PEARL NECKLACE FRAUD.

Auckland Star, Volume XLII, Issue 167, 15 July 1911, Page 17

PEARL NECKLACE FRAUD.

; REMARKABLE TKIAIr AT EDINBURGH. EXTRAORDINARY LETTERS READ. In the High Court of Justiciary at Edinburgh, on Monday, May 29. before Lord Justice General Lord Dnnediu and a jury. Lieutenant Cecil Aylmer Cameron, 57th: Battery . Royal Field Artillery, PiersMll, Edinburgh, and Mrs. Ruby Cameron, his wife, appeared for trial on a charge of attempted fraud , . The yontti of the defendants, the high social standing, and t&e nature of the alleged fraud, created an Interest in the proceedings not equalled for many years in a Scottish criminal ease. The allegation was that defendants alleged the robbery in the street of, and claimed £6300 insurance money from Lloyds, London, on a pearl necklace which never was stolen, and which she never possessed. ! John Stnart, representative of Boot's, the chemists, wao have since taken over Inman's Stores, deposed" tbat on the evening i of February S, sliortly after si* o'clock. ;» j man he now recognised- as Lieutenant ! Cameron came into ihp efcnrea and asked for !' a iiypodermic syrinp*. Shortly afterwards | I a ti-ly he identified as \frs. Cameroa enter- j I led the shop. She s?.M she had been i I robbed of a peari necklace. \ . I Mr. Hunter: What exactly happened , ?—] i j She explained how she had been robbed. I ! Her sealskin coat wse open, and she ptrt . i her hands at the back of her neck, showing I . J how th-e man had unfastened the necklace, i Sh» safd t&e man had also tried to stesF : : :"?r pearl earrings, to whrccr she pointed. I , f ??ie said it wns worth £8000. Lieutenant j J Cameron said, "Yon'd better go- home, i dear." He asked rehere he coo-14 find the I poU<re-st«tian. ' [ Flora McNeil, servant, eaid- that, along ' with a companion, she was looking at the shop- windows on the evening ol February •sth. and on coming to toman's they noticed a lady and gentleman, defendants. Mr. Hunter: "What made yon look at j , them?— They were gocd-!oofclng and well ' dressed. The lady and gentleman were j rooking into the window, and we stood and ■ ' looked at them. The gentleman went In, j and a miirate later the lady went in. ' Mr. Hunter: Were you looking at her during that minuted—Tes. ■ Did anyone brush past her?—So , . Or try to snatch anything from her? — So. • Did anyone grasp her right hand , ?— So. • Or slip his left hand down her necS?— So. : Or fry to grasp the ear-rings?—So s . Conld tftese things Bave happened! without I yonr seeing {hem?— Quite impossible. Jntla McKay, McNeil's companion, saw j . they purposely stopped to- have a> good loo* at the lady, who was rather nlce-tooktog. ; No one approached the lady while she i , stood at the window. STRANGE LETTERS. ! Robert Renton, procurator fiscal, of E3ln- : . burgh, into whose possession the d-ocomeiits taken, from the defendants' fiat were placed, : ; was called. No sooner had the Solicitor- | General asked far a series of letters signed ! "Billy Walker"' than Mr. Clyde, defending ■ counsel, sprang up and objected to their production. These letters his lordship ruled should be admitted. The Solicitor-General ■ said these letters were the foundation of the case that the Camerons had made false representation to the Insurance people as to Mrs. Cameron's ownership of the necklace. i Counsel, without farther explanation, read f the series, all of which were signed Billy ■ Walker. The first was dated November i 14, 1010, from Queen's Hotel, Birmingham, s aird be=an:— t "My darling Girlie,—-I shall bring yon the . pearls nj a day or so. I have kept them j for you. India was a risky place to send v them to. . . I long to see yoe in them, ) my Irish girlie. Except from your husband, α-hose consent yon mast set, keep my name I oat altogether. I -will Insure tnem if ' you like, but perhaps your husband would, 1 rather do It. They are yours now, darling, ' and I'm thankful at last I can give these to my brave little Irish colleen. ... Ruby, ' I can trnst yoo so; you are that delightful thing, a close woman. Would to God there were more. These pearls were the wages of sin, and belonged to the man my wife . loved, but, forgiving- her, I let her keep these things. Yon know the wretched story. I My innocent child left them to yoa, and it Is luck alone they carry now. I will meet yon anywhere, but alone. Tour husband will consent, for no man knowing you could ' but trust you anywhere. Billy gives yon not only the pearls, but something better— his love, Ruby, which is stronger than, ever." 1 Another, January 2, ISII, similarly signed, asked "Dearest Ruby" to get herself ear- - rings, for which he would send cheque, also ' to insure them for full value. • EXPERT EVIDENCE. ' The first witness on Wednesday was E. ' Hayward, assistant with a Jermyn-street firm of jewellers, London, formerly with • Messrs. Carrinjton, jewellers, Regent-street," '■ London. He deposed that Mrs. Cameron, along with her husband, called at Carflng- ; ton' 3 in November last, and on the 24th of ! that month ordered a pair of imitation ! pearl ear-rings. She afterwards asked to ! see some Imitation pearls and some real ! pearls. The latter in two rows resembled, ■ she said, a pearl necklace of her own which . was at the bank for safety. She said she t thought she could get a probable purchaser for the real rows. As requested by Mrs. Cameron, witness on February 2 took to Mr. Hunt, representing Lloyds, a genuine peart necklace. Mr Hnnter: Whose pearls were these?— ; Carrington and Co.'s. Witness later took ■ the real pearl necklace to Mrs. Cameron at 59, Cadogan-sqnare, left It witi her, and got : a receipt. She asked to have them for a i day or two. Then she wrote to> Carrlng- • ton's asking them to write to Hunt telling i him the valne of the pearls in Mrs. Cameron's possession. "Will you please ; write that, and nothing else?" she wrote. She retained temporary possession of the , real pearls. She also received an imitation pearl necklace with diamond clasps like the real ona. William Upton, clerk to Carrington's, said In February his firm threatened the Camerons with proceedings failing immediate payment of a bin for £50 odd, Including the charge for the Imitation pearl necklace supplied. Lieutenant Cameron replied that they never had the imitation pearl necklace. Edward Henry Welby, member of a Gar . rick-street, London, firm of jewellers, <ie posed that Mrs. Cameron, called on. December 16th, and asEed him to value a . pearl necklace which, sfie brought with her. It contained US pearls and weighed SSO grams, including the diamond snap. He valued It at £6000, and put on another £500. Henry Munt, insurance broker, Lloyd 3, ' deposed that Mrs. Cameron, whom he knew, ' asked him in December last to effect an insurance on her pearls. He got a valuation of what he understood were her pearls from '■ Carrington's, and was shown a necklace by Mrs. Cameron at Cadogan-sqnare. He ef- • fected the policy for £6500, Lieutenant • j Cameron sendiDg a cheqne for £31 in pay- . ment of the first premium. : The case was adjonrned. . HAXD WRITING OF THE LETTERS— ACCUSEDS' MEANS. Oa tie Thursday was called a hand-writing expert, Wm. Morrison Smiti, engraver. Elder-street, Edinburgh, wiio deposed tnat

the four series of letters exhibited Iα the case had been submitted to him, tie Billy i 'Walker letters, the Ruby Cameron letters, and a series of exercise books. He said he was quite satisfied in Ms own mifltl that jthe fonr groups were all the writing of ione person. That opinion was based on the "character and formation of the letters. The i Billy "Walker series were written with, an |attempt to disguise the natnral Band-writing - and were apparently based on a model.

Percy Shorter, chief clerk at Holt and Co.. bankers, said on February 2S the balance was reduced to 18/6. On February 9 he received a, letter from LJeutenanc Cameron. It bore the Edinburgh post mark, 2 a.m>.» Febrnary S, Savins apparently been posted on the night of February T. the day before the supposed necklace robbery. In it Cameron wrote:—"l propose shortly to pay In abont £6000 to my account, and wish to invest it. Can yon offer mc any advice as to this matter?" CASE FOR. THE DEFENCE. Wits the preceding evidence the proseeutlon case dosed, and Dr. Barn Murdoch was called as the first witness for the defence. He depeeed that he professionally attended Mrs. Cameron in July last, and was called tin again in February, a day after Uie alleged robbery. "I found her very much [ upset at the loss of her pearls," witness [said. "I ordered her a sedative to calm fher." Calling again on the 11th, the wit- ! ness said he found the glands of the neck [ were swollen, and painful to touch. It was ! possible the marks could have been self- | inflicted, but havfng regard to Mrs. i Cameron's, health, he thought It hardly con- ; ceivable. j Mrs. Elizabeth: Fraser, a lady living In a . Sat adjoining the Camerons' at Heriot Row, • Edinburgh, said she saw Mrs Cameron daily ; after the robbery. She had a swollen ; throat, and suffered much pain. ; [according to later cable advice, both the [accused were convicted, and each sentenced [to three years' imprisonment. J