MAREO CASE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 75, 30 March 1939, Page 12

MAREO CASE.

IS HE INNOCENT? ACTION OF DRUG. PETITION PROBABLE. INVESTIGATION WANTED. (By Telegraph—Our Special Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, this day. Since August, 1936, Eric Mareo, an Auckland musician, has been in prison under a commuted sentence of death, following his conviction, after two sensational trials, on a charge of murdering his wife. Recent developments suggest that the last has not been heard of this extraordinary case, and that further efforts will be made by friends of Mareo to re-open the investigation in some form, because they are convinced that additional information which can now be submitted to the tribunal should result in completely exonerating Mareo from the charge of murder.

Two trials, and two verdicts of guilty, seem formidable nl:stacles to overcome. Mareo was first convicted in August, 1030, and duly sentenced to be hanged. Application was made to the Court of Appeal for a new trial, on the ground that the verdict was against the weight of evidence. This application did not succeed, but in the meantime the wide publicity which the first trial had received "led to the discovery of fresh evidence from Australian witnesses, which had an important bearing on the case. Application was then made to the Governor-General in Council under the terms of Section 447 of the Crimes Act, which states that where an application i« made to his Excellency the GovernorGeneral to exercise his prerogative of mercy on the ground of any doubt as to the guilt of an accused, a new trial may be ordered. Acting on the advice of the Executive Council, his Excellency ordered a new trial, which took place in Auckland early in 1!)37, the result being again a jury's verdict of guilty of murder. Sentence of death was again passed, but it was commuted by the Governor-in-Coun-cil to a sentence of imprisonment for life. Action Of Particular Drug. In two lengthy trials all the facts must have been thoroughly explored, and the prospect of relieving Mareo of the 6tigma of murder centres from the deductions which can be made from the ascertained facts, in the lipht of further expert opinion regarding the action of the drug taken by the deceased woman. It was suggested on behalf of the Crown

in the trials that if a person heavily dosed with the drug came out of a stupor, it would be necessary to administer a further dose to eausc collapse into another coma, followed by death. There are differences of opinion among medical experts as to the effect of the particular drug, and as to whether a person, once heavily dosed, could regain consciousness "and then relapse, without a further administration of the drug, into a condition of coma, followed by death.

The great interest taken in the trials has led to wide discussion of this problem among experts, and further information regarding its action is available from those who have administered it as a regular routine to large numbers of patients. A suggestion is that experience shows that there is good ground for believing that an additional dose of tlio drug is not necessary to cause the patient to relapse from consciousness into a fatal coma. It is difficult to sec by what official process the Executive Council, having granted a second trial, and having also commuted the death sentence, can further intervene in the matter. But if Mareo can still be proved innocent, there should be ways of disjxising of the stigma of murder and the burden of life sentence of imprisonment. Appeal To Parliament. A course of procedure now under consideration by friends of the prisoner is that of nppealing to Parliament, the highest tribunal in the land. This can be done by petition, in which it is customary briefly to set out the arguments justifying its prayer, which in the present instance would be that Mareo be released and the death sentence expunged from the official records. The probable course of action is, therefore, by petition to Parliament, suggesting that additional technical information is now available for consideration by a competent tribunal which would re-align the generally accepted facts upon an entirely new basis and demonstrate the innocence of the prisoner. A Parliamentary Select Committee consists of members of the House, who admittedly are not experts in medical jurisprudence. However, such a committee could, it is considered, hoar sufficient evidence to decide that there should be another investigation by a fully competent tribunal—possibly a Royal Commission, including expert members—and it could make such a recommendation to the Government with a view to action by the Executive Council. If the result of this inquiry should support the belief of Marec's friends, it would then be competent for the Governor-General, on the advice of his Ministers, to nullify the conviction and order Mareo's release from prison.