THE BINGARA TRAGEDY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 196, 16 February 1912, Page 4

THE BINGARA TRAGEDY.

A GRUESOME DISCOVERY,

A particularly gruesome tragedy was X discovered on January 21 a t p a llal, about nine miles from Bingara, N.S.W. William Ball and his wife came to the place about six weeks previously, as a married couple, to Mr. W. R. Mack, of The Hill, Pallal. Both were English im- 5 migrants of comparatively recent arrival and came here from Sydney. ' Ball was apparently about 23 years of age, and his wife was about the same • age. They had only been here a short while, when Mrs. Ball had an attack of rheumatics, and was an inmate of the local hospital for about a week or ten days. When she returned to her employment, she was still somewhat incapacitated by her attack, and her ankles were 1 particularly affected, walking being at times very difficult. Ball appeared to become impatient with his wife after this,* and seemed to resent her affliction, but nothing occurred to arouse any suspicion of probable violence or ill-treat-ment.

On Tuesday, about 3 o'clock, Mr. and Mrs. Mack and family drove down to the ': Pallal head station to stay for a couple of days. On Thursday afternoon, Rev; Mr. Grieve, a Presbyterian minister,' of' Bingara, called at Mr. Mack's residence,' and found the house open, but saw nobody.

He remained for the night, expecting someone to return at any time, but, no one putting in an appearance, he left on Friday morning. 'Mr. Mack returned home on Friday evening, and found that his married cou- ' pie had gone away, but had not left any letter explaining their conduct. The matter was then reported to the local police, and after diligent enquiries - had been made, it was discovered that , Ball had stayed at one of the local ho- ' tels on Tuesday night, having arrived by himself just on closing time. He stayed there that night, and left by the coach for Warialda railway station next morning. Suspicions of foul play were at \ •once aroused, as it ws impossible for , the woman to walk over the mountains j to Bingara in her rheumatic condition. 'J Ball had got a cheque for £4 from Mr. ••' Mack, and had cashed it at the hotel.: 1 When he was in Mr.-Mack's - employ he wore a moustache, but when he came j to the hotel j on this occasion he was if clean shaven. , ->•(

Sergeant Byrne and other police at once went out to Mr. Mack's to make enquiries and look for traces of the woman.

After some search, Mr. Mack found Ball's moustache, which he had cut off, but all his effects seemed to have disappeared or to have been destroyed. Further search outside the house revealed 8 fire where a woman's clothes had been . burned. As the country around the i house had been burnt off, it was exceedingly difficult to find any traces such as I were being looked for. ' ' The search of the police and of Mr. ' Mack was rewarded on the evening of January 20, however, .by the discovery * of what appeared to have been a very large fire about four hundred yards from the house, and in view of anyone who j might have come to the residence. A close investigation of the ashes re- ,

vealed the charred bones of a human being, no vestige of the flesh or clothes being left.

The missing woman used to wear a wire hat, and similar wired headgear wa* found in the ashes, also hairpins, safety pins and stay busks, clearly proving that the bones were those of a woman.

The skull was separate from the other ' bones, and- was in several pieces. It is surmised that, the murderer must have either strangled the unfortunate woman in or near the house, and carried the body to the position of the fire, or else struck her down where the fire was made. The latter supposition is most favored on account of the discovery of the hat frames.

The fire must have been a large one, and as the bones were found under the ashes, it must have been heaped over the corpse, as no small logs were found outside the circle of the ashes. As a branch had been broken off an adjacent tree, it is conjectured that the murderer must have remained at the fire, and pushed back all the burning timber that threatened to fall off the stack. A warrant was issued for ihe arrest of Ball on a charge of murder, and he was subsequently discovered on a steamer which was on the point of leaving for England, and taken into custody.