MAGISTRATE’S COURT Bloodstains 40ft above body

Press, Volume CXVI, Issue 34127, 13 April 1976, Page 12

MAGISTRATE’S COURT Bloodstains 40ft above body

Bloodstains were found on the Summit Road more than 40ft above the spot where the body of a woman was found in February, the Magistrate’s Court heard yesterday. And when the police overturned a rock near the woman’s body, they found a set of broken dentures and a pair of spectacles, Detective Sergeant J. C. Crookston told Mr J. D. Kinder, S.M. He was giving evidence during the taking of depositions against a 61-year-old man on a charge of murder. The man is charged with murdering Dorothy Joy Christie, aged 55, a married

woman, of Windsor Crescent, Spreydon. Mrs Christie’s body was found on a rock and tussock slope about 43ft below the Summit Road in the early hours of February 17. Two days were allowed for the hearing, which began yesterday, and four witnesses have still to give evidence. The man is repressented by Messrs D. I. Jones and C. K. Steven. Mr G. K. Panckhurst. with him Mr J. J. Brandts-Giesen, appear for the police. The 27 exhibits produced by the prosecution included several bloodstained rocks, the shattered dentures, a knot of hair found near the body and a man’s bloodstained shirt. Mr R. G. Brittenden said in evidence that he was

woken at his home in Mt Plesasant Road early in the morning of February 17 by a person at the front door. He went out to find the defendant, who appeared shocked and distressed. “He told me that a woman was in the gully, and that she was terribly badly hurt,” Mr Brittenden said. “He kept repeating that she must have tried to take her own life, and jumped over the edge.” Mr Brittenden said he later noticed that the defendant had dried blood on one hand. Dr K. R. J. Cameron told the Court that he was called to the scene about 1.30 a.m. He examined the woman’s body, and found no sign of life. Dr Cameron said the

defendant appeared visibly upset when told - that the woman was dead. Christine Dorothy Benson, the daughter of the deceased, said she had lived with her mother in Windsor Crescent. . She. told the Court that her mother received two telephone calls from the defendant on the evening of February 16, and left the house between 8 p.m. and 8.30 p.m. to meet him. Constable D. C. Hay said in evidence that the defendant was sobbing, and “almost hysterical” when picked up by the police at Mr Brittenden’s home. At the scene the defendant said: “This is dreadful. Poor wee Doris. She looks so battered.” The defendant told him

that the woman had got out of his car, run across the Summit Road and jumped over the cliff. Detective G. F. Scott said that he had examined the defendant’s car later the same morning. He found bloodstained rags oh the front seat, and what appeared to be blood on the steering wheel and a door handle. Blood and hair was also found on a bank on the opposite side of the road from where the woman’s body was found, the Court heard. Detective Sergeant Crookston said the police had searched 400 yards below the body and 59 yards along the road for a weapon. None had been found. The hearing will continue today.'