CLIMAX TO MURDER TRIAL.

Auckland Star, Volume LIII, Issue 78, 1 April 1922, Page 19

CLIMAX TO MURDER TRIAL.

DEATH SENTENCE ON MAN AND WIFE. A sobbing young wife standing beside her husband, a calm, erect young man, and both facing a stern-faced judge upon whose head tie dreaded black cap had been placed—such was the culminating scene enacted in the Glasgow High Court of a sordid drama of murder with robbery as the suggested motive. In a slow dispassionate monotone, the judge pronounced sentence of death, but beyond a side glance at the tearful woman beside him,- the young man in the dock showed no emotion. Then, as the grim scene ended, the condemned man patted his wife comfortingly on the back and assisted her towards the cells. The climax of the trial brought other tense incidents. As sentence was passed a brother of the condemned man, who had been the chief witness for the prosecution, collapsed and was carried from the court moaning. A woman neighbour of the female prisoner, who had given evidence against her, also- fainted. The young couple in the dock were William Harkness and his wife, Helen, and they were found guilty of the mv-rder of Elizabeth Benjamin, a pretty 14-year-old Jewess, in their house in George Street, Whiteinch, last October. The girl carried on business as a credit draper in Dumbarton Road, Tartick. She left home in the morning to call on customers at their houses, carrying a suitcase of goods and a purse containing £1 in silver. Early next morning her body was found in the back court of George Street with a wound on her head and a gag In her mouth, while her hands were held with a rope. A grim story of the tragedy was told by John Harkness, a brother of the male accused. He stated that he was called to the prisoners' house on the night of the murder, and they asked him to assist them in their trouble. His brother said he had struck the girl on the head, and remarked, "Johnnie, this is a thing that once you have started you have got to finish." Witness was asked to help them to carry the body down to the Clyde or to the canal. They were desperate for money. They mentioned that after all their trouble they only got £1 and a few shillings. His sister-in-law said they would rather it had been the house factor's lady elork, as they would have got about £50. They said the girl had been struck with a hammer. "Witness helped his brother to remove the body from the washing-house and lay it in the back yard. On going back to the house he found it full of smoke and something Ueing burned. He and his brother left the house with the girl's suitcase and a bag and left them in anbther back court. The next night he went back to his brother's house and said he had read in the papers that the girl had been gagged. Mrs. Harkness replied: "She was a strong little . My legs are all bruises where she kicked mc." Asked if Mrs. Harkness ever said she was present when the assault took place, witness replied that she said she was present. The motive of the murder was stated to be robbery. A doctor who examined the prisoners stated that he found marks of a bite on the man's hand and bruises on Mrs. Harkness' arms. A sharp, blood-stabled instrument, known as a reamer, was found In their house, and this might have caused the wounds on the girl's head. Professor Glaister, who made a postmortem examination of Miss Benjamin's body, said that a pocket handkerchief had been thrust tightly at the back of her throat. Death was caused by suffocation. The jury, which included five women, were nearly half-an-hour absent before bringing ln a unanimous verdict of guilty against both prisoners. They recommended Mrs. Harkness to mercy. Prior to the jury's return Harkness appeared to be the most unconcerned man in court. He smiled occasionally, and chatted to his wife and counsel. Even the death sentence failed to shake his stoicism.