{{Short description|Familicide of James Reid Baxter wife and children, including himself}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}} {{Infobox civilian attack | title = Invercargill Tragedy | image = Baxter family grave.png | location = Invercargill, New Zealand | date = {{start date|1908|4|8|df=y}} | type = Murder–suicide, familicide | fatalities = 7 (including the perpetrator) | perpetrator = James Reid Baxter | weapons = Stove scraper, 12-gauge shotgun | motive = Unknown | coroner = William Anderson Stout }}
The '''Invercargill Tragedy''' was a familicide that took place in Invercargill, 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 Southland.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/culture/in-the-south/9345195/First-station-in-Southland |title=First station in Southland |date=7 December 2013 |work=The Southland Times |publisher=Stuff |first=Lloyd |last=Esler |author-link=Lloyd Esler}}</ref>
==Background== The Baxter family had moved to Invercargill around April 1907. James Reid Baxter started a small floristry business. Weeks before the killings, Baxter had become ill with cholera. This apparently caused him to begin acting in a depressed manner, sleeping often and eating little.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19080414.2.26 |title=The Invercargill Tragedy – Result of the Inquest |date=14 April 1908 |work=The Evening Post |publisher=Papers Past}}</ref> During this time, he slipped on a rock in Bluff, injuring his head. Around 3 April 1908, Baxter purchased a .22 caliber Remington rifle. He returned it on 6 April, exchanging it for the 12-gauge shotgun with which he would later kill himself.<ref name="terrible">{{cite news |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19080409.2.3 |title=Terrible tragedy |date=9 April 1908 |work=The Evening Post |publisher=Papers Past}}</ref>
==Killings and aftermath== 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 Crinan 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.<ref name="ow">{{cite news |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/OW19080415.2.255 |title=Terrible domestic tragedy |work=Otago Witness |date=15 April 1908 |publisher=Papers Past}}</ref>
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.<ref name="terrible"/> Most of his head was blown off, leaving only the mouth, moustache, and lower jaw.<ref name="ow"/> Early reports misidentified the weapons used as an axe and detonator cap.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AG19080408.2.39 |title=A shocking tragedy |date=8 April 1908 |work=Ashburton Guardian |publisher=Papers Past}}</ref>
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, 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.<ref name="terrible"/><ref name="ow"/>
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.<ref name="terrible"/><ref name="ow"/> However, on 10 April Elizabeth died and John's condition worsened.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19080410.2.32 |title=Invercargill Tragedy – Death of Mrs Baxter |date=10 April 1908 |work=The Evening Post |publisher=Papers Past}}</ref> John died on 12 April.<ref name="wa">{{cite news |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WAIGUS19080414.2.8 |title=The Invercargill Tragedy. |date=14 April 1908 |work=Waikato Argus |publisher=Papers Past}}</ref> Phyllis regained consciousness on 11 April, but suffered from amnesia and paralysis on one side of her body.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19080411.2.64 |title=Invercargill Tragedy – Condition of surviving children |date=11 April 1908 |work=The Evening Post |publisher=Papers Past}}</ref> She eventually died on 22 April.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19080422.2.67 |title=The Invercargill Tragedy – Last of the victims dead |date=22 April 1908 |work=The Evening Post |publisher=Papers Past}}</ref>
James Reid Baxter was declared to have suffered from temporary insanity.<ref name="wa"/> The family was buried together in an unmarked plot at Invercargill's Eastern Cemetery.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Invercargill City Council|title=Cemetery result|url=https://icc.govt.nz/cemetery-result/?id=26765|access-date=2 December 2021|website=Invercargill City Council}}</ref> Sharon Reece noted in ''The Press'' in 2014 that references to the event disappeared a month after it happened, with it being largely forgotten in the modern day.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://quakestudies.canterbury.ac.nz/islandora/object/qsr-object%3A323291/datastream/OBJ/view |title=Invercargill's forgotten atrocity |date=8 November 2014 |work=The Press |first=Sharon |last=Reece}}</ref> A plaque was added to the gravesite in March 2022.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/128166629/grave-of-family-murdered-with-a-fire-poker-114-years-ago-in-southland-commemorated-with-a-plaque |title=Grave of family murdered with a fire poker 114 years ago in Southland commemorated with a plaque |date=25 March 2022 |work=Stuff |first=Jamie |last=Searle}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
Category:1908 in New Zealand Category:1908 murders in New Zealand Category:20th-century murders in New Zealand Category:April 1908 in Oceania Category:Burials at Eastern Cemetery, Invercargill Category:Invercargill Category:Familicides Category:Massacres in 1908 Category:Massacres in New Zealand Category:Murder–suicides in New Zealand Category:Suicides by firearm in New Zealand Category:20th-century mass murders in New Zealand Category:Child murder in New Zealand