Woman acquitted of attempted murder

Press, 23 August 1984, Page 4

Woman acquitted of attempted murder

PA Palmerston North A young Feilding woman was found not guilty of attempted murder in the High Court at Palmerston North on Tuesday evening. Donna Marie Mclntyre, aged 17, an unemployed waitress, had denied attempting to murder Paul James Suitje in Feilding on February 24 this year. The verdict followed an eight-hour deliberation by the six-man and six-woman jury. The Court had earlier heard that Mclntyre allegedly decided to kill Suitje, a boarder in a house she rented, after he refused to leave the house. Early on February 24 she hit him on the head with the blunt end of an axe as he slept Another boarder, Anna Burkey, gave evidence of helping Mclntyre dig a

grave for Mr Suitje in the back garden while the pair sang “When the Saints Go Marching In" and “Swing Low Sweet Chariot.” The Court also heard Mclntyre had told the police that she thought she had killed Mr Suitje and that she wanted him dead. Mr Suitje received hospital treatment but has since not been located by the police in spite of extensive inquiries. Mclntyre’s counsel, Mr L. H. Atkins, called only one witness for the defence, a Palmerston North pathologist, Dr Roy Darby. The doctor said that he would have expected the blow described by Mclntyre in the police statement to have more serious consequences than the minor wound Mr Suitje receiWMr Atkins reserved

of his defence until he made his submissions to the jury. He told them that it was possible Mclntyre was an exception to the rule that people ordinarily did not confess to things they did not do. There was a doubt about her guilt if that was the case, he said. He described Mclntyre as a disturbed, adolescent teller of tales who wanted to be taken seriously. Her threat to kill Mr Suitje had not been taken seriously. If she had intended killing him she could have made sure after she struck the axe blow. She did not take him to the grave, although she said she thought he was dead.

The injury suffered by Mr Suitje was inflicted by a blow designed not to kill, merely to say “I told you so,” said Mr Atkins.