ON BAYLY'S.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 145, 21 June 1934, Page 8

ON BAYLY'S.

BONES DEPOSITED. "SOME INTERESTED PERSON." DEFENCE COUNSEL'S THEORY. A suggestion that somebody had deposited bone on Bayly's property to help the police in their'efforts against Bayly was made by Mr. Xortheroft when he continued his address to the jury after the main edition of the "Star" went to press yesterday afternoon. "Any bone found after Bayly's arrest must be viewed with the greatest suspicion," said Mr. Xortheroft. "If that bone was there before, why was it not found? I suggest that the police were led by a false scent by someone who had an interest in the matter. "Then we come to the important occasion of the execution of the second search warrant," continued counsel. "That was on November 29, and ,on that day scrapings were taken from the separator room, the bench, the oil drum, the axe, clothes and hammers were taken—everything that could possibly be linked up with the cutting up, boiling or burning of the body. Nothing suspicious of any kind was found, although the detectives had been over the property time and time again. If anything incriminating was to be found, it would have been found before now.' Mr. Xortheroft asked the jury to examine the bones to see whether there was any cow dung on tliem, for lie suggested that they would not be in the condition they were now in after a herd of 35 cows had walked over the place where tlicy were found for six or seven weeks. Mr. Meredith: I do not want to internipt, but this is a most unfair position. Most of the exhibit which Mr. Northcroft has shown to the jury was from the sheep dip and not from the cowvard.

Mr. Northcroft: I quite expected this from my friend, and I can quite understand his embarrassment over the matter. I can read from the. evidence of every constable to verify my point. His Honor: Perhaps you had better do so, Mr. Northcroft. Mr. Northcroft: Jf your Honor desires that it should be done— His Honor: It is for you to say, Mr. Northcroft. Counsel suggested that there was the clearest proof that someone had deposited bone on Bayly's property to help the police in their efforts against Bayly. Summary of Contentions. Shortly after three o'clock counsel began a summary of the contentions which he had advanced against those of the Crown. He emphasised the number of occasions the police had the opportunity of inspecting the freshly dug garden. The only conclusion that he could come to was that it never did bear any signs of suspicious treatment by Bayly, or it would have been dug over again before December 4, when Bayly was in custody. When the police dug it over again they went straight to the spot where they were to find the incriminating material. Mr. Northcroft contended that there were far more signs o* tl-.o material being placed in the garden by someone else than by Bayly himself.

"As If Inspired."

Resuming after the afternoon adjournment, Mr. Northcroft said he was prepared to concede that there was more incriminating material found in the cowyard and in the sheep dip than anywhere else. The reason was obvious, for it would carry, on the face of it, proof of its genuineness. It was just the sort of thing that would escape the observation of the police. Counsel commented oil the type of material found in Bayly's garden and said wood ash was a common thing to find in anyone's garden. It perhaps came from the fire in the living room at Bayly's house. He burnt logs on that fire. Why Bayly should not put all the material in the one place it was impossible, to understand. As he had mentioned before, such was not the method of a man who wished to conceal evidence. But it could have been the act of an interested third party who put material in the garden for it to be discovered. Incriminating material was found in the orchard and about the house which must have been found the previous month if it were there. The police went straight to the place where the material was, as if inspired. At this point Mr. Meredith interrupted to say that the whole of the garden was dug over and quoted Detective Allsopp's evidence. Mr. Northcroft quoted further from the detective's evidence, and said that, as lie read it, only a triangular strip was dug. The jury would see for themselves when they visited the spot again.

The only part of the Crowns case which it could claim had sunl ' ed , cross-examination of the w.tnesseswas that there was found about Bayly s place, disposed of in the most extia ordinary manner, a few portions of bone claimed to have come from a Jiuman skeleton. On that the jury was asked to convict Bayly.

Lakey Alive ? The iurv had to be satisfied that the ,1, alleged ly «» fTVfeJ? those of Lakey were in fact Lakey s, that the material which had been adduced proved the death of Lakey and tlmt he might not be lying, destroyed by his own hand, in some i emote pait of tlie country, or, alternatively, that he was still alive and might still turn up, or perhaps had gone away overseas. "Firstly, are these the relies of any complete body?" asked Mr. Northcroft, "and, secondly, are they the relies of Samuel Lakey?" The jury was dependent wholly on expert evidence in relation to the bones, and counsel again quoted authorities who issued warnings about the evidence of expert witnesses. Expert witnesses merely gave opinions, and those opinions were frequently, though not deliberately, warped. Bubbly Material On Bones. Concerning the charred, bubbly material found on bones, Mr. Northcroft said the pathologists did not say how old the bones were. There were other reasons to account for the bubbly appearance of the bones besides being burnt with flesh on them, as stated by the experts. If the corpse was a dry corpse, and not a fleshy one, the bubbly appearance could be accounted for on the dry bones by the presence of any vegetable matter which was in the fire. Counsel suggested that no significance could be attached to the point made by the experts. Mr. Northcroft added that the bones could have been placed on Bayly's property by some desperately interested person, who, perhaps, had the strongest reason for concealing association with the matter from the police. "After all," said Mr. Northcroft, "selfpreservation is the strongest known motive in a human being."

The Court adjourned a few minutes before five o'clock.