MURDER AT TIMARU
A YOUTH SHOT.
THE ASSAILANT UNKNOWN.
(Per United Press Association.) TIMARU, October 27. A murder occurred to-night in Nelson Terrace. A youth named Clarence Wagstaff, whose father is an employee at Ballantyne’s, was sleeping in a tent near the house when a friend who stayed with him returned from the pictures. While the latter was undressing he saw a man prowling round the house. He awoke Wagstaff, and they both went to see who it was. They went different ways round the house. Wagstaff met the man and caught hold of him. The man broke away and fired three shots, one of which hit the youth on the left of the chest. The man got away. Wagstaff was removed to the Hospital, and died an hour later. The culprit is unknown. -Southland Times, 28/10/1920.
TIMARU MURDER.
INQUEST EVIDENCE
NO FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS
TIMARU, This Day,
At the inquest concerning the death of Clarence Wagstaff the father of deceased said that he heard persons running round the house and the sound of a scuffle. He heard his son calling out and went to the door. Then he saw a man running towards the front fence. He saw him turn round, take deliberate aim and fire, he thought three times. The man then jumped over the fence. His son fell after the shots had been fired. A doctor and the police were telephoned for, but the boy died at 12.15 a.m. Witness said that he had not the slightest idea who fired the shots.
Clifford Vincent Knapp said that while undressing he looked out and saw a man crouching between the side of the house and the fence. Witness gave details of the chase and said that from the rapidity of the shots he concluded that a revolver had been used.
After the medical evidence the Coroner returned a verdict, that death had been caused by a bullet, intentionally fired by a person unknown. —Press Assn. -Northern Advocate, 28/10/1920.
TIMARU MURDER.
DETAILS OF THE CRIME
YOUTH SHOT BY MIDNIGHT INTRUDER.
[From Our Correspondent.] TIMARU, October 28. A great sensation was caused by the murder last night of Clarence E. Wagstaff nineteen years of age, son of Mr H. Wagstaff, accountant for Messrs Ballantyne and Co. The absence of any motive other than escape makes the murder a difficult task for the police. Added to the difficulty is tho fact that Clarence Wagstaff was unable to give any information before he died that would help in identification. The murderer was only casually seen by Clifford Knapp and Mr Wagstaff, senior, and they cannot say that they would be able to identify him. No arrest has been made so tar. The murderer may have a difficulty in getting out of the district if the railway and traffic bridges are watched, as the rivers are all in high flood.
An automatic pistol was used by the murderer, and the police recovered two cartridges on Wagstaff’s lawn. Those, and the very slender clue supplied by Knapp, are all there is to work on at present.
Clarence Wagstaff retired about ten o’clock in a kind of sleeping hut in the back yard. Knapp came home from the pictures and had supper with the family. He went to the hut about eleven, and he was taking off his boots when he saw against the skyline alongside the house the form of a man moving against the wall outside the window of the room occupied by Mr Wagstaff’s daughter. Speaking quietly he said, “Clarence, there is a man crouching down there behind the fence.” Clarence replied: "We had better get after him. Wait till I put on my boots and pants.” Knapp kept an eye on the man, who moved from the centre of the house forward. Knapp suggested that he might be a burglar trying to get the keys of Ballantyne’s safe.
Both youths moved round the back of the house to the front, and found the murderer at the front corner. Clarence closed in on him, and he ran back with Clarence after him, while Knapp ran back in the opposite direction to cut him off. Knapp met him at the back where the murderer jumped down off the bank and pushed him aside, rushing straight along the side of the house. Clarence followed right on his heels, and the murderer turned and fired one shot, which missed. Running on over the front lawn he stopped a moment and fired two more shots at Clarence, who was not five yards behind. One took effect, and the man then leaped the fence and rushed down the midd1e of the road.
Meanwhile Knapp, who was following along the side of the house, felt the second bullet whizz past him, but he continued the chase going out by the gate. The murderer was too fast, and he returned to see how his companion had fared.
The household were aroused when the chase began, and Mr Wagstaff, sen., was actually on the front verandah and saw the murderer level his pistol and deliberately shoot his son before leaping nimbly over the fence. Doctors and the police arrived, but the young man sank rapidly from great loss of blood from the wound in his left breast.
The only details regarding the murderer are that he was about 6ft 6in in height and slightly rather than heavily built.
Knapp says he never caught sight of his face, but formed the opinion that he was a foreigner, for in pushing him aside he said. “Och! got out of the way!” with a guttural sound and the suggestion of a foreign accent.
The police took the deceased’s dying depositions, which consisted only of the words: “I chased a man, and he shot me.”
Mr Wagstaff, sen., is well known in Christchurch and Nelson. He has been five years in Timaru. His eldest son, Frank, lost his life in the war. There are three daughters and a son younger than Clarence. The youth who was murdered was nineteen years of age, and was employed in Ballantyne’s mercery department, where he had almost completed his apprenticeship. He had just returned from Auckland, where he was a delegate to the Baptist Conference. He was a prominent member of the Y.M.C.A., and secretary of a tennis Club. He was very highly respected and much liked in Timaru.
A theory has been formed by the Police that the murderer may not have been bent on burglary but rather was a sexual pervert, who was prowling around the house. This theory is supported by the fact that there were lights in the house and persons moving inside right up till the time of the shooting. The murderer was evidently alone. The police have an almost hopeless task, but are doing their best.
THE INQUEST.
(From Our Correspondent.] TIMARU, October 28. The inquest into the circumstances surrounding the death of Clarence Edward Wagstaff was held this evening, before the District Coroner, Mr E. D. Mosley. Inspector Hastie conducted the proceedings.
The a father of the deceased, Henry flagstaff, accountant for J. Ballantyne and Co., drapers, said that deceased was nineteen years of age. Witness returned home last evening about 10.30 o’clock. He did not see deceased, who slept in a hutment outside the house. About eleven o’clock witness heard a disturbance, but did not comprehend what was happening. Then Mrs Wagstaff, who was in the front of the house, called out that something was wrong, and witness hastened to the front door. He then saw a man near the front fence, who turned round and deliberately took aim and fired three times, afterwards jumping the fence. After the firing, deceased dropped to the ground. Knapp, a young man resident with the family, was with deceased, and he followed the man, jumping over the fence and going after him down the street. Witness then attended to deceased and summoned the police and medical assistance. Dr Gibson attended deceased, who was afterwards removed to the hospital, witness and Mrs Wagstaff accompanying him. Witness had not the slightest idea as to who fired the shots, which seemed to have been discharged from a revolver. The man appeared to be an expert at firing.
Clifford Vincent Knapp, clerk in the Public Trust Office, said he resided with Mr Wagstaff. When he came home last night about 11 p.m., he went to the sleeping shed, situated about one chain away from the house. On arriving at the shed, witness noticed that deceased was almost asleep, he being in bed. Witness sat down on his bed, which was also in the shed, and spoke to deceased. A few minutes later witness looked through the window, and saw a figure crouching near the house. Witness told deceased that someone was prowling around outside. Deceased partly dressed himself, and the two made after the trespasser, who went toward the front of the house, afterwards turning back to the place where he had been first seen. Deceased was in front of witness. Deceased jumped over a low wall, following the man. The man pushed witness on to one side when witness endeavoured to grapple with him. Deceased pursued the man, who on reaching the corner of the house turned and fired three shots, or one shot followed by two in quick succession. The first shot whizzed past witness’s head. Deceased fell to the ground, and the man ran across the lawn and leaped the fence into the roadway. Witness went through the gate, and chased the man down Seaview Terrace, as far as the vacant section in Sefton Street, where he gave up and hurried back to the boy, who was crying out. The man went round the corner to the right into Sefton Street. On returning witness found deceased lying where he had fallen. Witness thought the weapon used was a revolver, because of the rapidity with which the shots were fired. The night was fairly clear, although the moon was obscured. It was possible to see figures moving about. There had been no light in the sleeping shed.
Dr Gibson said he attended deceased after the shooting. Deceased was coughing blood at intervals, and witness administered morphia. Witness told deceased he was going to die, and he was then taken to the public hospital by motor-car. Dr Paterson followed witness to the hospital. Deceased sank into unconsciousness and died about 12.20 a.m.. At 10.30 a.m. this morning witness removed a bullet, which had penetrated below the left collar-bone and one and a half inch below the heart. There were no other wounds about the body. The bullet had passed between the first and second ribs, passing through the main vein quite close to the heart. The wound was sufficient to cause death, and would be quite impossible to treat surgically. Death was caused by hemorrhage, caused by a punctured wound in the main vein at the root of the heart.
The Coroner returned a verdict — “That Clarence Edward Wagstaff died as the result of a bullet, intentionally fired by some person whose identity has not been ascertained.”
The Coroner expressed the regret of the police officers and himself and the people of Timaru generally, at the Wagstaffs’ great loss.
A CHRISTCHURCH FAMILY.
Mr H. Wagstaff, the father of the murdered lad, is well-known in drapery circles in Christchurch, he having been employed there by Messrs Ballantyne for many years. Some years ago he was transferred to Nelson, and from there he went to Timaru, to assume the duties of a responsible office position. -Lyttelton Times, 29/10/1920.
The funeral of the late Clarence Wagstaff will leave the residence of his father, 13 Seaview Terrace at 3 p.m. to-day.
The flag of Messrs Ballantyne's promises was flown at half-mast yesterday out of respect for the deceased and as a token of sympathy with Mr Wagstaff and family. -Timaru Herald, 29/10/1920.
THE TIMARU MURDER
ARREST OF A MAN AT LYTTELTON
A Constable Shot
Word was received last evening that a man named Matthews, for whom the police had been searching, was arrested at Lyttelton last evening, charged with escaping from custody, and with the murder of Clarence Wagstaff, at Timaru. The man was sighted earlier in the day, but before the police could arrest him he had taken flight and hidden. However, he was again located, this time on the Maori, but made another effort to escape, drawing a revolver and shooting a Constable in the knee. Twelve constables took part in the arrest.
Matthews is believed to be an escaped convict, who was serving a term of nine months’ imprisonment when he escaped, and was supposed to have lost his life when the Tainui was burnt at sea. However, a short time ago, he was seen and recognised by the curator of the Christchurch Domain, in the gardens but, when an effort was made to detain him, he drew a revolver and got away.
The accused will be brought be brought before the court at Lyttelton this morning, when probably a remand will be applied for. -Temuka Leader, 2/11/1920.
Matthews before the Magistrate
Charged with Murder of Clarence Wagstaff
Remanded to Appear at Timaru
Prisoner's Composed Demeanour
Reginald Matthews, the escaped prisoner, appeared at the Magistrate’s Court to-day, before Mr. S. E. McCarthy, S.M., charged under the name of Reginald Matthews, alias Reg. Irwin, that on October 27, 1920, at Timaru, he wilfully murdered Clarence Edward Wagstaff. He was remanded to appear at Timaru on November 11. Meanwhile he will be lodged in Paparua Prison, Templeton, but to-day he is being sent to Timaru for purposes of identification.
SELF-POSSESSED PRISONER.
"NOT GUILTY” PLEA TO MURDER CHARGE.
“A cool customer,” was the comment on Matthews’ appearance in Court this morning. A group of about thirty persons watched his arrival in the “Black Maria” at the Courthouse. The prisoner was handcuffed to a constable on either side.
The cell at the Courthouse in which he was lodged prior to his appearance in the dock was well guarded by an assemblage of detectives and police. A big crowd awaited admission at the door of the Courthouse, and when the Court was opened it was quickly overcrowded. Matthews was placed in the dock, handcuffed. He was quite calm as the charge of murder was read out by the clerk. While in the dock he had occasion to say very little, but it was noted that he spoke very clearly and distinctly, and almost with a “polished” accent. He was not represented by counsel. Chief-Detective McIlveney applied for a remand to Timaru on November 11. The accused did not appear to hear the charge or the application. ‘‘Did you hear the application?" said the Magistrate. "I haven’t heard the application," said the prisoner, very distinctly. “You are charged with murdering Clarence Wagstaff at Timaru;" said the Magistrate, “and an application has been made for a remand to Timaru. Have you anything to say?" ‘‘Just to say that I am not guilty." said the prisoner. The chief-detective asked that the remand warrant should be made out for Templeton Gaol. The Magistrate granted the remand. "No bail of course will be allowed.” he added. "What about counsel for the defence?” said the prisoner. ‘‘That is a matter for further consideration,” said the Magistrate. “You make your application.” No other charge was preferred against Matthews, who then left the dock, and was driven away a few minutes later in the Black Maria.
DETAILS OF CAPTURE.
TEMPLETON’S PLUCKY ACTION.
Constable Templeton is generally accorded the credit for grappling first with Matthews, he followed Inin towards tho end of the truck, and it seems clear that Matthews, in half turning to take aim at Templeton, cannoned into the end of the truck and fell. Templeton threw himself on Matthews at once, grasping his arms. Constable Baynes was the second man to arrive, and he seized Matthews by the throat. Then Constable Packer came up, holding his revolver ready to cover Matthews if he should break away. He threw himself into the struggle, and he and Templeton and Baynes were on top of Matthews when he fired the shot that went through Templeton’s leg. They all regarded themselves as very lucky, notwithstanding Templeton’s wound.
Constable Templeton is progressing satisfactorily. An operation was performed to open up the flesh wound above his knee for irrigation purposes and the wound is expected to heal rapidly.
MATTHEWS AT MELBOURNE.
Matthews signed on the s.s. Waipori shortly after his escape from prison, as leading seaman —equivalent to bosun. He bore a good record and did his work well. He got as far away as Melbourne, but returned to New Zealand and signed off at Lyttelton on October 5. He stayed at Lyttelton one night but knocked about Lyttelton for a couple of days before going to Christchurch.
THE REMAND.
The Thursday on which Matthews has been remanded to appear at Timaru occurs in Carnival Week, and it is just possible that the police will not be ready to go on then. In that case it will not be necessary to send Matthews to Timaru, as he can be further remanded from Christchurch. -Star, 2/11/1920.
MIDNIGHT TRAGEDY AT TIMARU
Search for Suspects
Exciting Scenes at Lyttelton
POLICEMAN SHOT DURING REVOLVER DUEL
Escaped Convict Arrested and Charged with Crime
Another promising young New Zealander has been speeded to his grave by the hand of an assassin. The facts of this dastardly affair are very simple. Young Wagstaff worked for Ballantyne and Co:, and lived in Seaview-terrace, Timaru, at the house of his father, Mr. H. Wagstaff, who, also, was employed by Ballantyne and Co. The boy, with a friend, Clifford Vincent Knapp, slept in a hut about a chain from the parents' house. On the evening of Wednesday, October 27, Knapp and Wagstaff, senr., went to the pictures, returning about 10.15. Both of them stayed in the house until 11 o'clock, when Wagstaff, senr., retired for the night, and Knapp went out to the hut, where he found young Wagstaff already in bed and just dozing off to sleep. While Knapp was undressing, he spoke to Clarence Wagstaff and, looking out into the moonlight, noticed the figure of a man crouching between the fence and the side of the house. He apprised his companion of this, saying, ''There's a man trying to get into the house." Clarence said, "We had better get after him. Wait till I get on my pants and boots." While Clarence was getting partially dressed, Knapp kept an eye on the intruder, who moved from under the window, where one of Wagstaff's sisters was sleeping, to a position nearer the front of the house. Then Knapp and Wagstaff slipped out and confronted the stranger, who rushed back along the side of the house, followed by young Wagstaff. With the intention of heading him off, Knapp ran round to the other side of the house. When ho came to the back he saw the man jump a low concrete wall, still being pursued by the deceased. Knapp grappled with him, but was pushed aside, and the stranger made off towards the front, still followed by Wagstaff. Approaching the front fence, only a few feet separated pursued and pursuer. In the meantime, Wagstaff, senior, had been aroused by the noises of the pursuit and by his son's voice, and he opened the front door, just in time to see the stranger pause, turn round,
FIRE THREE SHOTS
in quick succession from what appeared to be a revolver, and jump over the fence. The first shot just grazed Knapp's head, one of the other two lodged in the heart of young Wagstaff, who staggered a few steps and fell face downwards on the path, a few feet from where his father stood. Knapp continued the pursuit till he came to a vacant section at the foot of Seaview terrace, where, hearing the distressing cries of his friend, he gave up the chase.
The distracted and heart-broken father ran down to where his boy lay, picked him up and stretched him on his back on the path, and rushed half-dementedly into the house of a neighbor to ring up the doctor and the police. Constables Dorgan and Palmer arrived almost simultaneously with Doctor Gibson, and found young Wagstaff lying on his back on the path, smothered in blood and vomiting blood at intervals. The doctor administered morphia, and, realising that the wounded boy would soon lose consciousness, asked Constable Palmer to take a statement. All, however, that the dying boy could say was, "We saw a man and chased him, and he turned round and fired at me." Just prior to his making this statement, he was informed by the doctor that he was almost certainly going to die. The boy was then removed to the hospital, the doctor following. When the arrived at the hospital, he found the boy in bed, pulseless and barely conscious.
SINKING INTO UNCONSCIOUSNESS,
he died shortly after midnight, in the presence of his mother and father. At the inquest, held on Thursday evening, evidence was given by Knapp, Dr. Gibson and the deceased's father, but no facts beyond those outlined above were brought to light. The coroner's verdict was to the effect that the deceased died as the result of haemorrhage from a punctured wound of the main vein at the root of the heart. Such wound was caused by a bullet intentionally fired, probably out of a revolver, by some person whose identity has not yet been definitely ascertained. After announcing the verdict, the coroner (Mr. E. D. Moseley) addressing the deceased's father, said: "I feel under an obligation to express to Mr. and Mrs. Wagstaff and family the regret of the officers of justice and myself, and, I feel sure, that of the people of Timaru as a whole, for the sad fatality which has befallen them. I am sure that the deepest sympathy will go out to them m the loss of a lad of exceedingly great promise." The absence of motive for the actual murder, other than that of
CLOAKING THE PERPETRATOR'S IDENTITY,
must, of necessity, hamper the work of the police in tracing him. Several persons of the undesirable element are in Timaru for the Show, and though the keys of Ballantyne and Co.'s premises were in the possession of Mr. Wagstaff the elder, it is not at all likely that one of these visiting undesirables would have so soon come into the possession of that knowledge. If the intruder's original motive for being on the premises was the theft of the keys, in contemplation of a burglary of the business premises — and this is the generally accepted theory - it seems strange that the visit to the house was not deferred until everybody on the premises was well asleep. The only other clues which the police have to work on are the empty revolver-cartridge shells, found on the lawn. Senior Detective Cameron has gone from Christchurch to Timaru to assist the officers there, included among whom is Detective Abbott, one of the pair who brought about the arrest of Eggers, the West Coast murderer, just three years ago.
LATER DEVELOPMENTS.
It came about this way: Shortly after half-past nine, Detectives Bickerdike and Quartermain were proceeding westwards along St. Asaph-street. Just as they approached Manchester-street, they espied, coming along behind them, a man who they recognised as Reginald Matthews, an escaped prisoner, who has been "wanted" for a long while. The recognition was apparently mutual. Matthews dived down a narrow right-of-way on the southern side of St. Asaph-street. A carter in the yard of Mace and Co., cordial water manufacturers, was startled by scaling a man scaling an iron fence at the back. The intruder rushed past, saying as he rushed by,
"EXCUSE ME TAKING A SHORT CUT."
The carter had hardly resumed his interrupted task when a detective popped his head over the fence and asked if he had seen a strange man go that way. The policeman scurried in the direction indicated by the carter as being that taken by Matthews, but when he bounded into Southwark street the gentleman so badly wanted was nowhere to be seen.
While one detective was thus engaged, the other got on to the telephone and rang up the main station for reinforcements. In less than fifteen minutes, about forty policemen, mounted men, plain-clothes men, uniformed men, detectives, sergeants — in fact what looked like the whole available personnel of the local "foorce," came marching down the street in martial array, followed by a crowd which, like a snowball, gained in dimensions as it went, until all hands had come to Mace and Co.'s premises. As the cordon was drawn about the place where the supposed Matthews had been seen to disappear, the crowd began to manifest much interest in the proceedings. There was not the slightest doubt it was the Timaru murderer they were after. Then followed melodramatically-painted and circumstantial descriptions of the terrific encounter one of the detectives had had with the suspect before the latter hid himself' in the loose timber and packing-cases with which the section is strewn. Long and patiently did the ever-increasing crowd wait until the police had made a thorough and systematic search of the locality, in spite of the fact that it was an open secret that the wanted man had ducked up Southwark-street ours before. At last, when the army of uniformed and ununiformed men wended their way back to the barracks, the crowd began to dwindle, though it was late in the afternoon before its size was greatly diminished.
LIVELY TIME AT LYTTELTON.
Though the crowd which assembled on Monday morning outside Mace and Company's was denied a sensational climax which it longingly desired, the inhabitants of Lyttelton, and those who sought to take passage by the evening's ferry, had sensation meted out to them in the fullest measure. Matthews was suspected by the police of being concerned in the Timaru murder and, immediately upon receipt of the news regarding that affair, the Christchurch police laid themselves out to look for him and him alone, suspecting that if he had gone south he would soon be back again in Christchurch. The theory regarding his complicity with the major crime may, of course, be wrong, and as he will have to stand his
TRIAL FOR THE GRAVEST OFFENCE
for which man can be called upon to answer, no further comment can be made thereanent at the present. However, that was the position when Detectives Bickerdike and Quartermain sighted him and lost him on Monday morning.
The police had reason to believe Matthews intended leaving for Wellington by the Maori the same evening. It had come to the knowledge of the police that he had gone under the name of Irwin, so that, when the name Reginald Irwin appeared on the day's steamer steerage bookings, it was natural that the police would take an interest in the identity of the person bearing that name. A strong detachment of police was sent to Lyttelton. The Maori was laid up in dock all day and when she came out at six o'clock, Detectives Le Seur and Bickerdike and Constables Sheehan and Joyce climbed aboard, taking up their position in B cabin in the steerage, which has accommodation for several passengers. Whilst they were taking close interest in a dress-basket labelled Irwin, Lyttelton, a man walked into the cabin. Once again was there mutual recognition between the police and Matthews, for the newcomer was no less a personality. Matthews, quick as lightning, backed out the double door and rapidly drawing his revolver, said,
"I'LL SHOOT YOU, YOU......"
As he went out, Sheehan and Le Seur made a dive in his direction, but they were unable to grapple with Matthews, who ran like a deer along the top deck, Bickerdike following behind Le Seur. Sheehan and Quartermain were standing alongside the door which opens on the bulkhead, and in the direction of the pursuit. Upon the constables calling out, Quartermain closed in. Finding his way of escape on the top deck thus cut off, Matthews, with marked agility, slipped over the rail down the staunchion to the lower deck. Still flourishing his revolver the ran along the lower deck to the gangway and along the wharf. The police on the top deck were thus blocked off, owing to the iron door being closed, but as Matthews slipped over the rail, Bickerdike had a pot at him with his revolver and missed. As the runaway rushed on the wharf, he went full tilt into Senior Sergt. Jackson, who, a couple of feet away aimed his gun at the fugitive as he ran. Fortunately for everybody concerned, Jackson's gun refused to go off. Dodging among the people on the crowded wharf, like a footballer doing a corkscrew try-getting run, Matthews,
THREATENING TO SHOOT
anyone who intercepted him, got about fifty yards from the gangway. As he neared some railway trucks, he was confronted by Constable Templeton, who grabbed at him. Simultaneously, Matthews struck the truck heavily with his shoulder, the force of the impact bringing him down. His revolver went off as he fell, the bullet passing through the fleshy portion of Constable Templeton's leg, just above the kneecap. Despite his wound, Templeton threw himself on the fugitive, as did Constables Baines and Heslop, while Detective Quartermain was also in at the finish. Detective Eade slipped on the bracelets and the long chase was over. Everybody rushed in the direction of the skirmish. Passengers dropped their luggage where they stood and rushed. off to see the "fun." Wharfies, taking no risks, ducked out of the way
LIKE SCALDED CATS.
As bullets began to whistle, women screamed and fainted, while from every part of the ship hurried passengers, firemen, cooks and officers to view the pursuit from the secure vantage of the deck. Never for a long time has Lyttelton had such a day. Matthews was taken immediately to the porters' room, where he was searched. The revolver, a Belgian automatic weapon of handy design, and much better than the silly things the police are armed with, had been taken from him upon his capture. On his person was found a box of automatic revolver cartridges of 25 calibre. Some notes in money were also found in the possession of the prisoner.
Immediately after Matthews had been secured, attention was given to Constable Templeton. Dr. Upham, who made an examination, found that the wound was not of a serious nature. The wounded constable was placed on a stretcher and taken to Christchurch Hospital, where he now lies. Matthews and the police came up to Christchurch in a special carriage, the blinds of which were drawn, greatly to the disappointment of the hundreds who besieged the Lyttelton railway station to have a peep at the handcuffed man, who was the cause of all the to-do.
COURT PROCEEDINGS.
A great crowd of people lined the approaches to the Christchurch Magistrate's Court on Tuesday morning, when Matthews appeared before Magistrate McCarthy, charged with the murder of Clarence Edward Wagstaff, at Timaru, on October 27. The courthouse was unable to accommodate all those who sought admission. Prisoner was in the dock only for a couple of minutes. He is of short stature, mild-looking visage, weak mouth, which, taken in conjunction with his shifting, moist blue eyes, suggests a person given to sexual excess. His general physique is in proportion to his height, but conveys an idea of wiriness and ability to withstand physical ordeals. He was dressed in a shabby blue suit, his white collarless shirt being agape at the neck. In speech he is smooth-tongued, his voice modulated in such a way as not to betray any suspicion of roughness or wildness of character. He appeared to be unmoved by the seriousness of the charge preferred against him, and when the clerk read the charge sheet, he made neither sign nor answer. Chief-Detective McIlveney immediately jumped up and asked for a remand to Timaru until November 11. Asked by the magistrate if he had heard the application, the prisoner, who showed as much interest in the proceedings as the spectators, replied in a distinct and firm voice, "No, I haven't heard the application." On it being explained to him, and on his being asked if he had anything to say as to why it should not be granted, Matthews said, "No, sir; I'm not guilty." The remand was granted.
Matthews: "What about counsel for the defence?"
Magistrate McCarthy: "That is a matter for later consideration. You make your application."
Accused was then beckoned from the dock, and left the court as he had come from the Black Maria, handcuffed to a sergeant and a constable.
MATTHEWS'S MOVEMENTS.
When Matthews escaped from the Lyttelton Gaol over a year ago, he took to the hills after being followed from Lyttelton. In the darkness of the night he retreated his steps, arriving in Lyttelton about three in the morning. The steamer Corinthic was then in the port, and he dragged himself up the stern rope to the vessel's deck, where he was secreted by the crew. The police actually searched the vessel the next day, but Matthews had been so securely hidden away that they did not find him, and he went with the vessel to Wellington. Since that time he has served on a couple of vessels, the last being the Waipori, on which he signed on in March last. He did a number of trips on the Waipori, including one to Australia and eventually signed off under the name of E. Irwin on October 5. It was this knowledge that enabled the police to connect Irwin on the Maori's passenger list with the "wanted" man.
On several occasions since he signed off the Waipori, he has been seen in Christchurch, but he always managed to elude the police. On the Sunday before the Timaru murder, a man resembling Matthews was seen by the head gardener, committing an indecent act in the gardens. On being accosted, he drew a revolver and threatened the gardener that he would shoot him if he interfered with him. This incident, coupled with the circumstance that the man answered to the description of Matthews, led one of the Christchurch papers to publish full particulars. The police, in the meantime, had received certain information regarding the whereabouts of Matthews and everything was in train to effect a recapture. When the newspaper report appeared that afternoon, he apparently took fright and did not turn up at the expected rendezvous. Young Wagstaff was shot on Wednesday. Matthews returned to Christchurch on Thursday, living in a house in Harper-street. Evidently he lay low, for though he was fairly well known to several people and was being searched diligently for by the police, he was not sighted until the two detectives happened to get a glimpse of him in St. Asaph-street on Monday morning. The photograph of Matthews upon which the police were working is not like him at all. One would judge from it that he is a man of giant proportions, whereas he is of exceedingly diminutive stature. On Tuesday morning he bore a rather pronounced bruising on the left cheek, the result of his Monday's escapade.
INVESTIGATIONS AND THEORIES.
In the meantime the police at Timaru have been energetically prosecuting their investigations regarding the circumstances connected with the shooting of young Wagstaff and, from what at first sight appeared to be an impossible proposition, there has been pieced together a chain of evidence which, though circumstantial, seems to make the position ever so much clearer than it was at the outset. The tenancy of a supposedly empty house is alleged to form one of the principal links in the chain of evidence, and a finger-print expert, who has been on the scene during the last few days, is likely to have something to say regarding the result of his investigations. The empty cartridge cases (undoubtedly ejected from an automatic revolver), found on the lawn where Wagstaff was murdered will also have an important bearing on the case of bringing to justice whomsoever committed the murder. The strongest piece of evidence, however, is unquestionably that which surrounds the identification of a railway parcel receipt found in close proximity to the scene of the murder. This piece of paper, it is said,
FELL FROM THE MURDERER'S POCKET
as he jumped over the front fence, after firing the fatal shot. It is a receipt for a parcel dispatched from Timaru to a lady in the North Island. It transpires that after returning to Christchurch on October 28, Matthews went to lodge with Mrs. James Phillipson, Harper-street, Sydenham. One day, some time ago, one of Mrs. Phillipson's daughters had dropped her handkerchief, and Matthews, who then was on the s.s. Waipori, as leading seaman, picked it up and thus became on friendly terms with the family. When he was on the vessel in Sydney, he sent Miss Phillipson, a girl of about 16, letters and a lace handkerchief as a present, in remembrance of the circumstance which brought about their meeting. Other presents included some carnation seeds. Although after signing off the vessel, he boarded at Patterson's boarding house, St.Asaph street, he was daily a visitor at the Phillipsons. He was made welcome in the house and often took the two girls out to dinner. He
LEFT FOR TIMARU
on October 20, a week before the murder, leaving the bulk of his belongings at Mrs. Phillipson's. On the Thursday after the murder, the Phillipsons were reading the newspaper reports of the murder when Matthews walked in. He said that he had come from Timaru by the 5.30 train. When questioned about the murder, he said he had read something about it while coming up in the train, but didn't pay much attention to such things. He added. "They'll have to prove it on the man first." He gave no outward signs of being upset, romping with the younger children and teaching them boxing. It seems that he had been a bit of a pug in America, whither he went during the war. On Friday he booked a steerage passage to Wellington, but deferred his departure from day to day, and eventually determined to leave on Monday, the day of his arrest. About three o'clock on Monday afternoon he came in and made a cup of tea for himself and a friend who accompanied him; then the two took away his luggage, Matthews saying good-bye and promising to write. The pair hadn't been gone an hour when two detectives arrived, only to find that, once more, Matthews ,had slipped away just in time. The two Phillipson girls went down to Lyttleton with the police to assist in the identification, were such a course necessary. Matthews was born in Invercarglll 26 years ago.
THE TIMARU TRAGEDY
Reginald Matthews, who will stand his trial shortly on a charge of murdering Clarence Wagstaff at Timaru, escaped from Lyttelton gaol on September 2, 1919.
The escape from the gaol was assisted by the fog. Matthews was a cleaner in the gaol and had access to the room where the hammock ropes were kept. He tied together two blankets in the drying yard and added two four-foot lengths of hammock rope. He threw the blankets over a wall eighteen feet high, and they caught on barbed wire and broken glass, enabling him to climb to the top, throw the rope over and slide down twenty, feet to the ground. He made his way through the cemetery and disappeared into a fog on the hill top. It was believed that he had gone down in the ill-fated Tainui when she was burned at sea off Cheviot on September 6, just four days after his escape. How Matthews reached Lyttelton after being identified in Christchurch is not quite clear, but it is supposed that he joined the first express at Christchurch and dropped off the train as it left the tunnel mouth at Lyttelton, The s.s. Maori was in dock at the time, and it is possible that he made his way to the dock and got aboard there, thanks to his knowledge of ships. In all his clashes with the law and its representatives Matthews has shown great resourcefulness. -Te Puke Times, 19/11/1920.
Town and Country
On Saturday by the first express, Reginald Matthews, accused of the murder of Clarence Wagstaff, left for the Paparoa gaol, Christchurch. He was well guarded, and travelled in a reserved compartment, the blinds of which were drawn. The police officers from Christchurch, Lyttelton and Wellington, who gave evidence at the Magisterial trial here, also left on Saturday. -Timaru Herald, 22/11/1920.
| Reginald Matthews - from the "NZ Truth." |
HEREDITARY INFLUENCE.
AN UNUSUAL PLEA.
TIMARU MURDER CASE.
The defence put forward in the trial at Christchurch of Reginald Matthews for the murder of Clarence Wagstaff at Timaru on October 27 is, as a brief telegram yesterday stated, virtually one of hereditary insanity. The story told by counsel for the defence, Mr Thomas, is an extraordinary one.
In opening his case, counsel said the jury, before convicting Matthews, must be convinced that he committed the act, and that the man when he committed the act was sane and not insane. To solve the question as to whether Matthews was sane or insane was a task which rested on counsel's shoulders. He hoped to be able to prove conclusively that Matthews was insane. He proposed to lead evidence regarding the accused's hereditary history and his personal history. Both were most extraordinary. The accused's father was nothing less than a "drunken waster." He was a man of intemperate sexual habits, suffering when he married from sexual disease. His habits towards his wife and children were most incredibly inhuman. An uncle was a barrister and solicitor, who stole and embezzled, and was struck off the rolls. Another was a paralytic, and another was committed as an epileptic. On the mother's side there was a frightful history. The father of the mother was a doctor, a clever man, who, however, was an habitual drunkard, and while in the East formed the habit of taking morphia. Eventually he died of an overdose of morphia self-administered. His wife, the accused's grandmother, was also unfortunate. For a year or two she would be normal, and then she would suddenly take to drink. So bad was she that at times she actually suffered from delirium tremens. A cousin was committed to Seacliff Asylum, and another cousin committed suicide. Another cousin was eccentric, and a half-sister of the mother was an inmate of a farm institution. That was the hereditary history of Matthews on his mother's side.
The result of the union between these two unfortunate families was just what one would expect. The accused's eldest sister was committed to Seacliff Asylum years ago, and after being released had to be brought back again, and was now a hopeless case. A brother began to show signs of abnormality at the age of 16 or 17. Finally he did very much what the accused did. He got out a gun, had an argument, and shot at a man. He was committed as insane and put in Seacliff. He was there for a very short time and then disappeared. Another member of the family, an infant of five months, was an idiot child. That was the history of the family of the accused. He was born probably predisposed to insanity. Dr. Crosbie, superintendent at Sunnyside and Dr. McKillop, superintendent at Seacliff, both known as mental experts, would say that they had not the slightest doubt that Matthews was suffering from paranoic insanity, with sexual and persecutory delusions, as well as being a well-defined epileptic.
Mrs Caroline Elizabeth Hall, of Taihape, mother of the accused, gave evidence regarding her first husband's drunken habits, and said he frequently threatened to kill her. He died from the effects of drink. Witness referred to accused's views on sexual matters, and ascribed his alleged indecent actions to an internal weakness. Three other witnesses gave evidence as to alleged indecent acts committed by the accused. Two of them said that when they went to apprehend him he produced a revolver, and threatened to shoot them.
EVIDENCE FOR DEFENCE
ACCUSED A PARANOIC
CHRISTCHURCH, This Day. At the trial of Matthews, yesterday was occupied with evidence for the defence by medical experts on accused's mental condition and the effects of hereditary. Dr. McKillop classed accused as a paranoic, who did not know the difference between right and wrong. — Press Assn. -Northern Advocate, 11/2/1921.
DEATH SENTENCE
PASSED ON MATTHEWS
FOR TIMARU MURDER
CHRISTCHURCH, This Day. In the trial of Reginald Matthews for the murder of Clarence Wagstaff at Timaru on October, 27, the jury, after an hour's retirement, returned a verdict of guilty:.
The prisoner was sentenced to death. — Press Assn. -Northern Advocate, 12/2/1921.
A PLEA OF INSANITY.
If the authorities decide that the Timaru murderer shall not hang it will be equivalent to a declaration that in all cases of the kind in future a successful plea of insanity shall be an efficient bar to capital punishment. The Timaru murder was committed by an escaped convict, who had deliberately armed himself against society and its guardians, who did not hesitate while committing an act of trespass to shoot down an unarmed citizen, and who, subsequently, fired upon the police while in the execution of their duty. Counsel for the defence proved that Matthews was a degenerate on both sides of his family tree, and he indicated that he was obsessed with unorthodox notions in regard to sex, but he was unable to convince a jury who heard all the evidence — and who represented the general public in the matter — that he was insane: that "he was incapable of understanding the nature and quality of his act." There were, of course, "experts" who testified that Matthews was de facto non compos mentis, but they made a very poor showing under cross-examination, indeed so poor a showing as to call their competency into question. If ever there were a cold, callous and calculated murder it was the killing of Clarence Wagstaff by Reginald Matthews. Those who argue that clemency should be exercised in his favour have only two grounds to go upon, either (1) that all individuals who commit murders and other crimes are, ipso facto, insane; or that capital punishment in this Dominion is no longer tolerable. (It might be contended thirdly that as Matthews and members of his family were the victims of a drunken heredity, a community which sanctions and sale of a brain-destroying compound as a beverage is participis criminis and therefore incompetent of exercising judgment upon the victim of one of its own communal customs, but this would probably be regarded by jurists as a reductio ad absurdum.) The Judge in the Matthews case indicated the opinion, and the jury agreed, that the Timaru murder was not committed in a moment of insane impulse by an individual "incapable of understanding the quality of his act," and the law of New Zealand provides for the capital punishment of a man convicted of murder. We cannot see under the circumstances that this is any more a case for leniency than that of the sexually abnormal North Auckland murderer who suffered the death penalty, a few weeks ago. The general question of the abolition of capital punishment is highly contentious. Many believe that the hangman is a deterrent influence, others that the prompt extinguishment of desperadoes is more merciful than a life-long sentence behind stone walls. The only point we care to make is that clemency in the case under review would create a special precedent without justification, in view of the carefully considered finding of the typical citizens whose stern and painful duty it was to render a verdict in accordance with the evidence and with the law in such case provided. -Manawatu Times, 21/2/1921.
LOCAL AND GENERAL
Reginald Matthews, who was convicted of the murder of Clarence Wagstaff in Timaru, is not being sent to gaol to serve his term of imprisonment for life. Instead he has been committed to the Seacliff Mental Hospital. -Patea Mail, 13/3/1921.
MURDERER ABROAD
MATTHEWS ESCAPES FROM SEACLIFF.
SEARCH SO FAR UNSUCCESSFUL (abridged)
At an early hour yesterday morning the police here received word that Reginald Matthews, the Timaru murderer, had made good his escape from Seacliff Mental Hospital, where he has been confined for some months past. It is stated that he was kept in a strong iron cage, with a wooden floor, above a cellar. On Thursday he complained of being ill, and kept to his bed, and apparently used his opportunities to break through the floor into the cellar below. Once he reached the cellar the rest would be easy. It is believed that he was dressed only in a singlet and underpants. A party of police was promptly despatched to the scene, and another party of police and detectives went dp to Seacliff by the second express to join in the extensive search which is being made, and in which a number of the attendants are also engaged. Matthews is said to have kept himself in excellent physical condition by regular exercises during his confinement, but it is stated by the authorities at Seacliff that he never previously attempted to escape.
MATTHEWS’S DESCRIPTION. Matthews is described in the police records as a labourer and seaman, 5ft 3in in height, of medium build, fair hair and complexion. having a broad nose (which has obviously been broken at some time), blue eyes, front upper teeth missing, scar on the left side of the upper lip and of the left upper arm, mole on the right cheek. He is 26 years of age. He is a native of Invercargill, where he spent his younger days. After he escaped from Lyttelton Gaol he followed his calling as a seaman under the name of Reginald Irwin.
NOT YET RECAPTURED. The search parties made vigorous efforts to trace the escapee, but at a late hour last night he had not been recaptured. -Otago Daily Times, 6/8/1921.
DOMINION NEWS.
MATTHEWS RECAPTURED.
Per Press Association, Oamaru, August 7. Reginald Matthews, the Timaru murderer, who escaped from Seacliff on Friday, morning, was recaptured on the Oamaru foreshore, near the gasworks, at 8.20 this morning. Matthews offered no resistance and was returned to the mental institute by a car in the charge of Dr. McKillop and a posse of police. -Stratford Evening Post, 8/8/1921.
Local and General
A Christchurch paper states that when the death sentence on Reginald Matthews was commuted in March last, and he was sent to the Seacliff Mental Hospital, he remarked that he would stay in the mental hospital for three months, as a sort of concession to the authorities. He has kept his promise. -Manawatu Times, 8/8/1921.
A Times reporter was informed that all precautions are being taken to see that Reginald Matthews does not repeat his sensational escape from the Seacliff Mental Hospital. It is said that a cell lined with cement is being prepared for him and, in order that he may not get to work under, or hide anything in his bed clothes, a fresh mattress is given him each day. -Lake County Press, 25/8/1921.
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| Timaru Cemetery. |
So much for the story of the young and ill-fated Clarence Wagstaff, and his murderer. But what of Frank? Did he truly live nobly and die bravely? Frank was a Railways Cadet when he was called up for the army in 1918, despite being described as of a delicate constitution. He died of suspected cerebro-spinal meningitis on February 5, 1918, in England. He is buried in the Military Cemetery at Tidworth, Wiltshire.
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