FURTHER PARTICULARS.

Temuka Leader, Issue 297, 30 September 1880, Page 2

FURTHER PARTICULARS.

' The wife of Rees, on hearing of . rage this morning, hi d uvpfe^antim^rth , at| the .victim was her jiaH. noji| returned home. On going" tdjtne epof witHl her daughter her fears their grief was harrowing. Bees two years of age, and lived near Morningside.? vHe arrived yin Auckland months’ ago in lh| .Fahjenoth, with his wife and- three daughteis^andrhas,-been. working with his nephew, John Redshaw, x n a but was recently out of work. Joe, after completing the murder, proceeded to Mount Albert- He called .at Mr Melville’s at 8 a.m , and demanded food from the washer• woman Mrs Arnold, to whom he spoke. She refused, ami Joe at once pounced upon her, and after a desperate resistance on her part threw her down. He struck at her repeatedly with the axe, but she fenced off his blows with her arms. They are fearfully hacked about, while one severe wound extends across her temple. Her screams brought assistance, and at the .noise of footsteps, Joe decamped. In the yard *he was met by Mr Melville, who assailed him. with a log of wood. Seizing a convenient opportunity, he struck out with the log and broke the handle of the axe in two. His wife came out with bis revolver, at the sight of which Joe held up his hands as* if - pleading for his life and made signs and said something in his own tougue. Mr Melville secured, the murderer with repeat and - tied his hands and feet till the police arrived. The police brought Joe to the stalSota, and on the way great crowds lined the streets to get a glimpse of the savage. It appears that the act must-have been premediared because some little 1 time before; the assault on the boys was committed- last night Constable Gordon, who was attired in plain clothes, was standing in Queen street when ho saw the native passing up with the axe in His hand, which he was apparently trying to conceal from.. observation. Constable Gordon’s suspicions were roused and he directed the attention of Constable Gormon to the circumstance A short, consultation resulted in Constable Gordon’s interrupting and interrogating the man, who did not appear intoxicated or under any excitement, and was able to give a satisfactory account of his residence and business. He was, accordingly, allowed to pass on. Joe came to Auckland with Wilcott from Fiji, in the Meg Merrilies a month ago. He is twenty-five years of age. of small build, and a miserable spei i men of humanity. Mr John Thruston, of Fiji, states that he belongs to the most treacherous and murderous tribe in the New Hebrides group After reaching the police cell, a loaf of bread was given to him he tore it with his teeth like a ravenous wild beast Wr Wilson, who speaks Fijian went in and spoke to him, and succeeded in making him understand generally the purport of his questions. While speaking he'rolled his head from side to side, eating bread all the time. The substance of his replies was that the white people knocked him about, and that his head yesterday waSNSwimining round, and he did not know what Was tljc matter with him. There is little doubt that he had been drinking with some Fiji boys.