MURDER TRIAL AT WELLINGTON

Press, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 26353, 22 February 1951, Page 9

MURDER TRIAL AT WELLINGTON

Farm Hand’s Death At Mangaroa

EVIDENCE GIVEN FOR CROWN

(New Zealand Press Association) o WELLINGTON. February 21 n to sit in the body of the inRs rt Harrv a wL e uh irn to h S ar Proceediinn’ow rry Holtham. aged 73. a pensioner, appeared on trial in the Supreme Court to-day on a charge nf murdering Maxwell Bumard Just (also & n HiU) - aged 28 a farm ha ivrr’ w ®£ an £, aroa . on November 25. Mr W W p H 'n C i‘ nningham ’ with him jjr w. R. Birks, appeared for the Mr° F 1 C ’ H ’ Arndt - with him mr n. u, o Flynn, appeared for the nh f r» nc %T The - ief Justi ce (Sir HumPnrey O Leary) is on the bench. h?‘° nel Frederick John Taylor hoii«J 1 nn W , a i? ca l Jed to the accused’s house on the afternoon of Saturday. November 25. He saw the body of U^ Ded in an armchair in the Kitchen. The man was dead. He had wa.'Tn Max HiU - The accused bedroom. He was bleeding *{9™ ? furrowed wound on the right sl .ae of the jaw. The accused was obV 1 a ir L an agitated state. A .303 rifle was produced and shown to the witness. When the accused saw it he winced, turned his head away, and gestured with his hands. Cross-examined on what he thought ?LJ h 9., a ?9 used ., Benerally - the witness said, I like old people. The accused is no exception. He was always good natured. good tempered, and never appeared rough." Colin Douglas Holtham, aged 12, son of. the accused, said that after he had had dinner on November 25 he had gone bird-nesting up the river. He came back to help his mother to prepare the afternoon “smoko.” He went to the kitchen and there were his mother, his father, and Hill sitting in the armchair. His father left the kitchen and went up the passage, closing the door behind him. The next thing the witness heard wgs a bang like a rifle going off. “Mr Hill put his hand to his chest and said. ‘He shot me.’ ” said the witness. “His head wobbled to one side and then the other. I ran out the back door. Mother followed me. I ran toward the wool shed. I saw mv father on the lawn outside the house with the rifle beside his legs. The butt was down between his legs, not quite touching the ground. I heard the shot and he fell to the ground. I spoke to Mr Maher at the wool store, and he went to the house. I followed him. I saw Mr Maher take the rifle from mv father inside the house.”

Stepson’s Evidence Stanley William Moule, aged 17, stepson of the accused, said that Mr Maher had lent him a .303 rifle to shoot worrying dogs. He kept the weapon in the wardrobe in his room, and ammunition on top of the wardrobe. There would be about 30 rounds on November 25. He saw the rifle when Mr Maher brought it from the house on November 25. There was blood just above the bolt. The witness told Mr Arndt that on one occasion he asked his mother .o send Hill from the house. “There were a few arguments between mum and dad.” he said, “and I thought it would be better if Hill was not there. Stanley James Maher, a farmer, said he had known the accused for about four years. The accused had spoken to him about Hill, saying he was breaking up his nome and asking if the witness could do anything. The witness said, “That’s a hard thing to ask me to do, but I’ll see what I can do about it.” , The witness had seen the manager of the factory about Hill. The next day Hill left for Raetihi with Mrs Toltham and the little girl, Yvonne. They all came back two or three days later. He knew that later, when Hill again left Mangaroa, a telegram had been‘Sent to him. The text of the telegram had been contained in a note to the witness in the accused's handwriting asking him to ring it through to the post office. The telegram was: “Come back. Wanted urgently. H. Holtham.” Another telegram, in Mrs Holtham’s handwriting, was- sent the next day. Hill returned about a fortnight before November 25. On November 24 the accused came to the witness and said, “It’s awful the way things are going on over at the house.” Witness said, “Well, Harry, why did you send a wire for Just to come back?” The accused replied, “I couldn’t help it. She made me.” “Trouble at the Hopse” On the Saturday afternoon at the wool shed one of the men told the witness there was trouble at the house and that Maher had better go over. Colin and Mrs Holtham were running toward the shed screaming. Mrs Holtham foil before the witness got to her. The witness spoke to them and hurried to the house. "As I approached the house I could hear the screams of Yvonne,” said the witness. “A few yards from the door I heard a shot. The child stopped screaming. I stopped at the back door. I thought that whoever was doing the shooting might mistake me for someone else. I went in and saw Mr Holtham with the gun. I called out loudly, ‘Harry,” and grabbed the rifle. “I saw the other chap there. He was sitting in a chair with his head slumped slightly on the left side. When I took the gun from Holtham I turned back and said, ‘Max, where are you hit?’ There was no reply. I pulled back the shoulder of his jersey and saw he was shot over the left breast In my opinion he was in the last of his death throes. His eyes went glassy. “I said, ‘Harry, Harry, what have you done?' He replied, ‘I couldn’t help it I couldn’t stand it any longer.’ I said, ‘Why didn’t you come over to me before you did this?’ “He was very agitated. It took him all his time to recognise me. He was bleeding from quite a wound on the jaw, and his neck was black and swollen on both sides.” The witness said that he then rang the doctor and the police. Before the witness left the house, Holtham said to him, “They were going to leave me again. They were going share milking at Kaitoke. They were going to take the children with them.” The trial will be continued tomorrow.