Determined Suicide.

Thames Star, Volume XIII, Issue 4351, 11 December 1882, Page 2

Determined Suicide.

A DEFAULTER SHOOTS HIMSELF.

(Pee Press Association.) Tiaußu, This day. A startling case of suicide occurred here at eleven o'clock. The Supreme Court criminal sessions had just opened and one of the first cases on the calendar wa? that . of J. M. Shepherd, the storekeeper who .. committed extensive frauds and levanted to San Francisco about six months a:*o: He returned to the colony three months ago, crossing on the way the detective who wa-3 sent after him. He was arrested at Auckland and brought to Timaru, wheje he was committed for trial on six cases of forginst and uttering. Mr Shepherd's uncle resides almost opposite the Supreme Court, and Mr Shepherd went into his office a little before eleven^ o'clock. A few minutes afterwards a shot was heard fired in the office, and, on the people running in they found Mr Shep« herd. lyin«f on the floor in a dying state. A revolver wa3 lying bieside him, and on examination it wa3 found he had shot himself through the heart. Medical assistance arrived, but life was pronounced extinct, and the body was removed to Stone's hotel, where an inquest will be held. It is stated Mr Shepherd, who was out on bail, had been advised that defence was useless,, and the only chance was for him to plead guilty.