Emily Sun Lock
Emily Sun Lock (Lok?) nee Wilmot was born in Essex, England, and came to Albany as a school teacher. She
died in suspicious circumstances in Katanning in 1930.
WOMAN’S SUDDEN DEATH
POLICE INVESTIGATING.
Great Southern Herald
15 February, 1930
Detective Sergeant Reid, of Perth, and Sergeant Donaldson, of Katanning, are investigating the circumstances of the death of Emily Sun Lock, wife of a Chinese market gardener of that name, who died suddenly on Monday evening on the property of Mr. Eli Quartermaine.
It appears that Sun Lock returned to his hut on Monday evening bringing with him a bottle of beer and a bottle of wine and while he was absent from the abode for a few minutes his wife opened the bottle and took a drink of wine. Some minutes later, while the two were, having supper, Emily Sun Lock suddenly became ill, and after a fit of convulsions, expired.
Sun Lock came to Katanning and reported the matter to the Police, who later brought the body to town. A postmortem examination was conducted by Dr. Pope and the contents of the dead woman’s stomach were sent to Perth for examination by the Government Analyst.
The deceased woman was a native of Essex (England) and was about 55 years of age. It is understood that she came to W.A. many years ago from an English University as a schoolteacher and followed this vocation at Albany for a considerable time. Subsequently she had drifted down the social scale and became more or less an outcast and a consort of Chinamen.
SUDDEN DEATH
SUSPICIOUS CASE AT KATANNING
Woman Succumbs After Drinking Wine
Sunday Times
16 February 1930
The circumstances surrounding the death of Emily Sun Lock (45), wife of a Chinese market gardener, near Katanning, are being investigated by the Criminal Investigation Branch.
Sun Lock, who is 65 years of age, has a garden about three miles from Katanning. On Monday evening he brought home a few bottles of beer, portion of which was consumed during the evening. Later the woman had a drink from a bottle of wine, and soon after complained of feeling ill. She lay on the bed and was seized with a fit of convulsions, dying within an hour.
Owing to the suspicious circumstances, the local doctor forwarded the contents of the stomach to the Government Analyst, Perth, for analysis. The result of this has not yet been received by the police.
Deceased, whose maiden name was Wilmot, is understood to have been living with the Chinaman for several years.
MRS. SUN LOCK’S DEATH.
Tracing the Poisoned Wine.
West Australian
20 February, 1930
KATANNING, Feb. 19. – Investigations of the circumstances of the death of Emily Sun Lock, the English wife of a Chinese market gardener. at Katanning on February 10, are being continued by Detective-Sergeant Read, of Perth, and Sergeant Donaldson, of Katanning. Since the announcement by the Government Analyst that the wine that Mrs. Sun Lock drank before her death contained strychnine, efforts have been made to ascertain from whom it was purchased. It was a common draught brand, stocked by the three local hotels.
Sun Lock denies any knowledge as to how the wine came to be in his cart, together with some beer that he had bought and which had not been tampered with. The theory most favoured is that the poisoned wine was placed in the cart by some unknown person, and that it may have been intended for Sun Lock himself. No arrest has been made. The date for the inquest has not yet been fixed.
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Emily Sun Lock