STATE PAYS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 143, 18 June 1936, Page 8

STATE PAYS.

MAREO'S DEFENCE.

REPRIEVE TO BE ASKED.

FREDA STARK'S HEADSTONES Preparations for an application for the reprieve of Erie Mareo, the Auckland musician, aged 45, sentenced to death in the Supreme Court last night for the murder of his wi.fe by the administration of the hypnotic drug veronal, are to be made immediately l/T the condemned man's counsel, Mr, K. C. Aekins and Mr. Trevor Henry. Senior counsel for the defence, Mr. Humphrey O'Leary, K.C., left, by train this afternoon for Wellington, where he practises.

No accurate estimate of the amount of expenditure the State has been put to in the long and involved course of justice which has been followed from the time of the murder 011 April 15, 1935, ■ip to the time Mareo was sentenced to death last night, can at present be formed. It will certainly run into many hundreds of pounds, and probably thousands.

When Marco was first brought to trial last February, sufficient money was found for the expenses of senior counsel for the defence, but junior counsel fees were paid by the State, according to a certain scale. On the occasion of the trial which has just ended, however, ji6 money at all could be found for Mareo's defence, so that the State, in its obligation to see that an accused man is given a fair trial, will pay according to its scale defence expenses. The scale is by 110 means high, and all three defence counsel will be considerably out of pocket.

Australian Witnesses. Australian witnesses brought to Auckland for the defence of Mareo had their travelling expenses paid for by the State, and were made an allowance, said to b# about 14/ a day, while in Auckland —an allowance thought to be wholly inadequate. However, the whole matter of defence counsel's expenses and fees is a matter to be determined by the Minister of Justice, the Hon. H. G. R. Mason, and so far no decision has been reached, nor has it been discussed among counsel themselves.

Other aspects of the case for which heavy expenditure would be involved were the preparation of the medical evidence for both the Crown and the defence, fees for prosecuting counsel, expenses covering the preliminary investigations, the expense involved in keeping Marco for months in prison, accommodation for and payment of two juries who were housed at a leading hotel on both occasions, the payment of ordinary jurors' fees at the rate of 10/6 a day, and all the preparation of the defence case for the Court of Appeal.

All such expenses mount rapidly, and it can be gauged that in a case of such length and detail, £1000 would quickly disappear: It is understood, a'so, that the State paid a certain sum each week to Graham and Betty Mareo while awaiting final disposal of the case, and that a weekly sum was also paid to one of tlie chief Crown witnesses who mayhave left the country.

"In Loving Memory."

A periodical pilgrimage to the grave o# Mrs. Mareo. who was buried at Waikumete Cemetery, has been made by Miss Freda Stark. Relatives of Mrs. Mareo arranged for a headstone shortly after her burial. It reads:

"In loving memory of our beloved daughter and sister, Thelma Clarice Trott, died lath April, 1935. Aged 29 years. At rest."

Some time later a small strip was placed at the bottom of it by Miss Stark, Mrs. Mareo's close friend. It reads:

"Waiting till we meet again—Freda."

Betty and Graham.

After Mareo had recovered last night from the shock of the verdict which had been brought in against him, his first thoughts were of the two children, Betty and Graham Mareo. He asked that they be well looked after, and sent a message to them not to worry.

Betty and Graham will shortly leave for England. Their passage has been pencilled in on the Ruahine, which leaves Wellington for London on July 16. Their affairs are being attended to by Mr. J. L. Conlan, who is acting on behalf of their relatives in England.

The two children have several aunts in and about London, and relatives are prepared to arrange for Graham, Mareo's son, to enter the medical profession if he so desires. Alternatives will be offered to him, and he will be able to choose between insurance, banking, or the medical profession.