Girl Murdered

In Wau

Ghastly Crime Attributed to Native

From Our Own Correspondent

Wau, Tng, June 27.

ON the. night of Sunday, June 22, a ghastly murder occurred here, when someone —presumed to be a native —entered the bedroom of Miss Jean Wil son, a beautiful Australian girl of 28 years, and hacked her with an axe.

No motive has been discovered. Miss Wilson had recently become eneaged to a member of the staff of a Wau bank.

She was employed at Wau as ladies’ show-room supervisor, by Burns, Philp & Co. Ltd., and had previously worked in the same firm’s stores at Kavieng and Rabaul.

Miss Wilson, a charming young woman and one of the most popular of our younger set. who would not harm any body or anything, lived with her brother in-law and step-sister, Mr. and Mrs. Rav, in Darling Road, Wau. She retired early on Sunday night, probably tired out. as she had been instrumental in carrying through a Snitfire Fund ball on the Sat urday. and had attended the Red Cross Carnival on the Sunday afternoon. At about 2 a.m. her relatives, and the whole neighbourhood were awakened by her screams. By the time they reached her, her assailant had disappeared.

All she could say was: “I was attacked by a native. He had an axe. Don’t let the kiddies see me like this.”

It was found that Miss Wilson had been brutally assaulted with an axe with a broken handle, which the mur

derer left behind. One arm was prac tically severed, her face was 'terribly slashed, and other cruel injuries had been inflicted. She lingered until 9.20 a.m., when death ensued, and she was more or less conscious for the whole seven hours.

Her burial at 5 p.m. the same day was attended by a large gathering of the residents of Wau and district. Rev. V.

H. Sherwin, who performed the burial service at St. Augustine’s Church and at the graveside, spoke in strong terms of the state to which the natives have been allowed to come, and instanced this as an indictment against those who control the Territory.

Uncontrolled Natives

The public here, greatly shocked, are not going to allow this ghastly crime to go unpunished, and strong action is being taken.

Of course, until the murderer is found it can only be presumed, from the dying girl’s statement, that he was a native; but the fact that an axe was used is regarded as a fairly good indication that such was the case.

Miss Wilson was to have played Mary Grayson in “It Pays to Advertise”, which was to have opened for a season on June 27. The Wau Dramatic Society has can celled the production.

At a very representative meeting held in the Wau Club on June 24, a perman ent vigilance committee was appointed, with powers to act at once and always in accordance with the wishes of the whole community, and to demand that the present lax treatment of natives be abolished, once and for all.

The murder is regarded as a climax to a whole series of incidents indicating lax control of “Europeanised” natives— including attempted assaults on white women, attempted poisoning of employ ers, and public feeling, long agitated, is now at fever heat. Most blame the New Guinea Administration; but others rea lise that, whatever the shortcomings of the Territory Administration may be, and they are many, their hands are tied by Canberra, where politicians (who probably have never seen a native, except on the screen) have much control over the affairs of the Territory.

That our magistrates and judges here should have to conform to the Queens land Criminal Code (even though it is styled “adopted”) is a flagrant absurdity, when it is applied to natives just emerg ing from their primitive state. European courts, with all their red-tape, waste of time, expense and so forth, become a ridiculous rigmarole when dealing with a most primitive type of natives.

The whole system cries aloud for review and reform; but, presumably, it needs a few tragedies like the murder of this girl to stir officialdom to action.

Detectives Sent For

WAU, July 6.

When, after a fortnight, we seemed no nearer a solution of the murder of Jean Wilson, the authorities sent South for the assistance of detectives, and Detective Sergeant W. Arnold and Constable W.

Flood (finger-print expert), of Sydney CIB, arrived by plane yesterday, and are now at work.

Wau, July 7—Detectives have detained a native, for questioning.

Dr. and Mrs. J. D. Thompson of the Melanesian Mission will return to Malaita, Solomon Islands, shortly after spending several months’ furlough in Australia.

Dr. Thompson took a course in tropical medicine at the Sydney University, while Mrs. Thompson spent some time in New Zealand.