BRAUMAN MURDER TRIAL

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 30, 30 October 1929, Page 13

BRAUMAN MURDER TRIAL

PROCEEDINGS IN SUPREME COURT A REMARKABLE LETTER ACCUSATIONS AGAINST MOTHER-IN-LAW A noteworthy feature of the first day of the trial at Dunedin of William Henry Brauman for the murder of his wife was the production of a letter written by accused prior to the tragedj. In this letter Brauman says his niother-iiblaw was responsible for prejudicing his wife against him. Dominion Special Service. Dunedin, October 29. The charge against William Henry Brauman of murdering his wife, Annabell Dorothy Deans. Braumau, was proceeded with in the Supreme Court to-day. 1 The tragedy, which followed a long period of domestic infelicity, was enacted at the St. Clair Esplanade on the night of August 7, and was succeeded by an attempt on the part of Brauman to take his own life. Mr. Justice Kennedy was on the Bench. Mr. F. B. Adams (Crown Prosecutor) conducted the prosecution, and accused was defended by Messrs. C. J. White and F. M. Lloyd. The trial is expected to last for nearly three days, as 30 witnesses are to be called. Brauman answered not guilty In a steady voice when the charge was read. Remarkable Letter. A feature of to-day’s proceedings was the reading by the Crown Prosecutor of a remarkable “farewell” letter which accused had left in a box at Invercargill with a neighbour for safe-keeping. This letter read as follows: — “My Dear Friends,—l write to you ■to relieve my soul of a terrible burden by informing you that I cannot continue to tolerate this life of misery. Yet, in reading, remember that I have been unduly interfered with practically all of my married life through the cursed interference of my mother-in-law in influencing and having prejudiced my wife against me, with the result that I have lost heart, being provoked to desperation, and I now feel it impossible for me to give of hiy best. My home lias been broken up on several occasions, and has thrown a sltir against me and my children who have had to suffer in many ways until I can bear it no longer, and through this link of pen and paper I stretch out my hand to you across the gulf of Death; • Though I am dead, yet I am with . you in this hour as you read. .My sufferings, physical and mental, are more than I can bear, and when such small arrangements as I have to make for the future wellbeing of my children are completed, it is my intention to put a period to them. May God forgive me if I do wrong. In the contents of this letter you will find sufficient to prove it. I write this in my right'mind, being driven to make a confession by the fact that my remorse for my intended crime has become intolerable. You may publish this letter to , the world if you choose, since by the time it reaches you I shall be dead. Forgive me this; I am an innocent man driven to desperation, and the bitterness of it endureth yet. “Bad, Wicked Woman.” “As I lie in my bed at night, restless and sleepless, I think of the past and future as a result of that bad, wicked woman. Unfortunately my mother-in-law, who has done every miserable, deceiving, contemptible think to rob me of my wife and happiness, the home comforts, together with my wife and children, that I longed for, have been torn asunder. Crushed with a sense of worldly ruin, of hopeless poverty, of a future absolutely without prospects, T am determined to take from her for all time what she has been determined to take from me (my wife), a life which I cherished. I fully intended to take her life also, but on second consideration death would be too good for such a curse of a woman. I fully realise that she for the rest of her life must live to be tortured indirectly by her own actions that she lias shown towards me. A debt is a debt, and has got to be paid, whether if is owed to God or to one’s fellow man. Confession or death —there’s nothing else for it; no other relief from torture. It’s got to be done, even after all these years. This should act as a. warning to interfering mothers-in-law, also to people employing married women who leave their home and children to suffer without sufficient cause to do so. Thoughts for Children. . “As regards my children, I hope and trust in the authorities to see that some kind and genuine mothers will take and care for them and keep them as near to each other’s company as possible. It. is my dying wish that my mother-in-law shall not have access to them, or anything to do with any arrangements concerning them in the future. lam proud of them all, and want them to grow up to be good men and women. I wisli to give my watch and chain, etc., and white-handled pocket knife to my youngest son, any other belongings to be realised on and divided equally amongst my four children. As regards my wife, I hope and trust that she will receive a decent burial; as for myself, do what you think fit with my body. The only favour I ask of you is that in spite of my confession of guilt, the world should regard my actions as those of an innocent man driven insane with torture and grief. ‘‘Kindest, wishes to all relatives and friends. Farewell I” A Contrast. Mr. Adams asked the jury to contrast the foregoing letter with one written front Invercargill by accused to his wife,, in which he expressed the hope that Mrs. Brauman would take a sincere view and return home. “What a lovely wife and mother you are,” he wrote on this occasion. “If you could onl- settle down to solid facts, noble action i, ’•■. good character, and defeat all evil .r, .ids and tongues”—“a pious aphorism that he might have made to himself when he was writing this letter,” remarked Mr. Adams as he held up the “farewell” letter. The Crown Prosecutor in his submission to the jury emphasised that the case was not a trial of the marital relations between Brauman and his wife. “It will not be disputed,” Im said, "that accused killed his wife. The question for vou is whether that, act of killing is to be dealt with as murder or as manslaughter, or whether you will acquit him on the -round of insanity. Those nre the three possible courses, and only those. The case for the Crown is that the circumstances do not leave you free to find a verdict of manslaughter, and that the facts do not justify a verdict ol insanity. It becomes my duty to urge this upon vou, even at this stage of the case.” Evidence was then called, and when the Court adjourned for the day His Honour ordered that the jury should remain locked up overnight.