ONGAROTO TRAGEDY

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 231, 24 June 1921, Page 6

ONGAROTO TRAGEDY

EVIDENCE FOR CROWN FINISHED POLICE QUOTE STATEMENTS BY ACCUSED By Telegraph.—Presa Association. Hamilton, June 23. The trial of Hakaraiu To Ka.hu, on a charge of murdering Patrick Richard Elliott at Ongaroto, on March 26, was continued in the Supreme Court to-day. Granville Clive Norman, recalled, was submitted to a vigorous cross-examina-tion by Mr. Hampson, counsel for the defence. He said ho was quite positive that everything ho said»yesterday was strictly correct. Mr. Hampson: Then, why did you say yesterday you changed a .£lO note for the prisoner, giving ten single notes, while in your sworn evidence in the Lower Court you said you gave one £5 note and five single notes? Witness: I swear I gave him ten dll notes. Mr. Hampson: Does it not strike you as funny, that this i$ the first time your evidence has been brought into line with that of Seymour, another witness? Witness: No. Mr. Hampson: Have you discussed the ■ case with Simpson? Witness: We are occupying the same room, and while we discussed Te Kahu we did not speak of the .£lO note. Mr. Hampson: You haven’t compared notes with Seymour ? ; Witness: Oh, I know' Seymour has to come after me. Mr. Hampson: Oh, you are the most eandid witness I have met. In further cross-examination, witness said Te Kahu was playing two-up on Monday morning, and asked to have a £lO note changed, in order to join in the game. He had other notes in his wallet. Counsel said it was strange that Te Kahu should want more smaller notes when he already had a number of smaller ones than the £lO note in his wallet. Witness said he changed money for n number of men. He had ’£7o in his pocket, and had only one £lO note. He was winning pretty heavily that day.

A Gama of Two-Up. George' Seymour, a half-caste fireman at Mokai. said Te Kahu, on Good Friday morning, tried to borrow ten shillings from him at Mokai. Witness replied that he had not the money on him. That night prisoner and Sarah Herepeku went to the local hall, where a dance was proceeding. Prisoner asked the price of admission, and when told it was three shillings, said it was too much. His next recollection of Te Kahu was seeing him playing "two-up" on Monday afternoon. when he heard the prisoner make n£b bet. which ho lost. Prisoner then took a - £lO note out of a wallet, and handed the note to Clyde Norman, and asked for change. Norman, so far as witness could see, handed the prisoner ten. '.singles notes in return. Witness noticed Te Kahu had a wad of notes in his wallet, and when he lost the £5 bet said he had more to follow. To Mr. Hampson: He was staying with Norman, but did not discuss during the night what transpired on Easter Monday. Ho did not know what evidence Norman was going to give, nor did Norman know what witness was going to say. He had known Sarah Herepeka for about two years. Mr. Hampson: Were you and Te Kahu not rivals for her favours? Witness: I knew her long before Te Kahu did. Robert Davis, a half-caste, a bushman, Baid he took part in the game of "two'up," and saw Te Kahu bet. Witness won a bet of £3 from Te Kahu, who tendered a £5 note. He saw Te Kahu in the billiard-room that night, playing pool, and he believed the prisoner cashed a few notes there, but he did not know how much.

Mr. Hampson: How much did you win on Easter Monday?

Witness: Seventy-five pounds. Joseph James Thornton, bushman, Mokai, gave evidence that, when searching the river-bank for Elliott's body, he picked up a couple of empty cartridge shells about a hundred yards beyond the blood-stained ground. The shells found were those produced in Court. William Leslie, a labourer, Mokai, said he saw prisoner passing notes at the "two-up" school. Constable Visits Scene. Constable William Wright, Taupo, isaid that on March 29 he went to the scene of the tragedy' with Hamilton, •who pointed out certain bloodstains on the river's edge. The track to the river was through high ti-tree, on which were splashes of blood. He found traces of footprints and'of tlfe ground having been smoothed over. On Wednesday morning he saw Te Kahu. and asked him if he could account for Elliott’s disappearance. Te Kahu said they had been shooting, and liad returned to their whares on the Sunday after dark. No accident had happened. Witness then went to Te Kahu’s where in company with the prisoner, and found there the deceased's overcoat. Asked where he had got this, prisoner said he borrowed it from Elliott early on Monday as he was going to Mokai, and was cold. That was the last time he saw Elliott._ Witness found four cartridges in Te Kahn's whare; also a bank-book and a pair of trousers up the chimney on a bit of a shelf. On the trousers were dry bloodstains. Asked to account for the blood, Te Kahu replied that he was out pigshooting some time before, and while putting a pig on his horse got his trousers smeared. This was about 10 or 11 a.m. On searching Elliott’s where ■witness found 6s. 6d. in a box. The whare did not appear to have been disturbed ; the bed was made, and EBiott’s Sunday boots wero near. Te Kahu’s whare was upset. There was no gun in Elliott’s whare, but there was one in Te Kahu’s. Statements by Accused. Detective-Sergeant John Sweeney said that he visited the sc<»ne and saw blood etains. He took blood-stained stones, sticks and trousers to the Government Biologist, Auckland. Ho took a written statement from accused, in which the prisoner said that ho went shooting with Elliott on Suitday afternoon. He did not fire any shots, but Elliott fired two shots at a shag. No more shots were fired that day. They returned by the northern route after dark, and went to their respective whares. Next morning early, he went to Elliott’s whare, wakened Elliott, and borrowed an overcoat, as he was cold, and going to Mokai. Ho Was at Mokai on Good Friday, when he had .£2O. including two £5 notes, tho re maindor being in single notes and silver. When Elliott returned on Sunday night he had a gun with him. The prisoner could not account for the gun not being in Elliott’s whare when it was searched. He last cleaned the gun on March 27, and fired it last on March 20, when lie discharged both barrels. He could not account for tho blood stains along the river bank, or for tho dead duck, and said that tho blood stains on the trousers were from a pig ho had killed. Witness said that when he was with the search party on April 2. one of them picked up two empty cartridge cases. On April 4. he interrogated prisoner again, saying that there were a few points he wanted to clear up. Tn the second stateTE<!nt, prisoner mi id tlnit Tilliott did not toil To Hiko and himself that he wanted them back nt work on Saturday and Moiiday.- H« denied giving a ,£5. note to Norman, though, he admitted losing .£•> at a two-up school. He did not. know Norman, and tho £5 was part of his previous wages. He denied having a wallet, and sold that between March 25 and 80 he had no money in his possession except that mentioned in the previous statement. When in Mokai on March 2.5

he received his wages, amounting to £9 145.; he got one £5 note, four single notes, and the remainder in silver. He did not shoot a duck, anti did not know who did. He denied giving a £lO note to Norman or anyone else, or that he called upon anyone to change a £lO note. Ho knew that up to that time there was no trace of Elliott, whom he thought was lost or had gone, somewhere. Prisoner added that it looked bad for him. as ho was tho last in Elliott’s company. He denied having done Elliott any injury or robbed him ; he also denied having said to Campbell Hamilton that the police would not have known anything had they not found blood, or that ho could not say, anything then because the police understood Maori and had been told that pellets in the dead duck were similar to those in cartridges used by him. The witness, continuing, said that on April 2 he found an empty cartridge box in Elliott’s whare, and the . following day he saw a couple of empty cartridge boxes on the floor of Te Kahu’s whare. He secured these latter, although he had no idea at the time that Elliott had 'been killed by No. 3 shot. The two boxes in Te Kahu’s whare contained No. 3 shot, and tho box in Elliott’s whare contained No. 5 cartridges. To Mr. Hampson: Tho reason why he chi off the tops of the boxes was that Gley were easier to carry than the whole boxes. He did not regard the remaining portions as important. Questioned regarding the first statement obtained from Te Kahu, witness said that Te Kahu understood and spoke English well. The different dates in it were fixed in relation to Good Friday. Te Kahu was not under arrest at the time, but was •'under police surveillance. Prisoner volunteered the statement that it looked bad for him as he was the last person seen with Elliott. Constable Wright, recalled, said that on Wednesday afternoon while walking towards the river he asked Te Kahu if he would assist them in any way in throwing light on Elliott’s disappearance. Te Kahu replied taht he could not do so. Te Kahu understood English perfectly. , Examination of Blood Stains.

William Tonks, Government Analyst, said that he received certain articles and examined them. He found that the stains on the trousers and stones were blood stains, but he could not say whether tho stains were of human or animal blood. Frederick L. Armitage, Government Bacteriologist, said that he treated and tested the articles and found human blood in the blood stains. The test was n definite and specific one. To Mr. Hampson: The result ot liis tests was human blood in the " proportion of one in one thousand, which was as great as could be got. in so weak a solution as was used. It was possible to have tested for pig’s blood on the trous-. ers but he did not test for this result. It was possible there might be pig s blood in the articles mentioned. To Mr. Macdinrmid: He could definitely say that tho blood was human blood. Gun Expert’s Testimony.

William Henry Hazard, gun expert, said that he had examined a doublebarrolled gun handed to him by the police on April 2. The gun had been used not more than ten days before it was examined. He was also handed four cartridges, which were No. 12 and No. ■> shot C.A.C. make. The gun took No. 1cartridges. A packet of pellets handed to him by the police contained No •> shot, while a bottle sealed by Dr Bertram contained No. 3 shot, similar to four pellets handed to him by Detective Issel.z The pellets were damaged, apparently by striking a bone. He• was shown garments taken from body, and could say that two shots were fired into them. lie did not think tha the shots wero fired nt. a greater distance than nine feet. It was nnrossib'o for. the wearer ot the garments to have fired the shots unless ho fixed the gun nnd fired with a string. He would then have had to bo close, in which case the garments would have been scorched. In his opinion the shots were fired practically simultaneously. On April 12 he was handed a couple of empty cartridge cases bv the police which appeared to have been fired not more than a fortnight previously. One case showed a S sHnct swelling at tho ■base, indicating a defective extractor. He had made tests with a gun handed to him. and in ear i X the same defects were shown. In his opinion the two c art ridges received from the police were fired in tho_ gun. He would not bo surprised to find either or both sides of the ejector slightly Xhis concluded the. evidence for tho Cr °lr n ’Hainpson intimated that no evidence would be called for the defence, and tho Court adjourned till to-morrow.