TELEGRAPHIC.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 4, Issue 1246, 5 December 1882, Page 2

TELEGRAPHIC.

IUKITED.PEESS iSBOCUTIOK|

SHOCKING WIFE!MURDER NEAR

■■ AuokundJ December 4. Mr Nathan's manager, Mr Frater, was alarmed about 9t o'clock; a,ra„ by seeing Crowley's daughter, a girl of 14, running out of her father's house,- screaming that her father was killing Mr»■'•■ Crowley, her stepmother. On going tip .to tho house Mr Frater »w Mrs Crowley lying on the floor, dead, with her face battered in. Mr Frater, direbUnj; twbjof .[.onthe estate to keep Crowley in eight, rode off to apprise; special-constable Gill in the On thc'/road;-about 1 ; halt way back, the constable and-Mr Frater met Crowley apparently'ypirig'ori to .Howick r with thetwo men from the'estate dogging his footsteps. who';h'as 'been well acquainted with Crowley for ibrae years past, at once, aocostedhira,! and: said, " I aHi sorry to hoar oi this bad • buainoas, ■ Crowley; I must.nowi :arrest!you on a charge of raurderiiigiyour wife,"; cautioning him at the issme time in the usual manner as to any-'statembnts he uiighi make. Crowley'rppliedV Ju r : could'; not ,-hilp; it.; she kept haggitigat mis all night." I > Th»priioD6rwajiub>e.q|[endyconvsye'd to AuokUad.andi lodgedwin',the, police oeljs. Ellen: Crowley v wailii| leoond wife and the httle girl w(wProwieyV:child by his first wife. There wss: ( some disparity ofyears betweenithe couplej r Mrs Crowley bemg about jv29 ;and Crowleyi about 47; There mi no issue of the second marriage For a year past tho Hl>mat«d have }ed a wretched a glass occasionally, bat never to excess, and the wife! haying a fipatation,''Of an aggravating way of "nagging" the husband, and being somewhat bf a'. j great soured "of trouble vr'aii ; ' the-step- ) daughter,;aiid it i(sa(dHh»V the'igirl- was harsblyltreat'ed bf Mri of i the party whb'visited the aayi; that -' tl\ai?x ap^tm^if, partly :-filled;^th;^lam^r.r : -';There r w« aiank^, 1 cimlet,- ! .ud Kmethiug

appeared to ; be; Rti apology, for'ss miittraas— the. • whiile 'house ; .!haa.;afy a" ir; of •: disoomfort and slovenlinassT through Buoh cliiiig-olbaer tci; his child t and jiiataffection f orßh^ittle ; girl seems to have bee v na prominent trait ia his oliaracte£ '■'; His aeliin-bn behalf of the child led to continual broils' between the husband and wife The "oat-Wd-dog'' life got to <such,a to get i\ separation from huiwifer Snd.'it would have been wellfor both if the sug> gestion had been carried oat, ..,;.;, . ■Crowley bears a reputation among; the neighbors as being a quiet, steady man,' aiid was regarded by Mr F rater as a faithful and trustworthy servant,, .It, seep that latterly Crowley hss been'moody, melancholy, and somewhat eccentric, Among' other freaks it' is alleged tliatlie' was ploughing the other clay in ,a, BUit: of • black clothes, and .had committed other acts equally singular. According to Crowley's statement his wife bad been Haggling all rthe previous night. There 'is.reason to believe,that (he wife was about to set out-for nidss the tragic; affair took; placo,, It is staled that; Crowley .also intended to go, as he had on his (lack cloth suit, but Mrs Crowley had not ironed a shirt for niiu, and 'refused toi'do so.Crowley thereupon got an iron to iron a shirt for, himself; and it was while he had it in his hand that, frenzied with her refusal and her "naggling" he lost all control of himself'arid committed tho horrible deed. The unfortunate woman wasifound lying on her back, her features and' the front part of .her. head -being an unrecognisable iiiiissof pulp, and brains and blood bespattered the floor, tuble and walla. On searching fur the weapon with which the murder had been effao'ed, a ; patent stoaui box-iron was found splashed with blood, and much battered and bent. Dr Fitzgerald was of .opinion, from the dreadful character of. the< wounds that the woman died almost immediately.'