AWFUL ORDEAL

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 62, 4 November 1931, Page 4

AWFUL ORDEAL

man shot dead HUSBAND KILLED WHEN MAKING BRUTUAL ATTACK ON HIS WIFE SYDNEY, Friday. Lying in a corner, bruised and half dazed from blows inflicted by her husband, a wife saw him shot dead in a desperate struggle with another man which raged back and forth in the bedroom of a flat in Dowlingstreet, Surry Hills, last night. George Inman, aged 33, a railway plate-layer, was the victim. During a wild fight, in which furniture was smashed and the floor bespattered with blood, he crumpled in a heap near a door with a bullet in the head. The other man dashed down the stairs, and vanished in the darkness. A two-storey flat of the better class, facing Moore Park was the scene of the tragedy, which the police state, was the culmination of years of domestie turmoil. Before the house, on the asphalt footpath, some wandering evangelist had chalked the text: "Your sins shall iind you out." Bitter quarrels between Inman arid his wife led to their separation last January. Mrs. Inman told the police that her husband had often beaten her cruelly. She feared him. Saved Her Daughter. Inman, about 9 o'clock last night, staggered into the back yard of the flat. He was very drunk. "Where's my wife. I want my wife," he yelled. "Don't let him in," called the landlady, who knew Inman's violent habits. But Inman, in an ungovernable rage, burst in the back door with his shoulder and stumbled up the stairs. When she heard his shout in the yard, Mrs. Inman thrust her six-years-old daughter into a room, locked the door, and barricaded herself in another room with a eouple of ehairs, which she piled against the door. Inman charged wildly against the door. It yielded to his battering, and he tumbled into the room amid the crashing furniture. Mrs. Inman had one arm takeri off some years ago. With her single arm she sought to protect herself, and called loudly for help. At this Inman made a savage attack on his wife. Mrs. Inman was sent crashing into a corner by several blows in the face. Her husband then sprang at her and gripped her by the throat. A Defender. At that moment, a man dashed up the stairs and into the bedroom. He leaped at Inman and broke his grip on the woman's throat. A fierce fight followed. Inman turned on the man, and, locked in each other's grip, they reeled around the room, upsetting the dressing table, sweeping pictures from the wall, and falling over chair s. A revolver glittered under the electric light. Two pairs of hands strained and scraped grimly for possession of the weapon. The fighting men crashed over a chair, they were up again, and the battle for the gun grew fiercer. As tHey smashed against the wall, a shot sounded above the noise of the struggle. Inman crumpled up with a bullet of .32 calibre in the temple. Another bullet of similar calibre was found later on the floor. The Man Hunt. When Inman fell, the other man hurried down the stairs, and the hunt for him was begun by the police wireless patrol, led by Deteetive Shields Later, Deteetive Sergeant Miller and Detectives James and Alford joined in the search. Investigation by the police showed that on Saturday afternoon a sister of Mrs. Inman took the latter's small daughter to a picture theatre. They were returning along Crown Street when they encountered Inman, who was then showing signs of drink. He slapped the little girl and shouted at her, "Tell me where mummy lives." The child ran home with her father in pursuit, but when he reached the house he was refused admittance by the landlady.