AN ADELAIDE TRAGEDY.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2606, 11 January 1894, Page 4

AN ADELAIDE TRAGEDY.

Adelaide, Dec. 25,

Sturt street, situated a few hundred yards from the General Post Office, was the scene this morning of one of the most ghastly tragedies that have ever been enacted in South Australia. At an early hour—about eight o’clock —is was discovered that Harry Oxley, a fruiterer, aged thirty-three, had murdered his wife and three children, and terminated the horrible deed by cutting his own throat with a r 4Zor.

The circumstances surrounding the affair are somewhat peculiar, and decidedly mysterious, as there appears to be no evidence as to the real cause for the deed. Oxley appeared from all accounts to have been a man of fairly good financial circumstances, being in receipt of periodical remittances from England which amounted to almost £SOO per annum. He purchased a hawking fruiterer’s business in Sturt street a week ago for £2OO. Since that date he ascertained that the returns from the business did not come up to what they had been represented to him when he entered into possession. This is supposed to have preyed upon his mind. Daring the last few days he had been considerably depressed in manner. He was not in any financial difficulties, as a week prior to the closing of the Commercial Bank, during the great financial disaster, he paid into the institution a cheque for about £I3OO. He was also left £6OO on the dearth of a brother, and he settled of that amount £2OO on his wife. According to statements of his relatives, he was very fond of his wife and children, and had never been known to have differences or rows with them. The cause of the murder, is, therefore, totally unaccounted for, apart from depression in business, and consequently the affair has caused a considerable stir in the city. Oxley appeared in very good spirits up to within a week of the occurrence, but within the last few days became considerably depressed. Meeting his brother-in-law on Saturday night in the Central. Market he said, “ The fact of the matter is, it has been a d swindle from beginning to end. lam a ruined man.” This statement was in reference to the purchase of the fruiterer’s business. Very little appears to be known about his movements during the week prior to Christmas, but at 2 o’clock this morning he borrowed a horse and trap from a neighbour for the purpose of conveying a number of carol singers round the city. He returned at 4.45 a.m., and it is surmised that on his return to his house he perpetrated the horrible act. Information regarding the tragedy was first conveyed to the police shortly after 8 a.m. by a man named Stanley, who was a driver in the employ of Oxley. Stanley, on entering the back premises, came in contact with the mutilated remains of a son of his master. The body of the little boy lay on a sofa, presenting a horrible appearance. His brains had been literally battered out, and his face and head were hardly recognisable on account of the blows that had been inflicted on them. The Metropolitan police were immediately sent for, and dispatched a member of the force to the premises, and medical assistance was sent to the scene.

On the police and doctors entering the house the body of the boy was first examined on the sofa where he had apparently been sleeping. He was lying on his left side, while the wound had been inflicted on the right side. Portions of the skull and blood and brains were spattered over the couch and the floor.

In an adjoining room an even more appalling and revolting spectacle met their gaze, as two little girls, who had apparently occupied the same bed, had been similarly treated to their brother in the next apartment. The act appeared to have been done while the little ones were asleep. They did not seem to have moved while the violent blows were being struck. In the case of one child there was a terrible wound in the centre of the forehead, disclosing the brain, while the other child had received a blow on the side of the skull. They were both senseless, but not dead, a slight pulsation indicating that life was not extinct. One of the little girls was almost pulseless, while in the case of the other the signs of life were very remote. Lying in another bed in the same room the mother was found,, Her head was on the pillow, as if she had died in her sleep. A terrific wound had been inflicted on the skull, while a splash of I flood on the wallpaper indicated that a large artery had been severed, and Oxley himself was found dying on the bed, as if his strength had given out before he had been able to regain his wife’s side. He held a razor tightly clasped in his right hand, and on his throat were seen the results of its Work. In the room a comparatively new tomahawk Was discovered by the police, and it was apparent that this had been Used in dispatching the victims of the terrible affair. The medical testimony showed that the mother and son had been dead for some hours, the bodies being nearly cold. The little girls were sent to the hospital, but did not live long after admittance.

There were no signs of a struggle, and it appeared as if Oxley had gone silently from one to the other, dealing his deadly blows. The murderer’s feet were covered with stains of blood, which had flowed freely in both rooms.