Tales from the passed
Kenneth Livingstone and Charles MacFarlane were fencing Rolleston’s sheep farm, outside of Mangapehi, in July 1916 when they noticed smoke rising from their hut.
Mr Rolleston had gone to war and Charles, from Te Kūiti, was managing the farm. Kenneth, from Ōtorohanga, was shepherd.
The men were on their way to the hut for lunch and once they got there, they found the door was unlatched.
Charles’ saddlebag was gone and Kenneth’s watch and chain were missing. They discovered impressions of horse and Kenneth said, “Here the beggar is”. Charles saw a Rarotongan man he knew as Tui who had previously worked on the farm. He was coming towards them carrying a double-barrelled gun and a pigeon.
A shot was fired and Kenneth, 33, fell. Tui fired again, the shot grazing over Charles’ heart and for a second or two his head swam.
He ran for the hut where he had a rifle. Tui chased him and fired two shots, hitting him in the left hand and the right arm. When he got to the rifle, Charles could not pick it up. The only thing to do was to run for it.
He heard another shot before reaching two fencers and the three of them headed for Tiroa, 10 miles away. They came across Kenneth’s body which had been dragged into the bush and shot again. Charles was badly hurt and taken to Waikato Hospital.
Tui, whose name was Toeta Kainuku, lived seven miles from Rolleston’s, and after the shootings rode around erratically, before shooting his own horse, catching another and riding away.
He was from Avarua, Cook Islands. He was, 26, powerfully built, and spoke broken English.
Tui was arrested the next morning at his brother’s camp. He said in a rambling statement he was Jesus Christ the Holy Ghost, and was the owner of all the land in the district. He was charged with a variety of offences, including breaking and entering, theft, arson, the attempted murder of Charles MacFarlane, and the murder of Kenneth Livingstone.
Tui was detained at the Avondale Mental Asylum in Auckland where had previously been an inmate for 23 months.
His first trial in Hamilton was postponed as he was dangerously homicidal and unfit to travel. In March 1917 Tui was charged with the offences. When he was asked to plead he raised his hand and said “I am a brave man”.
The jury found that the Tui had committed the acts while insane. He was to be kept in custody at the Avondale Asylum. In July 1918 Tui escaped but was caught after three days. Three months later he died.
Kenneth, from Scotland, was single, and had not been employed on Rolleston’s farm for long. He had no relatives in the country but had a brother, John, serving with the New Zealand troops in France. He was buried at the Te Kūiti Old Cemetery and his brother John later organised a headstone for the grave.
