THE BOURKE MURDER.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 168, 25 October 1910, Page 7

THE BOURKE MURDER.

SENKOVITCH'S CONFESSION. A PITIFUL STORY. "We read much together. In fact, reading was our chief recreation. We read principally cheap novelettes of romance and adventure among savages in wild and little-known countries." In this way Boris Senkoviteli (or Viclimann) ingenuously spoke to an interviewer. The story appears in the Melbourne Age, and it is extremely probable that in the manner indicated by his statement «in the sentences above, the I boyish-faced, simple-minded Russian lad told how the kernel of criminal desire was instilled into his poor brain. Pernicious literature of the "Deadwood Diek ; ' kind must, without doubt, be held largely responsible for the dread- ■ ful crime of which he stands charged j (says the Age). The spectacle of this boy, without a single acquaintance in the country, unable to speak a word of English, arraigned before the law for murdering his only friend —his schoolfellow —in circumstances of dreadful atrocity, is truly a pitiful one, pitiful in the light of the youthfulness of both. Senkovitcli, who gives his age as 20, does not look so old, and probably is not, and the fact that he does not appear to realise the terrible nature of the crime with which lie is charged points to the undeveloped'condition of his mental faculties. In conversation with a fellow Russian he gave an account of his acquaintance with Alexander Eismond, of their school days, and of their travels in search of adventure. STUDENTS TOGETHER.

Speaking in a low, even tone, without the slightest trace of emotion, SenkoI vitch said: '"Eismond and I were both students together at the Gatsehinski Inj stitute, near St. Petersburg. We boarded at and were constant companions. His parents are rich people, and lie had money in the bank in his own right. My parents are in ordinary circumstances, and my home life has not been a happy one, because my parents are both addicted to alcohol, my father more so than my mother. I was happier at school than at home. Though Eismond was a little older than I, he was not so far advanced. I had finished my school course, and was about to leave when Eismond was in the fourth class. Eismond was completely absorbed and fascinated by the tales of adventure that we read. He continually said he would leave him home and go into the world to live an unconventional life and seek adventures. ''He desired more than anything else to find some uninhabited island where he could live as he liked and do as he liked. He grew very restless and discontented, and at length came to me and suggested that we should go away together. He had the money, lie said, and would pay all expenses. I was as adventurously inclined' as Eismond, but could not, for lack of means, gratify my desire. When Eismond made his proposal I readily fell in with his i:!cas and agreed to travel with him. We were to go roaming round the world in search of subh.' an island as Eismond had set his heart upon.' Eismond was not in good health, and he said travel would do him good. I also suffered with mv liver, a condition which, I believe is hereditary. ANXIOUS FOR ADVENTURE.

"Eismond 'had in the bank 45,000 roubles (about £5000), and of this he took out about 7000 roubles (about £750). He paid all expenses and lares. We went to France, and visited Aries, thence to Antwerp, Brussels, Paris, and Marseilles. While at Marseilles Eismond suggested going to America, but I urged that Australia would be a better place, and we would be likely to meet there with more of the adventures we read about in books. . Eismond agreed, and we decided upon Australia, booking our passages by R.M.iS. China. When we arrived in Sydney Eismond grew very restless, and was anxious to get away in search of adventure. We roamed about Sydney for a while, and then Eismond suggested that we should buy a boat, provision her. and sail away up the coast to Mary and Elizabeth Island (probably Maria Island, in the Gulf of Carpentaria). In order to carry out this design, lie entered into negotiations for tlio purchase of a suitable boat, and paid a deposit of £ls on her. This enterprise, however, came to the hearing of someone connected witk the Consulate, I think, and Eismond was dissuaded from the adventure. "He was told tlmt it would be impossible. Eismond grew somewhat discontented then because he could not make up his mind what particular project of adventure to take up next, and we had occasional tiffs, though we never grew, unfriendly. He now and then became a little cvnical concerning the fact that he had all the money. This made things a little raspy sometimes, but we | never fell out, and Eismond always paid our way everywhere cheerfully. But one day, while in Sydney, he determined to (iet out into the bush, and bought a gun, shovel, tent, hatchet, and other] camping utensils, and packing these, we| travelled out of Sydney on foot. All the! time Eismond had in his mind as the central thought the desire to find a lone-! ly island, where we eould live. We walked far away from the city through other! towns, away into the country, till at last we reached Bourke. Here we decided to stay a while, and pitched our tent by the river, and here is where it all happened.

Till': CONFESSION. "I had never thought up till then of hurting Eismond, but that night when we were both in cam]) I lay awake. Eismond was asleep—rolled in his waterproof coat, with a hood pulled down over his head. The thought came to me that I should kill him and take his money—it came into mv head suddenly, and it stayed there. I could not think away from it. The suggestion kept prompting me, 'Kill him and take his money; kill him and take his money.' It would not leave me, and at length it overmastered me, so I took up the hatchet and killed him on the head many times. Then I tore down the tent and wrapped his body in it, and dragged it to the river and threw it in, and threw all the things from the camp in, too. Then I returned to Sydney, and came on to Melbourne, and you know all the rest. lam here."