TRAGEDY AT TAURANGA.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XIII, Issue 4034, 10 February 1892, Page 3

TRAGEDY AT TAURANGA.

AHa&au&.Hui&oxsfcls Wo and Family. ' AEonlWo Sight. (Press Association.) *V . Auckland, February 0. -' V This morning the whole of. Tau • ranga wa3 thrown into a state of great excitement through the news that Duncan Munro (stepson of James Bodell, late Mayor of this town) had murdered his wife and four children, aged respectively nine months, three, fivo and six yeais, the youngest being a girl, and the three others boys, . For the past couple of days Dunoan Munro, who was some two or three years ago-an inmato of the- Whau Lunatic Asylum, has been certainly not accountable fcr his actions, as he

IB suffering from religious mania and has bean talking of offering up a sacrifice to the Most High, but as he had done the same on former oocasions no notice was taken of him, except that bis relations-kept an eye'on him. Last night'his brother left him at his house at about nine o'clock, with his wife and children in the front part of the houso and Duncan in tho kitchen, with a room adjoining to sleep in. The door between the front and 4Ajtclien was only to be opened from front. At seven o'clock this morning the daughter of Mcßoberts, a milkman, Weiit with the milk, but could not mako anyone hear, and called her father, who was with tho'milk curt. Moßoberte opened the kitchen door and discovered' Mrs Munro and the eldest boy on the floor in a pool or blood, and their heads frightfully knocked about. He then saw Munro on the beach at tho back of the houso in his night clothes, Mcßoberts informed Mr Bodell, who lives opposite, «ad tho police and doctor were soon in attendance, It was then found that the wife and child still breathed, and underneath the bodies were found a flat iron and a rolling pin covered with blood, which were evidently' tho weapons used.

On going into the front bedroom it was found that two little boys were in the doublo bed with thoir skulls smashed, and in the cot was fe|e little girl with her brains spattered over the bedclotbes. When the doctor arrived all tho bodies breathed, but from tho first no hopes were held out, * Since then the youngest child and the two eldest boys, George and Johnny, have died, There are great signs of a desperate struggle, for the articles of furniture and ornaments are smashed and broken, It is presumed the affair took place about 3 a.m. Munro waspromptly arrested in the town, in his nightshirt, and is covered in spots of blood, Dr Bullen thinks it probable that a knife was used on Mrs Munro, but no such weapon can bo found. All the skulls are battered on the left side, Later,

The manDuncan Munro, the author of the tragedy at Tauranga, committed the dreadful deed while suffering from mania. The first discovery jfthe tragedy was made by a milkmam on going his rounds with milk about G o'clook in the morning. The family lived in a small fouwoomad cottage at the back ol the Presbyterian Church, and close to the Waikarau Beach. Just belore reaching the house the milkman saw Munro on the beach in his nightshirt, Finding that no one answered his knock, and seeing the front door open, the milkman tiegan to suspect something was wrong, On opening the door he saw the eldest boy lying on the floor in a pool of blood, apparently dead, On going into the kitchen he saw Mrs Munro lying on the kitchen floor, apparently dead, and battered about the head almost beyond recognition, Further examination Bbowed that tho other three children had also been attacked, and a woeful sight presented itself in the bedroom, The second boy lay apparently slaughtered in n cot, and the third boy and the baby were lying battered iu bed, having evidently been sleeping with thoir Bfljer. They all appeared to have been attacked in bed, and were all attacked the same way. The father appears to have got qp towards daylight and seized a flat iron by the handle and jobbed it into the heads oi his unfortunate victirns. They were all struck about tho head in the same way, the point of the iron having been driven into their heads over and over again. There were no marks on the bodies at all, but the heads were all badly knocked about. Tbebaby had evidently been struck unconscious at once, as when found it was lying quite peacefully with its head on its right band, as if struck down there and then while sleeping, Mrs Munro would appear to have got out of bed, as she had a petticoat on, and had evidently rushed out of the room either to escape the maniac or else to protect one of her infants, She was seriously mutilated, .almost the whole of the back of her head being jobbed in and the brain protrudiajknieceaofher skull being picked ufSwho kitohon floor. There are marks of a violent and desperate struggle having taken place, the sides of th"o room being marked with blood and liair whero she had fallen or been knocked against it in the desperate Struggle for (jfe, There'is no doubt a /earful struggle took place in the kitehen as the njadman did his dpsperato work. " The yipiima qre Grace Emma Munro, the wjfe, $0 years; George, 6j John "Hugh, '§; Alexander, 3 years; Lilian, aged 9 months, The father's age is 33. He was born in Victoria, but has been a resident of Tauranga sinco the year m> !f/he two eldest boys lingered till about eleven o'clock, when they both died nearly at the same time. The baby lived till a little psst ono o'clock and then expired, None of them recovered consciousness.

Mrs Munro lien in an unconscious state, breathing heavily, but no hopes pro (held out for her recovery, and it leeAto fie'only e. matter of how long 6heWd"the other' child can live.' ' After cbmniitting the dreudful deed the father wandered down about the beach, round to the Sulphur Works, ajjd along the sttand, whore to was

arrestea. * I •■• On bejng spoken to lie admitted he hacl'killecrxGe'm al'J/a'ntf e'ai'd f'Qlory, hallelujah I" and'.when asked, how' ho did it, said with a flat iron, and that God told him to do it. Jjator news is to the effect that the remaining child, the youngest boy, is dead, and that Mrs Munro is rapidly sinking. Munre, who has been in the police cells all day, has been howiing and (Qreauiing and singing hymns, and

although lie is conscious of what he has done, he seems to have no idea of the enormity of his crime, Sincu morning he has neither eaten nor drunk anything, This afternoon composing draughts were administered to him, Ho lias been liable to horni* cidal mania for somo years past. Since he was a boy ho has been subject to epileptic tits, and somo two or three years ago developed a religious mania, which culminated'fa'such dangerous symptoms that, he was sent to the Auckland Lunatic Asylvm. After being there somo few months his wife yielded, agiinst her better judgment, to the ernest solicitations of his relatives, and ho was released from tho Asylum. Of late months he has again developed very dangerous symptoms, and has threatened the life of his family sevoral times.

The day before the fatal deed was done, he said he had a sacrifice to make,

Dr Bullen repeatedly warned Munro's relatives of the danger of his being at large, especially to his family, but, unfortunately, no notice,, was taken of Ms warning. In his lucid intervals, Munro was an affectionate husband, fond of his children, and a most temperate man,