FATAL AFFECTION FOR GIRL

NZ Truth, Issue 1208, 24 January 1929, Page 9

FATAL AFFECTION FOR GIRL

Did Demented Youth Kill Tiny Tot To Save Her From Father's Evil Influence) BODIES IN AN ATTkTfOR FOUR MONTHS

£ither theory (From " N.Z. Truth's" Melbourne Representative). HSweif'crawKd nrst Be fn nS vie I \lr el of A mystery of a missing boy and girl of Ballarat, William Hiddte and Harriet Virtue, has been through the manthe fact that solved by the discovery of their- dead bodies m the loft of Hiddle's home after a search of four h ° le^"^raSped was^rice^ay months, They had been dead for the whole of that time. ' . loft where Hiddie gaoled for a grave Did Hiddle, knowing that evil and suffering possibly threatened the child m her own house : J," c J d sient their one nC of asa n n i S s because of the father's unnatural conduct with another daughter, put an end to both their lives L, t moments, the daughters, and, rather than let her face such a future? Or was it that he could not bear to be parted from this eiri wasg^out t?, o^ l^ * ec £ v™u ™ , pretty toddler, to whom he had been so passionately attached -since her birth? , blanket, her hands KS, J^w?^ <Ll_ : — J ■ • '• , i — - : ' ' : -6 crossed carefully

father to visit the Virtue home and take Harriet for her daily walk.' ' ' ■ . That the bottle of lysol found, by the bodies, arid which was evidently used by Hiddle to poison the child and then himself, had. been taken from the Virtue home would indicate that he knew something was wrong and that his action was premeditated. No tragedy has so appalled arid sickened Ballarat as that m which the five-year-old Harriet and the youth who disappeared with her from her home four months ago. were concerned. ■All the time that police were scouring the neighborhood and distant towns the bodies of both lay m a loft over the living quarters of Hiddle's home }n Peel Street,, a ghastly, end to what must be the most tragic and moving story of child stealing m Australia. In the first place this strange drama of two young lives blotted out m such horror commenced with the strange:. passion of. the boy, Hiddle, for Harriet when she was a baby. A friend of the Virtue/family, he was a constant caller ■ at their home, m Doveton Street, and was on such intimate terms with them that Mrs. Virtue often washed and mended his clothes, cooked his meals, and generally tended to his comfort. Peculiar Youth , Nevertheless,. the" real attraction was little Harriet, for whom he could not do enough, ministering -to her every, want,, bathing her, dressing her, and giving' her meals. Many mothers have remarked on this pddity m Hiddle, but Hiddle was a peculiar youth, riot given to' the ordinary activities of boys of his own age and preferring books of a morbid type. Then,, again, according to hig father, he was very fond of children, had no sweetheart or girl friends, and was so thoroughly domesticated that he. actually kept house for his, father right up to the time ' that he disappeared with Harriet. . By the time Harriet had reached her .fifth birthday, Hiddle's devotion to" the child had become ah obsession. He resented even her brothers and sisters or her mother and father approaching her, and. his jealousy was so pro-nounce^-tnatsii b'^cameia topic' of cbnversatlotv.lmong the neighbors.. . " • So th^-tters: stood when, on July 14, Mrs; Virtue taken to hospital with blood poisoning; and had to leave the care of her home m the hands of her husband. '■; s. ■, ■ •."•'..■' , One of the first things that ■ iuiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiii!iiiiiiiiiiiiii!iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!:iiii)ii!iiiiiiiiiiiii

Virtue did was to forbid Hiddle the house. ; ••.■- Apparently * there had been bad blood between them before, but. Hiddle seems to have disregarded the warning for, on July 18, he presented himself at the home, shortly after lunch, dressed Harriet, and took her away, and was not seen again until he was found dead recently. ' . uiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiu.'niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

[OHN KELLY, a fair son of Erin, • ■ may .be a devout worshipper, but he made a faux pas when he chose the Roman Catholic Cathedral, m Christchurch, as a suitable spot m which to sleep off the. effects of a heavy day's drinking. Kelly, according to his own admissions, had been working m the country and had not a drink for sixteen months, so' a few days on the spree took a heavy toll of his physical stability. It may have been m a moment of penitence that he wended his way to the Mother Church. Be

IIIMIIIimiMIIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMIIMIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIUII For several days Harriet's father did not worry about her absence, for Hiddle had been m the habit of taking her to his home.' m Peel Street, and there is no doubt that this delay m notifying the police handicapped them m their search for her. Detective Jackson and Plain-clothes

uumimmmmmimmmmimimmimMiimummmmmMmMimiimmiiM Constable Haclcwell began their long and systematic hunt for the missing couple. Dozens of clues were followed up, these men spending nights and days ; searching old mine shafts arid other likely hiding places around Ballarat, and even extending their search to Melbourne. ; lIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIiniMIUIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

The affair looked like being relegated to the long list of unsolved mysteries, when Ballarat. was shocked to hear that Harriet's 'father had been arrested and charged with an offence against one of his other daughters. Virtue's crime put ' Hiddle's strange behavior m a new light, and hopes were expressed that, now that the father was out of the way, the youth IIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIUIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIUIIIIII.

Drunk In Cathedral

that as it may, after being ejected two or. three times from the grounds for making a nuisance of himself, he wandered into the cathedral and there spread = himself m a drunken slumber. Kelly asked for a chance to go back to the country to work, and got it, being fined 10/- for drunkenness, and. convicted and ordered to come, up for sentence if, called upon m three months, for being found on the premises under circumstances which did not suggest the . commission of a crime.

Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiuiiimiiiuiniiiiiiiiiiiiiuinniiniiiiiunniiniiinmuiimiiimmii would return Harriet to her mother who, since the child's disappearance, has become a haggard woman, declaring again and again, until the terrible news was brought to her recently, that when night fell she felt that she must go out and search, certain that the

iiiiiiniiHimiinnmiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiniiiiuiiiniiiiiminiimiiiiiiiiiiitiiuiiiimiiiii child must be somewhere, and that she could' not rest. . There are many strange features m this tragedy, but there, is little doubt that Hiddle first administered poison to the girl, watched her. die, and then killed himself. iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinniiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiinif

over her breast, while Hlddle had crawled 18 feet away and died behind the chimney. , From the state of the bodies it was evident that both had been dead for months, and it is probable that Hiddle took the girl there within a couple of days or on the very day of their disappearance and at once ended both their- lives. ' ■ The bodies were lying m peaceful attitudes as if asleep. There was not the. slightest sign of food about the place. The girl was fully clothed, except that the hat, coat and shoes she was last seen m were on the floor near her. Hiddle had removed his coat and boots, and his head rested on a pillow. A bottle marked poison was beside him and, alongside both bodies, were condensed milk tins, m the bottom of which were the remains; of the same fluid that was found m the bottle. A spoon was m the girl's tin, as though Hiddle had fed the child with the poisoned" milk. Mrs. Virtue told "Truth" that nearly three months ago she had missed a bottle of lysol, and this week she the bottle found m the loft as the one belonging to her. She also said that Hiddle knew she had the bottle m her house. The police theory is that Hiddle took the girl' to his father's house m the daytime, secured the tin of condensed Poisoned Milk • ■ milk from the safe m the kitchen immediately under the loft, mixed poison with the milk, and then fed the. girl with it and later took a quantity of it himself. • A doubt has been expressed that the bodies of young- Hiddle and Harriet could have remained m the ceiling of the Hiddle home for months unknown to the occupants below, but the room is just under the loft and was never used, and the trapdoor was always closed, and fitted so tightly that the odor from the , bodies: could not penetrate. ) ■ . Neighbors had been troubled by a bad smell over a month ago, but attributed it to blocked gutter's m the Hiddle home and, even when the police entered the house, there was no odor to indicate the gruesome remains m the, ceiling. / „'.„■.-./ > '■;:■;;•• j In' the pocket of Hiddle's clothing was a slip of paper giving the date of Harriet's birthday, and rea.ding: Harriet Lois Virtye, 1923. Daughter of Robert and Mary Virtue, 412 Doveton Street, Bal- " larat.' - '. ; r \ /: . : ' ;. / • \' iiiitAiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiii