THE FORDELL TRAGEDY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 4, 29 June 1911, Page 3

THE FORDELL TRAGEDY.

A STRANGE CASE. "TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN." Some further particulars arc supplied by the Wanganui "Choniclc" regardin« the death of Mr. J. M. Gibbons, tutor to Mr. A. Sutherland, Fordell. The verdict returned ,hy Mr. W. Kerr, S.M., who held an inquest, was that the deceased took his life by means of a razor and cremated his body, whilst temporarily insane. From the evidence it appeared that the deceased, who was about thirty-five vears of age, was somewhat peculiar in his manner, but he carried out his duties as tutor satisfactorily and was always well behaved. There had been nothing in his demeanour of late to attract nt> tention. The last person whom the deceased saw was John Carroll, an employee of Mr. Sutherland. This was between 8 and 9 o'clock on Thursday night, after which the deceased went 'to °liis room and wrote seven or eight letters, which were found next day:

One of the letters was 'for Carroll, bequeathing to him his watch as a souvenir. Asother letter was "To whom it may concern." This was a somewhat rambling, but neatly written epistle in which the writer seemed to be grieving about some wrong which he imagined himself to have done to someone. Another letter was for Mr, Sutherland stating that he had written to the Hon. Mr, Loughman, of Wellington, and Messrs Keesing and Parsons, of Wanganui, .regarding his effects. The letter also explained that the manuka (with which deceased cremated his body) had been taken to avoid making a mess. The manuka in question was a pile 66 feet long by 18 feet wide by 6 feet high, in all about 56 cords of wood. In his room was also found a book on the human anatomy, the deceased havinir evideitly ascertained the correct mode of procedure to follow.

After writing the letters, he seems to kare gone straight out to the wood pile about a mile and a half from the homestead and there committed the deed, for the blaze of the manuka wis seen about midnight. Nobody knew it was a funeral pyre, and it was not till the letters were,found and police assistance procured, that a small heap of bones, ineluding the charred skull, was scraped together from the smouldering embers. A razor blade was also found,