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Tragic End of Feud Between Two Settlers
TROUBLE OVER DUCK SHOOTING
ON LAKE CLIFTON
The Murder of Otto Haub
(By Alec Gollan)
A feud between two settlers near Lake Clifton
culminated in one being murdered by the other.
Following a confession and a successful defence
of insanity, the killer, though pronounced sane by
the State's chief authority, was kept in prison for
more than eleven years.
Because of the verdict of the jury
being in the exact terms of that returned
in the recent Mollor case, and the direc
tion of the judge being the same in both
instances, a recounting of the circum
stances surrounding a murder committed
over 14 years ago, which were followed
by the trial of the killer in the Perth
Criminal Court, should be of interest.
This, is one of several criminal causes
celebres in this State which have re
sulted in the confessing prisoners being
deemed insane by juries and of their
being committed to custody during the
pleasure of His Majesty.
The direction mentioned resolves it
self into a decision by the State Gov
ernment of the day as to the ultimate
fate of the murderer. In the case of
Mollor and in that of Pahl. the story
of whose murderous deed follows, the
juries concluded that the men were not
guilty because of unsoundness of mind.
The. only difference is that, in the case
of Mollor, the Acting Inspector Gene
ral of Insane concluded that Mollor was
insane at the time he killed his son,
while in that of Pahl, the Inspector
General of Insane asserted that Pahl
?was not insane neither at the time he
committed murder nor when he was 'on
trial.
In Sombre Surroundings
Robert Pahl, who came to this State
from South Australia, had lived in the
Waroona-Lake Clifton district for many
years before he committed a crime that
resulted in his being compelled to spend
nearly all the closing years of his life
in prison. He was 57 years of age when,
on the last day of 1919, he fatally shot
a neighbor named Otto Bismark Haub.
The districts of which Pinjarra
and Waroona are the centres have
been notable for the number of seri
ous crimes that have been committed
there, and details of some of them
have been related in these columns
during recent months. The most
sensational was that in which a
woman named Leah Fouracre was
fiendishly done to death by a Cinga
lese named de Kitchelin. The mur
derer was hanged in Fremantle jail.
One of the principal witnesses for the
Crown at that trial was Robert Pahl,
who had for years been a neighbor of
Miss Fouracre, a spinster, who lived
alone, and ran stock on her farm beside
Lake Preston, which is to the southward
of Lake Clifton.
Pahl often visited Miss Fouracre,
whose home was on the old coastal road
from Mandurah to Bunbury, and he had
seen de Kitchelin there a week or so be
fore the discovery of the body of the
woman iu a section of the house which
had been destroyed by fire. Some years
prior to the murder of Miss Fouracre
there had been suspicion tbat Pahl was
not of sound mind. He was arrested,
but after examination by experts was
allowed his freedom.
On Unfriendly Terms
Lake Clifton is a sheet of compara
tively shallow water about three miles
long and not more than a mile wide at
any section. It lies not far from the
coast twelve to fourteen miles to the
west of Waroona. At some seasons of
the year it is a favored resort of wild
fowl. Near it there are now more
farms than were to be found in thp
days when Pahl kept a few sheep on
his 160 acre block
Pahl indulged in duck shooting and
kangaroo hunting. His farm was ou
what is known as Newnham's Swamp
beside the Harvey River and about four
miles from Lake Clifton. Otto Haub
was reared in the district and had been
known to Pahl for upwards of 20 years.
Haub had a farm not far from that on
which Pahl lived. Two others who
resided not far away were Alfred Gates
and Alex Hay.
For three or four years prior to the
killing of Haub by Pahl the old man
and the young fellow had not been on
friendly terms. They first quarrelled
because of sheep belonging to Haub
breaking through fencing and grazing
on Pahl's land and the old man became
so exasperated that he impounded some
of the sheep belonging to Haub. The
pound yards at Yarloop, to which the
trespassing stock had been taken, is
not sheep-proof fenced aud Haub com
plained that some of the sheep escaped
and that he had never been able to re
cover them. Haub was of a quarrel
some nature and he was on bad terms
with several of his neighbors in addi
tion to Pahl.
From the house in which Haub lived
with his young wife there could be ob
tained a view of Lake Clifton, and it
was a habit of the man to take a glance
from his vindow when he arose each
morning to see if there were any wild
ducks ou the water.
On December 31 of 1919 he saw some
ducks, and called his wife's attention to
them. There was a man in a punt a
long way off, and also some ducks.
Haub went out with his rifle and shot
gun. It was a ruse of his to disturb
with his rifle ducks that were out of
range of the shotgun, for he often found
that the wildfowl so sent on the
wing came close enough to be secured
with the shotgun. Haub had a habit
of going about barefooted, and so had
several other men who lived in the dis
trict, and on this hot morning he wore
only a shirt and trousers!
About half an hour after he had gone
out his wife heard the sound of a shot,
aud, after au interval of about a quar
ter of an hour, she heard a report of
another shot. Staying at the place
with the Haubs was a brother of the
woman, and when Haub did not return
from the lake before luncheon time both
Mrs. Haub and her brother became
alarmed. They went in search of him.
Her brother searched along the lake
shore.
Mrs. Haub went through some
ploughed ground, and at the edge of
it, only a few yards from the water,
she came upon the body of her hus
band. She realised that he was
dead, and, very sensibly, she did not
disturb the body, but sent her
brother for assistance.
Tbat night a policeman arrived from
Pinjsirra. Other men had been sum
moned and a few of them engaged in
some tracking which proved to be help
ful to Detective-Sergeants Condon and
Purdue (the latter of whom is now In
spector in charge of the Criminal In
vestigation Branch of the Police De
partment), when they went down- to in
quire into the cause of the death of
Haub. The body was removed to Pin
jarra and there Dr. Joyce made a post
mortem examination. He found no less
than 82 shot punctures in the skin of
the chest and three or four on one
hand.
The doctor estimated that Haub had
been shot at a distance of from ten to
fifteen yards. He was satisfied that it
was impossible for Haub to have shot
himself intentionally or accidentally and
he concluded that death had occurred
very quickly after the wounds had been
received. The detectives made minute
searching of the locality and found
cartridge wads and tracks as well an
other indications that murder had been
committed.
A peculiar feature was that though
Detective Purdue had found the dead
man's rifle, his shotgun was missing
six days afterwards, it was discovered
on a bag of oats in a shed at Haub's
place. The shed is some distance from
the dwelling house and the gun had
been secretively put there because, on
the morning of its discovery, the young
widow bad taken some of the contents
of the bag for the feeding of her poul
try.
'I Have Shot Haub'
Three days prior to the tragedy Pahl.
Hay, and Gates arranged to: do some
duck shooting on Lake Clifton, but, as
their homes were some distance apart,
they agreed to camp beside the big sheet
of water at a spot known as Holmes's
Landing. With guns and ammunition
they went from Pahl's place in a cart
belonging to the old fellow, and while
Hay and Gates walked across the lake
at a shallow part to get a punt, Pahl
went back to his home for a tent, and
in this they stacked their provisions,
though, the weather being warm, they
slept in the open. There was some ex
change of ammunition between them.
On the third afternoon Pahl went off
alone in his punt. He had two guns
and plenty of ammunition, and he did
not return that night. He had only a
shirt and trousers on, and wore no
boots. Hay and Gates did not see him
until next morning, when he returned
to the camp with one of his guns and
ten or twelve ducks. So far as his
companions could see, Pahl was calm,
and he conversed in normal fashion,
while they cooked and ate breakfast.
Then Pahl calmly informed the
other two that he had shot Haub.
They each treated his statement
with levity, because they did not
believe that what he said was true.
Pahl assured them that he had com
mitted the deed.
Pahl added: 'I was coming up the
lake and was going to get a shot at a
mob of ducks when somebody fired into
them across the lake. I crossed the
lake and put a charge of buckshot into
Haub. Still they disbelieved, and
Gates said, 'Come on up and we will
give Otto a hiding.' The reply Pahl
quietly gave was, 'I have already shot
him.'
Hay and Gales acted somewhat fool
ishly after that. The camp was broken
up and the three men went off to their
respective homes. Neither of the two
younger men made any inquires with
regard to the statement made to them
by Pahl but they went through the
bush towards Pahl's place iu search of
kangaroos and they met the oldman
when he got home. Gates borrowed the
horse and cart and went to Waroona
arid Hay went to his own house. On
his way to Waroona Gates met a man
named Brown who told him of the death
of Haub. On his way back Gates
reached Hay's place at midnight and
informed Hay tHat what Pahl had said
about shooting Haub was true.
On the following day both Gates and
Hay sought the advice of friends and
they decided that they would not reveal
anything that Pahl had told them. Each
was visited by Pahl and they each
afterwards stated that, though, they in
formed the old fellow that Huub was
dead, he did not make any comment. He
informed them that he intended to go
to Perth. Detective-Sergeant Purdue
remained in the district, making fur
ther inquiries, while his colleague re
turned to Perth. When questioned by
the detectives, both Hay; and Gates con
fessed ignorance of any tragic occurrence
but they eventually told of their experi
ences and thus assisted very materially
to elucidate what might have proved to
be a problem that would have caused
a good deal of trouble to the authorities.
A Denial
Following their inspection of the scene
of the tragedy and some preliminary in
vestigations the detectives sought Pahl.
When they arrived at his house he was
absent, and they eventually ascertained
tbat the old man had gone to Perth.
Condon communicated with his Perth
office and instructed that Pahl be lo
cated in the city and his movements
watched.
Before Pahl left for Perth he called
at Hay's camp and informed him that he
was leaving for the city, aud he rode off
towards Waroona ou horseback. Pahl
also informed Gates that he intended to
go to Perth. He subsequenfly said that
he had some business to do in the city,
and that he intended to return to his
place in a few days. He travelled by
train from Waroona and was seen by
Detective O'Brien the next morning.
When Pahl was at the detective office on
the morning of January 3, whither he
had gone at the invitation of Detective
O'Brien, he was questioned by Detec
tive-Sergeant Condon. The account
given by the officer with respect to this
interview was : —
I spoke to Pahl, told him who I was,
that I had just returned from Lake
Clfiton where I had been investigating
matters in connection with the death
of Otto Haub- I said. 'You knew Otto
Haub.' He said, 'Yes.' I said, '1
suppose you have heard that he was shot
dead in his own paddock on last Wed
nesday morning.' He said, 'Yes.' I
said 'He was shot between 7 o'clock
and 7.80 that morning, quite close to
the lake in his own paddock I am told
you were on the lake about that time,
that you were on the lake all that
night; that being so L would like you
to give me an account of your move
ments during that night and morning
and from the Saturday before up till
now. He made no answer ,I then
opened : my pocket book and commenced
questioning him and wrote down what
he had to say. He told me, before I
commenced to write, that he knew no
thing about Haub's death, and that he
did not know who was responsible for
it. I told him that the man had been
murdered ; that a charge of shot had
been fired into his chest and that he
must have died almost instantly. He
again said he knew nothing about it.
I then took a statement from him in
writing in which be maintained up to
a certain point that he did not know
who was responsible for Haub's death.
The Truth
At this point he said, 'I will tell you
the whole truth'and continued : — 'When
coming down the lake that morning from
Wild Dog Bay I saw a large number
of ducks just about Otto's fig trees.
When I saw them I pulled across near
the other shore and commenced to load
my automatic gun. While loading some
one fired a rifle shot at the ducks to
frighten them away from me. The shot
came across the lake from Haub's pad
dock. The ducks flew away and I got
excited and wild.
I pulled across to the opposite shore
and went through the scrub into Otto's
paddock. I looked around to see who
fired the shot and then I started to go
on towards the fig trees. Then I turned
around very quickly ; something made
me do so, but I don't know what. I saw
Haub going south along the edge of
the scrub close to the boundary of his
paddock and I ran down to meet him.
Before coming up to him I stood near
a clump of bushes.
I ran down then to cross him.
When I got near him he turned
round and I fired. I hit him fair in
the chest. He turned and ran to
wards his house. He did not go very
far before he fell on his face and
hands. I did not go near him. I got
into my punt and paddled down the
lake to Holmes's landing. When I
got back to the camp I told Hay
and Gates what had happened. They
would not believe it. 1 felt very
sorry when 1 had done it.
At times afterwards I thought of
going to the police and telling them
everything; at other times I used to feel
angry at the way Haub treated me in
frightening away the ducks. The first I
knew of Haub's death was when Gates
told me when he came back from War
oona. When I told Hay and Gates that
Haub fired and frightened the ducks,
Gates said 'Come with me and we will
go and give him a thrashing.' I said,
'It is too late now: I have shot him.'
Still they would not believe me.'
Pahl was arrested by Detective-Ser
geant Condon who charged him with the
wilful murder of Haub. During the
time that he was making his state
ment of denial of any knowledge of the
tragedy Pahl was quite calm and Con
don did not even tell him that he was
suspected. But after he had concluded
bis first statement he hesitated before
he offered to make a confession. Condon
said tbat during that period he watched
Pahl very closely and, although the man
was outwardly calm, he could see that
inwardly he was almost convulsed.
Sixteen days after the tragedy Pahl
was taken to Pinjarra where an inquest
was held and, at its conclusion, he was
committed for trial. He was arraigned
before the then Chief Justice. Sir Robert
McMillan, and was defended by Mr.
J. W. Durack while Dr. Stow prose
cuted for the Crown.
Pahl's counsel agreed that there was
no dispute as to the facts of the case,
but be contended that Pahl was not re
sponsible for his actions at the time he
shot Haub. Mr. Durack declared tbat
Pabl bad been suffering from a diseased
mind for many years.
To support his plea of insanity
Pahl's counsel called Dr. Blanchard,
who said that after two careful ex
aminations of the prisoner he had
found him to be showing signs . of
suffering from senile dementia. He
was of opinion that at th« time
Pahl shot Haub he was acting un
der an uncontrollable impulse.
The records sbowed that he had been
arrested 20 years before on a charge of
being of unsound mind. , He had been
found wandering aimlessly about the
bush carrying a knife with which he
threatened to do harm to his brother for
some imaginary grievance. In the mur
der of Haub the difference between the
provocation and the retaliation showed,
in the opinion of Dr. Blanchard, that
Pahl's mind was not normal, and that
he had no sense of proportion. That
he was. laboring under delusions was
shown, the doctor contended, by the ex
travagant statements made by Pahl.
Some witnesses who had known the
prisoner for a considerable time sup
ported the idea that he was peculiar in
his actions, one of these ascribing his
state of mind to the dismal surroundings
in which the man lived, and another
to the fact that he was an omnivorous
reader of books relating to murders and
crimes of violence.
Dr. Bentley's Views
It was contended by Dr. Bent
ley, now Inspector-General for In
sane, and whose official position
was then Superintendent of the
Claremont Asylum, that Pahl was
not insane. His examination of the
man, he said, showed him that
Pahl was reticent and a little dull
mentally but was, for all that, sane.
During two lengthy interviews he
could not find any delusions and be
bad searched for evidence of hallucina
tion, Dr. Bentley continued. In this
latter regard Pahl told him that, one
day when the sun was strong, he saw
something silver shimmering like a cir
cular saw with big teeth. As Pahl ap
preciated that this was not real it was,
strictly, not a hallucination. If, Dr.
Bentley said, he realised such things
were not real he was not insane. If-
however, he thought . they were real it
would be evidence of hallucination.
When the doctor questioned Pahl with
regard to his habit of wearing two hats
at the one time the man rationally ex
plained that on days when the sun was
strong he placed the crown of another
hat inside the one he wore for protec
tion from the heat.
'Evidence bad been given,' said the
doctor, 'that Pahl was .suffering from
arterial disease but there are many men
walking around the streets today simi
larly affected and such was not in any
way evidence of insanity.' Dr: Bent
ley also said that he could find no de
fect in Pahl's memory and he consid
ered that the man's confession demon
strated that he clearly remembered re
cent events.
Another practitioner agreed with the
conclusions, Dr. Bentley had come to and
expressed the opinion that Pabl was
not insane.
During the course of his charge to the
jury his Honor pointed out that there
was not any doubt that Pahl had
killed Haub and that he knew that he
had done so for be had made clear ad
missions. What the jury had to cou
sider was not Pahl's mental condition
at the trial so much as his condition
at the time the committed the act.
Pahl, his Honor said, was a man of
not the highest grade of intelligence,
but that alone did riot free him of rc
sponsibilitv. A verdict of, not guilty
could only be brought in if they were
satisfied that Pahl committed the mur
der while in such a condition that, on
account of diseased mind, he was not
responsible for, his actions, being un
able to control himself.
'During His Majesty's
Pleasure'
The jury took only twenty minutes
to agree that Pahl was of unsound
mind.
The judge ordered that be be kept
in custody in Fremantle Jail during
the pleasure of His Majesty.
That verdict and pronouncement were
exactly the same as those with which
the trial of Mollor was concluded re
cently.
The position was considered by iln
then Government and some represeuta
tions were put forward with a view to
Pahl's liberation in view of the fact
that the Government authority in the
person of Dr. Bentley would not agree
that the man was insane. These were
futile. The old man was kept in pri
son for more than eleven years. He
was quiet and obedient during the whole
of that time. He seldom spoke, unless
spoken to and he occupied his time by
doing odd jobs in carpentering and tin
smithing at the Fremantle jail and at
Rottnest.
A couple of years back Pahl was
allowed his liberty. The old fellow,
then approaching seventy years of age,
went back to bis old home near Lake
Clifton where be existed in loneliness for
a time, and finally, being missed hy
some who still took an interest in him.
a search for him ended in the finding
of his body in the bush not far from
his farm.
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