When Death Leaped Front A Gun Barrel But Missed Its Quarry

NZ Truth, Issue 1215, 14 March 1929, Page 7

When Death Leaped Front A Gun Barrel But Missed Its Quarry

"TED, I'M SHOT; I'M DONE FOR"

Gardener Recluse Allegedly Shoots "Trespasser" Who Failed To Shut The Gate FACES CHARGE OF~XTTEMPTED MURDER

(From " N.Z. Truth's" Special Christchurch Representative)

The shutting of a gate may m itself seem a trifling matter to the man m the street, but. to John Armstrong it has proved a serious matter, the consequences from which yet may have a seriously prejudicial effect upon his state of health. , : " -■ . ; ; • . ■. ■ • ' .' ■■'...-■ ■ ....;. '•...■ ■ ". .. .• "I • - . ■'■' ' ' ~ "To-day, Armstrong lies m the Christchurch Hospital suffering from gunshot wounds ( which were caused allegedly through an altercation following m the train of an open gateway/ ; „ ,

A: FEW mornings ago such a position arose m Papanui, a suburb of i Christchurch, and, following on an altercation and some shooting, John Armstrong,' aged 42, a married man, living at 115, Salisbury Street, lies m the hospital while Frederick Ricliardsori,'aged's6, a market gardener, is m custody, on remand, answering a charge of to murder Armstrong.; /■ . . , For some twelve years, Richardson, a bachelor, has) through intensive cultivation, maintained himself from a patch of ground, two acres . m extent, m Green's Road, Papanui, a desolate, thinly-populated area, south-east of the Great North Road. Richardson had few friends, and led more or less the life of a recluse. His excursions from his home mainly comprised his visits to the city to market his product; . of the soil. He had few' 1 callers at the. place, and the impression was generally accepted m the locality that he disliked trespassers on his property. On the front boundary of his section stands a notice-board which cannot fair to command attention from anyone who passes that way. Community Lane It bears, the inscription: "I am not responsible for the condition of the right-of-way. I have done my bit. — F. Richardson." Just what this intimation is intended to convey to the passer-by only Richardson knows. The right-of-way is a grassy, illkept thoroughfare, and would be difficult for anything but horse-drawn traffic to negotiate m bad weather as there is little, metal on it. The lane serves a community purpose, giving access to another property as well as Richardson's, and from his sign, which is slightly weatherworn, it indicates that there may have been differences of opinion between him and previous tenants of the neighboring property regarding the maintenance of the track. . His house stands about two chains down the right-of-way which is off Green's road, and opposite him, a little further along the right-of-way, is the home of Edward Henry Bartlett (/ a market-gardener. . Bartlett has not been very long . m possession at Green's Road, but he and his wife were on quite friendly and. neighborly terms withy Richardson. Mrs. Bartlett recently was spending a few days with Mrs. Armstrong, at Salisbury Street, m the city, and had

left a hand-; sewing-machine behind her when she left for her own home. Armstrong, who has been out of work for some weeks, was m- the habit of going- daily to the Belfast freezing ! works. to apply for employment, and as he passed Green's Road on the way to the works he decided, on the" morning of the affray, to call on the Bartletts and deliver the sewing-machine. '.'.' There is a. community gateway at the head of the right-of-way giving access to both JBartlett's and Richardson's properties, and this 'had apparently been left open by somebody, for •Bartlett had found his cow, which had been grazing m the right-of-way, wandering on Green's Road. On the Fx-iday morning, shortly after he arose; he saw Richardson, and questioned him whether he had left the

gate open, as the cow had wandered. He was afraid it might be impounded if it got out again. Richardson denied that he had left the gate open, but said he found it open when he went to get his morning paper, and added that Armstrong, who had called at Bartlett's house the previous morning, must have left it open. Probably nothing more would have been heard of the matter had not Bartlett advised Armstrong ■ when he called with the sewingmachine on the Friday morning, to be sure to shut the gate when he went out. Armstrong replied that he always did shut the gate, and this led to Bart-

lett repeating to Armstrong' the"conversation he had had with Richardson that morning. Armstrong appeared to resent the implication, and resolved to appear before his accuser and deny.his guilt. . He informed Bartlett that he would go across the lane to Richardson's house and tell him that. he was not responsible for the gate being found open. ■'■'■..' What happened after that is a matter . between Armstrong and Richardson. • When Armstrong left the house he was accompanied as far as Bartlett's front gate "by little Zoe Bartlett, the two-and-a- half-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Bartlett. . At that point Armstrong sent the child back, she waved good-bye to him,

and he proceeded along the lane to Richardson's house alone. A very few moments elapsed, however, before the child went running m to her mother, terrified at what had happened, and though, as is' quite natural'for a' child of her years, she cannot describe what actually took place, she apparently could, see from the gate of her father's property some of the happenings. Within two minutes of his leaving, the inmates of Bartlettts, house, who were Mr. and Mrs. Bartlett, and Mrs. A. Lynch, heard a shot fired. Mrs. Bartlett, who was m bed at the time, took no notice of the .shooting, thinking it was someone firing at a Illlllllllllllllllllllllilllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllilllllllllllllllllllllllllllillllllll.

rabbit, but. she quickly, learned that there had been trouble when Armstrong i came. staggering back, : preceded by the little girl; and gasped: "Ted, I'm shot, I'm done for. Richardson has shot me." Armstrong alleges that, as he was walking across the lane to Richardson's house, Richardson challenged him to get off the place, "or he would put him off." How Richardson knew the nature of, Armstrong's business is difficult to determine, as the men, according to Mrs. Armstrong, were total . strangers, i and her, husband told her when he regained | consciousness that he had never seen Richardson m his life before. Armstrong says he offered no opposition to Richardson's command to leave the place, and alleges tjiat he had not walked very far away when he was hit from behind with the discharge from a shotgun. He^ was peppered with pellets, fourteen of which hit him oh the face, neck and shoulder. Armstrong was given what attention was possible by Mrs. Bartlett and Mrs. Lynch until Dr. L. B. Stringer had him Quiet Old Man removed to the hospital; where he is still an inmate. Richardson had made no effort to leave the place and was subsequently arrested by Detectives S. N. W. Laugeson and J. Findlay. He was later m the day brought before Mr.; H. P. Lawry, S.M. arid charged with attempted murder, and was remanded for a week. „ Richardson appeared very nervous when directed into the dock, and was obviously relieved when the legal preliminaries <were over. : Though he is a well-known figure m the scattered community m which he has resided for a long time, Richardson is little known to people m the locality. He is^-described as a: quiet old man, and never asked for anything but to be left alone to himself. . His home and small plot of ground he regarded more m the nature of a sanctuary, and he jealously guarded its boundaries, and had a firm dislike of trespassers. Armstrong's condition is not regarded as being serious/though at the beginning of the . week ■ the doctors feared that septic poisoning would result from the-.'skin eruptions' caused by the pellets. * , There.'is no question of animosity between the two men, as they were total strangers.'