HORRIBLE MURDERS.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2033, 15 April 1890, Page 3

HORRIBLE MURDERS.

A ferocious murder was committed in the recreation ground, Mew Plymouth, on Friday, the victim being an old man named Stephen Maloney. The deceased was a discharged soldier, having served in the Crimea. He lived alone in a small cottage in the grounds, and was last seen alive on Friday at noon. He was missed on Friday night, and search was made for him on Saturday afternoon, when his body was found lying in some fern and scrub, about 20 chains from his house. Marks of violence were found on the body, but were not at first considered to be of a serious character, and there was little blood visible. The post mortem revealed that the deceased had been horribly murdered. Nine cuts were found in the head; none of them, however, fractured the skull, or penetrated the brain. His windpipe had been smashed to atoms by some blunt instrument, as there was no external cut but several contusions. The theory is that the murderer used the blunt end of a small tomahawk, inflicting repeated blows on the throat with it, which severed the windpipe, but no severe external wound was occasioned. Deceased was a native of Kilkenny, Ireland, and had been in the colony over thirty years. He was decrepit, and could not walk without a stick. His stick and hat were found about 6 or 7 yards further in the scrub. When the body was found it was noticed that one of the pockets bad been turned inside out, and deceased’s purse (empty) was found near the body. The motive for the crime was evidently to obtain money. The police have arrested a native named Mitu Kai, who was liberated from gaol fourteen days previously, having served a sentence for housebreaking. Marks of blood were found on the Maori’s trousers, and he was seen in the locality the day the murder was committed. Deceased told the keeper of the recreation ground that a Maori he did not know had called at his house on Friday morning, and that he had given him his breakfast. He also said that the Maori told him he was employed doing some work in the recreation grounds. The keeper told deceased that the Maori’s statement was untrue, as no Maori had been working in the grounds. The nolice are engaged in getting up the case, and it is expected that evidence will be adduced at the inquest (which commenced on Monday) sufficiently strong to commit the Maori for trial. The murder is supposed to have been committed with deceased’s own hatchet, which bears marks of blood upon it. Deceased was a recipient of charitable aid, and had no relations in the colony. A cablegram from Brisbane, dated April 12, states that an old man named Taylor has been atrociously murdered at Wagga, His head was found, but there was no trace of his body. The murderer had apparently carried the head about for several days. A man named Smith has been arrested on a charge of committing the murder.