MURDER CHARGE

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 210, 6 September 1939, Page 11

MURDER CHARGE

SECOND DAY.

CLAVERLEY CASE.

INJURIES DESCRIBED. EXPERTS GIVE EVIDENCE. KEEN PUBLIC INTEREST. (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) CHRISTCHURCH, this day. Nine of the 43 witnesses to be called by the police had given evidence when the hearing of the charge of wife murder against Arthur John Patience was continued in the Christehurch Magistrate's Court to-day. The public gallery was again well filled with spectators.

The case is being heard by Mr. E. C. Levvey, S.M. The Crown Prosecutor, Mr. A. T. Donnelly, with him Mr. A. W. Brown, is conducting the case for the police, while Mr. R. A. Young, with him_ Mr. T. A. Gresson, is appearing for Patience.

Dr. A. B. Pearson, pathologist at the Cliristchurch Public Hospital, gave evidence of a post-mortem examination. He said that death appeared to have occurred some months before his examination, which began on Julv 22. The appearance of the body was" consistent with its having been buried in clay for some months, then been in the sea for some time, and then on the beach. There was a bruise and the ribs bore signs of violence during life. Three in front and six at the back were broken. The damage to the front ribs would be caused by heavy crushing. These injuries would not be fatal, but they had most probably, occurred before death, certainly not long after. It was very unlikely that they could have been caused by rocks on the beach.

There was a bruise on the left side of the neck, but it was not deep-seated. The windpipe showed an indentation which ran down the right side and toward the front. This injury to the windpipe could have been caused by the pressure of a finger or thumb. There was no definite indication of the cause pf death.

Mr. Donnelly: Would it have been possible to place a knee on the woman's chest, one hand on her throat and the other hand over her mouth? Dr. Pearson: Yes. Body Wrapped in Saoking? Mr. Donnelly: Could such combination produce death? —Yes. Mr. Donnelly: In a short space of time ? —Yes. Dr. Pearson said that if breathing was stopped in this way the signs of it would have disappeared by the time he made his examination. The body showed signs of having been wrapped in something. There were signs of some sacking. The imprints were clearest on the arms and thighs. There were also some ligature marks on the arms and thighs and the back of the shoulder. He would infer that the body had been wrapped in sacking material and bound up, then buried. There was no indication of sudden death from internal causes. It appeared that some such article as a broad tape or flax had been used to bind the arms and shoulders. The indications were against suicidal death. Drowning could not be excluded as a possibility, but taking everything into consideration it could not have been suicidal drowning.

Professor W. P. Gowland, professor of anatomy at the Otago Medical School, said he had examined the body, and considered it was that of a person of middle 'age. There had been no teeth in the jaws for 10, 15 or more years. The indentation of the windpipe could not have been a congenital abnormality.

Mr. Donnelly: In your opinion could the injury to the windpipe have been produced by the use of a hand?

Professor Gowland: Well, there must have been some pressure, and there was most likely the pressure of air inside, too. Injuries to Ribs. Witness agreed with Dr. Pearson that the injuries to the ribs were just the sort of injuries produced by crushing. They could hava been produced by a man kneeling on the chest.

Dr. P. P. Lynch, consulting pathologist to the Wellington Hospital, gave corroborative evidence. The indications, he said, were that the body had been put in sacking, perhaps a sack, and then bound round a number of times cords or ligatures of some sort. The

positions of the ligature marks on the arms were such that they could have been caused if the body had been bound with the arms at the sides. The fact that there was an imprint by sacking on the skin indicated that the covering of sacking must have been pressed against the skin for a considerable time. The fractures of the ribs could have been caused by the pressure of a knee, but it would require to be very considerable. In considering the injury to the windpipe there must be observed the possibility of material having pressed heavily upon it, but the bruise on the side of the neck and the injury to the chest did add significance to the possibility of pressure or violence. From the condition of the body he did not think it was possible to say what was the cause of death.

E. Percival, professor of biology at Canterbury College, described the habits of the sea louse commonly found on the coasts of New Zealand. He said that a* they moved in very large numbers they were capable of dealing with a large amount of material. He said he saw no reason why they should not deal with a human body and strip it to a skeleton.

F. T. J. Grigg, Government analyst at Christehurch, said he had examined the contents of the stomach of the woman found at Taratuhi Beach and he found no "trace of poison., / s Frequent Visitors. Elizabeth Amelia McKay, a married woman living at the Taratuhi camp, said that she first met Patience about 12 years ago. Up till the time that Mrs. Patience disappeared Patience and his wife had visited them quite frequently. Witness and her husband went to Claverly in August, 1936. Patience arrived some time afterwards p.nd was joined by his wife later. Mrs. Patience had been in the camp for more than a year when she disappeared. "I saw Mrs. Patience every day, sometimes twice a day," added witness, who said her hut was on the beach side of the camp. Mrs. McKay said she was very friendly with Mrs. Patience. "I think I was the only one she would discuss her private affairs with," she said. " Appeared Worried." On October 3 Mrs. Patience came to her house in the morning and again in the afternoon, continued Mrs. McKay. Mrs. Patience was not too good in spirits, but her health was quite all right. Next day Mrs. Patience again visited witness and she appeared to be rather worried. Witness had not seen Mrs. Patience alive since that day. When Mrs. Patience did not call on October 5 she was worried and early on October 6 she called at the hut occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Patience. The door was locked, which was rather unusual. A letter arrived for Mrs. Patiencc and witness readdressed it to Mrs. George, I Riccarton, and posted it. On the Tuesday after his wife disappeared Patience i called for the mail. She told him about the letter for Mrs. Patience and what she Tiad done, explaining that this was the only way she had of letting Mrs. Patience's people know fhat Mrs. I Patience was not in camp.

"Patience was annoyed and said my husband should not have allowed me to do it," she continued. "I told him that I would do the same thing again in similar circumstances."

Xext Friday she met Patience, and asked him if it was true he was selling his furniture. He said "Yes," and when witness asked him. not to sell and to give Mrs. Patience a chance to come back, he .said that what he could not sell" he would burn. He asked her to keep two pictures for him. Patience told her that he had not informed the police of his wife's disappearance, but that he was going into Kaikoura next day and he might see the constable there.* On July 21 of this year, added witness, she identified the body of a woman as the body of Mrs. Patience. Door Was Locked. Alice May Vellenworth, of Taratuhi, said she formerly lived at Claverley Camp. On the morning o" October 5 she did not see either Patience or his wife. Witness went round to see if she could rouse Mrs. Patience as she wanted to use her washhouse. She knocked, and when there was no answer tried to open the door, which was locked. Later in the morning she returned and as she thought Mrs. Patience might be ill she looked in the windows. There was no one in the rooms and - the double bed had not been made. After Mrs. Patience disappeared she saw Patience about the camp, but did not speak to him. On October 16 witness and her husband went to the Patience's hut, as they heard he was selling out. They bought certain articles. During the sale she asked Patience where his wife was, and he said she was down town on holiday. Patience lit a Are in front of his house at dusk just a day or two before the sale. She did not know what he was burning. (Proceeding.)