The Kaiwhara Murder.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume X, Issue 3221, 4 June 1889, Page 2

The Kaiwhara Murder.

Full particulars aro-given in our ' Wellington exchanges of the inquest held on tho body of Thomas Hawkings who was found murdered'onthe road' near his home, Kaiwhara, on Satur- , day. The following is a summary of ■ the medical testimony:—Thomas "■ Cahill, M.D., deposed—On, Friday . night, about twonty minutes to nine, I went out to view the body of deceased with Mr Diraook some men who were at his butchery} We went up for about halt a mile, and found the deceased lying oh his back aoross the road. His hands "and wrists were cold, wa&ngor mortis was' beginning to set in.- The face, and clothing on the chest were covered with; blood,/ dead,- and mustobaye; been; so .frorii/' three to/four hours./-I.theri;made|ft/ examination ; .:tbjMfl^to;ite i b/ood;''.,: was issuing from, and saw-anihcis'ed ;■ wound on i jugular vein. This wound ■ iat/bneft aroused my suspicion as to whether'/ death was caused by accideriti/Jfliis / suspicion was confirmed when .on -A cutting thofronlof; buttoned from another! clean-incised wound on the left side' of the neck; lower down than the one J on the opposite side, Iliad the body/.' conveye'd down the hill oh a stretcher;; to Mr Dmiook's, where I awaited the '■'. arrival of the police.;' -.Constables-. Carroll arid Webb,varrived Bbortly,/ nnd I handed the bodv over to ■':

their charge* to remove- it •'■to--the 'Morgue, ''a On Saturday morning'Bmade a : jmsi .'.-'■/ mortem examination of the body. I ;, • was'able to. see numerous cleancnts^.' ','- through the" Nothing,.-, the ; majority';.. / V( beingabout three-quarters of an inph-;.;;vi in length, arid'.some smaller.,. ■Thesß.vV •, outs were principally upon the;c»llaiv'T.'-.v. / shoulders, and leftbfeast. Many.;of/ : ,-.)'.« them passed tbrbiigh' the, under"-,/ - ' clothing, and corresponding in posi- '..;■ ■,/;. tion and extentj.with, the./wounds"..///!; found on the body, Theronvasa, r small round ragged/hole on the right /,S front of the coat/about the centre,-, close to the buttons, and a portion of ..//.■'

the left corner andpookefc were'torn ".,■':..■: away, There was a long ragged tear: : in -the .vest abovethe left. corner,'-: '-..-j passing through the pooket, and some, ragged tears on part of the trousers on tlie left, side. M There was a large ragged round tear:; ■ in the back of tbe.rigbt shoulder .of; Ithe coat, and there were correspon- ; .; ding holes' in the ••vest, shirt, and. . singlet, leading down to aldcerafoif •.-■' contused wound If in by. 1J in, situated above the shoulder blado.■•■.'.■ close to the spine, on the right side. There were contusions on the left - cheek. An incised wound, about-three-quarters of an inohin length, on the left side of the facexampletely divided the lower jawbone, making' , a clean slightly-curved fraoture. This : wound opened into the cavity of the '. mouth. There was a'.olean iucised wound, about three-eighths of an inch in lengths and three-eighths, in depth behind the right ear.; Two', incised wounds, three-quarters of ah inch long and two and a-half inches',. deep, ran downwards and inwards through the muscles of the neok, t and ended by striking against tbo bones of the. spine. Two incised * wounds behind the right ear ran downjJL, wards an 1 forward through the and on the left side oftho neck an ' incised wound 8 \ inohes deep and , . three-quarters of an inch in length.., ran downwards, forwards, and inwards ■■ across. tho neok, from beneath the angle of the jaw, and ended by penetrating the pharynx, An inoised wound three-quarter of an inch long 2$ inches deep ran downwards and forwards from beneath the angle of tho jaw on the right side, and was found on dissection to have severed the right external: : jugular .vein. On the body -I found v six clean incised wounds,. and one.. ■ angular wound beneath and in front . of the left arm pit. The angular . wound was evidently produced by | two thrusts of the same instrument, - one wound" opening into the other,. ; When the chest was opened, six of ' j these wounds were found to have I passed between the ribs and .pehe-. , trated the upper lobe of the left lung. , Three incised wounds were found on ' the lower part of the chest, on the f leftside, three-quarters of an inch in I length and 11 inches deep, which,; I when tlio abdomen was opeiieijfc , proved to have entered the spleoW f loan extent of from a quarter \*jk 5 half an inch. Two incised woundißj I in'tho back passed through thl/' t musoles and ended by striking against the spine. The largo and ragged wound on the back of the left shoulder was noxt examined. It [ ran forwards through the muscles j for SJiu, and was directed shghtly ' J upwards and outwards. .Itcontained , dotted blood and torn and crushed . particles of flesh, particles of olothing, paper, shot, whioh were lodged in j the lower part of the' neck, immediately above the Bhouldor. The ' distance between the outer wound ' on tho body and the -one on the heart being fivo inohes, lead-me to believe that the instrument whioh " produced 'these wounds was sharp, double edged, tapering, and at least , live inohes in length. That'it was . j an exceedingly strong instrument, and driven with great force, is shown . by the clean cuts made through the \ bony processes of the vertebra, and , the fracture of tbejower jaw, From , the appearance of the small, ragged,, round-hole in the right front of ML, coat, and the long,- ragged tear in wt ,' left comer and pocket of the vest, [ and the. large tear in the pocket j apd left corner of the coal, I am inclined to believe that these j tears were caused by a rounded a; , misßile like a spherical bulfci,firedT j from above, it entered the right side ' of tho coat, tearing the cloth of the . waistcoat, and then striking against , the knife aud whatever, silver vas in : , the pooket, after which it emerged . through the coat! It is, a ourious thiug'tbat_ the bruiso over tlie left"'" . hypocondriao regipns show the mark ! of the knife, as though the bullet struck the knife, and would have' , thus entered the body but for being ' thus deflected outwards. The shot -- Bred from behind, and whioh entered the shoulder, must have , when both parties were about on a \ level, apd within a distance! would 6.ay,pf two yards, (o judge: from tho appearanc3 of the coat and wound. I mean that there would be only about two yards between tho' lnnaft of the gun apd the man's babk, '■-'^Snj.■'"''■ pellets used were number B or i shot, \'

Inspector Thompson here produced a double-edged dagger, about six inches in length, and asked whether it was such an instrument as had made the wounds. Witness—l believe all the incised wounds and* fractures have been wade with an, instrument of this description. (The inquest was adjourned for'a, w?e|.' Thj| capital of the Bank of Victoria uuil to be pew itittres of £IQ euft,' '^J^H