PARNELL TUNNEL FATALITY

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 298, 13 June 1912, Page 2

PARNELL TUNNEL FATALITY

ACCIDENT OR. MURDER? AN OPEN VERDICT. Aucldand, June 10. The inquest on the dismembered body which was found on Friday night last on the railway line below the Parnell tunnel was held this morning by Mr T. Gresham, coroner, and resulted in the identification of the body as that of a young man named Percy Llewellyn Cartwright, residing in Dominion Road. Dr De Clive Lowe stated that he had examined the remains. There was not a bone in the body unbroken, and from the terribly mutilated state of the remains, it was impossible to say whether the injuries were the sole cause of death, or whether deceased had been subjected to violence resulting in death, and then placed on the line. The coroner remarked that the verdict must be an entirely open one. There was a possibility that the man might have been knocked on the head and placed upon the railway line. ■Francis Cartwright, cabinetmaker, living in Dominion Road, said that he had examined the remains, and by the appearance of the coat, vest, and boots, recognised them as those of his brother, Percy Llewellyn Cartwright, 20 years of age, who had been living with him, and liad been missing since Friday night. lie recognised a name indistinctly marked on the belt of the waistcoat as being his brother's. Witness went on to say that about S.:«) |hm. on Friday his brother went to post a letter, and as he did not return the family imagined that lie had gone to see a married sister who lived in Parnell. He had been poultry-farming at Birkdale, and was seeking employment as an electrical engineer. On the Friday he drew about £l2 out of the Auckland Savings Bank, and wnen he went out in the evening must have had £5 of this on him, as lie left £7 at home. He had been to'the Skating Rink in the afternoon, and was in no way despondent when .he was last seen. Constable Henry John Joyce deposed to finding the remains upon the line, also a tomahawk (produced). The tomahawk was examined by the jury, and being new and free from any trace of rust or blood was thought to liave had no connection with the tragedy, but perhaps to have been dropped from a train. The coroner remarked that the finding of the body on the line was no proof (that death was the result of an accident, and the fact that, deceased had several pounds in money on him when he left home tended to arouse some suspicions. An open verdict was returned to the effect that the exact cause of death could not be ascertained, and that it was impossible to say whether the injuries were the sole cause of death, or whether deceased was previously subjected to violence with fatal results.