Greymouth Youth On Murder Charge

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32391, 2 September 1970, Page 18

Greymouth Youth On Murder Charge

(From Our Own Reporter)

GREYMOUTH, September 1. The hearing of a charge of murder against a Greymouth youth, Terence Wayne Birchfield, aged 19, commenced in the Supreme Court in Greymouth yesterday morning before Mr Justice Macarthur and a jury of 10 men and two women.

The accused (Mr R. A. Young, with him Mr C. R. McGinley) has pleaded not guilty to a charge of having murdered Cleve Edward Jones, at Haast on June 27.

The Crown solicitor at Greytnouth, Mr D. J. Tucker is conducting the prosecution, with him is Mr J. Cadenhead.

In his opening remarks to the jury Mr Cadenhead said that the accused had had an argument and a scuffle with a fellow workman in the local hall, after both had consumed a quantity of liquor. It was alleged that after leaving the hall the accused went to the hut of a friend, took a rifle and ammunition and - proceeded to the hut of Mr Jones where he fired a shot which killed him while in his bed. He then replaced the rifle and ammunition in his friend's hut Constable James Edward Brailey, a police photographer of Christchurch, produced a series of photographs taken at Haast on June 28. Among these were pictures of the dead man and of holes in the wall of the hut, Trevor Edward Kelly, a Ministry of Works field assistant of Haast said that he owned a .303 rifle, which he had last used in January this year. He had lent the rifle to the accused for deer-shoot-ing some time in June. This had been over a week-end and the rifle was returned either on the Sunday evening or the Monday. On June 26 the accused spend the evening drinking beer and playing pool in the hall with Mr Kelly and others They left the hall at about 1.30 a.m. on the Saturday morning. Prior to this there bad been an argument and a scuffle between the accused and Trevor Anderson but no blows were struck. The witness went to work the next day and at 12.15 p.m heard of the death of Jones The witness saw the accused that afternoon and on the Monday, the accused asked if he could stay in Mr Rilley’s hut The accused stayed there for two or three nights and seemed quite nervous. To Mr Young witness said that the accused had said he was not used to handling firearms. Mr Kelly , said that Mr Jones had no enemies in the camp.

Arthur Thomas Hornell an Ministry of Works employee said that the accused and himself got back to the huts from the hall at 6 a.m. witness asked Birchfield to have a cup of coffee but he declined

To Mr Young witness said that he had helped to separate Anderson and Birchfield at the hall; Anderson refused a handshake but the pair later

settled down to play pool. About 15 or 20 people had partiepated in drinking the nine gallons of beer in the hall. John Joseph Farrell, a handyman, said that he went to bed at 8.30 on the night of June 26. At about 6 a.m. the next day he heard a booming sound, which be though was someone throwing a stick of wood at a hut The witness went to Mr Jones’s hut on the afternoon of June 27 and saw him lying on his bed with blood coming out of his mouth His arms were placed across his chest with a blanket on top of them. Witness put his hand on Mr Jones's head, and took his pulse. He found the body to be cold. To Mr Young the witness said that he heard Mr Hornell swearing at Birchfield at 10

minutes to six, because Birchfield would not stay for a cup of coffee. Kevin Michael O’Shea, the storekeeper at the camp, said that he and Mr Jones occupned adjoining huts. They had watched television on the night of June 26. Mr Jones left to go to his own hut at about 11.20 p.m. Witness said he went’ to Mr Jones’s hut at about 11 o’clock the next morning, but as he appeared to be asleep left him. On returning at 1 o’clock he noticed that Mr Jones appeared to be injured and went for assistance. Mrs Rene Alix Know, a registered district nurse, of Haast, said that soon after noon on June 27 she went to Mr Jones’s hut and found him to be lying dead on his bed. On a second visit to the hut with a constable she sponged the body and she noticed a ragged wound in the base of the dead man’s neck. Constable Ogilvie Graham Pearson, of Whataroa, said that he went to the Haast camp and on June 29 found a .303 cartridge case on top of a water tank by the ablution block.