William Thompson of Oratia, which in 1892 was a small country town, died under suspicious circumstances.
It was known to many in the neighbourhood that his wife Alice & his best friend Alexander Scott, who had moved into the neighbourhood approximately 18 months earlier, were having an affair & being less than discreet about it.
Alice fell pregnant & as her time drew near moved into the city where she stayed for 6 weeks, as either she or the baby was considered to be too weak to return to the country.
William started to feel ill during this time & asked Alexander to stay with him, Alexander moved in & William's health seesawed. Bill Carter, one of William's friends who knew of the wife's affair, went so far as to suggest to him that it was possible that Alexander had been poisoning him. William, who considered Alexander to be his best friend, would not consider the notion.
On the 31st of October James Parker, a neighbour who had visited 3 weeks earlier, felt uncomfortable & resolved not to visit William alone, received a call from a Mrs Carter. She told him that William was looking bad & that she thought he might be dying. He arranged for a John Moorhead to join him & when arrived they discovered that he had died. James felt that it would be in their own interests to write up a list of the contents in the room apart from ordinary household furniture. Scott had also drawn sketches to alert doctors to the presence of a silver-topped vial, which he suggested Thompson may have been using to commit suicide by poison.
An autopsy was performed, proving that William died of strychnine poisoning. A number of witnesses then came forward saying that there was a relationship between Alexander & Alice & several letters were produced where the couple expressed their love for each other.
At an inquiry into the death of William Thompson, Alexander Scott was arrested on the grounds that he had been purchasing a number of poisons under an assumed name. He was found guilty, hanged on the 23rd of May 1893 & was buried at Waikumete Cemetery.
William was buried with his infant son at the Oratia Cemetery. His wife returned to England taking their 2 children.
Footnote:
I found it very interesting that at the end of the article in the last link supplied Alexander was asked what inscription he would like on his headstone. It would have been very unusual for a person hanged for murder to have such a marked grave.
Sources:
Compiled by Kath Kingswood - Discover Waikumete Cemetery
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