Two Sisters Battered To Death

Taranaki Daily News, 24 August 1942, Page 4

Two Sisters Battered To Death

Press Assn.

Days elapse before discovery of bodies.

Wairoa, Last Night.

An apparent double murder was night when the bodies of a Salvation Army officer, Brigadier Annie Smyth, and her sister, Miss Rosamond Smyth, were found in a building in Queen Street, Wairoa, with their heads battered in with an iron poker. It is believed the sisters were assaulted not less than 10 days before the discovery of the bodies in the Salvation Army hall. It is underwood that the lights had been buming in • the kitchen throughout that time, but no comment was made by neighbours or in business places situated opposite. j The hall is not mbre than 200 yards from the main thoroughfare. The bu*s. - ing is used both as living quarters l^r the officer and a place of worshm, half being used for each purpose. On the left are the living quarters. No person heard or saw anything to raise his suspicions, and it was the practice of Brigadier Smyth to pay cash for all purchases. Worshippers state that when they attended the hall last Sunday they found the place locked. They were under the impression the brigadier had gone to the country for a service there, and returned to their homes. Constable Called. On Friday night Constable J. King, while on duty, was informed that something was wrong at the hall. On entering

. by the back winaow oonsuiuie «.niS found the body of Brigadier Smyth, which was lying back in a morris chair. ' with her clothing so disarranged as to suggest interference and with a gag of tape and part of her apron across her mouth. her teeth having bitten through this. A doctor, who was called, pronounced life extinct. A little later, at about 9 p.m., Miss Rosamond Smyth s body was discovered in a bedroom, her face being badly battered and her clothing disarranged. Brigadier Smyth had been dealt a severe blow on the side of the head, causing a fracture of the skull, and death was probably instantaneous. The cleats of the morris chair were broken, but it appears that only one blow was struck, possibly with a weapon not yet discovered, while the poker that caused Miss Rosamond S.giyth's death was found on the floor. , _ . On a table in the kitchen near Brigadier "Smyth was found a getting for one, consisting of a knifo Rnd fork. On the stpve was a container with two eggs cooked. The water having all boiled away, creates the impression that a fairly big flre was on and adds to the be\ief that the crime was perpetrated in the early hours of the evening when a number of persons would have been within easy reach of giving aid. TOie Commissioner of Police arrived on Saturday morning and left immediately for Wairoa, accompanied by the police, photographers, finger print experts. All the, available detective force of Napier and Hastings, and also the inspector of police, have arrived. Big Police Party. A Wellington report says that a big police . .party left Wellington, detectives in nearby districts converging at Wairoa. Chief -Detective Young, Wellington, left to take charge of the investigation, accompanied by Dr. P. P. Lynch, pathologist, and Senior-Sergeant Dinnie, finger print and photography expert at police headquarters. Commissioner Evan Smith, Sglvation., Army, accompanied the police party' Dr. Lynch yesterday made an exammation. A number of people gathered and watched the bodies removed to the local morgue. where the doctors continued further work. Brigadier Smyth, who is aged about 60, and her sister. who is about 70, were both born at Wellington. Brigddier Smyth was educated at the Wellington Girls' College and took an arts degree at the New Zealand University in preparation for a teaching career, but instead she undertook missionary work for the Salvation Army in Japan, where she went in 1906, becoming one of its best known Christian missionaries. She returned to New Zealand at the end of 1940. She was given charge of the Wairoa corps of the Salvation Army and was assisted by her sister who. until that time, spent all her life at Wellington. Brigadier Smyth was probably one of the best known women in the district. It was not unusual for her to take home persons for a meal or to offer words of spiritual encouragement. Her sister was a serrti-invalid and very deaf, causing her to remain most of the time indoors. An inquest was opened this morning for the purpose of identification by a brother. Mr. C. C. Smyth, manager of the Union Bank at Pahiatua. The interment will take place at Wellington, the Salvation Army commissioner having returned there this morning. Members of the police force, under Inspector Cameron, Napier, and Chief - Detective Young, are making further investigations. A sister is Mrs. W. J. Fraser. Highland Park, Wellington, ahd a brot'Vr is collector of customs at Invercargill.