CORONER’S COURT Monoxide Poisoning Found Cause Of Woman’s Death

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30839, 26 August 1965, Page 11

CORONER’S COURT Monoxide Poisoning Found Cause Of Woman’s Death

T ~Th e^ C ? roner (Mr A. T. Bell) found that Judith Melva O’Neill, aged 33, a married woman, died at 21 Braithwaite street on April 12, the cause of death being asphyxia due to carbon monoxide poisoning in association with mogadon intoxication, when the inquest into her death was conclude din the Coroner’s Court yesterday afternoon.

Mr A. Hearn appeared for Reginald Brian O’Neill, husband of the dead woman, and Senior Detective-Sergeant S. B. McEwen, the chief detective, appeared for the police. O’Neill, a journalist, of 21 Braithwaite street, said that about 1.55 p.m. on April 12 he caught a bus from the Square to his home. He was accompanied by his son and arrived home about 2.20 p.m. As he walked up the driveway towards his house he saw the car in the garage and a hose pipe attached to the exhaust pipe. On entering the garage he opened all the car doors and the garage window. He saw his wife lying on the front seat of the car. She turned her head and looked at him without expression when he opened the car door. Her head was lying on a pillow in the front passenger's seat. The ignition light was showing but the key was in the off position. He felt the radiator of the car and it was luke-warm.

O'Neill said he thought his wife was conscious and he telephoned Dr. Allison and told him what had happened. Dr. Allison did not come to the premises, but on his advice he intended to take his wife to the hospital.

“1 went into the house and made a strong cup of tea with the intention of forcing my wife to have a drink. I went back to the garage to take her into the house and I saw that she did not appear to be breathing. This was only a short time after I first went into the house,” O’Neill said. “I immediately went back to the house and dialled 111 for an ambulance. I went to the garage and gave my wife mouth-to-mouth resuscitation until the ambulance arrived. The driver and his assistant took over the resuscitation and I telephoned Dr. Allison, who came to the house and examined my wife,” O'Neill said.

On a previous occasion he had found his wife in the car, said O’Neill. He had returned home about 10.50 p.m. and when he went into the garage he found his wife sitting in the front seat clutching a cushion. The garage was filled with smoke and exhaust fumes. He immediately telephoned Dr. Allison and informed him that his wife had attempted to take her life. His wife came into the room before he had completed the telephone conversation. After this his wife was treated by Dr. Allison. When he went to the car on April 12 he found a bottle with some tablets in it on the floor of the car. These were Mogadon tablets which had been prescribed for him. A large number of tablets were missing, O’Neill said.

To the Coroner O’Neill said the only time his wife had intimated that she might commit suicide was when they were first married. She had then said she might, commit suicide, but only if she had an incurable disease. When he went to the car on the second occasion the hose pipe was still connected but the engine was not running. It was about half an hour from the time he first found his wife to when the car was shifted out of the garage. The Coroner: Did it not occur to you to pull the car out of the garage? O’Neill: The car windows were open and she had fresh air, and I gave her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

You thought she was all right when you found her? — At first. Judith Catherine Westenra, a student of Digby’s Commercial College, said that for about six weeks before April 13 she acted as a baby-sitter for Mr and Mrs O’Neill.. Saw Car In Garage On April 12 she went to the O’Neiil’s house about 2.15 p.m. This was her normal starting time. As she walked up the drive she saw Mr O’Neill's car in the garage. She noticed a hose pipe attached to the rear of the car but did not attach any significance to this. She did not hear the engine. When she entered the house she found no one about. She then went into one of the bedrooms to see if she could find Simon, who was the child she looked after. He was not there. “1 heard a noise from the garage. It was like a dull thump. I went out the back door and I saw Mr O’Neill and Simon walking up the drive. I waved to them and went back in the house. Mr O’Neill and Simon followed me into the house within a minute or two,” Miss Westenra said.

- She spoke to Mr O’Neill for a short time, but no reference was made to the garage either by Mr O’Neill or herself. Mr O'Neill went outside and within a short time returned to the house and made a telephone call. She overheard part of the call and gathered that Mr O’Neill was telephoning Dr. Allison. She heard him say that his wife had done it again. After his discussion with the doctor Mr O’Neill told her that his wife had tried to gas herself in the car and that she had attempted to do the same thing before.

“At this stage 1 made a cup of tea and both Mr O’Neill and myself spent some time searching for the lid of the teapot. When this was found both of us sat down and had a cup of tea. Mr O’Neill at this stage appeared to be worried about his wife. After this Mr O’Neill again went back to the car and this would have been about 15 minutes after the first visit,” Miss Westenra said. After Mr O’Neill had been out at the car for about 10 minutes he came rushing in and made a telephone call. After, this he went back to the car and a short time later the ambulance and the doctor arrived.

“At no time did 1 go out to the garage as I was looking after Simon. 1 am certain that when 1 arrived I did not hear the engine of the car running,” said Miss Westenra. Doctor’s Evidence Dr. Anthony Allison said he had attended the O’Neill family for the last five years. During this period Mrs O’Neill was having domestic problems with her husband and for a short time before her death had been depressed and suffering from insomnia. She had previously threatened suicide and had attempted this on one occasion about a month before her death. On this occasion she had endeavoured to gas herself in the car. Witness said that about 2.45 p.m. on April 12 he received a telephone call from Mr O’Neill, who said his wife had attempted suicide by the same means as before About 3.10 p.m. that day he received a further call from Mr O’Neill and he was informed that Mrs O’Neill was unconscious. He went to the house immediately but on arrival found that she was dead. Artificial resuscitation was being applied to Mrs O’Neill, but she failed to respond to this and was then taken to hospital. While he was at the house 'he ascertained that Mrs O'Neill had also taken antii depressive tablets, said Dr. Allison. He had not prescribed these tablets and he understood that they were used by Mr O’Neill. He asked Mr O’Neill why he had not told him of his wife’s true condition and he said that he thought his wife was conscious and moving across the car seat.

To Mr Hearn Dr. Allison said Mrs O’Neill was normal and cheerful for some time before her death, but with any setback she rapidly changed to a depressed state. She was quite capable of making a pretence of suicide 'is a dramatic gesture. Her husband had been anxious for her to have treatment. To the Coroner. Dr. Allison said he had tried to get Mrs O’Neill to go to hospital. He I had seen her about 20 times

in the nine months before her death. When referring to her previous suicide attempt she was always saying that she would make a better job of it next time. People who threatened suicide were subconsciously seeking help. She had run from his surgery when treatment was suggested.

Dr. Peter Anthony Eccles Smith, a pathologist, said that under instructions from the Coroner he made a postmortem examination of the body of Mrs O’Neill. In his opinion the cause of death was asphyxia due to carbon monoxide poisoning in association with Mogadon intoxication.

To Mr Hearn, Dr. Smith said the action of the carbon monoxide and the drug would combine to accelerate the effects of one another. Police Inquiries Detective-Sergeant Emmet Thomas Mitten gave evidence of inquiries he had made into the death of Mrs O’Neill. “I asked Mr O’Neill whether he had spent 15 to 20 minutes inside the house between the first time he had been to the car and the second occasion. He told me that he had not referred to his watch at any time during the events following the discovery of the deceased in the car. He said that his times were estimates based on his own calculations after the incident. “Mr O’Neill said that he would have been surprised if the delay was as long as that as things appeared to move fairly quickly. I asked him if he had spent 10 minutes at the car on the second occasion prior to his coming back into the house and dialling 111. He said that this would not have been possible and that at the most it would have been three or four minutes at the outside,” Detective-Sergeant Mitten said.

“He agreed he had helped Miss Westenra look for the lid of the teapot and that some time had been spent doing this. He claimed that he had made the tea and not Miss Westenra,” DetectiveSergeant Mitten said. Inquiries made by the police showed that Mrs O’Neill had been living under a severe tension for some time and that there had been marital discord between her and her husband. When he first saw Mr O’Neill on April 21 he had explained to witness that when he first went to the car he noticed that the ignition had been partly turned off but that there was a red light showing. He said that he was able to drive the car again that same day and that the petrol tank was about a quarter full.

“As a result of this inquiry no evidence has been found which would substantiate a criminal charge against any person as a result of this death,” said DetectiveSergeant Mitten.

There were many features of this Inquest which did not fit into the usual pattern of suicide, the Coroner said. There was a previous attempt at suicide which Mr O’Neill said was a bluff. On this occasion Mrs O’Neill got into the car when the baby-sitter and her husband were due to arrive. The garage door was open and they saw the hose attached to the exhaust pipe. On top of this a note was left in an obscure place where it was not likely to be found immediately. “I find it difficult to believe that Mrs O’Neill intended to take her own life. I think she was putting on a dramatic act that then went too far. 1 find that she did not intend to commit suicide,” said the Coroner.