If you live
or lived in Wellington chances are you’ve heard people toot in the Mt Vic
tunnel. Some people know the story behind the tooting and others don’t (they
just toot for the fun of it) The urban legend goes that a young woman was murdered by
her lover and buried in the foundations so people toot to either scare her
vengeful ghost away or they toot to memorialize her. I generally will only toot
if I have my little monsters in the back of my car but I always think of her
when I drive through.
Her name
was Phillis Avis Symons (Yes that is the proper spelling. It is spelt this way on her birth
certificate, death certificate and coroners report) and she was born in Napier on the 8th of December 1913
she was the fifth child out of six and the 3rd daughter. She
attended various schools in Napier and then Wellington when her family moved to
the area in 1923 She left school at the age of 14 years old having only reached
the 5th standard (year 7) Her father said ‘My daughter was inclined
to be backward in her learning, and she had childish ways. Her disposition was
quiet’ her mother also said in her learning ‘she was backward. Apart from this
she was a normally healthy girl’ after leaving school she remained at home.
Phillis used to make cups of tea for the men working on the relief works and
some of the men use to visit the house specifically for having a cup of tea.
This is how Phillis met a man named George Coats during September of 1930
George
would visit on a few more occasions as he worked on the relief works in
Mortimer Terrace near the family home. Mrs Symons (Mary Lavinia Symons) had
seen George and her daughter together twice at their home. On a Sunday in March
1931 Mrs Symons was not well and said Phillis ‘had been a little fussy that
day’ so she would not let Phillis go out. As a result of that little difference
Phillis left home. Mrs Symons was able to describe what Phillis had been
wearing that day and the items that were missing after she went away. Mrs
Symons also claimed that Phillis didn’t come home because ‘that creature’
(George) wouldn’t let her.
George had
been married to his wife Constance who died some five months before he met
Phillis. Constance died on Anzac day the 25th of April in 1930 with
their one and a half month old daughter dying 5 days later. Not long after
Constance’s death their remaining children were sent to an orphanage in Island
Bay as George could not afford to look after them.
George was now
living in Abel Smith Street and Phillis moved in with him. While they were
living in Abel Smith Street George mentioned to a friend (we’ll call them
Friend J) that Phillis was pregnant. He said he had ‘bought some pills’ and
‘the pills were to get it away from Phillis’
Shortly after
telling friend J about Phillis’s ‘condition’ George and Phillis moved to Kent
Terrace. Phillis was said to be very ill while they lived there. They moved
twice more only living in one place for a week ending up on Adelaide Road where
Phillis’s pregnancy was becoming more noticeable. The land lady started
referring to Phillis as Mrs Coats and several other boarders in the house also
believed Phillis to be Mrs Coats.
While
living on Adelaide Road George remarked in front of Friend J that Phillis was
‘getting fat’ and that ‘he would need to put a needle in her, and that if she
did die he knew a good place to bury her’ friend J believed he was referring to
the gully at the relief works at Hataitai where George was currently working.
George had said ‘there were hundreds of tons (of soil) being put over there
every day, and that if you did put anybody there, nobody would ever find out
about it’ George continued in further detail about the site with friend J which
was later used against him in court. George never said any of this in front of
Phillis and friend J said no one else was present when George made these
remarks.
During
their stay on Adelaide Road, George’s sister Evie came down from Auckland for a
week or two and stayed with them. Friend J visited and while Phillis was
downstairs making them all some supper Evie made the remark ‘what are you going
to do about it Errol?’ (Errol was George’s middle name) George mentioned
‘putting a needle in her’ Evie told George not to break the syringe. Friend J
(who became a key witness during the trial) said they had a look at the syringe
as it was on top of some drawers. The
syringe was about seven inches long, of brown motley material, a little thinner
than a pencil, and had two kinds of hooks on each end. George then told Phillis
‘Get the needle Phil, I am going to do it to you now’ Phillis got the needle
and gave it to George. George then asked friend J to leave the room. Six
minutes later George then invited friend J back who then noticed that the
syringe was now slightly bent. The syringe was placed on the mantle and never
seen again. The next night friend J went to George’s house again and found
George and Evie discussing what had happened. Evie was heard to joke about it
and said ‘she must be like a furnace inside’ Evie left to go back to Auckland a
few days later.
Friend J visited
about a fortnight later to ask how Phillis was and which George replied ‘fine’
and that George had done something to her and ‘it had come off all right’
George remarked that Phillis had the rags on for a couple of weeks, and that he
had not had a naughty for a fortnight’ and that ‘it was coming away in pieces’
referring to Phillis and their unborn child.
One
Saturday night in June, friend J went to play cards at mutual friend’s house
(friend M) where George was also visiting. George and friend J walked home
together that evening when George said ‘I got a beaut on to Phillis the other
night. I took her out to Hataitai and tapped her on the back of the head with a
piece of pipe and knocked her out. I waited until she came to’ Phillis then
said ‘George, I feel cold all over’ and after getting home she had her hand at
the back of her head and said ‘my neck is sore George’
During June
it was noted by several labourers that George had been digging a hole at the
relief works in Hataitai where George was working. He spent a lot of his spare
time digging this hole. George was asked what he was digging the hole for and
said it was for shelter to keep out the wind and to keep warm. He was never
seen sheltering in the hole. When asked again later by the foreman George told
him the hole was to ‘bury a dog’ George was working in a area where the fill
from the Mt Vic Tunnel was being used to help flatten areas which is now known
as Hataitai Park.
On the 25th
of June, friend J, along with a few others, visited George and Phillis to play
cards. During the course of the evening Phillis had remarked ‘We are back in
the rent and are going to shift over the weekend’ this was the last time friend
J saw Phillis alive. On the 30th of June friend J visited their
house again but no one was home. He noticed the mattress on the bed had been
moved so went to turn it over when he found a letter. Friend J had bad eyes and
could not read the letter well but he could read that it started with Dearest
Dad and finished with her name Phillis. He could also read a mention of suicide
in it and that she wanted consent to marry George. He took the letter to friend
M who then gave it to Mr Symons, Phillis’s father (George Henry Symons) on the 4th
or 5th of July. Mr Symons took possession of the letter and that
morning he handed it to the police.
Here is what
Phillis wrote –
Dearest Dad,
I feel I cannot go on like this. Something has
happened to me very dreadful which makes existence for me a hell. In short, in
a very few months I am to be a mother. Many times I wanted to end all my pain
and misery by suicide, but I cannot bring myself to do it – it seems so
dreadful. I know what you must think of me, but Dad, I am innocent. In my hunt
for good times but with the desire to keep decent I have fallen. I have
suffered and am still suffering. Every hour is torture. I have very little to
eat. My clothing is in rags, so that I am afraid to go outside the door. I had
a job housekeeping for some time, but the people left Wellington and I was
unable to pay my rent and may at any time be put out. The father of my coming
child is George Coats whom mum so disliked. With your consent we could be
married, but Mr Coats is out of work, but does his best to keep me in food. You
could never imagine how terrible life is. If only I could be back home
receiving the weekly letter from Jack, have the comfortable bed at night and
good food and have the work to do. How lovely it sounds. But that is not to be.
Dad, Mum, try to forgive me. Give your consent, so I can marry and I will never
come near you, as I know you could never understand. Maybe you’d feel sorry for
me if you could be a witness to my misery day after day, night after night. I
think I shall go mad very soon, if things go on much longer as they are at
present. I think I shall close now and please forgive me.
I remain, yours sincerely,
Phillis.
An investigation
began on the whereabouts of Phillis. George was taken into custody and
interviewed. George at this stage was claiming that Phillis had left him to go
to some friends and that as far as he was concerned there was no need to
entertain any fears for her safety. George agreed to the police searching his
premises for any evidence that might indicate where she had gone. He even
accompanied them but waited outside. The police came across two letters one of
which had written in it ‘Got rid of Phil’ when questioned about this George
said that was just his way of expressing that they had parted. While the search
continued for Phillis the police charged George with attempting to supply a
noxious thing for the purpose of obtaining a miscarriage.
The
investigation began to focus on areas of the new recreation grounds at Hataitai
park in the search for Phillis’s body. Two thousand tons of soil from the Mt
Vic tunnel that was being dug was shifted by a large party of police and forty
relief workers. After five days of digging on the 12th of July 1931
at about 2:45pm the body of a female was found with a sack carefully spread
over the buttocks and lower portion of the back. The body was enveloped in soft
clay. A pathologist was called 15minutes later to attend.
The
pathology report goes into detail about how the body was found and the kind of
condition it was in. He described the body being clothed and with a scarf bound
around her face. Her body was removed from the clay at 5pm and the two pathologists
made further examinations at the Wellington Morgue. Mr and Mrs Symons were
called in to help identify the body. They confirmed the body was their
daughter, Phillis.
The post
mortem examination began on the 13th of July 1931 at 10:30am it says
Phillis was stoutly built and well nourished. Her body was stiff from the cold
and in an excellent state of preservation. There were several bruises and
swellings around her face and head. Her tongue was between the tightly clenched
teeth. On the nape of her neck and back of the head there was an extensive
bruise. Her abdomen was swollen and breasts were large. The internal
examination confirmed pregnancy.
The post
mortem report stated that the womb contained a healthy female foetus. From the
measurements of the foetus it’s age was estimated to be between 5 and 6 months.
The report
went on to conclude that Phillis had been struck a very violent blow to the
right temple and another blow or more likely a series of blows on the back of
the head and neck. One of the blows would have caused unconsciousness but the
immediate cause of death was asphyxia due to stomach contents being vomited
into the windpipe. During court proceedings the pathologist said ‘In my opinion
all the indications point out that she was alive when she was under the ground’
He then went on to confirm that the position of her body when it was found,
corresponded with attempts to rise against difficulty caused through weakness
or super-encumbent weight meaning Phillis had tried to rise while the soil was
piled on top of her.
On the 15th
of July Phillis was buried at Karori Cemetery. She is in an unmarked grave with
her mother Mary who passed away in 1947
On the
morning of the 16th of July 1931 two detectives saw George and
charged him with the murder of Phillis Avis Symons. When George took the stand
in the Supreme Court in November 1931 he pleaded Not Guilty.
George
claimed that the night Phillis had run away from home she said that her mother
had hit her and they used to frequently have rows (arguments) He had told her
that he did not have much money but she still wanted to stay with him. He also
claimed that she had told him she was 18 He said that on the night of June 26th
Phillis left him. He wanted to move up to Auckland to try and find work and she
apparently agreed to go to friends. Phillis apparently also told George that a
cousin was responsible for her being pregnant although he knew he himself might
have been responsible. George denied attempting to bring about an abortion. He
said that Phillis would often talk about suicide and once threatened to throw
herself over the tip at Hataitai. George said that on the night of the 26th
of June they went out for a walk (which they often did together) They walked
over to Hataitai where George had been working but Phillis seemed more
depressed than usual that day. When they reached the area they sat down
together and after a while Phillis got up to say she would be back in a moment
but after a while George says he became concerned and started calling out for
her. She never answered so he thought she might be hiding to frighten him but
after looking around he found her lying on the slope. He turned her over to
find that she had a scarf wound round her face and he could detect no signs of
breathing or heart-beat. He stayed with her for about a minute in what seemed
to be a state of shock. He knew that he would be blamed for her death so he
decided not to mention it to anyone and instead put her in the hole, covered
her up with a sack and shovelled the dirt on top of her.
On the 11th
of November 1931 the Supreme Court found George Errol Coats guilty in the
murder of Phillis Avis Symons and he was sentenced to death.
Just before
8am on the 17th of December 1931 George was hanged at Mt Crawford
prison in Wellington, New Zealand. His only request was a glass of brandy
before leaving his cell. He maintained his innocence even from the gallows.
Legend has
it that tooting in the tunnel began as a mark of respect for Phillis, or to
keep her ghost away. I tried to find the origins of this urban legend but haven't found anything so can only assume someone started the myth roughly 20 years ago and it's continued from then. Either way it has long been a popular activity for
motorists in Wellington. RIL Phillis *toot toot*
Comments
Post a Comment