WHERE IS THE GUN?

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 916, 8 March 1930, Page 1

WHERE IS THE GUN?

Palmerston North Mystery MURDER OR SUICIDE PROBLEM Special to THE SU.V PALMERSTON NORTH. Today. IF the gun that killed Mr. Walter Edwin Price can be found, the mystery of his death is likely to be solved.

Further inquiries concerning the death of Mr. Walter Edwin Price, who was found lying across his bed on Wednesday morning with a bullet wound in his head, have not brought matters to a definite conclusion. Both Mr. Price’s sons are confident that their father was murdered, but neither can suggest a motive, and state that so far as they know' their father was without enemies. John Price, deceased’s son, who slept in the next room, states that on the night of the tragedy the house was unsecured. The doors were not locked, and so far as he knows the window-catches were not fastened. Entrance to deceased’s bedroom could be obtained from a verandah on to which one of the bedroom windows opens. The other window faces on to the ground, which has been prepared for sowing as a lawn. This ground would clearly show’ footmarks, but Mr. John Price states that so far as he knows there were no traces to indicate that any person crossed the law’n, either approaching or leaving the house. Points leading one to the conviction that Mr. Price died by his own hand are that the wound was of such a nature that it could have been selfinflicted and when discovered one of deceased’s hands was rigid as if he had been grasping a gun. Mr. Price was a likeable man, apparently without enemies, and there was apparently no motive for murder. NO SIGNS OF INTRUDER

The house showed no signs of a search by an intruder with burglary as his motive. Judging by the powderblackened wound in deceased’s skull the bullet entered at the corner of the mouth and travelled up toward the top of the skull, a natural wound to be received, assuming that he put. the muzzle of the gun to his mouth and fired, but a difficult wound to be inflicted by another person. On the other hand there is the fact that the gun from which the fatal shot w r as fired is missing. As Senior-Detective Quirke stated, when interviewed, the gun could not have walked away, and the fact that

this gun is missing is the strongest, point in favour of the murder theory. BODY COULD NOT HAVE FALLEN Again, in the position in which it was found, the body could not have fallen naturally, leading to the assumption that it hacl been moved after death. Mr. Price was lying on his back, with his head and shoulders underneath the end of the bed. The body was lying on a bloodstained sheet and blanket, and the head in a pool of blood, yet there was no blood on the bed; a very pertinent fact which might lead to the assumption that it was placed pn the sheet and blanket after death. Yet bloodstains were not found in any other part of the room, ns there probably would have been had someone shot Mr. Price and then placed his body on the bed. Still, a man committing suicide was hardly likely to fall in the position Price was found in. nor wan he likely to place a sheet and blanket, to fall on. Another point In favour of the murder theory is that the deceased was in good health and spirits on the day preceding the tragedy. He talked of a proposed holiday and building a rose trellis, and gave no indication of suicidal Intentions. Again, the house was lnsecured and could easily be entered, and the only firearm on the premises was an old disused pearifle, which was found in the outhouse. The police believe that the shot which caused Mr. Price’s death came from a shot gun of about 12 gauge. When all points are summed up, and arguments for and against are given, the detectives and public must return to one question on which the whole mystery hinges. Where is the gun which caused Mr. Price’s death. Find that gun and a big step toward solving the mystery will have been taken. “We are non-committal. We accept neither the suicide nor the murder theory until the full facts are established,” said Senior-Detective Quirke yesterday. “However, the man who received the fatal wound was not likely to walk away and hide the gun.”