How Science Showed Glues

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 118, 22 May 1939, Page 10

How Science Showed Glues

"Inquiries were set on foot," Mr. Meredith said. "A photograph of McKay appeared in the Press, and this was seen by Mrs.. Hearling, with the result that a communication was sent to the police, and detectives visited Mrs. Hearling's garage, and found the longhandled shovel and a sack. Detectives also took possession of some of the clay from the floor of the garage. This apparently came from the shovel. They also saw that all the soil on the property was black, with no clay. The clay found had apparently fallen off the shovel.

"This clay in the garage aroused the [suspicion of the investigating detectives. As a result of this the grave in which McKay'.* alleged remains were buried, was opened. The police searched all the graveyards between Helensville and Bombay, and examined all the new graves and took samples of the clay from each of 28 different cemeteries and submitted them to the Government analyst, Mr. K. M. Griffin, for examination. In their search of all these graves it was noticed that the grave which turned out to be Shine's was not so neatly filled in as other graves.

Result of Tests. All the sampres were examined by Mr. Griffin by various tests, and compared with the clay from the garage and the shovel. There were six of these tests, by which a position of absolute certainty could be reached. The analyst first reduced the number of samples which bad a resemblance to the clay from the parage and shovel to fourtwo from Waikumete. one from Kumeu and one from Avondale.

By further tests, the four samples were reduced to two by the elimination of those from Kumeu and Avondale It was thus ascertained that the clay from the garage and the shovel had the features and characterisations of that from Waikumete.

"Science had got down to this: that if the shovel had ibeen used on a grave, then it was on a grave of which the clay had exactly the characteristics of the clay on Shine's grave," Mr. Meredith said. "The police at this stage had no knowledge of Shine, and it was as a result of the tests that at five o'clock in the morning of March 10 Shine's grave was opened.

How accurate were the results of the analyst's examination was proved by the fact that the investigators found that the lid of the casket was unscrewed and that it contained no body. There were pieces of clay inside it, and these pave the same results in tests as the clay from the garage and the shovel."

Arrest of Talbot. It was subsequent to these discoveries that Shines relatives were communicated with, and the evidence of McKav aeking about the dead man's teeth was obtained.

Mr. Meredith then told of the arrest of Talbot, and his reactions to the remarks of Detective-Sergeants Aplin and Irethewey concerning Patrick Henry Shine. Talbot was apparentlv greatly shocked when asked if he knew Shine, and his reply was "No." Told that Shine's body was missing from the grave, and that the police believed the bones found at Piha were Shine's, Talbot again showed signs of shock and denied knowing anything about it. He slumped in his chair when the warrant for his arrest was read to him. (Proceeding.)