Palmerston Inquest Reopens Tomorrow

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1056, 21 August 1930, Page 1

Palmerston Inquest Reopens Tomorrow

THE PRICE MYSTERY AFTER FOUR MONTHS Special to THE SUN PALMERSTON N. Today. After an adjournment of nearly four months, tho Price inquest will be resumed at Palmerston North tomorrow. It is understood that Mrs. Price will give evidence and further light will be thrown on one of the most baffling .cases which the New Zealand police have been called upon to deal with. AfORE will probably be heard of the letters in the dead man’s handwriting which were produced before the inquest was adjourned in May last, but were not read out in Court. It is also understood that Mrs. Price’s evidence will help to establish a motive for either murder or suicide. It will be recalled that on the morning of March 5, Walter Price, a Palmerston North builder, was found lying dead with his head in a pool of blood on the floor of his bedroom. At first it was thought that death was duo to an internal haemmorrhage, but a post mortem examination revealed a gunshot wound in the mouth. Suicide appeared possible, but no gun could be found and those neighbours who first entered the room on that morning stated that they had seen no gun. The only person in the house over night besides Price was his 16-year-old son John. HEARD SHOT At the subsequent inquest proceedings, neighbours stated that they had heard what appeared to be the sound of a gunshot from the direction of Price’s house about 12.45 a.m, However, John Price, who slept in the room next to his father, stated that he heard nothing all night, and knew nothing of the tragedy until he went into his father's room at S a.m. He also stated that he had found no gun in the room, and persisted In this statement under the closest crossexamination in the witness-box. Further interest was lent to the case In that a few months before his death Price had insured his life for £2,000. Four or five medical men who gave evidence in the early stages of the inquest were emphatic that the gunshot wound was self-inflicted. Two doctors, however, later attacked the suicide theory. All through the early stages Mrs. Price was unable to givo evidence owing to ill-health. On April 12, however, she broke her silence when she informed her solicitor that Price had on occasions threatened his life. There was another sensation on May 1, when the inquest was resumed again. Letters in the dead man’s handwriting were produced in court which the coroner stated would be very painful for Mrs. Price if they were made public, as they would be unless John Price spoke more freely. John still persisted, however, that he knew nothing more than he had already told the court. The inquest was accordingly adjourned, the coroner intimating that the boy would be recalled again after his mother had given evidence.