“HE SHOT ME.”

Taranaki Daily News, 9 February 1922, Page 3

“HE SHOT ME.”

A DOMESTIC TRAGEDY. A WOMAN KILLED HUSBAND WOUNDED. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Thames, Feb. 8. It was reported to the ponce yesterday afternoon that a tragedy had occurred near Pipiroa, on the Hauraki Plains. The police and a doctor proceeded by a launch and the Lands Department train, and near a little hut standing back from the road found a man named Arthur William Page, aged 33, lying with a gaping wound in the left breast. In the cottage lay Mrs. Gladys Hutchinson, aged 30, shockingly wounded, the right arm being practically severed, the lower part of the and jaw smashed, and other injuries. Both parties were conscious, and in reply to the police the woman said: “1 was going home and he shot me.” The doctor immediately attended both patients, and as it was recognised that the woman’s condition was serious, cars were procured and the journey made to Thames, but the woman died before reaching hospital. Page was attended to, and it is stated that his injuries are not serious.

It appears that the woman was married to Thomas Hutchinson, a man of Maori descent, living' near Turua. She had been married fifteen years and there are three children. About five months ago the woman left her husband and went to live with Page. Apparently the woman meant to leave Page and return home, judging by the parcels 'that were found alongside the scene of the tragedy. A farmer named George Bertram Wallis, living opposite the cottage, was painting his house, and was an eyewitness of the tragedy. It is reported that he ran over, but when Page picked up a gun and covered him, Wallis retired to the road. He got the assistance of another man, who brought a gun, and the two went over and found Page near the woman, who, despite her injuries, had staggered some distance, evidently towards a neighbor’s cottage. They persuaded Page to drop his gun, took him down the road, posted a guard over him and waited for the police. The woman was taken into the cottage. When the doctor had attended the woman he examined the man, the latter smoking a cigarette.

The scene when the police arrived was appalling. Page was lying on the bank on Pipiroa Road, about half a mile from the whare, covered in blood, his shirt burnt by the discharge and his clothes matted with blood. A constable took charge, and the party returned to the whare. Near it was a hat, a bag of biscuits, a cardboard box and much blood. Within on a wire mattress lay a woman, her face being unrecognisable. The right arm was practically severed, the bone protruding and the lower jaw and roof of the mouth were smashed and still bleeding freely. Two cartridge wads and pellets were taken out of the wound. The woman was conscious still. Her injuries showed that the whole of the left breast had been shot away from below and the superficial layer of pectoral muscles exposed. The woman was placed on a door and put across the motor seats for the long journey to Thames. Low tide prevented the use of a launch. Page followed in the next car, smoked freely and chatted to the police. The whare was small and poorly furnished, and bundles tied up indicated a shift.

It is reported that Page secured a gun from a neighbor’s house, and when found it was fully loaded. The woman recognised her husband, who arrived on the scene, and spoke to him.