Nurse Describes Cries For Help By Victim

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31277, 25 January 1967, Page 3

Nurse Describes Cries For Help By Victim

(New Zealand Press Association!

AUCKLAND, January 24.

An Air Force nurse told Mr W. J. Meade, S.M., today she heard cries of “Help me! Help me!” coming from the room of a fellow nurse who was found dead in bed with her throat cut the next morning.

Giving evidence at the preliminary hearing of the murder charge against Doreen Ellen Davis, aged 30, nursing sister, the witness, Sister Marlene Deanna Phipps, said her attention had first been caught by scuffling and banging noises coming from the room.

Sister Phipps was the last witness called by the Crown today, the second day of the hearing.

Davis is charged with having murdered Raewyn Kathleen Joy Petley, aged 40, a charge sister, at Whenuapai air base on November 19.

Mr J. G. Miles, assisted by Detective Senior-Sergeant B. D Mills, is conducting the case for the Crown. The accused is represented by Mr K. Rvan. There are 14 witnesses still to be called. Sister Phipps said she arrived at the W.AA.F. flats at Whenuapai from New Plymouth at 7.10 p.m. on November 18.

Sister Petley helped her unload the car. They then went into the lounge and had a cup of tea. Sister Phipps said the accused came into the lounge with a half-gallon jar, onequarter full of beer. She identified clothing produced in Court as having been worn by accused on that occasion. The witness said she went to her room to unpack and was invited by Steve Gillingham to go to the officers mess for a drink. Given Drink

She was freshening her make-up when the accused brought her a glass of beer. She finished her make-up. and took the glass to Sister Petley’s room where she drank it with Sisters Petley and Davis.

“I then went around to the bar and joined Mr Gillingham.” she said. She remembered that Sister Petley was wearing grey slacks and a pair of rubber jandals when she last saw her.

The witness said she got back to her room at 12.30 a.m. “As I came through the doors that separate the female flats from the male quarters. I noticed through the fan-light of Sister Petley’s room that her light was on,” said Sister Phipps. She said she and Gillingham went to her room and came out again about five minutes late- to go into the lounge.

Noises In Room “As we walked to the lounge 1 noticed that the light was now off,” she said. “Just as I noticed the light was off, 1 heard scuffling and banging noises coming from Raewyn’s room.”

Sister Phipps said she approached the door and, as she arrived, heard Sister Petley cry out, “Help me! Help me!”

“I knocked on the door and called out, asking Raewyn if she was all right The door was locked and I tried it.” Sister Petley again cried: “Help me! Open the door and come in! Help me!” “I thought she must have had an intruder. Her voice sounded desperate,” said Sister Phipps.

“I told Mr Gillingham that 1 thought Raewyn had an intruder and ran with him outside to the window of her room.

“When I got to the window It was just open enough for me to get my fingers inside

the frame. I pulled it towards me, unlatched the catch that holds it and pulled it right back. I then flicked up the blind and had my hand inside trying to reach the for the light cord. “I could still hear Raewyn calling out for help but the cries had subsided. “I was still asking her if she was all right when Sister Davis popped her head up and said: ‘lt’s all right. Everything is under control.’ Sister Phipps said the accused appeared to come up from a leaning position with her shoulders forward. “She appeared to have been leaning against the bed. She did not move and looked me directly in the eye when she spoke. Her voice was cool and calm.”

Sister Phipps said she told the accused that she would be in the lounge if required. She then pulled down the blind, closed the window and went back to the lounge with Gillingham. She said the accused’s face was not more than 10 inches away from hers when they spoke.

“A Little Worried” “I thought that what I had heard and seen was strange and it left me a little worried. But seeing Sister Davis and Sister Petley were the best of friends and 1 had left them drinking a glass of beer, I thought that Raewyn had over-indulged a little and that Ellen was helping her go to bed.”

Sister Phipps said she sat talking in the lounge to Gillingham until 2.30 a.m. when she retired to her room. She said she noticed nothing untoward in the passage outside.

Sister Phipps said when she rose about 8.30 a.m. on November 19 and heard Sisters Miley and Brittain trying to find Sister Petley, she told them what had occurred the night before.

Lesbian Rumour The commanding officer of the R.N.Z.A.F. Hospital at Whenuapai, Squadron Leader Graham Albert Pope, said in cross-examination that he had heard rumours that Sister Petley was a lesbian. Mr Ryan: Did you hear any rumours concerning Sister Petley before Sister Davis came to Whenuapai?—Yes. Did you believe the rumours before Sister Davis came to Whenuapai?—No, I didn’t. What were these rumours? —That she was a lesbian.

Treatment Of Nurse The witness admitted that he knew a Nurse Ogier, who had worked under Sister Petley at the base. Mr Ryan: After November 18 last year did she (Ogier) have a mental breakdown?— I wouldn’t go as far as a mental breakdown.

Squadron Leader Pope said the R.N.Z.A.F. had called an

[Auckland psychiatrist, Dr. L. K. Gluckinan, to see Nurse 'Ogier. He said Nurse Ogier [was under his care for a nervous upset and he had consulted the psychiatrist. Nurse Ogier was at her home at Thames the week-end Miss Petley died . John Anstee Hodges, a medical orderly, said the accused appeared normal until about three weeks before November 18. “Then she changed and seemed a totally different sort of person. Her nature was surly. One morning she appeared to be drunk, or slightly drunk, and was also ‘funny’ the following day, as if she hau a hangover,” he said. He last saw the accused at 4.30 p.m. on November 18 at the base hospital, but spoke to her on the telephone about 9.10 p.m. that night regarding an emergency landing.

Telephone Call Genevieve Mary Shearsby, medical orderly, said she went on duty on Friday, November 18, at 4.30 p.m. She last saw the accused at 5 p.m. in the hospital kitchen. When she spoke to the accused on the telephone that evening, her voice sounded “much slower.” She said she knew Sister Petley was friendly with Davis. She had noticed that sometimes the accused was not herself and seemed distressed at times.

Sometimes Davis’s speech was slower and sometimes she had been crying. To Mr Ryan, the witness said she was absolutely sure that it was Sister Davis she spoke to on the telephone. She had known deceased for about 15 months.

Mr Ryan: During that time did she (Petley) ever give you any cause for concern over her mental condition?— No.

Ever see her taking tablets at all?—No.

Never invited you to go with her for an evening?—No. The witness admitted that a girl named McKee was friendly with Sister Petley. Mr Ryan: Was there a great friendship between these two: McKee and Petley?—There appeared to be.

The witness said she knew that Sister Petley had been friendly with a girl called Lynn Ogier. She said Sister Petley had given some dresses to Ogier. Mr Ryan: Did she (Petley) take the girl Ogier home many times to your knowledge?—l don’t know.

Question On Rumour

Did you know what Sister Petley was reputed to be?— Yes.

And did you know this girl Ogier very well?—Yes, I did know her quite well. Did you discuss Sister Petley with Miss Ogier?—Yes. And would you agree that Sister Petley would have had some sort of influence over Nurse Ogier?—lt appeared to be. And, in fact, it could be true to say that Sister Petley could be quite domineering to get her own way?—l don’t know.

Mr Ryan: Were there any other staff who seemed to be friendly with Sister Petley? —Not that I know of.

A charge sister, Pamela Jean Miley, told how she found Sister Petley on the morning of November 19.

“I went to breakfast and returned to my flat about

8.30.” she said. “The telephone was ringing and when I answered, it was the hospital looking for Sister Petley and Sister Davis. I banged on Sister Petley’s door, but noone answered. The telephone call was not urgent, but the hospital said it would try Hobsonville to find Sister Davis. Later the telephone rang again and repeated banging brought no answer from Sister Petley’s room. The witness looked through the fanlight into the room and saw her lying in a seemingly normal position on the bed. She could not see if she was breathing or not. Her face was quite pale. “I immediately asked Sister Phipps to look,” said the witness. She was not sure if she was breathing. We couldn’t find any keys to fit the room.”

Entry To Room The sisters got into the room by sliding a piece of newspaper under the door and pushing the key free with a long-handled comb. When the key fell on to the newspaper, they pulled it through underneath.

“I noticed a smell in the room immediately on entering,” Sister Miley said. “I went over to the bed and there was a faint bloodline around Sister Petley’s neck near her ear. The pane was stained and there was blood on the floor.” The witness said she sent Sister J. C. Brittain to get the duty doctor, then she left the room and closed the door.

Detective Inspector Brian Wilkinson said he went to Whenuapai with a police party on November 19, arriving at 11.30 a.m. In Room 13 of the female officers’ quarters, he saw the body of Sister Petley in a bed. “On December 2 the accused was discharged from Auckland Hospital,” he said.

“Clinically Dead” Detective Inspector Wilkinson went with the accused and her mother to the Central police station. The accused was officially cautioned and then later arrested and charged with the murder of Sister Petley. Mr Ryan: Were you aware that when she was found, the accused had been clinically dead for 15 minutes?—l heard it was five minutes, but I will not dispute the time.