THE POULTON MYSTERY.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVI, Issue 200, 22 August 1905, Page 3

THE POULTON MYSTERY.

CORONER'S INQUEST. jjjTOPSY DISCLOSES NO EVII VEKCE OF VIOLENCE. .ggSATIONAL STATEMENT BY MSS. MoPIKE.

Ike district coroner (Mr. T. Gresham) Mfl an inquiry yesterday afternoon at ■jfr Lirtie"=. Hobson-=treet. into the ' enJmnstanees surrounding the death of i i 3 j2gs Poultoh. a boarding-house keener | Jβ Wellesley-itreet. who died suddenly j gi iis residence at an early hour on j gjturday morning, subsequent develop- i jjgits rendering necessary an inquest. genceants Williams and Dew conductthe ease for the police. Detectives Vjller and HolUs being also present to i Tjstei the proceedings. THE MEDICAL EVIDENCE. Dr. Girdler. who conducted the peat mortem examination, stated that there fere no outward indications to show the anse of death. Deceased was an *xuediflsly well nourished man. There Ttee absolutely no evidences whatever of any foul play having taken place, no Jjruise or external mark beyond a tattoo ' jjaxfe on the left arm being on the liody. An examinatioa disclosed that jmjst of the intern a! organs were In a more or less congested state. The heart tos very fatty, and the lungs and kidspis very much congested. In his opinion tie cause or death was heart failure, accelerated by the congested state of tfce lungs and kidneys. In reply to the coroner, the doctor aid ir was possible that a shock might iave induced the death of deceased. A juryman: l= it possible ior any •riolenee to have been used to demised without post-mortem evidences ? — It night be possible, although I should epeet to find them. Could a blow have been given him "rithout leaving a mark after death? — IS* is possible, perhaps, but highly improbable. The doctor further said that in LLs opinion the deceased had been dying for some time. This was evidenced, he said, by the small quantity of blood in the organs. To Sergeant Williams: In the physical itate in which deceased must have been prior to his death, it was possible that a, Tery slight shock or blow, or even exertement, might hasten his end. Dr. Murphy stated that he had been attaining deceased for paralysis for ibout two years. About two years ago deceased had a r aralytic stroke, his light side being affected. Witness treated friTn for it. He was also suffering from cardiac weakness and with his Moneys. H? was not treated for these eomplnints at the time. A second stroke occurred about nine months ago. this inns aifeeting the left side. Witness also treated deceased for kidney trouble about three months ago. Since then deceased had not been treated by witness. On Saturday morning last about ten o'clock he was called in to Portic-o Villa. Deceased had then been dead not less than five or sis hours. He saw the housekeeper, Mrs. Primrose, who said that deceased had eomnlained of feeling faint about ten o'clock on the Friday evening, and that she had been obliged to keep a watch over him until about ene o 7 elock, at which time he died. A careful inspection of the body disclosed Bo marks whatever, and witness told them that either he or his colleague, Dr. Brockway, would issue a certificate of death. Witness considered, thai neeeased had been on the verge of death for months past, and in the state of his health might have died at any moment. Towards Saturday evening, owing to tearing from the police that there were ioggestions of foul play, he refused to give the certificate. He had been present at the post-mortem examination, •nd quite agreed with Dr. Girdler as to tie cause of death. To Sergeant Williams: Taking into consideration the weak state heart Was in. it was quite possible that ac ceased's death might have been aeceleiated by a slight blow, which would leave no trace behind it. When he first saw the body, there was no evidence whatever of any straggle or foul play having taken place. Mrs. Primrose stated to him that deceased had toppled over on to the floor. Witness gathered that he had been sitting on the bed at the time. MRS MePIKE'S EVIDENCE. Mrs Charlotte MePlke was the next witness called, and without any suggestion in her manner of having been the "Victim of hysteria or of hallucination gave a somewhat remarkable but suctinct and apparently straightforward narrative of the events or the Friday sight leading up to the death of Poulton, Sic stated that she had known the deceased for about two months. He had always appeared to her to be in good iealth and spirits. She had never heard him complain of anything. She had fcnows he was partially paralysed, and "talked with the aid of a stick. Witness saw him last alive at about eight o'clock on the Friday evening. He apPeared to be then in good health and sprits- He was in the kitchen at the «mc, and witness was passing through ft- She asked for a little milk, and deceased assisted her to obtain some. There were a number of people in the kitchen at the time. They appeared to 0e spending a little social evening, and ermkhig- beer, as usuai. Mrs Primrose *as singing. Witness returned to her JWJin almost immediately, and laid down on her bed. She must'have dozed, for; Mont ialf-past ten she was awakened 0y a knock against the glass of the ■"enci door leading into her roGm from ™c verandah. She had left the candle *%|it, and getting up she saw two straag e men standing outside. They I** 2 * her if they ciild get lodgings. Sfcewas able to s«= the men quite plainV-_ Her French v, :"dow. which had been she immediately latched, "w told them to go round to the main entrance. As they seemed inclined to fcang around she again told them to go found to the front"door if they desired £o communicate with the people of the aoiise, or she would call the police to ™m them off the premises. The men ™en went round to the main door. She ««rtd at this time hear Mr and Mrs fosaelthwaite talking together at the its Denham and her husband, in > adjoining room, were also mutter"f- Mrs Primrose and Mr Poultcn were JPBeiy and she assumed they were asleep. *"taes3 herself went to the front door, »fct asked who was there. One of the

men outside said: "It's only Alick: telli Uie missus it's mc." She tien told ilr i Fosselthwaite, and he sent Mrs Posseltt- j waite to Mr Poulton's door to appTaise | hrm of the men's presence. In the mean- '. time, however, the two men left the j door and went away. She saw Mr Potil- j ton go to the door., and heard him say. I "I can't see anybody." and be returned : to his room. When he returned she t fieard Mrs Primrose say, "Who was it T i and Mr Poulton replied, u Xo one." The men remained altogether on this oeea- i sion about ten minutes. Shortly after j they had left, another man. young and ( well-dressed, appeared on the scene, and ; knocking on her window inquired if he j could obtain lodgings for the night. She i replied, "Xo. I do not think there are ; any spare rooms." so he went away. Witness assumed they came to her -sin- i dow because she had' a candle burning, j and the front hali was dark. Closely ■ following upon the last visitor a woman came along, and inquired for the whereabouts of a Mrs King, and after that the house relapsed again into silence, and , she must have fallen asleep. About midnight she awoke, and heard the Voices \ of Mr and Mrs Posselthwaite in the pas- ! sagp. There was apparentTv an alterea- ■ tion going on between them, and pre- ; sently she heard one of the children ' open the door and say. "Come along. . father; it's time you went." While j they were still in the passage the tv\ o i former men returned, and one of thsni j asked Mr Posselthwaite, who was at the j door, if they could see jlrs Primrose. ' Then she heard Mr Poulton come out ox his door .and asked them what they wanted. They said they wanted lodsi- ' ings. Mr Poultcn said, "What are you doing in my house? Get out of tins." , , The men said they meant to have iodg- i ings there, and Mr PoJton said, -Clear out."" Ons of the men replied. "You cannot turn us out." "No," said Mr Poultcii, "but I can get someone who will." j There was then a scufflxng sound, as if the men were endeavouring to force their ! way along the passage. this lime the Posselthwaites -were at the back,; and must have heard the altercation i between Mr Poulton and the two men. j When the men asked to see Mrs Prim-! rose, that lady came to the door and i said, '"I don't know you," and then re- j turned to her room. Witness only heard | 1 the one man speaking. When tie men had finally forced their way into the! room occupied by Mr Polton, she heard j deceased utter an oath and further say, j '"What, you would strike mc, would j \ you? Don't you strike mc." She was \ listening all this time from her own! room, which adjoined Poulton's room, j She then heard one of the men leave the j room, and go outside, and almost imnie- < diateiy after she heard the same voice j that had spoken all along exclaim: ' '"Take that, you old ," this being ': followed by the sound of a blow, and the j I falling to the ground of the old man. i j Deceased never spoke after receiving j the blow. He gave a groan, and was i then silent. After a short interval she ! heard the man go outside and join the! other one. The one outside, who was j waiting at the gate, said. "Did you set- j tie the old f* The other replied. "1 ' think I have done for the old " i The Coroner: Did you see these men j jat this time?— Yes. I watched them out | of the gate. I saw as well as heard ! them. To the Coroner: It was not true that Mrs Primrose had been watching by the deceased since half-past ten o'clock. After the men had gone, she heard a sound that seemed to her like the depth rattle in the throat of Mr Poulton, and hastening in to his room found him I I lying upon his back on the floor, with j i his clothes disarranged, and Mrs Primj rose standing over him. Witness felt his pulse and said he was dead. Mrs Primrose replied. "Oh, no. he's only I I fainted." She then went outside and • j called Mrs Posselthwaite. who appear- j led very excited, and ex-tlaimed, "Xo. no. ; ; I don't want to have anything to do j ■ with it; it was them that did it.*' Mr ' Posselthwaite came in from the ba«;k I and said. "Who did it, and I will have jit out with them?" Witness quietened j him, however, and with his assistance , got the body on to the bed. To the Coroner: She did not hear the conversation between Dr. Murphy : and Mrs Primrose on the Saturday morning. Continuing, witness said that while j J they were aJI in the room she said to j i Mrs Primrose, '"Now, the best thing | you can do is to go for the police." and then she retired to her own room. About three o'clock she was again aroused by someone coming to her room and saying. ''Come and see Mr Poulton, I think he's dead.". Witness replied, "I toLd you he was dead over two hours ago."" The Pc?selthwaites and Mrs Primrose all seemed to be under the j influence of drink. Mrs Primrose had been in a chronic state of drunkenness all the week- She had. however, never seen deceased take a drink. He had always appeared to witness being extremely abstemious. The Coroner at this stage ordered an adjournment, and fixed ten o'clock next Monday morning at the Criterion Hptel, Albert-street, for the resuming of the inquest. The Coroner remarked that the nature of the evidence already emphasised the necessity for an ex- j haustive inquiry, and he considered that the police authorities should have a week in which to prosecute further investigations before the resumption of the inquiry. ,