ALLEGED MURDER

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 55, Issue 301, 3 October 1935, Page 3

ALLEGED MURDER

A MUSICIAN CHARGED.

DEATH OF HIS WIFE.

(Per Press Association.) AUCKLAND, October 2. Further evidence was called to-day when Eric Mareo, 41 years of age, a musician, is charged That on April 15 he did murder Thelma Clarice Mareo. The Crown case was conducted by Mr V. N. Hubble and Mr F. McCarthy, while Mr K. C. Aekins and Mr Trevor Henry appeared for Mareo. Doris Laura Biransgrove, residing at Mount Eden, said she visited Mareo’s house on four occasions for rehearsals of “The Tales of Hoffman.” She saw neither of the Mareos under the influence of liquor. On the morning after Mrs Mareo’s death witness and a friend, Freda Evans, called on sympathise with Mareo, but there was rib one at home. Shortly afterwards Mareo arrived with Eleanor Brownlee, driv-

ing her car, and Graham Mareo. Mrs Evans and witness conversed with Mareo in the front room. He told them that the police had been there the previous evening and had taken a statement from himself, Miss Stark and Graham. Mareo said that he found his wife very upset on the Thursday because she thought that she was in a certain condition, and she said. “I will kill myself.” He finally talked her out of it. He gave her some veronal, and on the Saturday she was in a deep sleep so he gave her sal volatile to bring her round. He told them he did not call ; a doctor earlier because he was so used to seeing her “canned.” He also <

said that he took .veronal to make him sleep. He said he was leaving off drink. As they were leaving, he took both of them by the arm, saying, “They won’t hang me, will they?” He was very ner- : vous. He also said!, “Thank God, she wasn’t insured.” i Visit to Household. Norman Ralph Blomfield,, company , secretary, said he visited the Mareos i several times. He had never seen Mrs ] Mareo drinking to excess. TTe saw her < in a state of collapse on the last night ( of the opera “Duchess of Danzig,” but 1 he could not say whether it was through s drink. Mareo telephoned him on the I night of his wife’s death. Witness ask- c

ed what had happened, and Mareo re- * plied, “The same trouble.’’ Witness asked, “Was it the appendix; ’ Mareo replied,; “Yes. She was a foolish girl. If she had taken my advice when I wanted her to go into hospital and v have her appendix out, she might still have been alive.” Mareo also telephoned the 'following Friday. He told j 1 witness that he wanted his wife to take ( over a tea-set that had been presented to Mrs Mareo". When they called, Mareo said he did not know until after g( their marriage that his wife was fond s , of “dope.” He did) everything possible p to keep it from the public. He also said a his daughter Betty had a, prejudice a against coming from (Sydney to live o with her step-mother. o:

Sydney Rowbottom, a chemist, said p that Mareo had l been in the shop on h several occasions. On April 6 there was ti a discussion about his not sleeping, b Mareo asked 1 for veronal tabloids, and A witness gave him 12 tablets, each of five grains, supplied in the veronal £ bottle produced. One pr two of the j 3. original veronal tablets were not in the r bottle, and witness made up the differ P ence with barbitone tablets. Four or five days later Mareo returned and asked for more veronal tablets. Witness gave him 20 tablets in a small phial. n Mareo said he was now sleeping bet- “ ter. Nothing was said about his wife p and veronal. ti

Leslie Mackay manager of a pharmacy, gave evidence of preparing prescriptions ordered by Dr. Walton for Mrs Mareo in March. The mixture was simply a sedative. There was no veronal in either mixture.

Analyst’s Evidence. Kenneth Massey Griffin, Government analyst, testified to receiving from detectives jars containing specimens of body contents, also a sheet which had a stained area, and! a double mattress. Witness found a total of 14 grains of veronal in the organs and on the sheet and mattress. He also received from detectives several white tablets which proved to be five-grain veronal tablets. In ashes taken from a kitchen grate witness found the remnants of a bar bitone packet and 1 the label of a barbitone box, the latter having been scraped from a barbitone bottle. Replying to Mr Hubble, the witness said he found that a 6.5 veronal tablet could be dissolved in half a cupful of milk. It would give the milk a sodalike taste.

Mr Walter Gilmour, pathologist at the Auckland! Hospital, gave evidence of conducting a post-mortem examination of Mrs Mareo’s body on April 16, at the direction of the coroner. She was a wfell-developed woman, about 29 years of age. The stomach was healthy He had heard the evidence about symptoms given by Graham Mareo and Freda Stark, and also knew the quantity of veronal recovered by the analyst.

“Knowing these thinks, I consider that death was due to veronal pnsoning,” said witness. There was no evidence of appendicitis. A poisonous dose of veronal or barbitone induced restlessness and confusion, followed by deep sleep, passing into coma. The patient might recover, in which ease, after awakening, the patient might have symptoms such as mental confusion and a staggering walk. Symptoms Examined. “The symptoms as described by Miss Stark and Graham Mareo regarding Saturday arid! until death were consistent with veronal poisoning - ; but they are not to he accounted for by one dose of veronal,” said Dr. Gilmour. “With regard to Saturday morning, when Mrs Mareo was found out of bed and was confused and unable to stand on her own, these, symptoms might indicate that she was recovering from a dose of veronal taken on Friday night. On the other hand they might he symptoms following shortly after the taking of a dose and inducing sleep. If they

represent the taking of a dose on Fri-

day night, then another dose must have been taken on Saturday morning in order to account-for her sleeping all Saturday. The symptoms described on Saturday night indicate quite definitely that she was recovering from a dose of veronal. This is borne out by the fact that she awakened of her own accord, that it was possible to keep her awake for a period of at lea-st two or three hours, and during that period she was able to converse, answer questions correctly, and ask lor a drink. Mr Hubble: What is your opinion regarding that particular stage?

Dr. Gilmour: That she was definitely recovering, and that with ■ appropriate treatment she would have recovered completely. The mext symptom of importance is her passing into the deep sleep which ended fatally 40 lioui s later. That- is only consistent with an-

other dose. That dose of veronal must have been given within half an hour of her going into that deep sleep. Mr Hubble: Would it have been possible for that dose to' have been taken before she called Miss Stark and remained two hours before she went to sl66p ? Dr. Gilmour: That would have been impossible. .- The witness added that from the brain, liver, kidneys and stomach contents and the urine 8.15 grains of

veronal were xecovered. That quantity indicated clearly that she had a fatal dose of veronal. She lived for about 40 hours after the last dose of veronal, and during that period a large quantity would be eliminated. He assumed that the last close was taken about midnight on Saturday. Dr. Gilmour concluded that she must have had about ICO grains of veronal.

“The quantity recovered in this case agrees closely with the result of the analysis in reported cases of fatal veronal poisoning,” said Dr. Gilmour. Mr Hubble: Were there any signs of alcoholism in the post mortem examination ?

Dr. Gilmour: No signs; but it does not enable one to exclude alconoiism.

Taking the symptoms over the weekend, are they consistent with alcoholism?—No. Dr. E. B. Gunson said he had perused the post mortem report of Dr. Gilmour and the report of the Government analyst, and he had heard the evidence as to symptoms given by Graham Mareo and Freda Stark. In his opinion, taking all tilings into consideration, death was due to veronal poisoning. The symptoms were not consistent with alcoholism. Tim symptoms as described were at , all stages symptoms of veronal poisoning. Statements by Accused. Detective-Sergeant Meiklejohn, who, with other detectives, visited Mareo’s house on the night of Mrs Mareo’s death, said he interviewed Mareo. Witness asked how Mrs Mareo came to have so much veronal. Mareo replied : “Do you think I am a murderer?” Witness said he was only making in-

quiries, and he asked Mareo to describe his purchases of veronal. Mareo said he first bought a bottle containing 50 tablets, while the second was an oblong packet of 12 tablets, eicicl a third lot he described as a bottle containing what lie thought to be 24 or 25 tablets. Before describing these purchases the accused was asked to hand over any veronal he had. Mareo took from his hip pocket a small unlabelled bottle containing 11 tablets. Accused made comments while making the statements, such as, “I feel like a cad talking like this about my wife; but I’ve got to protect myself, and is there anything in this that will hang me?” and “I feel like going and hanging myself, bringing all this veronal into the house.”

Witness then produced a statement which was made by Mareo on the night of his wife’s death. Mareo said: “My wife suffered from her appendix

periodically, and this occurred sometimes as frequently as every, three weeks. She would not have a doctor, and had a great dread of an operation. She had also a great dread of childbirth, and told me many times she would sooner die than have a child. She did not take drugs as .far as I knew; but she indulged in alcohol, sometimes to excess. She was the principal actress in a romantic light opera called, “The Duchess of Danzig,” which ran at Auckland at His Majesty’s Theatre, and which/ finished on October 3, 1934; and during that time she drank liquor to excess. Since then she has always had on the average, two bottles of sherry every day.

“Since that time 1 have been employed at the St. James Theatre as conductor, and about a fortnight ago I told her that I was leaving the St. James Theatre. She then knew that my source of income was reduced, and from then on she told me she was going to stop drinking alcohol to reduce expenses. As far as I knew she did not have any after that. From then on she had an attack of appendicitis—almost a continuous attack—and I gave her paraffin oil, which sho kept in the house lor that purpose. She looked so bad and felt so ill that

l offered to go out and get her some wine or brandy; but she would not let me. This attack continued almost up till Friday, April 12.

“I was out all one day about a fortnight ago on business, and came homo about 6 p.m. I think my wife gave me a meal and then went to bed. She then appeared to be under the influence of liquor. I did not ask her if she had been drinking. From then on, every time I came home my wife seemed to be dopey, as if she had been drinking. On Friday morning, April 12. she would not get up. Her eyes were glassy, and she had the general appearance of being intoxicated. I arrived home on Friday evening, and my wife was still in bed. She was still looking intoxicated. My wife’s bosom friend, Freda Stark, arrived on the Friday evening about 8. By this time my wife was asleep. Miss Stark did not say anything about my wife being asleep, as she knew that she was given to drinking bouts ” ■Continuing his statement, Mareo said that on the Saturday morning his wife appeared to be in a drunken sleep. She was still asleep in the afternoon, but looked under the influence of alcohol when lie awoke. On Sunday morning his wife was still sleeping. He went out on business in the morning, and when he returned his wife was still asleep. He believed it was then that Freda Stark suggested that he get a doctor. Being used to seeing his wife in an unconscious condition through alcohol, he told Miss Ctarlc that he would wait until Monday, and see hew she was then. When Miss Stark left

at 10 o’clock on the Sunday night his wife was still asleep. That night he slept as usual in a chair alongside his wife’s bed. At 8.30 on the Monday he woke and found his wife looking different from wliat she had done on previous days. Doctor Summoned. This was the first time he had been anxious about her condition. He told his son Graham to get dressed and telephone for a doctor. He could not get one, as they were out on their rounds. One doctor, they were told, would be back at 1.30, so lie decided that he would wait until then. Freda Stark arrived at 2 o’clock, and he told her to get a doctor immediately, preferably Dr. Dreadon, who arrived about

2.30, and immediately summoned the ambulance. The accused’s statement continued: “When Dr. Dreadon sent her to hospital he told me that the cause of illness might have been veronal poisoning, and asked me if she knew if there was any in the house. I told him that there was some in the house, but as far as I knew she did not know of it. I then went out to find a bottle containing veronal tablets which I had hidden in a trunk on a high shelf in the washhouse, and discovered the bottle was still thei’e, but empty. When I last saw it there two or three weeks ago it contained between 30 and 40 tablets. Purchases of Veronal. “In the meantime I had purchased two other small bottles of those tablets, because I had been suffering from nervous prostration through overwork, and I bought them because I heard that on April 1 a restriction was to be placed on the sale of them unless through a doctor’s certificate. I think that the first bottle contained 50 tablets, the

next bottle 12, and the next 25 tablets. I have taken only one a night, and these I commenced to take about three weeks ago. I cannot say if my wife knew that I was taking these tablets, and did not know where they were hidden. As far as I know no person in the house knew. As far as I know, the only veronal tablets I have left 1 have handed to the police. If my wife’s death was caused through veronal poisoning, the only conclusion I can arrive at is that she discovered where I had hidden them and has been taking them secretly in place of alcohol.”

The hearing was adjourned till tomorrow.