SUICIDE
Per Press Association. DUNEDIN, July 15.
Donald Larnach, an English solicitor, and oldest son of the late Hon. W. J. M. Larnach, shot himself with a revolver at Watson's Commercial Hotel, High street. He was found dead in bed just one o'clock to-day, with a bullet wound m his forehead. He had lived apart from his wife for many years, and she resides in England. He leaves two daughters, both married. Deceased had been drinking heavily of late. -Ashburton Guardian, 15/7/1910.
DONALD LARNACH’S SUICIDE
SHOOTS HIMSELF IN BED
Mr Donald Larnach shot himself through the brain in his room at the Commercial Hotel (Watson's) this morning. It is said that he was financially pressed lately. Last night he arrived home under the influence of liquor, and this morning when Miss Jacobsen (one of the waitresses) took him up his usual nine o’clock breakfast in bed he was very cheerful, reading a magazine story. He asked her to draw up the blind before she left, which she did. No one saw him alive after that, and no one seems to have heard the shot which announced his end, which establishes the fact that he must have killed himself fairly late in the morning, after the maids had finished doing the rooms on the flat and retired. Some time after eleven the flat would be deserted, and a pistol shot might well pass unheeded.
It was Mrs Watson herself who discovered the tragedy shortly after midday, when she entered his room, anticipating that he would have left it at that hour. He was lying very composedly on his left side, a finger of the right hand still crooked round the trigger of a five-chambered revolver, and a small puncture in the middle of the forehead, hardly disfiguring him. Alongside him on the bed was the magazine he had been reading, his place carefully marked as though he had intended to take it up again and continue reading. He had not even removed his spectacles.
The police and a doctor were at once communicated with. Dr Moore found that he was quite dead; indeed, the composed expression on the face showed that death must have been instantaneous.
Nothing was found in the room or in the clothes of deceased to indicate that the act was the final step of a previous determination, but the fact that he had a fully-loaded revolver in his room suggests that he had considered this as a possible issue.
When the stretcher was brought into the room and the body was lowered to it the deceased’s little terrier — almost as well known as deceased — crawled out from under the bed moaning. It followed the body downstairs, and there joined some friends of the deceased.
Later.
The discovery of a letter on deceased's person shows that the idea of suicide had been in his mind for some time — possibly for weeks — at any rate for days, since the ink is quite black and old-looking. This letter runs: — I wish my remains to be taken out to sea and dumped overboard. Failing this, place them in the family vault. On no account have prayers read at my burial. I believe in a Creator, but I absolutely disbelieve in the Bible, its lying fables, Jesus Christ (i.e., his divinity). I want no followers at my funeral.
Then follow these verses: —
I have had my share of pastimes, and I’ve done my share of toil,
And life is short, and the longest life a span,
I care not now to tarry for the com or for the oil.
Or for the wine that maketh glad the heart of man.
For good undone or gifts unspent, and resolutions vain,
Tis somewhat late to trouble. This I know:
I’d live the same life over if I had to live again,
And the chances are I go where most men go.
Below is written “Good-bye,” and then the signature has evidently been cut out. and under the cut strip are these words, written in lead pencil (possibly to-day): "The vault keys are in my hat-box.
On the other side of the sheet on which the letter was written was found a short note in pencil, apparently intended to be sent to his daughter in Oamaru. It read; “Three sleepless nights; I am going mad; my darling girl in Sydney unprotected. . . .’’—[What follows is a private communication to his daughter.]
The deceased (who was fifty-two years of age) was elder son of the Hon. W. J. M. Larnach, who shot himself in 1898 in Parliament House, when he was member for Tuapeka, Mr Larnach has three daughters, one the wife of Mr Hjorring, an Oamaru barrister; another the wife of Mr Alex. Haynes; while the third is at Home with her mother, an English actress. The body lies at the Morgue, where an inquest will be held. -Evening Star, 15/7/1910.
DUNEDIN, this day.
In connection with the suicide of Donald Larnach, evidence given at the inquest showed that deceased had two fits recently, the last one the evening before he shot himself. The opinion was expressed by a friend that this had caused him to be despondent. A verdict was returned that death was caused by a bullet wound, self-inflicted. -Auckland Star, 16/7/1910.
The Larnach family tomb in Dunedin's Northern Cemetery has two skulls with bullet holes in them. Being owned by the family and not leased from the Council as many graves are, maintenance of the tomb was the responsibility of the family. Presumably because the family was short on money it was not maintained, its dilapidation being remarked upon in the 1920s. There are rumours of late night drinking in the unlocked tomb by students from nearby Otago University.
At some time around 1970, due to deterioration and/or vandalism, there was a hole in the floor of the tomb, through which a person could climb. A person did so and removed one of the two skulls inside which had bullet holes.
Student had Larnach’s skull
(New Zealand Press Association) DUNEDIN, January 11.
A 23-year-old post-graduate student, Peter Malcolm William Entwisle, pleaded guilty to improperly interfering with the human remains of William James Mudie Lamach, when he appeared before Mr J. D. Murray, S.M., in the Magistrate’s Court today.
Entwisle, who was not represented, was convicted and remanded until January 18 for a probation report and sentence. Bail was allowed.
The charge related to the period between January I 1971, and January 5, 1972. Sergeant I. R. Whiting told the Court that a report that the Larnach tomb at the Northern Cemetery had been broken into had been received on January 6.
Investigation had shown that the vault below the ground had been uncovered, although it was not known whether the floorboards had been damaged or had rotted away. The coffins in the vault had also been damaged.
Inquiries had failed to ascertain who had been responsible but as the result of information received police had gone to Entwisle’s home with a search warrant. Sergeant Whiting said Entwisle was told that the police believed that a human skull was on the premises.
“Entwisle produced the skull, and said it was easily recognisable as that of Larnach because of the gunshot wound in the head," Sergeant Whiting said.
Entwisle said that the skull had been given to him by a friend during a party at Entwisle’s home some time ago, because the friend “had no further use for it.”
"Entwisle kept the skull polished and in good condition,” Sergeant Whiting said.
Entwisle told the Magistrate that he realised that the fact the Larnach tomb had been entered would be painful for the relatives of the man. He had not realised that Larnach had any living relatives.
The skull had been given to him about a year ago, he said. He had kept it because it was an interesting skull of a man of some local fame who had died violently.
“Surely we haven’t reached the stage where human remains become playthings,” the Magistrate said.
Larnach was a leading Otago citizen of the 1880 s, an M.P. and a Minister of the Crown. He built an English-style castle on the Otago Peninsula which has become one of the main tourist attractions of the province. He committed suicide in Parliament Buildings. -Press, 12/1/1972.
"No proof" about skull
(N Z. Press Association)
DUNEDIN, Jan. 28. Throughout the Commonwealth no law forbade the mere possession of human remains for purposes other than immediate burial, said counsel (Mr R. J. Gilbert) for Peter Malcolm William Entwisle, aged 23, a postgraduate student who had pleaded not guilty to a charge of improperly interfering with human remains.
Entwisle appeared today before Mr J. D. Murray, S.M., in the Dunedin Magistrate’s Court.
Mr Gilbert submitted that no offence had been disclosed under section 150 of the Crimes Act, 1961.
Decision was reserved by the Magistrate.
The charge had been amended to delete reference to William James Mudie Larnach. Entwisle’s conviction on the original charge was set aside. Mr W. F. Thomson appeared for the Crown.
ACT CITED
The act provided for a two year term of imprisonment for anyone offering an indignity or interfering with human remains, Mr Thomson said.
There was no legal authority on the exact meaning of the words in the act. He referred to the Shorter Oxford Dictionary for definitions of the words “interfere” and “improperly.”
Mr Thomson submitted that what was improper defended on the circumstances of each case. Entwisle had been told that the skull was that of Larnach and had kept the bones because they were an interesting souvenir.
The law, Mr Thomson said, included the actions of the defendant in this case. Mr Gilbert submitted that the charge involved anonymous human remains. No proof had been offered that they were those of Larnach. All that had been said was that the defendant believed they were the remains of Lamach. There was no evidence that Entwisle had shown the skull to anyone naming it as that of Larnach.
“NO OFFENCE”
“Anyone can buy a skull and put it on the mantelpiece and no offence is committed;" he said. No record of the Commonwealth showed a person being prosecuted under such circumstances, and there was no charge where possession of known or unknown remains was an offence, Mr Gilbert said.
Thought he felt that Entwisle’s intention was important, the question was "what is the situation under law," the Magistrate said, reserving decision. -Press, 29/2/1972.
S.M. dismisses charge
(New Zealand press Association)
DUNEDIN, January 31
A charge of improperly interfering with human remains, brought against Peter Malcolm Entwisle, aged 23 a student, was dismissed by Mr J. D. Murray, S.M., in a reserved decision in the Dunedin Magistrate’s Court today.
The Magistrate said the defendant had said at an earlier sitting that late in 1970 he had some friends at his flat. One of his friends had produced some human remains, including a skull and jawbone. He gave the remains to the defendant, who kept them as a souvenir.
The Magistrate said that both the defendant’s actions and his state of mind were relevant to the case. A corpse or human remains was not something that could be stolen, therefore the defendant could not be charged with receiving.
The defendant kept the remains, and occasionally polished them and showed them to friends. However, he had not mutilated them in any way. “If the defendant had mutilated the bones, I would then regard this as improper interference,” the Magistrate said. However, the skull and jawbone were retained and kept in original condition.
In conclusion, the Magistrate said that there had been some suggestion that the police had been stretching the law to gain a conviction under this act. But if that had been the case he would have taken a dim view of it. -Press, 1/2/1972.
I have my own details to add. In mid 2023 I ran into an acquaintance, someone I saw every few weeks and chatted to. He told me that he had, around 1970, handled the skull in question. It had a small hole in one side and a larger one in the other. He told me it had been used as an ashtray. He died at the end of that year - it was the last time I saw him.
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