THE WELLINGTON TRAGEDY.

Waikato Times, Volume XV, Issue 1275, 31 August 1880, Page 2

THE WELLINGTON TRAGEDY.

Dinjixo (h^ eour-e of the inquest on tho l)orlv of M.'itHi-jw tl<nH-on, hold on Fndiy, 'JOlh A ii -i! -I, it \\})i,}i y after two hours' d"hbcr.ition, the fin y returned n veidulof jel<i <l> v, the following letters woic rea>l;--y Wellington, 17th Au<ru-<, ISSO, "Thin 1- tti r N to he uive. to the person in Christchuuh (allmg hu-elf Mis lit ndi'i Mm, "You have modueed -i certificate of m. mi. i»o and hid an infoim.ition against me for de-citing you. In the tirst place yoti knew I w.i 1 - tioing a\\ iv becuu-e I told you, and T ,iKo told aou th it I was not, coming back to Chi i^tchuich any nioio. And, second] v, -\ on know that you are not my lawiul wife. When you enl.ieed mo into manyinir \ou, I had a wife lo whom I mms hwtnlly mamed, which you know, ami J left England to escape a piospcuti'in tor biiriiny. I sinned, but lvpen^ed l<p]i»- atro, and although you deooivod mo, I .stood to jou, and, for the sake of the two diildion, have submitted to the life of agony, of torture of the worht description, fiom you a woman cwent> yea rd older than I am, a shrewd calculi tin ir lonian, a niodein Jezebel of the lowest t\ pc and voiht description, a lcgular attendant at church and p.n-taker of God's sacrament, but a hvpociitc of tlio very worst kind. You devoted your life to ruin me, and now you have accomplished it both body and «oul, as you hope ; but I am not afraid to trust myself to God's mercy. Oh, Avheu I think of the p.isfc and of your hypocrisy, how you have toitured me in your quiet, nagging, and uncharitable words — cruel words— which I hav« seldom answered, and how you have led the outside world to deem j r ou an angel of light, and hotv you have succeeded, it makes me thiuk there surely cannot be a God cogrnisuit of such cruelty, such sin, or He would never have allowed it. I am now going to die, and I leave you to the remorse of conscience — if you have any — that you are my murderer. Y T es, you have murdered mo — for I told you I had sinned — that every man's hand had been against me, and what a hard struggle I li.id. to kejp the home together, and to make you and the children comfortable, and I told you if I was stopped it would be my ruin ; and you promised me you would say nothing. At the same time you were glorying within yoorself how you would gloat over my downfall, What |s it that ia in you — it cannot be lust, at yoiu 1 time of life, CO years of age ? MayGod foigive you as I do — the dear children whom in years gone by I have loved, but whose affection 1 * you have weaned from me, and who, although you have taught them to treat me with contempt, are old enough to have seen your treatment of mo, and will yet live to curge you. I cannot say any more, so goodbye, and may God yet bring you to your senses, and in His great mercy forgive you for Christ's sake. Amen. (Signed) «M. Hexdhbsok. " The other, also in Hendersons haudwntiug, ran as under: — '■ Wellington, 18th August 1880. "My dear Mrs BJyth, <( 1 deem it my duty to ask your forgivonoss, and to slate that I am not tho villain you would beliovfl rue to be. I took your daughter f ram you, but I lovo Let and she love-> me, and it is tho first time in my life that 1 5>;>ve known yvhat love is. It will be uecess^ry for me to go somewhat tiack iv my history, and expliin to you that when very young I gt>t married to a young lad y whom I thought I loved, and we lived happily together for three mouths, "^hea

she eloped with another man. I sold off my Home, and went tgl<jdge with a widow who had three children — a shrewd calculating woman of the world, twenty years my senior.^ I was very young and very foolish. She, enticed me into marrying, her, and I did — committed bigamy— and to •scape the consequences I had to leave England. I could see my folly almost before the ink waa- dry that signed the marriage register, -and, although I repent* ed, I stuok to my bond. I have done my best for the woman who deceived, me, and for the paat' jELfteen years have submitted to a life of' torture at the hands of a woman who calls herself Mrs Henderson. No need for me* to tell you more of thiß. I met your daughter and knew whatpnre love was. You aaw ifc> and have seen it all along, and have spoken of it. Why have yon interfered or helped to interf ere? "We hare resolved to die together, seeking and preferring to trust ourselves to God's meroy than? to man's; You must forgive us for Christ's 'sake." , ' r (Signed) "M. HWdeson." In a' very £ shaky hand, follow these words:— r"l|sar Mother, — Forgive me, Kiss my sisters and brother for me. I may not have loved. wisely, but too well. " (Here there" is a cross, and the deceased's handwriting is taken up as follows): — " Good-bye, dear mother, your erring daughter,' (Signed in' Miss Blyth's handwriting "M. J. Blyth." At the foot of the letter, deceased again takes up? the pen, and writes — "I wrote front the cross. Jenny could not finish but managed to sign her name-" 4 We (Post have been informed by Mr. -E. W, Lowe, the Resident. Secretary for the Australian Mutual Provident Society, that Henderson insured his life in the Society for the sum of £100 Q on the 14th August, 18T0, but that in terms of the policy the assurance is void, he having committed suicide within one year and thirty days from the date of the policy. The clause in the policy runs thus :—": — " If the assured shall, whether sane«or iusane, die by hia own hands, within one year and thirty days from the date hereof . . . '. then and in any such case this policy and the assurance hereby made shall be void." If the deceased man had waited till- the 15th Sept. next the Society would have had to pay over the amount; ; : It now also transpires that shortly before the tragedy deceased endeavoured to obtain strychnine from Mr Barraud, chemist, saying that he wanted it for the purposeof killing cats, but was unsuccessful} Mr Barraud^ assistant stating that he could only let Henderson have the poison by going through the legal formalities. • A. Press Association telegram from Christohurch gives the following additional particulars in regard to Hendersons! career in that eity :— Henderson has on several occasions been in court here, but being a plausible man, and getting the blind side of the clergymen and others, was rather a prominent figure in local matters. His last escapade has not, however, surprised the majority of people here. It is- known he always carried poison/ , His statement about his wife is an atrocious libel. He had taken the utmost precautions to deceive her, stating that he was going to Dunedin, and contriving to have messages sent from the South as though he was really travelling.