Mysterious Death

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 176, 24 January 1914, Page 5

Mysterious Death

A BRUTAL MURDER. REEKS' MOVEMENTS. By Cable—Press Association—Copyright London, January 22. Mrs Knit states that there was no reason lor Keeks going to Wolverhampton, lie showed his relatives liis paper money on Saturday, when lie was in the lust of.health anil spirits. Reeks' mother was a Southport woman, and his grandmother still resides at Swindon. London, January 22. At the inquest on the body of Reeks, Kent, his uncle, identified the body, tie ~tatcd that Recks reached England on ■ ituivli'.y from Halifax, Nova Seot«a,aud iii.er. led to obtain a British marine eng!u;ers cert'Mcale before returning to Sydney. Reeks spent Saturday with him at Swinton, near .Manchester, and returned to a Liverpool hotel in the evening. The jury inspected the scene where j the body was found, in a ditch surrouudJ ing a pit shaft 200 ft deep and protected •by a high wall. If it was a ease • f suicide it is surmised that Reeks sat on the wall, anticipating that he would fa'l into the shaft. The evidence shows, however, that this was highly improbable. His hat lias not been found. The wounds do not show signs of being burnt by powder. The pit is being searched for the revolver. A ticket collector at Wolverhampton recollects two men arriving from Live'.'- i pool in the early hours of Tuesday. He believes one was Reeks. The police have a full description of the dress and appearance of his companion, who was aged about 30, and .'s believed to be from Chicago. The Liverpool police are endeavoring to trace the men who booked from the Midlands for Canada by the liner which sailed during the week. A London and North-Western Railway booking-clerk at Wolverhampton states j that on Tuesday night a man present.'d i vouchers and booked a passage on the i steamer Grampian. The man's manner was agitated. The description tallies with tha± of Reeks' companion. The Grampion sailed on Wednesday, and is due at St. John on January 30. A wireless message has been despatched. The inquest has been adjourned. The coroner remarked that it was evidently I a case of brutal murder, ' VICTIM HAILS FROM .SYDNEY". J Sydney, January 23. } Mr Walter Recks, a well-known naval I architect, believes there is little doubt . that the man murdered in England .'s •his son Kent, especially as the cable • message mentions that he was visiting I' relatives named Kent. His son left Sydney three years ago as an engineer aboard the steamer Saxonia. His father j understood he was in Liverpool last 1 week. The only discrepancy is in the I Christian name." He has cabled for further information. I FURTHER DETAILS. LONELY, GLOOMY SPOT. | Received -23. 11 p.m. j London, January 23. | Reeks had arranged to enter a marine I engineering academy, but explained that lie would not begin for a few days, as , he had business to attend to. ' The spot where the body was found is one of the gloomiest in the Black Country. Great steel works are 300 yds. dis- . taut, the naarc-t habitation being 500 yds away. iThe captain of the Grampian, in a wireless message, slates that the emigrant aboard denies any knowledge of i Reeks. Evidently it is a mistake.