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while
Phyllis was unconscious but alive on the floor. As McLean and Matheson entered the parents' bedroom, Elizabeth briefly woke, asking "what has happened?" before falling unconscious. John was also found unconscious in his cot. Finally, James was found dead in the bathtub holding his gun. The stove scraper was in the bath with him.
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In the early hours of 8 April, Baxter attacked his family with an iron stove scraper as they slept. All but Ronald were struck with a single blow to the head. Baxter then locked himself in the bathroom, filled the bathtub, and shot himself in the head with his shotgun. Most of his head was blown off,
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The incident was discovered between 10:45 and 11:00 a.m. by neighbour and family friend
Archibald McLean. He looked in the front window and saw the bodies of Basil and Roy laying bloodied in bed, called the police, and then entered the house with Sergeant Matheson. Ronald was also found dead in bed,
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Elizabeth, Phyllis, and John were taken to the hospital. Phyllis was seen as a lost cause, while
Elizabeth and John were thought likely to recover. However, on 10 April Elizabeth died and John's condition worsened. John died on 12 April. Phyllis regained consciousness on 11 April, but suffered from
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The family went to bed in a normal manner on 7 April. Basil (9) and Roy (4) shared a bed in a room at the front of their Lewis Street home. Phyllis (11) and Ronald (2) shared the room behind that. Across the hallway was James (43) and
Elizabeth's (37) room, in which was six-week-old John's cot.
163:, New Zealand on 8 April 1908. James Reid Baxter killed his wife and five children with an iron stove scraper before shooting himself in the head with a shotgun. It was the worst mass murder in
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in 2014 that references to the event disappeared a month after it happened, with it being largely forgotten in the modern day. A plaque was added to the gravesite in March 2022.
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leaving only the mouth, moustache, and lower jaw. Early reports misidentified the weapons used as an axe and detonator cap.
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497:"Grave of family murdered with a fire poker 114 years ago in Southland commemorated with a plaque"
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The Baxter family had moved to
Invercargill around April 1907. James Reid Baxter started a small
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Familicide of James Reid Baxter wife and children, including himself
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business. Weeks before the killings, Baxter had become ill with
187:, injuring his head. Around 3 April 1908, Baxter purchased a
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on one side of her body. She eventually died on 22 April.
413:"Invercargill Tragedy – Condition of surviving children"
431:"The Invercargill Tragedy – Last of the victims dead"
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James Reid Baxter was declared to have suffered from
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282:"The Invercargill Tragedy – Result of the Inquest"
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374:"Invercargill Tragedy – Death of Mrs Baxter"
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536:Burials at Eastern Cemetery, Invercargill
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478:"Invercargill's forgotten atrocity"
566:Suicides by firearm in New Zealand
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476:Reece, Sharon (8 November 2014).
495:Searle, Jamie (25 March 2022).
561:Murder–suicides in New Zealand
1:
437:. Papers Past. 22 April 1908.
419:. Papers Past. 11 April 1908.
401:. Papers Past. 14 April 1908.
380:. Papers Past. 10 April 1908.
342:. Papers Past. 15 April 1908.
290:. Papers Past. 14 April 1908.
121:7 (including the perpetrator)
362:. Papers Past. 8 April 1908.
315:. Papers Past. 9 April 1908.
258:"First station in Southland"
526:1908 murders in New Zealand
448:Invercargill City Council.
334:"Terrible domestic tragedy"
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395:"The Invercargill Tragedy"
455:Invercargill City Council
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556:Massacres in New Zealand
38:Infobox civilian attack
198:Killings and aftermath
145:William Anderson Stout
79:8 April 1908
43:considered for merging
354:"A shocking tragedy"
153:Invercargill Tragedy
51:Invercargill Tragedy
521:1908 in New Zealand
263:The Southland Times
256:(7 December 2013).
159:that took place in
359:Ashburton Guardian
309:"Terrible tragedy"
228:temporary insanity
551:Massacres in 1908
531:April 1908 events
450:"Cemetery result"
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129:James Reid Baxter
18:James Reid Baxter
16:(Redirected from
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546:Familicides
189:.22 caliber
126:Perpetrator
92:Attack type
32:‹ The
515:Categories
461:2 December
240:References
171:Background
157:familicide
101:familicide
83:1908-04-08
482:The Press
233:The Press
221:paralysis
177:floristry
165:Southland
41:is being
65:Location
45:. ›
34:template
217:amnesia
181:cholera
142:Coroner
137:Unknown
107:Weapons
81: (
155:was a
134:Motive
118:Deaths
501:Stuff
268:Stuff
185:Bluff
463:2021
219:and
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76:Date
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