COMPANION'S STORY OF COCKBURN TRAGEDY

NZ Truth, Issue 1294, 25 September 1930, Page 5

COMPANION'S STORY OF COCKBURN TRAGEDY

"I Had My Back To Both of Them And Heard A Shot"

ACCUSED'S ALLEGED ADMISSION (From "N.Z. Truth's" Special Christchurch Representa '

After hearing evidence that lasted for three hours, Mr. H. P. Lawry, S.M., m the Christchurch Magistrate's Court on Tuesday committed Alfred James Stanley Colenso to stand his trial at the Supreme Court for the murder of Robert William Cockburn, whose dead body was found on the roadside near Lake Coleridge sheep-station nearly a fortnight ago.

THE largest crowd since Colenso's first appearance gathered outside the double gates leading to" the back entrance of the court when he was brought from the police station m the prison van. The crowd, however, was kept from entering the courtyard, arid the spectators had to content themselves with a glimpse of the suspect as he entered the court door. pOLENSO showed no sign of perturbation when he entered the dock and heard the charge of murder read. Mr. W. J. Stacey, counsel for both Colenso and Farquharson on their previous appearances, had with him Mr. W. R. Lascelles, who intimated that he appeared with Mr. Stacey for

DECLARED m evidence that Colenso said, "Yes, I shot the man": Detective-Sergeant J. B. Young, who had charge of the case.

Colenso. Inspector A. Cameron conducted the prosecution. Detective Ede, of ' the 'Christc^nirch Central Police, was the first witness. He produced photographs taken at the scene, of Cockburn's death, showing the gravel pit where the body was found and a general view of the road. The police, then called Cockburn's employer, Ivan Roderick Coleridge, Murchison, of Lake Coleridge Station, who told' the court that he was speaking to Cockburn on the day of the latter's death. "Before I met Cockburn, I passed two swaggers," said Murchison. Inspector: Can you say if either of them is m court to-day? — Yes, in 'the dock. '■'■'■ : "I stopped arid spoke to Cockburn," the dead boy's employer continued, v 'and while I was there Stewart drove up m his lorry and Cockburn drove away with him. "I did not know the names of the accused until I saw them m the papers," said Murchison, m "reply to the Inspector, "but, l have known the men for years.", Colin Archibald Stewart, driver of the lorry that picked Cockburn up, was next called. ' .■ When he first saw Cockburn on the day of his death, said Stewart, he was talking to Murchison on the side of the road. . "They waved to { me to stop," said Stewart, and Cockburn got into the lorry with me." Inspector: Did you see anyone else on the road?— Yes. We ' had gone about a mile, and saw two men sitting I on the side, of the road. j '"There he is m the box," declar- j ed Stewart when the Inspector ' asked if either of the men was m court. Inspector: Have you seen the men before? — Yes, I saw them the day previous. Stewart said Cockburn told him to drive about 50 j'ards past the men. It would be about 2 o'clock, he said, when he dropped Cockburn. SAW BODY Stewart told the court after he left Cockburn he looked back, and saw Cockburn standing by the gravel pit. He saw Cockburn's body when he returned along the road. Inspector: Was there anything m his hand? — Yes, he had his pipe m one hand and a box of- matches m the other. Shortly before eleven o'clock Colenso\s companion on the day of the shooting, Arthur Edward , Farquhai*son, was called to give evidence -for the police. "Where did you first meet the accused?" was the Inspector's first question. Farquharson paused a while and appeared to .be thinking. "At Holmwood," he replied at last. Inspector: When did you meet him? — I' couldn't say exactly. Further questioned by the Inspector, Farquharson said it was . before 1919 that he met Colenso. .' . „ Inspector: Have you been together ever since ? — Not all the time. Have you been m his company recently?— Yes. ' For how long? — Some few mosths. Were you and Colenso together on the night of September '2 ?r-^- Yes. Where did you stay? — At the Ach-' eron. , Was there a hut there?— Yes, a cookhouse. . ' Where did you strike for after staying there?— For the coast. On the morning of the 3rd did anyone come to your camp? — Yes. Who was he? — I' don't know. . Well, what was he employed, as ?— , He 'was a ploughman. • J

Was Colenso there when this man came? — No. Did you have some conversation with this visitor? — Yes. Had you had your morning- tea? — Yes. Did this man have a cup of tea with j'ou? — He did. At 12 o'clock, was accused there? — Yes. Did the visitor have lunch with you? —Yes. And whilst Colenso was there did Cockburn, or rather this visitor, have anything to say? — Just ordinary conversation. He had no complaint to make? — No. After lunch, said witness, Colenso and he left the other man and went on towards the station about three miles. Inspector: Were you carrying anything? — Yes, my swag. Do 3'ou know what Colenso was carrying? — He had his swag 1 and a rifle. Both the swag and the rifle, a .22 repeater, were produced. Farquharson told the Inspector that he and Colenso sat down on the side of the road, where some shingle had been taken away. He was handed the photograph of the scene, and. pointed out where they sat. Inspector: What did you do with your swags? — We sat on them. Do you remember what Colenso did with his rifle? — He laid it on his. knee. While you were there did anyone pass? — Yes, a lorry went by, and we saw somebody coming back after the lorry had passed. This person came up to us, and we recognised him as the one we had left just after dinner. "He accused us ofihaving stolen his 'billy," said Farquharson. He called us — ■ — — . He said we would have to open our swags. When he told Colenso to open his, Colenso asked him if he had a, warrant. F'rst he said he had, and then he said he hadn't. "We were all .standing up, and he was throwing his arms about. We were close to one another, and he said to Colenso, 'Don't be silly.' Colenso said, 'self-defence." "In the meantime I had my back .to both of them, and I heard shot. The old man placed his hands to his eyes, swaying slightly on his feet, and paused until spoken to by the inspector., \... ■: . ."I was dumbfounded," he said. "I looked' around, and by that time the man had nearly died. Then I recommended Colenso to come with me and give himself up. He decided n,ot to. He said he would not." Asked to demonstrate how Colenso HANDCUFFED was holding the l-ifle, the old man rested it with his left hand on the barrel and his right on the butt, and his arms fully extended. The Inspector: Did you hear any threats made or did you make any yourself? — No. Did you see the man fall when the shot was fired ?— No. How was he lying?— On his left side. The body was fully extended. Did the body move after falling? — I cannot say. How long did . you remain there, after the shot had been fired?— About five- minutes. What was said during those five minutes? — I said, "My God, the man is shot." That is all that was said. "We left 'then," Farquharson continued, "keeping to the road for a little way, and then we hurried off this side of the station. It would cut off a mile or more. We passed Murchison Station, and stayed that night at Spring's hut. We followed the road all the way." Inspector: Where were you making for? — The West Coast. "We got along towards Cass, and we decided to go to the station* for the night, but we did not get there," said Far^uharson. "The police bailed us up. "One came forward, and had a revolver when he was close to us. He said to me, 'Stand out of the road.' Colenso threw his hands up, and the policeman, who had his revolver pointing at s , Colenso, said, 'One move out of you, and yo.u are a dead man.' We were handcuffed. "I was not warned, and I was not told what I was handcuffed for." Farquharson was not cross-exam-ined by either counsel. The man who found Cockburn's body, Frederick , Langbein, District Public Works engineer, followed Farquharson into the witness-box. He told the court of the discovery of the body, saying that when he examined it it was not stone cold. To Mr. Lascelles, he said there were hills for some distance along the road on the same side as the gravel pit. Describing the capture of Colenso and Farquharson, Detective-sergeant J. B. Young, who was m charge of the party .of detectives and police, said they left m cars from Cass. "We made towards Lake Lyndon, on the Porter's Pass road," he said. "We could see two men coming towards us. They made across country towards the mountains. I got out of the car and walked towards them. I called to them, and they answered, but continued to walk away. I noticed accused carried a rifle slung across his shoulders. I bailed them up, and they were taken' back to the cai-s. "I told accused I was making inquiries into the shooting of Robert Cockburn. He said, 'Yes, I shot the man. He called me for all the — — he could lay his tonp/ue to.' " ■ j

In a statement produced by Detective-sergeant Y.oung, Colenso is alleged to have said: "I was trembling and all of a shake, and it N (the rifle) went off. My mate then said, 'Run,' and I ran across country and left my swag. The old man took no part m the shooting." "I then charged Colenso with the murder of Cockburn," continued De-tective-sergeant Young, "and he asked, 'Will they hang me for it?'" Evidence as to the wound suffered by Cockburn was given by Dr. Edgar Frederick Thompson, of Christchurch Hospital, who conducted the post-mortem " examination. JDeath/ he said, was caused by internal hemorrhage following a gun shot wound m the right chest. He extracted the buliet. The police case was concluded with technical evidence by Thomas James Smallwood, a gunsmith, who described the rifle, and the magistrate com-

mitted Colenso to the Supreme Court for trial. Immediately after the hearing of the murder charge, the inquest into the death of Cockburn was opened, and the witnesses were recalled to swear again to the evidence they had already given. Mr. La-wry returned a verdict m accordance with the medical evidence, finding- that the rifle that caused death was at the time held by Colenso. Farquharson ,was then placed m the dock to answer a charge of being an idie and disorderly person, with insufficient means of support, and Mr. Stacey pleaded on his behalf. Counsel suggested that the charge be. adjourned, and that the old man remain m the Salvation Army Home m the meantime. The Bench acceded to the request on the understanding that Farquharsorv report to the police.