every question she had asked him. But no reply came. The dead girl made no secret of the fact that she did not wish to see him again as a lover. At ten -past six on the Thursday evening, a man. who was recognized as Ellis .called at the hospital and asked for Nurse Mclnnes. When she came to the door, he was invited inside. A few minutes afterwards he left the hospital. When he had gone, his onetime, sweetheart told the nurses that she had decided to invite Ellis to meet her and discuss the decision at which she had arrived. As' she was -on duty .until eight o'clock she was unable to meet Ellis earlier m the evening, but shortly after her work was finished, she left the ■hospital, clad m her uniform, covered by a brown coat. . . It appears that her conversation with Ellis had been none too happy, as .when he- departed she burst into tears, telling her friends that Ellis had. some bad news for her, but the nature of the news she did not vouschafe. When the two attendants found her pooi% shattered body early next morning, they saw her clothes were very much disarranged, but the medical testimony of the doctor who was called discountenanced any suggestion of imnaorai outrage. I ; ■.'■'• % v

"DEGGY" McINNES, a bright-eyed * girl of twenty-five, discovered that her love for Thomas Ellis was but ephemeral ... and before marriage had set the seal upon their lives, she told him she never could marry him. In- jealous rage he murdered" her, then killed himself • • • his rival ousted!