MURDERED WOMAN

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 72, 16 June 1927, Page 11

MURDERED WOMAN

Body Found in Scrub — Terrible Injuries to Head BLOOD-SOAKED SHIRT FOUND (.Special to THB SUN.") CHRISTCHURCH, To-day. SEARCHING for his cows in some scrub at Burwood yesterday, a boy discovered the body of a murdered woman... He asserts that he saw a man running away. The woman has not been identified. A new development this morning was the discovery by a schoolboy of portion of a blood-soaked shirt on the Burwood Road, close to the scene of the murder. The shirt had obviously been tom off by the murderer as he made his escape. That the police are not looking for the murderer in Burwood was shown by the fact that this morning not a single policeman or detective visited the neighbourhood.

The woman was aged about 30 years. The boy communicated immediately With the Rev. C. A. Tobin, who -went to the scene and tound the body of the woman. TERRIBLY INJURED The head was terribly injured, two deep wounds being inflicted, one over each eye. The body was lying on its back and was that of a short, fairly stout woman. There was much blood on the ground, indicating that there had been a struggle. The woman was dressed in a navy blue dress, with black stockings and black shoes, a greenish-coloured cardigan, and a fawn overcoat. A black hat was under a bush about four feet from the body. Nearby were a short umbrella of stylish shape, a brown paper parcel, and a small attache case. In the attache case were a clean nightdress, a comb and brush, and odds and eds of a woman's toilet. The brown paper parcel contained two pairs of shoes and a black fur. OFTEN MET FOR LUNCH

The boy Eric Mumford states that he was just riding into the scrub in Lake Terrace Road in search of his cows when he saw a man, small in stature and wearing a dark suit and a dark felt hat, running through the broom. At the same time he noticed a leg protruding through a gap in the scrub. The man was heading in a north-easterly direction which, if continued, would bring him out on to Bottle Lake Road.

The boy immediately went to the spot, and, gathering the position from a glance, rushed off to give the alarm. He did not survey the location in minute detail and thought that the body on the ground was that of a man. He did not see the face of the man who whs running away. “I think I have seen the woman on a number of occasions,” added the boy. “She used to come down Bottle Lake Road and meet a tramcar at about mid-day. On it would be a man in a tweed suit with no hat and dark hair,

brushed straight back. He would join the woman and the two would walk a little way down Bottle Lake Roau when they would turn Into the broom and sit down to have lunch. The woman always carried an attache case, similar to the one found with the murdered woman’s body. The man would be of about that age. However, I have not seen the pair for nearly a month, and even when I used to see them It was not every day. They would come on a Monday and then I would not see them again until Wednesday.”

BLOWS STRUCK FROM FRONT It would appear that the woman was struck from the front with some heavy cornered instrument. There are two deep incisions in her forehead, one over each eye, and her head had been further badly injured. Dr. Beveridge Davis, who examined the body, found that in addition to the wounds in the forehead there were wounds in the scalp itself. The wounds indicated that they had been inflicted by some heavy instrument, possibly of iron. In the scrub four yards away from the body was found & tuft of human hair, brown in col our and about six inches long. It was not the colour of the woman’s hair and looked as if it had been pulled out In a struggle. The woman’s hands were clenched.

IDENTIFIED!

DAUGHTER OF WELL-KNOWN PUBLIC MAN CHRISTCHURCH, To-day. The murder victim has been identified as Gwendoline Searff, of 11 Thorrington Street, Cashmere. She was single and was in domestic service and was not living at home. Her father is Mr. Walter Searff. chairman of the Heathcote County Council.