MYSTERIOUS DEATH.

Inangahua Times, Volume VIII, Issue 1232, 12 February 1883, Page 2

MYSTERIOUS DEATH.

(From the Lyeil Times.) Considerable 'excitement was caused on Monday afternoon last upon it becoming known that the body of a man in a very decomposed condition had been found about a mile from town and within about fifty' yards of the spot where the man Davis had attempted to do away with himself on Tuesday the 30th ultimo. Constable Keating accompanied by Dr Campbell, immediately upon receiving information of the matter, proceeded to the locality. The body was lying off the Westport road,, about 45 feet down the sideling between the road, and the river, and was in a half-reclining half-sitting position, the head being disconnected from the body, ; and the upper portion, of the trunk being entirely denuded of flesh, and so decomposed as to be quite unre- ; cognisable. On .first looking at the body it had the appearance of having been dead for at least four or five weeks, but subsequent revelations disclosed that it was that of a miner named Denis Quinlan, who had last been seen alive and well on the night of Sunday, the 28th January, just one week prior to the remains being found.- . It was at first thought Quinjan,had met his'death accidentally by a fall when intoxicated, as he had latterly been somewhat intemperate -in his- habits, and was. known to have purchased a bottle of brandy on the evening of Sunday, the I 28tli ult. Further, disclosures-, how- ! ever, created a suspicion that there had been foul play. The body was without a coat, and- the hat was also missing, and the medical examination disclosed several broken ribs, and it is also believed the chest is smashed in. The skull was remarkably bare for the time the man had been dead, '-there being not the slightest trace of flesh or hair about it, it being as clean as if it had lain where found for many weeks.: The impression of many is that deceased and others had been carousing together, and. that there had been a desperate fight in which Quinlan had received one or mbre blows from a heavy weapon and had been thus overpowered, os under ordinaiy circumstances he wasa man who would fight desperately, . and who would' never succumb so long .as .he retained , his senses. . If this supposition is correct,, it is likely the man was further maltreated after being' overcome, and that he had been carried to the side of the road with the intention of throwing him over the : precipice. It would appear that the distance from wheife the crime is supr posed to have been committed to where it was intended to dispose of the body, had been miscalculated, and that instead of i's rolling down towards the waters of the Bulier, it had been intercepted by* a thick scrub and undergrowth, 'being however bidden from tb,e view; of passers-by. It is hard to say When the remains would have been discovered had not the ; stench attracted attention. ' The body was conveyed to town, and an inquiry was opened on Tuesday before J. Fenuell, Esq, J.P.,. Deputy-Coroner. The evidence of Jj. Carmine, who identified the. boots of the deceased, and that of John Whelan, who identified the body, was taken. John Davis (at present awaiting (trial on a charge- of attempted suicide) wasalso examined, when the inquest was adjourned to, 10 a.m., on Friday. Subsequent to the adjournment of the. first inquiry, the District Coroner, W. H. Revell, Esq., haying found that; the case was one of a more serious character than he had at first suspected, wired from Reefton to the : police here to .re-summqn the jury for 10 a.m. on Thursday, when the enquiry was re-opened, and a jury of sixteen empanelled. The evidence of L. . Carmine, J. Whelan, E. Williams, and Mary Grammatica was taken. The Court then adjourned to the 19th instant, in order to enable the to give the matter f ull" in vestigation. Detective Quinn arrived on Thursday, ami heand Constable fceating are now busily at work ancf'wili; ..leave no stone unturned to clear up the mystery* We trust that they will be enabled to bring such evidence beofre the jury as well leave them no difficulty in arriving at a verdict. \ : .. We shall not be in a position to publish the depositions until the iuquiry has concluded. A number of witnesses are yet td be examined, and the investigation will occupy some considerable time. That Quinlan was not missed sooner maybe accountod for by the fact that he worked at the United Victory mine, New Creek, which is about seven miles -from Lyeil, and that while persons who had seen him in town before his disappearance no doubt thought he had returned to his work, his mates at the claim were under the impression that he was still in town. The deceased' was well-known on the West Coast, particularly about Charleston, Westport and Reefton. •He had . been in the district about eighteen months. He was about 40 years of age, and a native of County Tipperary, Ireland. ' We notice that, some of our contemporaries at Reefton and elsewhere have been giving credence and publicity to numerous wild rumours which have been floating- about, and some of the paragraphs would certainly be an ornament to the Police Gazette or other periodical of the same class. ■