THE DOUBLE MURDER AT RUAWARO

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 54, Issue 195, 31 May 1934, Page 6

THE DOUBLE MURDER AT RUAWARO

GROWN CASE AGAINST BAYLY CONTINUED. ~ SEARCH ACTIVITIES BY'POLICE OUTLINED. - STATEMENTS MADE BY THE ACCUSED At INTERVIEWS. '..•■' ■ \ DEPOSITS FOUND IN THE BOTTOM OF A DRUM. ■ (Per Press Association). AUCKLAND, This Day. • The results of his investigations on the, Lakey and Bayly, properties at Unaware from October 21 onward were detailed by Detective T. Sneddon when, the hearing of the charges against a farmer, William Alfred' Bayly of having murdered Samuel Pender Lakey and Christobel Lakey, at Ruawaro on October 15 last, were advanced a further stage at the Supreme-Court to-day. A smaller crowd than usual was in attendance, the fall in numbers* being accounted for by the fact that" much of Sneddon's evidence traverses the same ground as that already covered by Detective 1.. W.

Allsopp.

The Grown Prosecutor (Mr V. R. Meredith), with him Mr F. McCarthy, is prosecuting, while Bayly is represented by Messrs E. H. Northcroft and L - p - -Leary, instructed by Mi 1 R. B. Lusk. Mr Justice Herdman is on the bench. When the Court resumed yesterday Mr Meredith re-examined [Detective Allsopp, who stated that as the material was found it was placed in envelopes, which were marked to show the time it was discovered, whera they were .found, and what the police thought the exhibit comprised. The exhibits were then forwarded to Auckland and examined by experts. The exhibits on the table in Court were orranged in five sections—-from the cowshed, the garden, the sheep-dip, the orchard and the pig paddock. .The grass in Bayly's orchard was three feet high, continued the detective. '' ' . .'fWas the grass growing all over the orchard?" asked Mr Meredith. ; "On the old digging the grass had just begun growing," replied Detective Allsopp. Orchard Carefully Searched. 'The whole orchard had been searched, carefully, the police working on hands and knees. In the dug area of the orchard the soil was sieved. All x tlie garden, including the flower borders round the house, had been examined systematically. In an unused portion of accused's cowshed witness first s.aw old unburnt animal bones on December 7. He took possession of them o)tt December 13. Mr Meredith then referred to the statement that Bayly made after the finding of the guns,, in which accused said the guns were not his, and that he could not account for them. " "How soon after finding the guns was that made?" asked the Crown Prosecutor. ."Immediately he came down after I had shown him them," replied Detec-= jfciye Allsopp, who stood down at 3 p.m. after being in the box since 10.30 a.m. on Monday.- ■''.•V-". : ;":'•'..'"..■'■■■•'.:''. V.' Detective Thomas Sneddon, of land, said he arrived at lluawaro on October 16, with Detective Allsopp, and three constables. On arrival at Lakey's witness met Constable Robertson, and was shown Mrs Lakey's bodyt, which he described. Witness tailed the examination of Lakey's duckpond, and the interior of the house. In the wardrobe in the bedroom was a cardboard box conta'iiing a fairly new. man's suit (produced). None of the rooms appeared to ha*e been.ransacked. The beds were made. There was a telephone in the house, but it was not working. Witness found a letter in the bedroom and hand-a it.on October 29 to Detective.'WaH?. While raking the duckpond on the morning of October 17, witness found a woman's hat. He then joined the seaich party at the lakeside on Bayly's property. .'..;. / Search for Lakey. •Searches were made of the lake swamps for a 15 miles radius. All the slack was lifted at the Renown colliery, but Lakey's body was not found. .Reverting, to October 17, witness said ihe went to Bayly's with Detective Allsopp," visiting accused's carshed. Bayly met them. Witness said they had been interviewing settlers as . tb; ; when they had seen Lakey last. Accused agreed to make a statement. 'The detective then dealt with the finding of the sledge marks on Bayly's property, and the wheels and frame under the wattle tree on Lakey's paddock. The cross-piece of the frame bore congealed blood. A side mem"ber of the frame was also bloodstained, There was also blood on the left side of the axle. A portion of the crossbar had been shaved, but the police were unable to find the shavings. -...;., An examination of the cow droppings in the same paddock showed six with wheel-marks through them. On October' 19 witness went to Bayly's with the chief detective and Detective Allsopp. The chief detective asked accused if anyone had been on his property with a. sledge. Accused said "No." When Bayly's sledge was examined stains were found on the lower side of the . floor-boards. Accused, who declared he did not know what the stains were, assisted the police to remove three boards. A fourth board, also with a stain was not removed on that occasion/ Bayly said he had driven: the sledge off the road to inspect a telephone post mounted to the fence, which he thought was leaning over. Witness inspected the post and found it in order. When the wheels and frame were being loaded on a lorry at Lakey s yard, Constable Flynn handed Detective Allsopp a batten, continued witness, who identified the batten produced. This had a blood stain oil it. The police made a search about the implement shed, and discovered that a batten, comprising part of the shed wall, had been whittled. There were

bloodstains on the rail, and also on the grass. Stone and chips of wood were lying below the top and bottom rail. Seven battens of the wall were cut out by the police. I The court adjourned until to-mor-row morning.

THIS MORNING'S EVIDENCE. TESTING OF THE RIFLES. QUESTION OF AMMUNITION. ' When the Court resumed to-day after outlining the position of the missing sack in Lakey's implementshed, Detective Sneddon detailed finding a .22 calibre shell in Lakey's garden, among the grass near the gooseberry bushes. The shell, which was tarnished, contained a spider's web and bore a round mark from the firing pin. It was branded 1.C.1. i "On the night of October 21, after we returned to Bayly's, we compared it with a shell which fell from' Bayly's denim trousers," continued the detective. Was it the same? asked Mr Meredith. "No, it had different striker marks," replied witness. "I compared it with a test shell from a pea-rifle found in Bayly's swamp, also a shell fired from Bayly's pea-rifle. I look on it as an old shell which had been lying in Lakey's garden for some time." Detective Sneddon said that during his interview with accused on October 21 he asked Bayly if at 8 a.m. on October 16 he rode a horse into the paddock, returning later with a sledge. Bayly said he did not. If anyone said he did they were liars. Bayly made a second statement, which was read. In it Bayly said he did not use the sledge on Sunday, October 15. On the Monday he went from the cowshed to his gate with cream. He left the qream :at the gate and them returned. On the way back he went to the boundary fence to look at a telegraph pole which he thought was- damaged. "I oid not ride the horse along into the paddock on Lakey's side of my house and yoke up the sledge that morning," declared accused in the statement. Cartridge Shell Found. Questioned by Chief - Detective Sweeney as to which* pair of denims he wore on October 15, Bayly said ha did not know, proceeded the detective. While Detective Findlay was handling one pair of-accused's trousers a pearifle shell fell from the pocket. Bayly said, "It will be from my rifle. I was shooting at the side of the swamp on Friday and Saturday." Accused said he had bought the Spandau pea-rifle at Huntly on October 12, producing a registration certificate. Bayly added that.he had purchased 200 rounds of ammunition. He used one box but he could not find the remainder. Witness inspected the rifle and saw stains on the,barrel, for which Bayly said he was unable to account. Detective Findlay said.: "If the stains turn out to be blood, could you account for themP" Accused said he had shot a hare on Saturday and held it by the hind legs. It was struck with the barrel of the rifle. The Man and the Dog.

During a further interview with Bayly on October 23, accused told witness he had not used his car- between October 14 and October 20. On the evening of October 25 Bayly called at Lakey's house and was asked in. Accused said: "I will have to get some of you chaps to come over to my place. When I was coming up from the cow-shed I saw a man with a dog at the corner of the car-shed. I also saw a man run along the ridge through the gate into the paddock. Bayly added that he had pursued the man but had failed to catch him. Witness and Detective Findlay wont to accused's. They saw a dog which accused said had accompanied the prowler and had been caught by his own dog. Witness rang Wright, and found that the latter was at home. Constable Ross was billeted with Wright after October 19. Accused was asked it lie thought the man was Sam Lakey. ile replied that he thought not as the man could run too fast. Detective Allsopp who arrived later, asked Bayly, if Lakey called, would accused give him a meal. Bayly replied, "No damn fear." ,\ ~ -, • Detective Sneddon then detailed incidents on his visit to Bayly's on October 26, when the deposit of ash was taken from a shovel in accused's cow•shed. He related what occurred at the swamp on the day the guns were found. Witness then described the police activities at Bayly's the day

the scrapings were taken. The deposit of oil on the bottom of the drum appeared to contain burnt charcoal and small staples from boots. The police took possession of both portions of the drum on November 29. Asked what the drum was xised for, Bayly said he used the bottom as a forge to heat iron which he used in connection <with the well bore.

Bayly told witness, Detective Walsh, how lie had used the furnace to heat water to scald pigs, declaring he had killed only two since being oil. the farm. Accused demonstrated how /the portable copper could be used. When Detective Allsopp asked if the police could empty the sheep-dip, accused replied, "If you empty it you will have to take the responsibility if any cattle are poisoned." The dip was not emptied that day. Witness had previously probed the dip with a swamp rake to see if a body were there. Bayly had also informed Detective Allsopp that he did not burn animal bones.

Previously, when interviewed regarding the dog, accused, said there were four settlers he had no time for. "He said 'Wright, - Stevens, Sanson— —' a nd then stopped. Detec-tive-Allsopp said 'and Lakey.' ' Bayly replied ' Yes, 5 " continued Detective Sneddon. The Arrest of Bayly.

Witness then described accused's arrest on a charge of murdering Mrs Lakey. Witness accompanied Detective Allsopp to a house on the Greai South Road, Auckland, where Bayly was arrested, in the 'presence of his solicitor. When the warrant was read lie made no reply. ~ The firing of "test shells from the rifle found in the swamp and from Bayly's rifle, by G. G. Kelly was next described by Detective Sneddon. He said iha rifles were then taken to, Dr. D. Brown, of Auckland University College, who fired both, retaining the shells.

Witness' said that after the testing of the rifles at Auckland he returned to Ruawaro, where he was present when Bayly's sheep-dip was emptied. He described the procedure followed. Witness took possession of a tuft of hair recovered there. Examination of a pig wallow in the cow paddock yielded what appeared to be burnt charcoal, .burnt bone, and a burnt heel of a boot,. Witness then traced the handling of a number of exhibits given to the pathologist and the Government analyst. Timber received by witness had oeen given to Dr. Brown. All the articles were labelled.