ATTEMPTED MURDER AND DETERMINED SUICIDE.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 854, 10 January 1879, Page 2

ATTEMPTED MURDER AND DETERMINED SUICIDE.

Dune din, January 9.

A suicide and. attempted murder occurred on the Bth inst., between Opliir and Blacks. Mrs. Waldreon was riding on horseback in company with a friend, who was driving a reaping machine. They were going through one of the loneliest parts of tlie road, with great rocks towering all around, when suddenly a man, supposed to be Mrs. Waldreon's husband, jumped out from an ambush and presented a shot gun at her. She was a little behind her friend, and called out, "Don't shoot me Waldreon," bending her head down under cover of the horse's neck to protect her face and breast. He immediately fired, and the contents of the gun lodged principally in her right arm, lacerating it to a frightful extent. Her horse, which received a portion of the shot in tlie shoulder, and that of her friend, bolted. When her friend heard the report he looked round, and saw Mrs. Waldreon fall and the man rapidly "reloading the gun. He lifted the injured woman up, and carried her to Mrs. Low's residence. She was very weak and bleeding profusely. Next morning a search party went out to arrest Waldreon, and found his dead body behind a rock. He had shot himself. Mrs. Waldreon is now lvinc ac the Commercial Hotel, St. Batlians, under the care of the local surgeon, who thinks it will be possible to save her arm. Waldreon had been absent two years, during which time he had contributed nothing to the support of his wife and family. Great sympathy is expressed in the district for Mrs. Waldreon, who has resided there fourteen years, and is noted for her industry.