THE MASTERTON TRAGEDY.

Auckland Star, Volume XXVI, Issue 191, 12 August 1895, Page 3

THE MASTERTON TRAGEDY.

SOMERVILLE CHARGED WITH

MURDER.

A VERDICT OF INSANITY,

(BY TELEGRAPH.—PRESS ASSOCIATION.)

Wellington, this day. At the Supreme Courb, the trial of Andrew gomerville, for the murder of Arthur Herbert, ab Masterton, concluded on Saturday night, the accused being found not guilty, on the ground of insaniby. The murder took place on the 6th June. Somerville had been working for Herbert, and had sued him for wages, regarding which there had been some dispute. The case waa before the Courb on that day, and ib was adjoitgged. Somerville, on leaving thS courthouse, purchased a revolver, and subsequently, When talking with Herbert in bhe street, drew it, and exclaiming, •* Take thab!" fired. The bulleb entered Herbert's body in the region of the heart, and as he staggered acroßS the street Somerville fired two more ehots ab him before ho fell dead, The bystanders scattered in all directions, bub two constables who had witnessed the Whole affair, promptly arrested the murdorer, who made no resistance. Mr Jellicoe defended. The defence waa that the accused was nob responsible at the time for his actions. Evidence was called to show thab be was of weak intellect, and bhab bhere waa idiocy in his family, and thab his parents were persons of drunken habits.

Dr. Pollen declared that the accused spoke very slowly, and ib took him some time to comprehend the drifb of a question. Hia memory waa defective, and he would remember things which occurred years ago, while forgetting recent events. Witneßß would cay he was a man of very feeble intellect, and Mb appearance pointed to congenial imbecility. Considering bhe general hisbory of the accused, and the whole facts of tho caae, he should say ib wbb the record of a bypical case of insanity, and he could nob reconcile with ib bhe idea chab the prisoner had complete knowledge of right or wrong at the time of the commission of the act.

Dr. Teare, gaol surgeon, said he had come to the conclusion thab bhe prisoner waß a man of defective mental organism. A person who had suffered disappointment or financial losß, or was weak from illness or other cause, waa liable to develop hereditary disease of the mind. The absence of self-control was a marked feature of impulsive insanity. On the facts proved he thought Somerville insane when ho committed the act.

Dr. Fookes, of the aßylum, was called as a specialist of mental science, and corroborated the other medical evidence as to tbe peculiarity of bhe accused. He believed the man to be insane.

At six o'clock the case for the 'defence was concluded, and the Courb adjourned till Beven. On resuming Mr Jellicoe addressed the jury, urging that the prisoner waa not in a right condition of mind when the act was committed.

At nine o'clock Mr Jellicoe finished his address, and Mr Gully on behalf of the Crown followed, contending he could not conceive of the absence of intention for the crime. The murder was a cruel and deliberate one, and the facta adduced proved that bhe action of Somerville before' the commission of the act waa such that he believed the jury could not do otherwise than find a verdict of guilty. Ab ten o'clock the Judge summed up, speaking for one hour. He pointed oub thab the quosbion bhe jury had to determine waa not whether Somerville was insane, and nob therefore responsible for his crime, but whether he was so insane as not to be responsible and not to understand the nature and penalty of the act he waß committing. After reviewing the evidence His Honor referred to tho fact that the crime was committed in view of a number of spectators, and the prisoner apparently did not recognise bhe enormity of the offence. a* he must have known he would be immediately taken into custody. It the man was merely in a violent passion the question of insanity fell to the ground, bub if the jury believed him to be incapable of realising what he was doing bhey musb acquit him on the grounds of insanity.

Tho jury retired ab 11 o'clock-, and after an hour an a half's deiiberal on returned with a verdict of not guilty ov the grounds of insanity. The jury were then discharged, and the Chief Justice ordered the prisoner to be kept in strict confinement in the Terrace Gaol during the pleasure of the Colonial Secretary.

Notwithstanding the late hour ab which the trial concluded the Court was crowded, and there was scarcely standing room on the floor of the Court. A large number of women attended the Courb during the proceedings, and fully twenty, mostly young women, yraiced until the verdict was delivered.