HORRIBLE MURDER AT OTAIIUHU.

West Coast Times, Issue 99, 11 January 1866, Page 3

HORRIBLE MURDER AT OTAIIUHU.

(From the N. Z. Herald, December 13.) The public will lemember that for some six or eight weeks past, a widow named Finnigan and her two sons, 21 and 16 years of ago respectively, have been missing from Otahuhu, where they had been living on a small property of their own, left by tho late hnsband and ■ father, a pensioner settled in that village. •We may preface the horrible narrativo we have to record with a few remarks on the previous history of the family. Finnigan died intestate some littlo timo since, leaving a widow, three sons, and a daughter, the latter married to a dis- , charged soldier of the 65th, named Stack. Stack's wife also died in Auckland, some six months since. Finnigan left also the land and the' house in which he dfed. The eldest son could not, wo understand, prove his title to bo considered heir-at-law, and therefore J;ho two sons and mother were the only claimants to the property. Latterly tho husband of the deceased daugher came to live with the widow and her two sons, and about two months since Mrs Finnogan aud the two young men were suddenly missed from Otahuhu, and tho son-in-law, when questioned as to their whereabouts, stated that they had left for Hokitika. The eldest son about that timo came up for a visit to his family from Tauranga, being a private in the Waikato regiment stationed there, but whether ho has returned to his regiment as stated, or is also missing, is not yet ascertained. The circumstance of tho sudden and mysterious disappearance of the mother and two sons, coupled '4with so extraordinary an explanation as that they had gone to Hokitika, and gone, too, without communicating to a single person of their acquaintance their intention of doing so, naturally gave riso to suspicions, and the police some time pince, we believp, made diligent enquiry at Onehunga v/li ether such porsons had pluppod from that port, and could not BHoovtftin Mitt fchov lwd done so, ThQ

aroused, and for some timo past have been engaged searching tho neighborhood. ' On Thursday tho fooling that thcro hud been foul play took such possession of the public at Otahuhu, that some thirty, headed by Mr King, tho chemist, and Mr (J. Ewen, provided themselves with gum-speara commenced a systematic search about tho premises, probing tho soil in tho garden in every direction to ascorlain whether it had been dug to any unusual depth. Stack, itappears, loft otahuhu a day or two since, statin gthat he was going to Henderson's mills, ,but really loft for I-lowick, whither ho has been' pursued. After searching for some time, the body of Mr Finnigan was found, where and how murdered wo have not as yet ascertained ; and subsequently on' using tho gum spears in a dry ditch overgrown with furze a strong smell was emitted from the grqund, an examination proved that thc,ground had been recently dug, and at a depth of two feet from the surface the bodies of the two sons wore discovered, Though decomposed, their late acquaintances and friends could readily recognise them by their features, &c. The throat of the' lad of sixteen had been cut from ear to ear, the skull of the elder one had been battered by some blunt instrument, and one of his ears was smashed away by the blows. The corpses, as we were informed by a gentleman who saw them yesterday, presented a horrible appearance. Tho man Stac c is of well known bad character. He has been brought before the Bcsident Magistrate's Court in Auckland, charged' with theft. Thcro is a cuiious fact connected with the affair. A day or two before the mother and sons were missed the former borrowed a liammer of a neighbor. ' The neighbor came to the house in a day or two for the hammer, and on knocking at tho door could not obtain admittance, but Stack came to the window and said, tho hammer was lost, nnd asked the woman what she valued it at. She replied, eighteenpence, and Stack at onco placed the money on the window sill and closed tho sash. The police, we believe, received two telegrams from Otahuhu yestordny, tho first that the widow's body had boon found, the second announcing the recovery of those of the sons. Mr Commissioner Nnughton proceeded to the spot. Our information was received from a gentleman who arrived from tho sccno of the horrible tragedy about seven o'clock yesterday evening. The coroner's inquest winch sat on the bodies returned a verdict of wilful murder against James Stack, who has been apprehended.