MURDER CHARGE.

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 36, 12 February 1924, Page 7

MURDER CHARGE.

HIGGINS ON TRIAL. DEFENCE PLEADS INSANITY. ■PRISONER'S STRANGE CONDUCT. There was again a large attendance of __c public to-day when the trial was returned of John Christopher Higgins on a cliarec of murdering two school cluldren •t Waikino on October 19. The case is _ e j_2 heard before his Hor.or Mr. Justice Stringer and a jury. Mr. V. R. Meredith appeared for the Crown, and Mr. J. J Sullivan defended the prisoner. Dr. Jas. M. Cole, Waihi, said he spoke to Hi_g' ns Hllortly attcr tlic tra _ ecl y' and found him rational, calm, and collected. There appeared nothing unusual about the accused. Later on the same day witness spoke to Higgins in the hospital, and again found him rational, jjjffgjns remarked: "You do not know how I have been persecuted." Witness replied: "Oh, nobody has been persecuting you." Higgins made no reply, but his expression changed as he looked up at witness, and he became more sullen and anTy for a couple of seconds. Cross°examined by Mr. Sullivan, witness said he had not thought it unusual to find Higgins asleep in the cell that night, after what he had gone through. Did you not think it strange that he did not refer to the tragedy?— No. Did he seem to realise his awful position? —l cannot answer that. "A Brooding Kind of Man." Frederick N. Franks, one of the men who went to the school, said he had known Higgins for 15 years. Some six years ago the accused worked under him for six months, and he was v, very brooding kind of man, who never had much to 6ay. Cross-examined: At the school Higgins did not appear to be different. Witness used to think the accused was a man that had a good deal on his mind. Constable H. J. Olsen, who was shot in the stomach, said that if a shot had been fired at Higgins through the crack in the study door it would have taken effect, as the cupboard door, although hiding him from view, was not any protection to the accused. Senior-Sergeant O'Grady, of the Waihi Police, said that Higgins, from the study, invited him to come forward, guaranteeing his personal safety, "but," added the sergeant, "I did not go." Later he called on Higgins to surrender, or he would be Ethot dead. After the arrest the accused said he did not know why he went to the school —that he just wandered up there, had an argument with the master, and shot him. Complaints About Neighbours. Cross-examined, witness said he liad no recollection of Higgins ever having complained to'him about persecution bj his neighbours or about his horses bein_ killed. The complaint mentioned bj Constable Whiting at Paeroa Court was not reported to him. Mrs. Higgins will go into the witnesi box later and will swear that Higgini frequently went from home with the object of making complaints . to you; do you still swear he did not call oi you?—-I -have no recollection of bin making- complaints to mc nt any time about his neighbours or about his horses being shot. Re-examined by Mr. Meredith: Had there been a complaint it would have been a matter of report?— Yes. ."Mr. Sullivan-. What about Constable Whiting? Constable Whiting gave ' evidence that three or four years ago Higgins met him one day and made a reference to persecution, and said he had been persecution for years. Higgins declared that the people even took the grass out of his paddocks. Did he lay any definite information against any individual?—No, it was just an ordinary topic of conversation. Did he have a general grouch on?— Yes. You did not report it?—lt was not made in the nature of a complaint. Higgins' Strange Fancies. When Mr. Sullivan cross-examined the witness he apparently gave an indication of certain remarkable evidence that will be produced for the defence. Was Higgins joking when he made Jus complaint ?—No. Did he mention anything about staples being taken from his fences?— No. Or that the queen bee was stolen from one of his hives?— No. Or that his horses were killed?— No. Did be mention that the neighbours watched through telescopes from the hills?— No. Did he tell you that he had, a trapdoor arrangement in his dwelling-house in order to escape from them?— No. Did he mention anything other than the grass?— That is all I remember. ■■He may have mentioned other things that you' have forgotten?—l am satisfied he did not mention horses or queen bees: Was lie a quiet, inoffensive man?— Yes, quite calm always. Constable William Trask, who brought the prisoner from Waikino to Mount Eden, stated that the accused had declared that three years ago SeniorSergeant O'Grady had purposely given his name as Higginson . instead of Higgins, so that he could not get ammunition under a permit given him by the senior-sergeant. For that supposed trick Higgins said he had vowed not to register his automatic pistol. Prisoner also spoke of foul play by the neighbours, resulting in the death of three horses, and that on several occasions the neighbours came through his farm at' the dead of night with the intention of doing harm to him and his stock. In the course of conversation Higgins said to witness: "I am prepared to face the consequences. I knew I was doing wrong, but I could not help myself." Cruz of the Case. Cross-examined, witness admitted that the report he made of his interview was in the third person, with the exception of the sentence quoted "above. Do you not realise that that is the Key on which the whole case will turn.Kd you put it in the first person simply by coincidence? —Yes, pure coincidence. His Honor: It would not have made any difference had it been in the third Person. Plea of Insanity. In opening for the defence, Mr, Sullivan said no one could approach the case without feeling almost sick at the thought of what took place in the school. Everyone was in agrccmenl that if the man who committed th« crime was in his ordinary senses and knew right from wrong at the. time there was only one punishment for him —the full sentence of the court. The defence was that Higgins was ai the time suffering from disease of th< mind, that rendered him incapable ol knowing the nature and quality of th< act, and that he could not distinguisl right from wrong at the time. Wai the shooting a criminal act or an insani *ct? There was no. mot've in shoot ing the boy McLean, urged counsel, be

iause Mrs. McLean was the one womai that Higgins desired his wife to visit As regarded the boy Stewart, his peoph Jived in another district, and in his casi also the crime was without r-otive. Two Alternatives for Higgins. Mr. Sullivan pointed out that if tin jury accepted the evidence to be sub —litted for the defence, and arrived at t verdict that the accused was insane or October 19, it did not follow that Hig gins was going to go free. Two alterna tives faced him—the gallows or con finement so as to protect society {roll him. After reminding the jury that Mr Reid, the schoolmaster, had said thai Higgins was mad, counsel asked them t( draw an inference that Higgins was con sidered dangerous a/id not responsibh for his actions from the way in whicl the men from the battery approaches the school, armed with sticks and guns Higgins and a Solicitor. Reviewing the evidence to the Bubmit ted, Mr. Sullivan said that each litth incident was like an island in the set of mind, or like the periscope o a disease hidden deep down. A Waih solicitor, Mr. James Montague, woulc tell the court that for years Higgini called at his office every week in regart to supposed grievances against hi: neighbours. At first, Mr. Montague, ii the belief that they were genuine charged his client a guinea for each inter view, but afterwards, when he came tc the conclusion that there was nothing in what the man was talking about, hi reduced his charge to 10/6 for eacl weekly half-hour's consultation, and | finally he made no charge at all. "That Man Will Shoot You!" Two other important witnesses, sa : d Mr. Sullivan, would be two farmer! named Croft and Morenni. On one cc casion Morenni spoke twice to Higgini without getting a reply, until a motoi cyclist whizzed past Higgins, who wat sitting in his cart at the time. Although Higgins' horse did not move, the accused turned to look at the retreating cyclist and said he would put a hole in the fellow's hat and that he was one of his enemies. Morenni remarked that Hig gins was very foolish to talk like that and that the police would get him Higgins retorted: "You show mc the law that says I cannot shoot off hit hat." Morenni sometimes talked tc Higgins and "pulled his leg" until Crofl said to him, "Come away, or that mar will -hoot you." Mrs. Higgins' Strange Tale. "Mrs. Higgins will tell you what 1 may describe as a very extraordinary story indeed," continued Mr. Sullivan Higgins met her in Canada, counsel said and after four years' friendship thej married 10 years ago. The followinj day, the first of April, they left for New Zealand, and ultimately took 50 acres o', bush at Waikino at a rental of £2 10/ a year. Higgins did not pay £1000 foi the land as he had told one of tut police. Their second home on the farn was a log-cabin ibuilt by Higgins him self, and it was when they occupied that place that his delusions began He thought that neighbours came to hil incubator and killed the chickens, and so he cut a loop-hole in the wall, througll which, to watch for hjs supposed enemies. Later they shifted into an iron house, and Higgins actually erected _a trap-door through which to escape in the event of people approaching ths place.. He declared that his neighbours watched all his movements through telescopes, and lie refused to go into the house unless the blinds .were down and the lights lowered. The last home that was occupied on tne farm was a wooden structure, and Higgins bored holes in the new building in order to see out on one side where there were no windows. Put His Son In the Stable. So convinced was he that he was being molested, that when he and Mrs. Higgins were sawing timber he used tc lock their little son in the house tc watch over the property. At night time the little fellow was put into the stable, where he had to remain guarding the horse until morning. Higgins /believed that neighbours stole th* queen bees from, his hives, and put their cattle in his paddock. He also frequently held conversations with imaginary persons. ; Counsel added that Mrs. Higgins had no Teason to speak other than th« truth as she and her children had theli passages booked for Canada, where hei father had a farm. Counsel concluded by stating thai medical evidence would be given bj Dr. de Clive Lowe, Dr. Bull, Dr. Wil liams, and Dr. Gunson. They woulc tell the jury that when the crime was committed Higgins was not capable oi knowing right from wrong in th< legal sense of the word; that he was not competent to judge of his acts; and that he was insane within th« meaning of the words of sufr-section 8, section 43 of the Crimes Act. Witnesses for Higgins. John McNamara, a retired bootmaker 85 years of age, said he had known Higgins for many years. From thf accused's silly talk about his neigh bours, witness from the first concluded he was wrong in the head. M. C- Zeonovich, a miner, said thai nine years ago Higgins worked along side of him. His mates considered th< accused was half-mad. They called hin Pelorus Jack because of his peculiai disposition. (Proceeding.)