DOCTORS GIVE EVIDENCE AT MURDER CHARGE HEARING

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29262, 21 July 1960, Page 20

DOCTORS GIVE EVIDENCE AT MURDER CHARGE HEARING

(New Zealand press Association)

GISBORNE, July 20. Three doctors described the injuries to Mrs Materoa Te Ohaere, a widow, aged 53, whose body was found on the beach at Waima on June 6, at the hearing of a murder charge against Ngahu Peter Maxwell, aged 19, a linesman, of Tokomaru Bay, in the Gisborne Magistrate’s Court today. Maxwell is charged with the murder of Mrs Te Ohaere, at Waima, four miles from Tokomaru Bay, on June 5.

The Crotvn Prosecutor (Mr J. G. Nolan) is conducting the case for the prosecution, and Mr K. G. Scott, with him Mr R. A. Barber, ■is appearing for Maxwell. Dr. L. C. Carter, of Te Puia Springs, said that on June 6 he examined Mrs Te Ohaere’s body, which was naked except for a sock and a left shoe on the foot. The face was bruised and swollen and the mouth was full of blood-stained watery fluid. Although the body had been immersed in sea water, the external signs of death by drowning were absent.

He formed the opinion that the widespread bruising of the face was consistent with blows from a fist. Marks on the neck indicated a possible attempt at throttling. He believed also that the. woman had • been criminally interfered with while insensible. An unusual feature was the condition of the woman’s clothing found on the beach near the body. The skirt was torn, but was free from bloodstains. Post-mortem Examination

Dr. M. C. H. Dodgson, of the Cook Hospital, who Conducted a post-mortem examination on June 6, said he noticed bruised areas on the back, particularly near the right shoulder. There were internal signs of hemorrhage and of alcohol in the stomach. The skull showed damage to tile brain. Microscopic examination suggested that life did not become extinct till some hours after the brain damage. Deposits of a mineral substance, resembling sand, found in the lungs were consistent with death from drowning. His conclusions were that the woman was mildly inebriated at the time of her death, but she had lived some hours after suffering a head injury and severe facial bruising, and that death was a result of drowning. “I also formed the opinion that she was unconscious for several hours suffering from the effects of a severe injury before drowning took place,” said the witness. He believed . also that an attempt had been made at manual strangulation. The witness said he also examined the accused, who had more than average muscular development for a young man of his age. There was no bruising or marks on his body. Cross-examined by Mr Scott, the witness said he thought the woman had been dead for 12 hours or more, but probably less than 24 hours. Dr. T. O. Mercer, director of pathology at the Wellington Hospital said he examined various articles of clothing, including a red cardigan, a brown tweed

skirt, and a man's blood-stained shirt. Tested For Human Blood “From these stains I made an extract and tested it for human blood,” he said. All the brown stains on the shirt were ■ human blood. The blood was group A. A neighbour of the dead woman, Lily Pahitai Karauria, married, of Waima, said she had a few people at her home on the night of Saturday, June 4. Mrs Te Ohaere was there for a time, leaving a little before 11 p.m., and returning later. The accused, who arrived at the house towards dusk on Sunday, was unexpected and uninvited. He was staggering a bit from liquor. Soon after 6 p.m. Mrs Te Ohaere left the house. The accused also departed, but returned between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m., witness said. The accused had no shirt on, and sand on his trousers. He explained that after falling into a drain he had gone to sleep.

The witness said that the accused later went to sleep on a couch, and was still there when the guests departed. She put a pillow under his head, and he stayed till shortly after 6 a.m. At the request of the police she later searched a wardrobe, and found a torn, blood-stained shirt Which she Was certain belonged to the accused. Don Rogers Karauria, a lab-, ourer, and husband of the previous witness, said that both, Mrs Te Ohaere and the accused left before 6.30 p.m., but the accused returned later that night and went to sleep on a sofa. Cross-examined by Mr Scott, the witness denied that the accused was staggering when he arrived at his house on Sunday. “Accused Followed” Wikitoria Slade, a married woman, of Waima, said that when Mrs Te Ohaere left, the accused followed her out. The party then started on a third crate of beer. When the witness later asked the accused where Mrs Te Ohaere had got to, he shrugged his shoulders. She told him he had been away a long time, and the accused said he had gone to sleep outside somebody’s gate.

“I then called out to him: ‘You are a liar,’ ” the witness added. Te Aringa Iwaho Kopua, a driver, of Tokomaru bay, said that the accused stayed at his home on Saturday night after they attended a party. Accused was “fairly well gone” next day. They continued drinking on Sunday morning, and the accused, who had obtained a bottle of gin, was groggy when he left. A cousin of the accused, Te Rau Kihi Peinhana Mutuakore White, a Tokomaru Bay storeman, said that the accused was "very much under the weather” when the witness saw him about 4.30 p.m. on Sunday. The hearing will continue tomorrow.