Murder of M. E. Oates

It was never discovered who beat Margaret Emily Oates, a 32-year-old housewife, to death in her home at Somme Parade, Wanganui, on 27 October 1923. Known as the Aramoho murder, this crime presented a great problem to the police. The victim left her husband in his shop in the city to go home and, when he had closed up, Oates followed her. Entering the house by the kitchen door, he was violently attacked by someone just inside, was struck with a bludgeon, knocked down, kicked, and rendered unconscious. When he came to his senses, there was no sign of his assailant, but in another room he found his wife brutally done to death. A reward of £500 for information about the killing produced no results.