DOUBLE MURDER AND SUICIDE.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1892, 16 May 1889, Page 4

DOUBLE MURDER AND SUICIDE.

Sydney, May 7. A shocking tragedy occurred at Pyrmonton Saturday afternoon, when a young man named Ealph Manahan killed his wife and his son, three years old, named Isidore, and then com* mitted suicide, It appears that Manahan, who was thirty years of age, was a native of Jamaica. He had a violent and capricious temper, and frequently illused his wife, a young and attractive woman. The couple had been married only four years, having spent most of that time in Queensland, where they married. They had been living in a cottage with Mrs Moses, the mother of Mrs Manahan, during the past twelve months, and the relations between the parties in the house appear to have been anything but happy. Manahan, who was a commercial traveller, and was a sober, careful business man, returned from a visit to Newcastle a day or two ago, but nothing occurred until Saturday morning. Shortly before noon a neighbor, who was in the dining-room, stated that he then went to the sofa, where his son. was lying ill, kissed him and joined his wife, who was playing on the piano. After a few moments’ conversation between them two pistol reports were heard, accompanied by a piercing shriek from Mrs Manahan. The husband then entered the dining-room with a revolver in his hand. The neighbor who had been in that apartment made his escape. Mrs Moses was coming downstairs after hearing the reports, when she met Manahan, who pointed the revolver at her, and she rushed back to the bedroom for shelter. Another report was heard, possibly being that of the shot which killed the boy Isidore. Two further shots wero subsequently fired, completing the work of murder and suicide. The body of the boy was found lying on the sofa, with a wound in the right temple, the bullet having passed through his head and bulged out of the skull on the opposite side. On the floor in the front lay the bodies of Manahan and his wife, the former still breathing but almost dead from the effect of a wound at the back of the ear. He lingered only a short time. Mrs Mauahau was quite dead. There were three distinct wounds: on the middle of the forehead, a second on the right temple, and a third in the right cheek. The bodies lay in great pools of blood, and between them, in the middle of the room, was a six-chambered revolver of the ordinary make. A letter was found on the body of Manahan which showed clearly that he had fully premeditated the taking of the lives of bis wife and child and then committing suicide. He wrote to Mr Moses and te his friends attributing the whole of his domestic unhappiness to the interference of his mother-in-law. He stated that he was unable to get his wife to leave her mother, and he thought it better to kill her and the boy and then do away with himself. In one letter he gave clear instructions for the funeral arrangements, which he wished to have carried out with money which he left on the previous day with a friend for the purpose of paying for burial expenses, and he spoke in the most cold-blooded fashion of his desire that they should all be put in one hole. In this letter Manahan professes the greatest love for his wife, who, however, had been estranged from him through her mother. He also refers to some improper conduct on the part of his wife at Townsville, and he speaks of death before dishonor. At the Coroner’s inquiry the principal witness was Mrs Moses, the mother of’ the unfortunate woman. She positively denied the statements contained in the letters left bj Manahan, to the effect that she was the cause of all bis domestic trouble. She stated that the quarrels between Manahan and his wife were caused by his jealousy and neglect to provide his wife a proper home. She said that he never fully supported his wife, had deserted her for some months at one period, and was a vile, wicked man, whose end was too good for him. Mrs Moses expressed her willingness to bury all the bodies, but declined to have them placed in the one grave, as Manahan wished, and the Coroner withheld the burial order. Mrs Moses was removed from the Court in a fainting condition. In a letter left for the Coroner by Manahan, he wrote in much the same strain as in his other communications previously mentioned. He said that owing to the interposition of her mother all his efforts to make friends with his wife had failed, and that she said she would run away with any other man who had money. He preferred death to dishonor, and resolved to kill her, the child, and himself. He could not live without his wife, and his last wish was that he might rest in the same grave with those he loved most. The jury found that Mrs Mauahau and her boy were killed by Ealph Alex. Manahan, who in turned killed himself.