CAUSE OF DEATH

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 216, 9 June 1936, Page 11

CAUSE OF DEATH

Examination of Mrs. Mareo’s Body VERONAL POISONING Pathologist’s Evidence In Murder Trial By Telegraph—Press Association. ” Auckland, June 8. The hearing o£ evidence for the Crown at the retrial of Eric Mareo, charged with murdering his wife, Thelma Clarice Mareo, entered upon its second week in the Supreme Court fo-day. Mr. Justice Callan is presiding. The Crown case is being conducted by Mr. V. R. Meredith and Mr. F. McCarthy, while the defence is again being conducted by Mr. n. F. O’Leary, K.C. ( Wellington) and Messrs. Trevor Henry and K. C. Aeklns. Norman Ralph Blomfleld, company secretary, who ran the business side of the “Duchess of Danzig” production, said that signs of drinking increased in the Mareo home while he knew them. He. never saw Mrs. Mareo drinking to excess, but Mareo was a pretty heavy drinker at times. Mareo telephoned to witness half an hour after his wife's death and in reply to a question said the cause was. her appendix, adding: “Foolish girl, if she bad had it out when I wanted she’d have been alive yet.”

Kenneth Massey Griffin, Government analyst, described various tests carried out with the organs and exhibits handed to him by the police. He gave the quantities of veronal which he found present His tests showed that six 5-grain veronal tablets, thirty grains, could be dissolved in half a cup of milk. He tasted the solution and it was like soda.

Cross-examined by Mr. O’Leary, witness explained that in some cases he did not have the whole of f he organ and took a portion only for analysis. It was usual to take a third or half and keep the other portion for a cheek analysis Re-examined by Mr. Meredith, witness said that a normal healthy person should notice the taste of veronal fairly quickly. In experiments he had noticed taste tests in one second. No Evidence of Disease. Dr. Walter Gilmour, pathologist at Auckland Hospital, described tne resuits'of a post-mortem examination which he carried out on the body of Mrs. Mareo. He found no evidence of any disease and the appendix was healthy. Witness said that having examined the organs of the body, heard the evidence of Freda Stark and Mr. Griffin, and knowing that of Graham Mareo. he concluded that death was due to poisoning by veronal. “A fatal dose .is commonly 100 to 150 grains,” continued the witness. “Fifty grains is put down as an average minimum fatal dose. Recovery has been recorded from as large a dose as 360 grains., In this case there was very thorough treatment. In my. opinion Mrs. Mareo had more than one dose, I infer this from the description of her condition on the Saturday morning when she was found out of bed,mentally confused, unable to stand or walk, and talking in an incoherent manner in front of the dressing table. Her condition was due either to the faet that she was recovering from an overdose taken on the Friday night, or they may have been preliminary symptoms following an overdose on the Saturday morning. The happenings on Saturday night indicated quite clearly that she was recovering from an overdose of veronal.” At this stage she would undoubtedly have recovered if she had been treated, and witness believed she would have recovered with out treatment. The sleeping of Mrs. Mareo all through Saturday was accounted for in Dr. Gilmour’s opinion by a dose taken on the Saturday morning. Then her falling asleep again after waking on Saturday night could only have been accounted for by a further dose. From Freda Stark’s account Dr. Gilmour considered that this dose was given in milk. From the quantities estimated by Mr. Griffin, Dr. Gilmour drew the inference that Mrs. Mareo had bad a fatal dose. He estimated she had had in all probability at least 100 grains of veronal. The hearing was adjourned.