Crewe’s mother gives evidence at trial

Press, Issue 32535, 19 February 1971, Page 2

Crewe’s mother gives evidence at trial

(New Zealand Press Association) AUCKLAND, February 18. Wednesday, June 17, last year would have been the eve of the wedding anniversary of Jeanette Lenore Crewe and David Harvey Crewe, Mrs Marie Lal Crewe, the mother of David Crewe, told a crowded Supreme Court room in Auckland today.

She was giving evidence on the fourth day of the trial in which a 32-year-old Pukekawa farmer, Allan Arthur Thomas, is charged that on or about June 17, at Pukekawa, he murdered Crewe, and that on or about the same day at Pukekawa, he murdered Jeanette Crewe.

Thomas has pleaded not guilty to both charges. Mr D. S. Morris, and Mr W. D. Baragwanath appear for the Crown; Mr P. B. Temm, Q.C., with him Mr B. Q. Webb, appears for the accused.

The witness, a widow, said that David Crewe was her only son. She told the court that following the disappearance of Mr and Mrs Crewe she had been taken through their household by the police. She noticed that a fawn, brown and beige bedspread was missing. It was the one her son had before he was married, she said. MAT MISSING In the main lounge she noticed that a hearth mat was also missing- The mat was made of the same material as the carpet, she said. She described the positions of various pieces of furniture in the lounge, saying that her son used to sit in his big chair while watching television.

Jeanette would sit on a fireside chair, and she herself sat on the end of the couch, said the witness. Shown an exhibit, she identified it as the fawn bedspread which the Crewes used on their bed. She also identified a single bedspread, which was normally used in the spare bedroom of their home, according to the witness. ' To Mr Temm, the witness said that her son worked too hard to worry about watching television, and often his habit was to go to sleep in his chair.

Earlier today, Leonard William Dernier, a Pukekawa I sheep farmer and the father of the dead woman, was : asked in questioning by Mr Temm: Were you yourself accused by any police officer of being responsible for the deaths of your daughter and son-in-law?—l was under suspicion at one time. Mr Temm: What was it that gave you reason to know you were under suspicion? They searched around my place, that was all. The other point they had against me was that there was a small bloodstain on the seat of my car caused when Jeanette hurt her Anger going to town one day. The witness said that the police questioned him about his movements on June 17 “two or three times.” On one occasion he was questioned for five or six hours at a time. SUSPECTED Mr Temm: Did you say to anyone between June and October of last year that the police were shadowing you? —I did say they suspected me for a while. The witness said he did not say he was being followed so his movements could be observed. He said he had no ; reason to think his moveI ments were being watched by the police. He said he could recognise the profile of Harvey Crewe but no part of his clothing

when he viewed the body of a man on September 16. Dealing with the discovery of the Crewe baby in the farm house, Mr Temm asked the witness if the back door was locked. He said he had had to turn the key in the back door. Mr Temm: Did the bloodstains in the lounge suggest there had been an accident —Yes.

Did you see a long bloodstain on the lounge floor described as a drag mark?— I couldn’t help but notice it. The witness said he went into the baby’s room, and after looking at Rochelle decided he would have to find somewhere to take her. COMMON BOUNDARY

The witness agreed his farm had a common boundary with Crewe’s, but said they were visible to each other only when Harvey was down the back of his farm. He said he did not telephone his daughter between June 17 and June 22. Mr Temm: How fond of Jeanette were you?—Very fond. How fond of Rochelle were you?—Very fond of her, actually.

But on those five to six days with which we are concerned you never rang once? —No. The witness said he did not drive past the farmhouse on those five days and could not see the outside lights at the Crewe house. To Mr Temm he said he did not own or possess a .22 rifle in June last year.

He said that his late wife’s estate was valued at about $47,000. There was also some cash. The witness said that he had refused to allow information on this subject to be released by her estate solicitors to the defence. He said he did not think it relevant.

Later, assured by Mr Temm that the information was relevant, he agreed to disclose the information. He said Jeanette’s estate would be worth more than $30,000. Asked by Mr Temm if it would have been worth $lOO,OOO, the witness said it would not have been worth that much. He said he did not have a key to his daughter’s house. The witness will be recalled for further crossexamination by Mr Temm later in the trial.

Evidence was given of the finding of the body of Mr Crewe in the Waikato River on September 16, and later the finding of Mrs Crewe’s body on August 16. POLICE SEARCH

Detective Sergeant Murray Jefferies said he accompanied a police party to the Crewe house on June 22. The next morning he was placed in charge of the scene. He was present at discussions between Dr Cairns and other police officers who were discussing a possible weapon. He said it was thought a knife or blunt type of instrument may have caused the possible injuries and bloodstains.

Under his direction three men searched <he garage, motor-car toolshed and outhouses at the Crewe house. The witness said they were told to look for a blunt instrument or knife. They were instructed that anything which may have relevance should be left in position. Searches were made of the exterior and the interior of the farmhouse. He said the exterior light

at the rear door and the kitchen light were turned on. The key was in the lock of the rear door.

He found a motor-car, later identified as belonging to the Crewes, in the garage. The ignition keys were not in the car. A complete inventory was made of everything found in the car.

He said he noticed spots of a red stain on the kitchen which appeared to be diluted bloodstains. There were similar diluted stains on the sink bench and spots on the cupboard door beneath the sink bench. He said he also noticed dishes which had not been washed and with the remains of two meals consisting of partly-eaten flounder on the kitchen table. There was nothing to indicate that more than two people had. eaten the meals. He said there were two sets of louvre blades in the kitchen one closed; the other (the upper set) open in a horizontal position. He found bloodstains in the lounge. Remains in the fireplace were consistent with a material having been burnt. He found rust particles outside the front door. The rust was similar to rust of a wheelbarrow found near the rear door. The interior of the wheelbarrow contained traces of a clay-type soil, and appeared to have been washed.

There was nothing to indicate that a struggle had taken place other than a woman’s slipper on either side of the lounge and bloodstains on the floor of the kitchen and lounge, he said. The witness described to the court an experiment in which he set fire to a piece ot carpet similar to that of the lounge floor and a cushion. BULLET WOUND The witness said that he was aware that Mrs Crewe had died as a result of a bullet wound in her head. No bullet shell was found.

He said that on August 17 a length of copper wire was found about 25ft to the right of the section gate. Copper wire was tied to the body of the dead woman, he explained later. A number of pieces of copper wire were found in a shed on the farm he said, adding that these were handed to Detective Abbott as exhibits. The witness said that on September 16 last year, he went to Frosts Landing on the Waikato River. A police party including Detective Inspector Hutton came ashore in a boat.

The witness said that Mi Hutton had handed him an axle, it had markings on it consistent with something having been tied to it. Detective Sergeant Mervyn Harold Dedman, the officer in charge of the fingerprint and photographic section at Auckland, said he made a fingerprint examination of the Crewe home.