A NELSON SENSATION. MURDER AND SUICIDE BY A PRISONER.

Te Aroha News, Volume I, Issue 9, 4 August 1883, Page 3

A NELSON SENSATION. MURDER AND SUICIDE BY A PRISONER.

It may hardly be retained within the memory of our readers, especially as the crime was committed at a great distance from here, in a portion of the colony little known, the Lyell, on the west portion of , the other island, that on the night of the 27th January last, a man named Denis Quinlan was murdered in the hut of a disreputable widow named Grammatica. The shanty that she kept was partially a grog den, and partly brothel. Two men, Quintan and Davidson, were frequenters "• of the place, and a species of jealousy, if euch a feeling could exist under such '" circumstances, grew up between them. Quinlan was a very powerful man of six feet or over, and had been a kind of terror in many parts of the West Const of the sister island, at which he had sojourned. On the other hand Davidson was a man of only average muscular power, and not above 5 ft. Bin. in height. As far therefore as strength was concerned Quinlan was " necessarily master of the situation, had any personal difficulty arisen between them. On the night in qnestion it would appear that a regular orgie had set in, everyone about being apparently the wor.su for liquor. Quinlan saw Mrs Grammatica at a public-house in the township of the Lyell, and the two returned to her house, where they met Davidson, who had entered without permission and taken possession. After further drink some • words between the men followed, and Quinlan attacked Davidson, when the^ latter stabbed him in the wrist with a dagger that he always earned. So far ■ from tLis leading to further dissension, it seemed to have a pacifying effect on Quinlan, and after Mrs Grammatica had bound . up the wound more drink was partaken of and the woman shortly afterwards, being as she stated herself, drunk, , retired to bed, leaying the two men alone. She professed to have no further knowledge 1 of- what subsequently, transpired, but on getting up in tne morning, beingaroused by Davidson, he told her that, 'she must not leave her bedroom, but declined to say why. He left the hut shortly afterv ards, and she then looked into the . sitting-room, where she saw .. Quinlan's body covered with a banket, but % vith (he . feet with boots on sticking out. On Davidsons return sin 4 nsked him who that , Was, and he replied that it was Quinlan, and that he had taken his (QuinlanV) heuit'u blourf. Subsequently, though how or when the woman's evidence did not « clearly say, Quinlau to./k the corpse away, and after decapitating it, threw first the haul, and then the Ix.dy over a terrace r rv changing the river, by which the' road lan. The head lell into the river at the odge, though not f;ir en'M'gh in to be floated away by the current, but the body wns an^-pted in its downward course by snine bushes, though of thi-t f-ict, so jpr •- cipitous was. the incline, that Davidson did uot know it. Shortly afterward**, as the body decomposed under tiie buijnner heat, a most offensive effluvia arose, andpasfeprs by 0:1 tlk' rsiutl were painfully conscious of .it. ' So bad did it become that the police were appealed to, it being supposed ■ tuat the carcass of some 'animal was occasioning the stench. On a Hearth l>"in<r mad" 1 the headless body of Qninlan, who had been missed since the fatal ni^ht, was found, and on further socking the hea4 was di&coveied in the rive" not nearly so decomposed as the body, with the features perfectly recognisable.

Though suspicion attached to Grammatica, in whose company he was lust seen, there was no evidence against her to show j;hat she^ had committed' tho offence, and ,the police were at fault to know how to trace the crime. Shortly afterwards, however, Davidson, who had been drinking froKh tho date of tl)9 murder, attempted suicide by cutting hi& throat, und singularly enough was found lying bleeding to death, at the very spot where he had hurled the body of his victim over the terrace. He was arrested charged with attempted suicide, his wounded throat was patched up, and he was committed for trial. In the meantime the police obtained information that led them to arrest Mrs Grammatica, and also to bring up Davidson with her on a charge of the wilful mnrder of Denis Quinlan. As soon as this was done both made confessions, each implicating the other. The evidence of the woman, though there can be liitle doubt that she was an accessory, was far the most reliable, and on her evidence Davidson, at the Supreme Court in Nelson, was found guilty, but of manslaughter only. The jury by this ridiculous verdict, which by the way was very strongly commented on by the presiding Judge, who properly pointed out that it was either murder or no offence, have brought about tho doath of an innocent man, who has left a largo family, as well as allowing the dead scoundrel to cheat the gallows by putting an end to himself. The Judge, however, gave him the extreme sentence of the law, viz., penal servitude for life. In the face of a perfect knowledge of the desperate character of the man the Governor of the Nelson Gaol made him cook, with constant access to dangerous ' weapons in the shape of long knives, and, as might be expected, lamentable results have eventuated. We subjoin a report of tho inqiv st on poor Adjure, the warder who was killed, as also the rider of the jury. We can hardly see where the praise piled upon Shallcrofis comes in, but different people have dffTeient opinions. In one respect that individual showed discretion, if n<»t valor, by recommending his prisoner to commit suicide rather than shoot him (Shallcross) and this no doubt diverted a bullet or two from his own person. The report as given was furnished by the Press Association. Without doubt this crime will lead to the better keeping of long-sentenced prisoners and the more desperate convicts of all kinds.

THE INQUEST. An inquest was held onSiturday after noon. Mr. Shallcross deposed that ; at ten* minutes to six in thj morning he heard a scream, but thongut it was out side the gaol. He got up, went downstairs, and in gaol, and on entering the coiridor was met by D ividson, who btood eight paces, oil, with u revolver in his right hand, and said, " If you coma another step I will shoot you." Davidson also told him to open the front door, but he refused, whereon Dividson again threatened to fire unions lie did it. Mr. Sh'illcross then connneneed reasoning and threatening Davidson, and managed to start him off talking about his grievances. Mrs. Shallcross then entered the corridor, and she asked Davidson whe» % e Warder Adams was, to which the convict replied, " Oh, he's all right," They then went on parleying for about five minutes, when Mr. Shallcross told Davidson he could shoot him, and Davidson replied, " I'll be , glad if I am shot." Mr Shallcioss said, 'I would rather you take your own life than I should do it.' Davidson repeatedly put the revolver to his own head. After about 35 minutes Chief Warder White came on the scene, and commenced to expostulate with Davidson, until at length Davidson drew back to the wall, placed the revolver to his mouth, and pulled the trigger, hup the cap snapped. He then examined the revolver again, put it to hi? head, fired, and fell dead. Mr. Shallcross then rushed up to see where Adams was, and found him lying dead in the yard. He had a wound in the back of his head, another in the neck, at the back, and a frightful wound in the abdom-jn, from which his intestines were protruding. Three white prisoners were confined in the corridor in which Davidson stood, and the latter, before shooting himself, shook hands with the inmates of the two cells, putting his hands between the giating. Before, however, Mr. Shillero^s had left the corridor, and had gone to his nffioe to get his revolver, leaving Mrs. Shallcross in the corridor. D ividson had then given up the idea of shooting. From the place where Davidson he could see Adams lying in the yard, and must have known he was dead. Davidson had been employed as a cook bince May 18, and was always very orderly and obliging. He agreed with everyone, and never showed any sign of mental aberration. Tt was the duty of Adams to call Davidson to light the fires &c. Davidson ln?d access to Knives, and a Jong butcher's knife was picked up beside Davidson |s body. Adams' coat was in the yard, and Davidson appeared to have searched it for keys, a key was found in a gate between the yard and the garden, but was the key of an inner door, and would not- open the gate. During his conversation with Davidson, Mr. Shallcross sayft Davidson drew back for a minute, after'threatening him if he moved, and returned" with two revolvers'. The revolvers were kept in the armoury, which was a cupboard within i\\a officer's room, to- which Davidson had access. The panel of this .cupboard was broken. Two chambers of one revolver had been discharged, and one in the other. Davdson was to have been removed to Wellington, and had not the Wallace been detained by bad weather, would have sailed. He did rot appear to like the idea of going to Wellington, and said if he had gone he would have jumped overboard. Mr. bfiallcrotfs told Iriui to lay down the the revolvers, and then he could jump overboard. Ghi £ Warder White corroborated Mr. Shalleros's' .statement In all important joints. ' The medical evidence was, that Adams' death resujted from hemorrhage, but that had immediate insist nice' been available his life could not have been saved. ' Regarding the tragedy the jury again met in WnVr to consider their rider. The}', agreed to add the following to their verdict: — (1) , T .'it [the delay in ( remp.ving Davidson to one of the gaol, in the co)ony where prisoners sentenced to imprisonment for lifeare confined is ntueh to be regretted; (2). They, consider ihat a prij.mor lika Davidson,* whose murderous and suicidal propensities were Known, should not, under any circumstances have been employed in the gaol, and tjhey would recommend for the future that

arras be kept in a place of greater security than the so-called armoury at present in use. (3). They desire to express their admimtion|of fchoact and hrn very displayed by Mr. Shalleross under (such trying circumstances.