MISSING GUN AND RIGID SILENCE

NZ Truth, Issue 1290, 28 August 1930, Page 7

MISSING GUN AND RIGID SILENCE

.» ■ < ■ Price Affair Now Relegated To List of Unsolved Mysteries (From "N.Z. Truths Palmerston North Representative.) ■ ' Will the amazing 1 Price mystery of Palmerston North ever be solved? That one vital clue^ the missing- weapon, with which Walter Edwin Price met his death, has lent significance to the theory of murder; a theory which the majority of medical experts iii the case declared to be untenable. . ' ■ AH the circumstances taken into account the theory of suicide is supported overwhelmingly by facts;: but again there is that missing gun — and young John Price's unshaken declaration that he knows nothing more than he has already told to the Coroner.

RUMORS of a dramatic climax tc the affair were not realised when the inquest was resumed by the Coroner, Mr. J. C. Stout, S.M.. Detective Quirke asked permission to recall John Price, who entered the witness-box to answer question^ as tc his movements on the day he and his mother and brother left for a motor trip up north to visit relatives after the inquest was adjourned m May. i ■ Detective Quirke: Did you do anything out of the ordinary that day? — I don't remember that. Did you dig anything out of the garden and put it m your pocket? .-^On one of those days I remember burying a cat. You didn't take anything- out of the ground ? — No, sir. i Dorothy Nagel, who lives across the road from the Price residence, said that on the day the Prices left on their holiday she and Myrtle Smith, a friend, were looking out of their dining-room window and saw John Price poking about the garden with what appeared to be a" stick. : . ' Myrtle Smith added a little to what Dorothy Nagrel had said. There was no sign of a spade or • of a cat, she said, but John bent down, picked something up out of the ground that looked like a tin or small box, wiped it and put it m his pocket. \ ■ ' ■' He then went inside and shortly after to the car m the backyard. Absence of Gun "His Worship delivered his verdict immediately.- He regretted that there had been a deadlock. The inquest had lasted a- considerable time and he had given ample opportunity to the Price family to endeavor to help the police to clear the matter up, but they had got no' further . than the first statement made by the only person m the h,ouse on the night of the tragedy— John. Price, deceased's son. 1 His Worship dismissed the possibility of accidental 1 death. There was, however, a good deal of< evidence : to support the theory of siucide^r-the. seemingly 'prepared posititin of the body and the nature of the wound. The balance of medical testimony was that the wound was selfinflicted, but against that there was the absence of the gun. If it was a case of suicide then certain evidence should have been before the court which has .been deliberately suppressed and there was only one person who could have done this and that was the person who found the body.- ; , -

) The theory of murder had not, been i raised by the police. It was the sug- > gestion of John Price. It was only a suggestion and although there was the ! possibility that such a wound could i have been inflicted by a third party, I the balance of medical evidence was . against it. Nevertheless, there was no suspicion . that anj' other person was m the house that night except John Price and deceased; nor was there a "motive for anyone doing away with deceased. There was no suggestion that anyone would benefit except the family which might benefit by insurance. Threats of Suicide Further, there were no suggestions ' for a long time that deceased, had / made threats of suicide and the court | heard nothing about it until he, the ■ coroner, had pointed out that he would be sorry to have to find as suggested 1 by relatives, that it was a case of murder which meant that a certain amount of suspicion would attach to the only other person m the house. It was only then that Mrs. Price sent a message by her solicitor, that there had been threats of suicide. It was a great pity that this evidence was not tendered before. » ■• . ; The statement was then made to protect the boy. It was rather strange also that a private lertter from relatives should have been sent to himself, ; which must frave been written about the time John Price and his mother were visiting relatives m Auckland. This letter went out of its way to suggest on what good terms Price and his wife had always been, also John Price and his father. That also appeared a move by the family because of the suspicion attaching to the boy. l Mr. JtfcGregor stated that this was the first he had heard of the matter. The Coroner: Until to-day I didn't know John Price and his mother had been away. It is rather a curious thing that the letter was posted round , about that time. The poroner said the question facing 'him was how the wound was inflicted. He would have liked to have found definitely for suicide because then no suspicion would have rested on anyone. There was a grave suspicion that John Price' had not told . everything. However, he could not say definitely that the wound was self-inflicted, but it was apparently so. He would retm ; n whnt was really an open verdict — that Walter Edwin Price died of a gunshot wound apparently self-inflicted. That was as far as he could go.