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The West Australian,
Wednesday 18 February 1903 THE DEATH OF A NONAGENARIAN. SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES. SENSATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS EXPECTED. Adelaide, February 17 Sensational developments are expected regarding the manner in which the old man Josh. Ninnes met his death at Penwortham, near Clare, on February 5. Owing to suspicious circumstances attaching to the case, the Attorney-General yesterday ordered an exhumation of the body, and an inquest. To-day the City Coroner, Dr. Ramsay Smith, together with Dr. Rogers and Detectives Priest and Dempsey, proceeded to Penwortham, where the grave was opened, and the body brought to the surface. The doctors conducted a thorough examination of the body. The deceased was a fine old Cornishman, aged 92 years, and of remarkably fine physique. He was married three times, his last wife being only 23 at the time of the marriage. She still survives him. Mrs. Ninnes's story of how her husband met his death was to the effect that on the night of February 5, she and her son, four years of age, were in the house with Ninnes. Towards morning she woke and found the place on fire. She tried to rescue the old man, but was unsuccessful, and when the fire was extinguished his dead body was found huddled up in a corner of his bedroom. When the doctor was called in he discovered marks and dents on the nose and forehead, but surmised these were caused by falls from the bed. The widow did not mention that anyone else was staying at the house at the time, and when the servant girl, Miss Wyman, casually mentioned in her account of the fire that a man was also there, the friends of the deceased became suspicious, and demanded an inquest, a request which the Attorney-General. granted. An inquest on the body of Joseph Ninnes was opened in the Clare Courthouse to night. Dr. Ramsay Smith, who conducted the post-mortem examination, stated that in addition to burns all over the body the scalp was injured in two places not quite to the depth of the bone, and the skin was broken in other places. The injuries might have been caused by a fall or a knock. Death might have occurred either from burns or suffocation, but the burns were not likely to have caused death suddenly. The deceased's heart was diseased, and this also might have caused death. He could not say whether suffocation was due to strangulation or not. He had never known death to occur in a few hours from burns such as those on the deceased's body. At the request of the police, the inquest was adjourned until Saturday. In the course-of an interview with the widow to-day, she admitted that she would benefit under the will to the extent of £400 and maintenance while unmarried. A daughter, Mrs. Watt, takes £10, and the rest of the estate goes to the widow's two children, the sons by the first wife being left out of the will. Mrs Ninnes categorically denied that the man Warburton was present at the time of the fire. She stated that he left at dinner time the day before. She knew of no reason why the exhumation should be necessary, and said suspicion could not possibly attach to Warburton. The latter was a good worker, and the deceased was fond of him. Contributed by Judy Holman |