Blow shattered skull, murder trial told

Press, 4 August 1983, Page 4

Blow shattered skull, murder trial told

PA Wellington A softball bat blow to Robert Cancian’s head had been delivered with almost as much force as one could imagine being generated by such a bat, a pathologist, Dr W. S. Alexander, has said in the High Court at Wellington.

Dr Alexander said that the blow, one of three to Mr Cancian’s head, had shattered the skull near the right temple, pulping the brain.

It was a blow which had been almost certain to kill. “A maximum-force blow — someone strong would have had to swing the bat through a full arc to cause that kind of injury.” Dr Alexander was giving evidence on the second day of the trial of Michael John Sneller, aged 38, a house repiler, and Wayne Morris Carstairs, aged 42, an unemployed fisherman, on a charge of murdering Mr Cancian on February 25. Both men have pleaded not guilty to the charge and also to a charge of armed robbery of Mr Cancian and his de facto wife, Linda Serci, of jewellery valued about >16,420. The trial, before Mr Justice Quilliam and a jury, continues today. Mr Jim Larsen and Mr Ross Burns appear for the Crown, Mr John Billington and Mr Chris Clark, for

Sneller, and Mr Michael Bungay and Mr Mike Antunovic for Carstairs. Dr Alexander also said that the three blows to the head had all contributed to Mr Cancian’s death although the blow to the right side of the head, which had shattered the bone into little pieces, had been enough on its own to cause death. The other two blows had also been strong — one to the top of the head splitting the skull from ear to ear, and the other to the left side causing several fractures.

Mr Cancian had also been struck across the back. That blow had caused deep bruising but no great damage. The bruising clearly indicated the weapon to have been a softball bat. The blows to the head came into the “heavy blunt instrument category.”

Beverley Anne Serci said that on February 25 she called at Mr Cancian’s home. She had walked in and been confronted by a man holding a gun. She met the man as she entered Mr Cancian’s bedroom. Mr Cancian had been lying face down on the bed with his hands tied. His wife, Linda, had been lying on the floor. The man holding the gun had demanded to know who she was and who she was with. Mrs Serci said that she was alone, but her children were in the car. She pleaded with the man not to hurt them. “He answered me that he would not — that no-one would get hurt.” Although the man and his companion both had their faces hidden in balaclavas she had recognised the voice of the man who spoke to her.