Evidence On Greymouth Midnight Shooting

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30085, 20 March 1963, Page 14

Evidence On Greymouth Midnight Shooting

(From Our Own Reporter) GREYMOUTH, March 19. Sixteen of 29 Crown witnesses had completed their evidence in the murder charge against a 20-year-old former Greymouth hotel porter, Donnie Michael McCormack, when the Supreme Court rose just before 5 pun. today.

McCormack, who is represented by Mr A. B. Lawson, is charged with the murder of Raymond Earl Ross McKain, a 15-year-old shop assistant, soon after midnight on October 20, last year.

Mr D. J. Tucker is prosecuting, and the case is being heard before Mr Justice Macarthur and a jury.

McCormack, dressed in a grey suit, white shirt and tie, occasionally wiped his palms with a handkerchief after the swearing of the jury when his Honour announced an adjournment to allow jurors to complete arrangements for business and private matters. The trial may take most of this week.

This morning, police evidence was given on photographs of the scene of the alleged murder and on measurements taken at the scene. It is the first murder trial in Greymouth for almost 10 years.

Reviewing the prosecution evidence, Mr Tucker referred to a statement allegedly made by McCormack. He described it as a virtual confession of burglary and events leading up to the shooting.

Senior-Sergeant P. R. Mairs, police photographer at Greymouth, produced a series of photographs of the scene of the alleged shooting and of the Westland Sports Depot on the corner of Mawhera quay and Albert street into which McCormack allegedly broke to secure a .303 rifle, blank ammunition, a 22 rifle and ammunition soon after #.15 p.m. on October 19. Earl Raymond Daniel McKain, a bridge inspector of Cobden, described a visit to the Greymouth Hospital mortuary on October 20 where he identified the body of his son.

William George Kinsey, an army instructor at Greymouth, said that, on the afternoon of October 19, he had finished work at 5 p.m. He had gone to the Golden Eagle Hotel where he had been staying and saw McCormack jn the hotel. McCormack had been drinking whisky and had about 15 to 20 while he was there. He was not showing signs of drunkenness.

John Robert Leadingham, a Greymouth labourer, said that last October he had been a barman at the Golden Eagle. He had been at the hotel when McCormack had visited him and they had a few drinks together. The accused left the hotel about 9 p.m., or a little after. Leadingham said McCormack had been drinking whisky and had had about 15 or 20 9d whiskies. McCormack had seemed quite reasonable when he left the hotel.

John Francis Pegley. manager of the Westland Sports Depot in Greymouth, told the Court that he had been the last person to leave the shop about 930 pm. on October 19 About 12 20 a.m. he had returned to the shop and found one of the front doors open and the glass of another had been smashed. Pegley said he had inspected the shop with the police and found two rifles, a .303 and a .22 weapon, missing.- There was blood in the shop near the gun rack and by the ammunition shelf. He said he recognised the rifles which were produced in the court. Ammunition for the .22 weapon was missing as well as blank .303 bullets. He agreed with Mr Lawson that a ricochet bullet could travel In an unpredictable manner Sergeant J. S. Cromie, a police ballistics expert, of

Wellington, said that on October 26 he had received a .22 rifle and seven spent shells. He identified the rifle as being that e-Nbited in court. He had carried out tests on the weapon, but could not make it discharge accidentally, Sergeant Cromie said. It had been shown that the seven spent shells had been fired by the rifle. To Mr Lawson, Sergeant Cromie said the rifle was a heavy type. The spent shells were ejected from the breach when the bolt was pulled open. It was not an automatic ejection system. Examined Body

Henry Salisbury Rae, a Greymouth medical practitioner, said he had examined **cKain’s body in Mackay street at 12.40 a.m. on October 20.

“Several feet from the kerb I found the body lying in the roadway with the hnees bent up. It was obvious that death had occurred recently,” said Rae. He had then attended to the accused at the police station. McCormack had a cut on the inside of his left thumb. Accused's breath smelled of alcohol, but he spoke clearly. “He kept pacing up and down the room and persisted in asking me how the boy was. Eventually, I told him he was dead. The accused received the news quite calmly, as if he was expecting it.” Rae said.

Mr Lawson: Would you say accused could have been shocked earlier?—He possibly could have been. Alexander Gibb Fraser, pathologist at the Greymouth Hospital, said he had performed a post-mortem examination on McKain’s body on Cctober 20. “I found a wound in the right armpit, which was surrounded by bruising. I probed into the wound which extended down through the chest to a presumed exit wound under thte left armpit,” he said. “The projectile, in the course of its passage, had ruptured the aorta, which had caused the death,” Fraser said. To Mr Lawson, Fraser said the average width of an aorta artery would be lin to liin. It was a circular organ. Mr Lawson: I take it that a 22 bullet could have entered the chest without causing death if it did not hit the aorta?—lt could have, yes. No Height Record

He had not recorded the height of McKain’s body. He said he was satisfied that the entry and exit wounds described were as he had indicated them. Mr Lawson: But it Is not always possible to tell an entry wound from an exit wound?—ln this case the opinion is based on what we are taught.

The witness said he had only recorded that which he considered had been the wound of entry and which had been the wound of exit. He had not given the wounds a microscopic examination. He had not made any other tests apart from visual ones as far as wounds were concerned. The bruising he had mentioned had not taken that into account in fixing the entry and exit wounds. Mr Lawson: Had the dead boy had his arms by his sides when the shot was fired, the bullet would have entered the left arm?—Yes, that is my opinion.

Mr Lawson: Then, if he had been walking the swing of his arms would have been sufficient to expose the armpits?—lt is probable.

Mr Lawson: Isn’t it usual to make microscopic tests of the wounds?—lf I had been in doubt I would have. Normally it was not difficult to ascertain wounds of entry and exit, said Fraser. Porter’s Evidence

Thomas Halliday, of Cobden, night porter at Revington's Hotel, said he had arrived at work at 9.30 p.m. on October 19. Soon after that, McCormack had arrived at the hotel and he had let him in the front door. “He stayed in the hotel about 10 minutes and then went through to the staff quarters behind the hotel,” said the witness.

"Half an hour later, he returned and wrote on the slate that he wanted to be called at 7 a.m the next day. He then went to use the foyer telephone. He was in the telephone booth for about 30 minutes.

“When he came out I spoke to him and he told me his girl was in trouble. He then went back to his room. “About 11 p.m., he again came to the hotel. He had a rifle and 1 asked him if he had been fighting. He didn’t answer,” Halliday said. Halliday said he had noticed McCormack’s hand was bleeding. He did not know if McCormack had owned a rifle. McCormack had been very agitated. To Mr Lawson, the witness said it had been about 11 p.m. when McCormack had returned to the hotel. As far as he was aware accused had not been drinking at Revingtons, but he looked as though he had been drinking. Mr Lawson: Very much?— "Yes, the third time he turned up. It looked as though he had been drinking since I saw him the second time.” Halliday said. Marion Elizabeth Gurden, a cafe waitress, of Gladstone, said she had known McCormack since February, 1961. She had been engaged to the accused in April, 1962. Her parents had approved of the engagement. But her father had stipulated that she and the accused must have furniture or £5OO before he would allow the marriage. In October, last year, she told McCormack she thought she was pregnant. On October 19, she arranged to meet the accused at 7 p.m. at her father’s cafe. McCormack had not turned up by 10 p.m., however, and she had gone home to Gladstone, said the witness.

About 10.30 p.m., McCormack had telephoned her at home, but she could not remember what he had said Soon afterwards, McCormack had telephoned again, and he had asked to speak to her father. A third call was received from accused before 11 p.m., but she could not remember what had been said on that occasion. “On one occasion he said he wanted to marry me,’’ the witness said. She could not recall anything else, she said To Mr Lawson, she said she had since discovered she was not pregnant. She said that, after the engagement, her father’s attitude hardneed, and in October of last year he had been definitely against the marriage.

“I suppose he was frightened of my father," she said. She knew McCormack was blind in his left eye, said the witness.

One of the telephone calls McCormack had made had been from the railway station, but she did not know about the others. On one occasion she had told accused that her father had telephoned the police. The accused had not sounded upset “But he didn’t sound in his normal mind,” she said

Consented to Engagement Samuel Benjamin Gurden, proprietor of the Greymouth Central Cafe, said he had known McCormack for about two years. He said he had originally consented to the engagement if accused saved a certain amount of money, or had the equivalent in goods. “I often reminded the accused of the stipulation.” The witness said he had also spoken to McCormack about his drinking habits. He had been speaking to McCormack on the afternoon of October 19, the witness said. Referring to that evening, he said he had arrived home about 10 p.m. Soon afterwards there was one telephone call, which Marion answered. “But I would not

speak. I did speak on the second telephone call to the accused,” he said. “He told me Marion was pregnant, and I told him it made no difference to the way I said he had to act. I told him he would not be able to marry her. He said if he could not marry her there was no other alternative. He then terminated the call.

"There was another call after that and I again spoke to the accused. He told me he was going to break into a shop. I am not sure of the e.-act conversation,” the witness said. “I think he also said he was going to leave some cartridges in the doorway of the cafeteria.” To Mr Lawson, the witness said that in the third call the accused appeared upset because he would not let the accused marry his daughter. Mr Lawson: He was the type of person easily upset? —He was temperamental. Got On Well

Witness said he had always got on very well with McCormack, who seemed to respect him. He considered the accused had been bluffing when he telephoned. On one occasion during a telephone call, the accused had said, “There’s a shot now,” but the witness could not distinguish it. Peter Michael Cowan, a former storeman, said he had known McKain, with whom he had worked, and on October 19 he had attended the late picture session with the deceased. McKain had started walking down Mackay street on the south side of the road towairds the railway station To Mr Lawson, the witness said that, as far as he was aware, the accused and the deceased had not known each other. Heard Shot Peter Errol Fischer, a Greymouth High School pupil from Punakaiki, said that when walking towards the station on the south side of Mackay street after the late picture screening on October 19, he had seen a young boy walking along the street in the same direction as himself, but on the other side of the road “When I first saw him he was about Brown's Service Station. I saw him fairly clearly. He was wearing greyish clothes,” Fischer said He had then seen a second person coming up behind the first youth The person fallowing appeared to be carrying a rifle by his side “The second person gained on the first and they stopped There was a conversation and then the first youth moved out on to the road, and I heard a word like ‘help.’ Then I heard a shot,” the witness said

The incident had taken place outside the Norcassa fish and chips shop The second person seemed to point the rifle at the boy before he shot. The boy fell to the ground There was about sft or 10ft between the two when thp shot was fired. “The boy then fell to the road, and the chap with the rifle saw me on the other side of the road. He pointed the rifle at me and fired. I felt something like sand go all over my head and neck. I ran towards the station,” said the witness.

Later he had returned to the spot with another person. He could see someone crouching in the shadows near the Norcassa fish and chips shop, he said. He had then gone through Custom street to Mawhera quay, and back along Werita street. The witness said he had seen a car parked there and had seen a person standing in the road fire towards the car. He told Mr Lawson that McKain had just passed the service station when he first saw him. Seconds later, he had caught sight of the second person. He said he had not n iced anyone come out of Waite street, although they could have done so.

The shot which hit the boy appeared to have been fired from the hip, he said. The rifl man had walked into the road before firing the second shot, but he could not recall whether or not the man had called out to him. “Like Fireworks”

Vernon Wayne Gardiner, of Blaketown, a salesman, said he was returning from a dance in Cobden about 12.25 a.m. on October 20. He had been riding a motor-cycle. As he was passing the railway station he heard two explosions which sounded like fireworks, he said. There was an interval between the sounds.

When he reached Mackay street he saw a body in the road near the fish shop. It appeared to have the knees drawn up to the stomach, he saio The boy was lying on his side and was moving He was making a slight sound. “I passed the body and circled back. I looked at the boy on the road He had blood coming from his chest,” said Gardiner. “I then went to the police and informed them of what I had found ” Felt Gun In Back Later, he returned to the spot. He had seen no-one else nearby when he arrived “Then I felt a jab to the back It was either the butt or barrel of a gun. “I turned around and saw McCormack,” he said, nodding to the direction of the dock McCormack had blood on his face and had said something about getting an ambulance, said Gardiner. “He then said I had better get going or he would fill me full of lead. Tike I did him.’ or words to that effect” The witness had then ridden off on his motor-cycle. When he had first arrived at the scene another person al-

ready there had told him to go for the police. He had been away for about 10 minutes before returning. The witness said the accused had seemed concerned about McKain when he asked him to get an ambulance. The accused’s chief concern appeared to be for the boy. the witness said

Mr Lawson: Are you sure he didn’t say. *1 think he’s dead; I must have killed him.’ instead of Til fill you full of lead, like I did him?’— T think he said he’d fill me with lead.” Mr Lawson: Yet both statements sound alike?—Yes The witness said McCormack had stood at the scene as he drove off on the motorcycle. Re-examined, Gardiner said that the effect of McCormack’s words • him had been that if he did not get out of i *1 would get it too " At this stage the Court adjourned until tomorrow morning.