HATAITAI. WELLINGTON. Construction on, what would become, Mount Victoria Tunnel began in December 1929 and was estimated to take 15 months and cost around £132,000 (approximately $16,000,000 today).

Two teams of diggers began on each side of the mountain and began tunnelling through. The initial breakthrough occurred on the 31st of May 1930, six months into construction.

Construction of the tunnel continued into the next year. However, sometime in early July 1931, construction on the tunnel was halted. The workers were contacted by police to cease work on the project. 

Over the next three days, over 100 police and relief workers sifted through over 2,000 tons of rock and soil from the excavation. They were searching for something, but what were they searching for, who were they searching for?

Visit www.truecrimenz.com for more information on this case including sources and credits.

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Written and edited by Sirius Rust

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“Day of Chaos” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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“Echoes of Time” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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“Road to Hell” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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“Senbazuru” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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The podcast version is the intended way to consume this story but we make a transcript available for those that would rather read instead. This can be found below.

Case 34: Phyllis Symons

INTRODUCTION

According to Maori legend, a taniwha is a supernatural creature similar to serpents or dragons in other cultures which would kidnap, kill and eat people. To satiate the creature, Maori often offered the taniwha gifts or said a karakia (spell) to keep the being at bay. Legend says that taniwha lived in the ocean, rivers, lakes or caves.

Two taniwha named Whātaitai and Ngake lived in the Wellington Harbour (which at the time was an enclosed lake). The legend of these two creatures is written about on Wellington City Libraries website for the article The path of our ancestors, “One was a restless, energetic taniwha named Ngake, who longed to escape its confinements and swim to the open sea. It sped about in the north east corner of the harbour, using its tail to build up the shallow area (Waiwhetu), and then hurled itself at the rocks encircling the lake, and smashed through to escape to the freedom of Raukawa moana (Cook Strait). The other taniwha, Whātaitai, decided to make his escape through another exit. Pushing off with its tail, and in doing so forming the Ngauranga gorge, Whātaitai headed off down the other side of the island of Motu Kairanga (Miramar Peninsula) only to get stuck by the receding tide Ngake had let in. Whataitai’s body thus forms the isthmus (the land connection between two bigger landmasses) between the former island of Motu Kairanga and the western side of the harbour, where the airport is now situated.”

After Whātaitai passed on, the taniwha’s soul flew up a nearby mountain in the shape of a bird named Te Keo and began to weep (tangi). Due to this, Maori dubbed the mountain Tangi-te-keo. 

In 1840, the area was settled by New Zealand Company colonists who redubbed the mountain Mount Victoria (named to honour the young Queen Victoria).

By the late 1920s, Mount Victoria’s 196-metre height served as an issue with traffic commuting between the central business district of Wellington and its eastern suburbs. Discussions began on how to reduce the travel time between the areas. As a result of these discussions, construction began on a 623-metre tunnel connecting central Wellington to Hataitai.

Construction on, what would become, Mount Victoria Tunnel began in December 1929 and was estimated to take 15 months and cost around £132,000 (approximately $16,000,000 today).

Two teams of diggers began on each side of the mountain and began tunnelling through. The initial breakthrough occurred on the 31st of May 1930, six months into construction.

Construction of the tunnel continued into the next year. However, sometime in early July 1931, construction on the tunnel was halted. The workers were contacted by police to cease work on the project. 

Over the next three days, over 100 police and relief workers sifted through over 2,000 tons of rock and soil from the excavation. They were searching for something, but what were they searching for, who were they searching for?

PHYLLIS AVIS SYMONS

Phyllis Avis Symons was born on the 8th of December 1913 to husband and wife George and Mary Symons in Napier, the fourth of six children. Her mother described Phyllis at a later date as “backward in learning, but was otherwise a normally healthy girl… [She] was a very nice little girl, quiet and all that”. 

At some point, the family moved to Wellington. The family lived in Mortimer Terrace in the Aro Valley. Phyllis left school when she was fourteen years old. Over the next two years, a 16-year-old Phyllis filled her days by getting relief workers tea, some workers even visited her house to get tea. Relief work was the practice of using unemployed workers to build new infrastructure such as streets due to the economic depression of the 1930s.

This was where Phyllis met a man twelve years her senior, 29-year-old George Errol Coats.

GEORGE ERROL COATS

Little is known about the man named George Errol Coats’ early years. What we do know, according to public records, he was born on the 3rd of June 1901 in Otago to husband and wife James and Elizabeth Coats, the youngest of four children.

George got married sometime in his younger years to a woman named Constance and had six children with her in successive years. Unfortunately, Constance passed away on the 25th of April 1930, she was either 31 or 32 years old.

What Constance passed away from is publicly unknown. It is possible she passed away in childbirth as her gravesite is also populated with her son but that is just speculation on our part. After his wife passed away, George placed his children in an orphanage.

It is unclear when George moved to Wellington, whether it was before or after his wife’s death. Nevertheless, it would seem that to make a living George worked as a seaman but by 1930 he had found himself out of work due to the economic depression. Due to this, he began labouring as a relief worker.

During their strenuous workdays, the relief workers were visited by a young 16-year-old girl named Phyllis Symons, who would bring them tea. 

It would seem, George Coats took an interest in the young lady and they began a relationship.

DATING

29-year-old George Coats and 16-year-old Phyllis Symons began ‘going out’ in September 1930. 

It would seem that Phyllis, as many teenagers do, had a turbulent relationship with her mother during this time. They would often argue. What they quarrelled over is unclear, it is possible it was over Phyllis’ relationship with the older George Coats.

Nevertheless, Phyllis Symons left her family home sometime in March 1931 apparently due to the many ‘spats’ she had with her mother. She told Arthur de Maine, someone who knew George Coats through his sister Evie (perhaps his brother-in-law), at a later date that she would “sooner die than go home, as her mother was very cruel to her”.

Phyllis and George lived together at a property at 140 Adelaide Road in the Wellington suburb of Mount Cook. George reportedly introduced Phyllis to folk as “his wife for the time being”.

It was around this time that the now 17-year-old Phyllis Symons fell pregnant. It would seem that neither Phyllis nor George was especially happy about this revelation. 

There is some evidence that George acquired certain liquids and used certain instruments to try and bring about a miscarriage.

An acquaintance of George Coats, John David Glover said at a later date that George told him that he would use “an instrument” to cure her of her condition and if she died during the process he could bury her in a gully in Hataitai where hundreds of tons of debris is dumped every day from the Mount Victoria tunnel excavation. 

John Glover also said that another time, while playing cards with George and George’s sister Evie that Evie asked him, “If Phyllis died, would you help to bury her?” to which he replied, “No! What do you think I am?”.

Reportedly, Phyllis Symons was in a poor mental state during this time. She was struggling with the social stigma of falling pregnant outside of marriage and often spoke of suicide.

MISSING

On the 25th of June 1931, George Coats told a worker at the Hataitai excavation site, John Dunsmuir, that he needed to bury a dog and asked him to leave a shovel out so he could dig a hole.

George is then seen later that day at Hataitai digging a hole by Sydney Penketh and at least one other relief worker.

The next day, Olive Irene Smith, George Coats’ landlady, hears George and the pregnant Phyllis Symons leaving the house in the early evening.

She hears someone return alone at approximately 10 pm that night.

After this, no one ever saw Phyllis Symons alive again. When friends asked George Coats where the woman he once called his wife was, he said she had “gone home” and was staying at her brother’s place.

On the 30th of June, a letter penned by Phyllis Symons was discovered in George Coats’ room addressed to her father by an acquaintance of Coats, John Glover:

“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 of 10s 6d weekly, 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 a comfortable bed at night and good food, and have 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’ll 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, Phyllis.”

John Glover gave this letter to Alan Melville, a taxi driver who eventually gave the letter to Phyllis’ father.

After Phyllis Symons’s father, George Symons read the letter and could not contact his daughter, he made a complaint to the police.

INVESTIGATION

Detective Bill Murray visited George Coats in the succeeding days to question him about Phyllis’ disappearance. George told the detective that Phyllis had gone to some friend’s house and “so far as he was concerned she was quite all right”.

George agreed to have his room searched, upon searching the room, the detective discovered two letters penned by George addressed to his parents and sister which he claims to “having got rid of Phil”.

When asked what ‘having got rid of’ meant, George said it was his way of expressing that they had parted ways.

Police then visited another property of George Coats in Kilbirnie. There they discovered a box with a quantity of ladies’ apparel in it including a book titled ‘Ladies’ Handbook of Home Treatment’ with a page turned down at abortion, miscarriage and premature labour. A syringe was also found.

Police then interviewed a friend of George, Arthur de Maine, he told police that on the 25th of June (a day before Phyllis went missing), George told him that he was going to Hataitai to get a “cobber” (old fashioned word for friend) to leave a shovel out so he could bury a dog.

The following night George told him that Phyllis had gone home. In further questioning, Arthur told police that prior to her going missing, Phyllis had complained about her neck being sore, when he asked George about why her neck was sore, George said he had hit her over the back of the neck with a piece of wood to try and induce a miscarriage.

After this, on the 6th of July 1931, Detective Murray obtained a warrant for the arrest of George Coats for the charge of attempting to supply a noxious thing for the purpose to bring about a miscarriage. When Detective Murray handed the warrant to George Coats, George said, “Let’s have a look at it”. He read it and smiled, handing it back saying “That’s all right”.

FINDING PHYLLIS

Detective Bill Murray was convinced that the missing 17-year-old Phyllis Symons was buried at the excavation site in Hataitai. On the 9th of July 1931, more than 100 police and relief workers began shifting rock and soil in an attempt to unearth her body.

Over the next three days, an estimated 2,000 tons of rock and soil was moved in the search. Eventually, after much searching and manpower, on the 12th of July 1931, a searcher discovered a corpse with a scarf wrapped around its head and covered in a vegetable sack. The body was transferred to the morgue where it was confirmed by Mary Symons that this was indeed the corpse of her daughter Phyllis Symons.

George Coats was charged with her murder.

TRIAL

The trial of 29-year-old George Coats for the murder of 17-year-old Phyllis Symons commenced on the 2nd of November 1931 in the Wellington Supreme Court.

The Crown alleged, as detailed in the 2nd of November 1931 edition of the Hokitika Guardian that, “… Coats made arrangements to have a shovel left out at Hataitai on the night of the 25th June so that he could kill and bury the girl that night. Unexpected visitors, however, prevented the carrying out of the plan that night, but on the following night, the girl and accused were heard to leave the house where they were living. The Crown alleged that the pair walked over to Hataitai, where Coats hit the girl on the head with a shovel several times and buried her.”

The defence maintained that George Coats had nothing to do with the death of Phyllis Symons and suggested that she may have committed suicide by jumping into the excavation site. George Coats told his side of the story to the court on the 6th of November 1931 as detailed in the Hokitika Guardian the next day, “On Thursday June 25, Phyl left me… The circumstances were that I had missed a job in the Fire Brigade in Auckland through not being on the spot – I told Phyl that I was not earning enough to keep us both, and that it was best that I should try to get up to Auckland, and she agreed to go away then – she said she had plenty of friends to go to, but she did not suggest where she was going. She left me without my having any knowledge [of] where she had gone – I asked her where she intended to go. She would not tell me.”

The suggestion that Phyllis threw herself into the gully was dismissed by Detective F. Hayhurst, saying that he believed it was impossible for Phyllis to jump and reach the place in which she was found, and furthermore, if she had marks would show on her body.

On the 5th of November 1931, Doctor Hector took the stand to detail the injuries present on Phyllis when she was found. This evidence was detailed in the 6th of November 1931 edition of the Hokitika Guardian for the article Murder Charge, “In his opinion (Dr Hector) the girl was alive when buried and death occurred in the altitude that the body was found. The mode of death was asphyxia due to vomiting, which was caused either by blows on the back of the head or of smothering to death”.

The trial concluded on the 11th of November 1931. The jury retired at 5.24 pm. After three hours, which included a break for an evening meal, the jury returned a verdict… Guilty.

Mr Justice Blair sentenced 30-year-old George Errol Coats to death for the murder of 17-year-old Phyllis Avis Symons. Reportedly George showed no signs of nervousness during the sentencing. George was asked if he had anything to say, “Nothing, except I am innocent, and I think that prejudice has proved too strong. That’s all!”

On the 17th of December 1931, George Eroll Coats was marched to the gallows at Wellington Prison near Miramar.

Shortly before 8 am, George Coats stood above the trap door and a noose was placed around his neck. The Sheriff asked if he had anything to say before the execution was carried out, in a quiet voice George replied, “I do not, except that I wish to thank those who have been connecting with me. I am innocent. I trust in the Lord”.

The trap door was released and George Coats died instantly.

CONCLUSION

Phyllis Symons and her baby are buried in an unmarked grave in Karori Cemetery in Wellington. While Phyllis’ murder aroused intense public interest at the time, the crime has been largely forgotten over 90 years later. 

The Mount Victoria Tunnel was officially opened on the 12th of October 1931, exactly three months after Phyllis Symons’s body was discovered.

The opening was a celebratory event, the Mayor of Wellington, Thomas C. A. Hislop was the first car through the tunnel followed by hundreds of other cars and pedestrians.

Shortly after the opening of the Mount Victoria Tunnel, a tradition began of sounding the horn of your car while in the tunnel. Some believe this practice began as a way of paying respect and honouring the memory of Phyllis Symons, others believe the tooting of the horn is to keep the restless spirit of Phyllis who passed away in such a horrifying and violent manner at bay. 

Whatever the truth may be, if you are ever journeying through the Mount Victoria Tunnel and hear a horn being fired off, perhaps take a moment to pay tribute to the memory of the young 17-year-old girl who was taken far before her time.

SOURCES

Internet Articles
Te Ara, Story: Taniwha, https://teara.govt.nz/en/taniwha
Wellington City Libraries, Te Ara o nga Tupuna/The path of our ancestors, https://www.wcl.govt.nz/maori/wellington/TeAra1.html
Wikipedia, Mount Victoria Tunnel, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Victoria_Tunnel
Genealogy Investigations Ltd., The ghost of Phillis Symons, https://genealogyinvestigations.co.nz/blog/the-ghost-of-phillis-symons
Underground History, The Tragedy of Phyllis Symons, http://undergroundhistory.blogspot.com/2014/11/the-tragedy-of-phyllis-symons.html
Mount Victoria Historical Society, Welcome, https://mtvictoria.history.org.nz/
Mount Victoria Historical Society, Mt Victoria Tunnel Tales, http://mtvictoria.history.org.nz/mt-victoria-tunnel/
Stuff.co.nz, Go on, take your time and toot in the tunnel, http://www.stuff.co.nz/good-reads/10608161/Go-on-take-your-time-and-toot-in-the-tunnel

Newspapers
Wairarapa Daily Times, 12 August 1931, Page 4, Symons Murder, https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WDT19310812.2.19
Hokitika Guardian, 13 August 1931, Page 3, Symons Murder, https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HOG19310813.2.20
Hokitika Guardian, 14 August 1931, Page 6, Symons Murder, https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HOG19310814.2.68
Hokitika Guardian, 15 August 1931, Page 5, Symons Murder, https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HOG19310815.2.45
Hokitika Guardian, 17 August 1931, Page 5, Symons Murder, https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HOG19310817.2.37
Hokitika Guardian, 2 November 1931, Page 6, Murder Charge, https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HOG19311102.2.73
Hokitika Guardian, 3 November 1931, Page 5, Murder Trial, https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HOG19311103.2.44
Hokitika Guardian, 4 November 1931, Page 5, Murder Trial, https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HOG19311104.2.51
Hokitika Guardian, 5 November 1931, Page 5, Coats’ Trial, https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HOG19311105.2.52
Hokitika Guardian, 6 November 1931, Page 6, Murder Charge, https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HOG19311106.2.54
Hokitika Guardian, 7 November 1931, Page 5, Coats’ Trial, https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HOG19311107.2.47
Hokitika Guardian, 9 November 1931, Page 6, Coats’ Trial, https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HOG19311109.2.55
Hokitika Guardian, 10 November 1931, Page 6, Coats’ Trial, https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HOG19311110.2.61
Hokitika Guardian, 11 November 1931, Page 6, Coats’ Trial, https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HOG19311111.2.52
Hokitika Guardian, 12 November 1931, Page 2, Murder Trial, https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HOG19311112.2.5
Hokitika Guardian, 17 December 1931, Page 5, Coats Hanged, https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HOG19311217.2.41