MURDER CHARGE.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20316, 15 August 1931, Page 11

MURDER CHARGE.

WELLINGTON CASE. SENSATIONAL EVIDENCE. GIRL ALLEGED TO HAVE BEEN BURIED ALIVE. vraxss igsocnwos tic.tG£AU.) WELLINGTON, August 14. 'Hie preliminary hearing before Mr E. Page, S.M., of the . charge against George Errol Coats ot murdering Phyllis Avis Symons, aged 17, on or about June 26th, was continued in the Magistrate's Court to-day. Mr P. S. Iv. Maeassey appeared for the Crown, and Mr C. A. L. Treadwell, with, him Mr FI. J. V. James, for accused. Isabella McKenna, of Adelaide road, said she knew Coats. Ho called to seo her on Juno 29th, at 1.30 in the afternoon, to rent a room. She agreed to let it at 7s 6d a week. "Witness went out at 2.30. Coats had not come back then. She returned at about 4 p.m., and Coats came in at about 9.30 that evening and told her lie had sent his luggage in the afternoon. Coats stayed till July 6th. Tho girl, to her knowledge, did not come to see him during that time, and he did not mention the name of any girl. He had no dog, and mentioned nothing about a dog. Shy and Quiet. Olive Irene Claire Smith, widow, of 140 Adelaide road, said that on or nbout April 2nd she let a room to a Mr and Mrs Coats at 18s 6d a week, plus 2s 6d for gas. She recognised accused as tho man, and recognised the woman in the photograph produced us Mrs Coats. Mrs Coats had very little clothing, and they appeared very hard np. Mrs Coatß was very shy and quiet. They frequently had two visitors—a lame man who she now knew was de Maine, and the other was Glover. Also a woman whom she understood to be Coats's sister was there several times during a short period. About June 24th she asked Coats if he could let her have the rent that week; ho was two weeks behind. Coats said that if things did not get better with him he would have to send his wife home and take a cheaper room. On tho night of June 26th she heard the footsteps of, she thought, two people coming downstairs. She took thom to be Mr and Mrs Coats. After 30.30 or later someone returned. She was in bed, and could not Bay at just what time. On the afternoon of June 27th she again mentioned the rent to accused, asking him if he could let her have it. He said he had no money then, but was expecting to receive some, and that he had sent his wife home the previous night. That was the first knowledge she had that Mrs Coats had left her place. Mrs. Coats did not say good-bye and never mentioned to witness at all that she was leaving. On June 29tli Coats said he was leaving. Ho • Baid he had sent his wife home, though he did not like doing it, as he and the girl's mother were not on good terms. Ho said he was going to a place in Brougham street., He said hiß wife could return after tea and'clear up. He took away his suitcase and that wa3 tho last witness saw of him. Later that afternoon a man came and collected a box that Coats' had left outside Lis door. She'went up to his room and turned a handle of the door, expecting ifc to open, but it was locked. Do Maine called in the evening at about 7 o'clock. Witness took the key from him, got the cushion for which he called and gavo it to him, and returned tho key. Mrs Coats did not come back to clean out the room, and witness never saw her again. Witness cleaned out the room. There was a lot of burned paper in the fireplace. n lere was a bottle on the duchesse table labelled "Poison," and there was a broken string of beads, which Mrs Coats used to wear, on the floor by tho fireplace. Witness identified certain property she handed to the police—a T>air of pink slippers, and two pairs of boots with clay on them. She did not search under the mattress and did not 1 notice the letter subsequently found by Glover. Sacks Identified. While accused was at her house he did not have a dog. From April 23rd to May 3rd witness conducted a small greengrocery shop in tho front of her house. She used to get Tecling, one of tho boarders, to buy vegetables, tone bought six sacks of vegetables, and as the sacks were emptied they were put in the coalhouse. The sacks were numbered and marked when she received them, and tho numbers and marks , were shown on the. invoices produced. Witness identified five of the sacks prod ced. On JuTy 18th she was present when the police checked the sacks with the invoices, and the five corresponded with the invoices. The missing sack, according to the invoices, was marked "16." The sacks had contained parsnips. The sack produced was similar to the one which had been missing. To Mr Treadwell, witness said that Coats and the girl gave the impression of being a hapnily-married couple. He wa3 always very affectionate to her. On the last day that witness saw Coats his manner was the normal friendly manner he had always adopted to./ard witness. She never on any_ occasion lizard them quarrelling during their stay in her house. When she received t « sac?-1 of vegetables she entered the detaiis in a book, which was now in tho possession of the police. The book was iroduced. Witness said that while in the greengrocery business she purchased only sis s ? of vegetables, and the rest of ho supplies came in..boxes' or small bags. Coats once brought in a sack ot wood, but it was of a different tvpe from those in Court. Witness did not see Glover at aty time after Coats, left. Glover would probably go up to Coats soon if he did not know Coats had left, but if she had been in the room underneath Coats's she might-not-have-heard him If she had heard anyone moving about she would have gone up to see o was there. • . ~ , Counsel: And Glover did not. come to you and tell you he had found a le.,er? To Mr Maeassey, witness said that all Lcr Loarders ent-red the house by the bick door, and she would not take any notice of the visitors, who used to go i-pTstairs without seen.7 . her. Glover could quite easily have gone upstairs without her seeing him. _ Maurice Eric. Teeling, a single man arid a relief worker, gave evidence as to buying for the previous witness at the market. When he bought vegetables at auction be gave the initala T. and S" to the auctioneer. Witness saw some of the- sacks marked by the storeman and identified the invoices pro--daeVas the ones relating, to bia purchases. Witness said that aa the sacks

became empty he put them in the coalhouse. These sis; sacks were the onlj ones about the premises. According to the invoices a sack of parsnips he bought had the identification number "16." When the police inspected the sacks at Adelaide road there were onlj fire there. The missing sack corresponded with the one shown on the invoices. A sack shown to him was similar to the missing one. Alba Cooze, single, storeman at D. Bowie and Company, and Charles Henry Buchanan, carrier, gave evidence in regard to the marking and delivery of the sacks. Burial of a Dog. Lancelot Lee, married, said he had worked with Coats on the Haitaitai relief works during the latter part of April. They were working together on the lower, tip and became quite friendly. Coats mentioned that his wife was dead and said lie had six children in a home. He also said he had a girl who was in a certain condition. About April 27th witness was working with accused on the tip when a young man carrying a sack came along. Tjo man said the sack contained a dead dog. He said his father was a chemist and that the dog had been run over by a car, and that he often was given the job of poisoning dogs by his father. Witness scratched a hole and buried the dog in the side of the bank. Accused was present. "Witness gave evidence of visiting several times at Coats's room, j On the night of June 27th Coats told witness that Phyllis had gone back to her brother's place, and would be all right there. Noel Evan Burberg, shop assistant, said his father was a chemist. He gave evidence as to takiDg a dog that had been run over to the tip for burial. _ Alfred Victor Smith, an architect interested in mission work, said that ho helped people when lie could. He recognised the photograph produced as that of a girl named Phyllis Symons. He had known her for about six years. She called on him either early in June or very late in May, seeking financial assistance. She saw him on four occasions. He gavo her assistance three times, and on the fourth occasion lent her £1 for her husband. That was the last occasion on which he saw her. Pathologist's Evidence. Dr. P. P. Lynch, pathologist at the Wellington Hospital, read and put in a report of the result <>ithe post-mortem examination. He described the position of tbe body when he was called to the spot where it was found on the afternoon of Sunday, July 12th. The body was hunched and the face was pressed into the earth. A small sack was lying over the lower part of the body, and a muffler or scarf was over the face. When the body was removed an impression of it was left in the clay. A further examination the same day at tho morgue showed that the scarf was bound two and a half times round the head, covering the face, eyes, ears, and back of the head It was snugly but _ not tightly bound, and was caught with a small pin. On the nest day, with Dr. Hector, n further examination was carried out. The body was in an excellent state of preservation, owing to tho cold. Head Injuries. Dr. Lynch detailed the head injuries which were found. He said there was no fracture of the underlying bone. He made the following deductions: — That the girl was struck a violent blow on the right temple, and that Bho was Btruck a blow, or very likely a series of blows, on the back of the head and reck. He thought it very unlikely that a single blow would produce hajmorrhage to Buch an extent. Tho injuries to the right side of the head and neck were, ho thought, caused about the same time. He considered either would cause unconsciousness. In regard to the weapon used, all he could say was that it was. a weapon with a broad surface. Tho immediate causo of death was asphyxia. He thought the scarf had been placed round the mouth to lessen the sound of stertorous bfteathing or other noise. Ho concluded that death occurred in tjio attitude in which the body was found. Belief that Girl was Burled Alive. Dr. C.'M. Hector agreed with and confirmed Dr. Lynch's report. Mr Macassey: In your opinion was this girl alive when she was buried?— In my opinion all tho indications point out that she was alive when she was under the ground. Mr Macassey: Did the attitude in which the body was found correspond with the attempting of a person to rise from the ground?— Yes, attempting to rise against the difficulty caused, through weakness or super incumbent weight. Recovery of Body. Detective Frank Hayhurst said that on ■ the afternoon of July 7th, whilemaking a search of the plantation and reserve between Euahine rtreet and the tip at the new recreation ground ho had found the shovel produced in Court. It was concealed underneath the branches of a fir tree 75 feet from where the body was subsequently fjund. He described the digging operations and tho discovery of tho body. He identified the sack produced as that covering the bodj\ The spot where the body was found was the lowest part of the gully. It was buried under 14 or 16 feet of soft clay. On the morning of July 14th witness and Detective Murray interviewed Coats in gaol, and told him the girl's body had been found. They told him then that medical opinion was that the girl had been murdered and that he would probably be charged with her murder. Coats was told that tho police had been informed that he had dug a hole at the relief works early in June and that he had said it was for shelter and to bury, a dog. "We-told him that de Maine had told us that Phyllis had agreed that he should kill her, and that early in June he and Phyllis had gone over to the relief works and that he had hit her with a piece of pipe and stunned her. He was told that he had si.d to de Maine that after he had dono it that he did not feel like doing it and felt sorry for her. Coats was also told that de Maine had said that on Friday, June 26th, he had left de Maine, telling him that he was going to Hataitai to dc a 'cobber' to leave a shovel out for him. We also told him that we hau been informed that he had tried to borrow a shovel. Accused was asked if he had anything to say or any explanation to nake. Accused replied: 'No, I have nothing to say.'" ■ Mr Macassey: During that interview,. ; how did accused appear,?-—Ho seemed quite calm and listened seriously to what was said. _ . On the morning of July 16th, with Detective Murrav. witness was present when .accused was charged with the murder of the girl. He was cautioned in the usual way. Mit made" noreply' Detective Nelson William Baylis said that on July 12th he was with Detective Hayhurst, Acting-Detective Hall, and a police party under Sub--Inspector Ward at Hataitai, when the body had been found. A line of "stones appeared to. have been placed there to hold tlio earth or prevent the body from rolling down. Statement ■ Made, Detective William Robert Murray said he interviewed Coats with Constable Smith on the morning of July 6th. That was in reference to a complaint made by Mr Symons in respect of the girl. Coats made a statement Witness was about to read the statement, when Mr Treadwell interrupted and asked that he should be allowed

to read it first. It had been made some time before Coats had been charged with murder. Mr Treadwell was permitted to examine it, and he then cross-examined witness as to the circumstances under which the statement had _ been made. Detective Murray told him that a statement of eight pages had been inade between a.m. and 11.30 a.m., before which Coats had been questioned for perhaps 15 minutes. Witness was tho only one who took an active part in tho interview. Pages 9 to 12 of the statement were taken in the latter part of the afternoon, between 4 and 5 o'clock, or possibly between 4.30 and 5.30. It took about an hour. The last two pages wero taken between 11.15 p.m. and midnight. , Mr Treadwell: Well, according to my instructions, he was called from his bed at 8 o'clock and did not get back to his cell until a quarter to two the next morning, and „tliat he was questioned almost, continuously, all that timeWitness: That is ridiculous. Mr Treadwell: Well, we'll see how ridiculous. How- long after making the statement- did he go to bed?—l can only say that I charged him in the watchhouse at 1.30 a.m. and left him. Witness said accused was sitting *n the detective office all day smoking and reading. He made himself at home. He was accompanied when he left tho room. Kooms Examined. Detective Murray then Mr Macassey that after making the first statement lie told Coats that he would like to go through his room and make .sonie enquiries. Coats assured them that the girl had gone to a friend's place. After they had got him some dinner, witness and Constable Smith and Coats went to the room he was then occupying where certain articles were found, and then to a room in Adelaide road, where they made enquiries.. When they got back to the detective office they interviewed him further. Coats bad tea there and sat smoking and reading most of the time, while witness went out and made further enquiries and returned late at night. .Coats then made a further statement in connexion with those further enquiries. Coats signed tho whole statement and • said-it was true. He also thanked witness for the fair treatment he had given him. tho, whole of these interviews," witness said, "he was not cautioned because I *lid not know ho to be charged." _ At . this stage the Magistrate said he wished to hear evidence from Constable Smith: before decidijg upon the admissibility of the statement. The "adjourned until Monday moraingt , ' • - ■ Copies of tho statement will' be able to Mr Treadwell, who said he thought counsel for the defence were entitled to the intervening time for consideration of the legal aspect of the admissibility, of the statement.