FOUR REMANDED

Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 29, 3 February 1945, Page 7

FOUR REMANDED

CHARGE OF MURDER

UNDERWORLD FIGURE'S DEATH O.C. SYDNEY, Jan. 31. Three women and a man were remanded, ana were refused bail, at Central Police Court yesterday, charged with having murdered a Sydney underworld identity, Donald Day ("Donald the Duck"), whose bullet-riddled body was found in a house at Surry Hills, at 1 a.m. on Sunday. One of the accused is the dead man's widow. Those charged were Irene Merle Day, 39, Daphne Irene Kinney, 21, Keith Kitchener Hull, 27, and Nancy Burley, 24. Mr. P. N. Roach, for the defence, asked that Mrs. Day be allowed to attend her husband's funeral on Thursday. The magistrate said that such application would have to be made to the Minister. Mr. Roach said that Mrs. Day had a baby aged six months. She was not in the house when the shooting occurred, and the other two women who were found by the police in the house had had nothing to do with the events concerning Day's death. The only person who could be said to be in any way responsible was Hull, and there was verification of his story that whatever had happened was in self-defence. The day before Day was shot, Hull had been attacked by Day and other men with guns and had to be treated at Sydney Hospital, Mr. Roach concluded. Anonymous Call to Police Ah anonymous call to Darlinghurst Police Station shortly after 1 a.m. sent wireless patrol cars to premises at the corner of Crown and Foveaux streets. In a small upstairs back room, Day was on the bed, dead, with blood oozing from his wounds. One bullet had entered his face near the bridge of the nose. There were four wounds in the body, caused by bullets going right through him. Day, apparently, had been placed on the bed after he was shot. A wet and bloodstained towel on the bed evidently had been used to wipe the wound in Day's face. Detectives questioned two Americans in a nearby house, and took possession of two American Service revolvers.

For many years, Day had been an associate of women of the underworld, and the police say that he controlled houses of ill-fame. There was a row on Saturday night, when Day visited the house, quarrelled, and struck a woman in the face, bruising her badly. About 1 a.m. on Sunday, Day went to the premises again. The Police Theory The police theory is that Day had a quarrel in the room, and, as he turned to walk out, was shot from a narrow hallway leading from the bedroom to the lounge. In the lounge were a number of empty beer bottles. On the bed in another room were found four empty cartridge shells. Day was recently arrested at Blayney on a charge of having goods unlawfully in his possession. Shortly afterwards he was arrested at Lithgow on a charge of carrying liquor lor sale. The police say that Day had been connected with black markets since the introduction of rationing. Day had been a patient of Dr. Reginald Stuart Jones, victim of a sensational shooting on November 1, when he was "taken for a ride" by four men who are awaiting trial, charged with having attempted to murder him. Dr. Jones said:— "Day was a patient of mine. I confined his wife, and a few weeks ago he brought his kiddie to me for treatment for a rash. Day was a cheery sort of chap, always bright, but he was nothing more than a patient of mine." Theft of Pistols Alleged In the Central Police Court, William Simponis, 32, seaman, and George Burton Miller, 21, seaman, were charged with having in their possession on January 28 an automatic pistol, without being the holders of a license. They were also charged with stealing two automatic pistols, the property of. the United States forces in Australia, and £50 and 43 dollars in American money. . Mr. Brindley, for the defence, said these men had made a statement to the police in regard to the Donald Day case, that everything Hull did was in self-defence. The magistrate ordered the defendants to be given into the custody of the American authorities, who undertook to hand them over to the Court when required.