MIDNIGHT INTRUDER KILLED.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXXIII, Issue 9138, 6 May 1908, Page 6

MIDNIGHT INTRUDER KILLED.

BURGLAR SHOT DEAD IN SCOTTISH* MAN SION.

Aroused in the dead of night by suspicious sounds, Mr James* Fleming, the young son of Mrs Montgomerie Fleming, of Beaconsfield, Kelvinside, Glasgow, discovered a burglar in the house. The intruder opened fire with a Mr Fleming replied, and shot his opponent dead. Beaconsfield, which was the birthplace of Sir Henry Campbell-Banner-man, stands on the banks of the River Kelvin, in the west end of Glasgow, and is surrounded by spacious grounds. Here resides Mrs Montgomerie Fleming, widow of the Laird of Kelvinside, with her son James, a young man of 23, and her daughter. When the rest of the houshold retired to rest, Mr Fleming, who is a law student, remained up reading. About one in the morning he went into the dining-room, and whil* there a peculiar noise attracted his attention. It appeared®to come from the morning-room, but there was nobody there. Then it seemed to be in the garden. Mr Fleming looked r out of the window and saw to his ; astonishment a man climbing up the metal framework supporting the ivy which covers the house walls. Noiselessly withdrawing, Mr Fleming ran to the telephone in another part of the house, rang up the police, and told them that a burglar was just entering/the house. Then he took from a drawer a revolver, loaded it, and went quickly back to the morning-room, carrying the weapon in his hand. Meanwhile the burglar, all unconscions that his presence was known, had arrived at the window, lowered the top sash, and dropped inside. As he did so, Mr Fleming, who had been, waiting with his hand on the electric switch, suddenly turned on the light and confronted the startled robber. FIGHT FOR LIFE.

What followed is described by Mr Fleming. He mentioned|that lie had' telephoned to the police, and he politely invited the burglar—a burly ; fellow —to accompany him to another room, where he could await their arrival. Mr Fleming added 'a little , advice as to making no noise that might rouse the * household, and . significantly observed that he had a ; revolver which was loaded.

Realisinglthat he was trapped, the desperate burglar whipped a revolver from his pocket and fired twice. One of the bullets grazed Mr Fleming’s head and crashed into the glass front of a bookcase. It was a fight for - life now. Mr Fleming fired two shots at random,, in reply, and then shot straight at his treacherous antagonist. The man fell dead with a bullet in hig heart.

Mr Fleming rang up his family doctor to attend to the man’s injuries. A moment later the police arrived, at the house, and the body : •was removed to the mortuary. Later in the day the dead man was identified as a notorious burglary and ex-convict named John McLeod, alias Gibson, alias Webster, a stonemason, and a native of Auchencairn, Kirkcudbrightshire, who has undergone several terms of imprisonment. In his possession was found a complete burglar’s outfit. He carried an electric lamp, new sheath knife (9in or lOin in length), pair of pliers, a crape mask, two screwdrivers, 33 revolver cartridges, several keys. McLeod boots and’coat were found on the lawn. His body was claimed by his relatives. Later in’ the day on which McLeod was shot a letter arrived from a well-to-do brother in South Africa, inviting the dead man to join him. No proceedings are to be taken against Mr Fleming. The procurator fiscal has decided that it was a case of justifiable homicide.