THE ALLEGED MURDER AT AUCKLAND.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3590, 13 January 1883, Page 3

THE ALLEGED MURDER AT AUCKLAND.

THE ENQUIRY BEFORE THE R.M. ADDRESS OF TH3 CROWN PROSECUTOR. From exchanges to hand we glean the following additional particulars concerning the enquiry held before the Resident Magistrate at Auckland on the 9th and 10th instant, in the alleged murder case, which resulted in the committal of the prisoners, Thomas Priestly and Marian Hamilton:-— In opening , his address, the Crown Prosecutor said the medical evidence -would prove that a careful examination of Hamilton s skull was made by Drs. Goldsbro', Walker, and Dawson, when it was seen that deceased could not by any possibility have caused the injury to his skull in the manner described by Mrs Hamilton, viz., through falling against an iron beadstead. The doctors were confident from what they saw that the wound was of such a character that it_ was quite impossible, in any human probability, that it could have been caused in the manner asserted by Mrs Hamilton. There was, therefore, the doctors' statement on the one hand, and Mrs Hamilton's version of the affair on the other. The doctors were also prepared to go further and say that from the nature of the wound they would swear unhesitatingly that after it had been received the man could not have risen up as the whole frame of the skull had bien shattered by it. The fracture extended from the crown of the head right round to the back of it. The blow that caused it must have been a very powerfid one, delivered with the full force of some heavy i'uplcment. He said there was evidence, too, to show that Mrs Hamilton had made preparations for the attack upon her husband, if an attack had really been made. One of the female witnesses who had been x>n terms of intimate relationship with Mrs Hamilton, who was frequently in her house, and was fully acquainted with its internal economy, would tell the Court that the infant slept with Mrs Hamilton in one room, and that the two elder children were accustomed to sleep in the same room as their father, viz., that in which he came by his death. On the evening in question, however, that on which the man received the wound, the two elder children were removed to their mother's room, so that there should be no one in her husband's room when he came home. It would be shown that Mrs Hamilton had made very contradictor}- and irrcconcileablc statements about the occurrences on the night Hamilton niethis death. Three respectable witnesses would also prove that at five or ten minutes past 12 that night, Hamilton was in their company, and was perfectly sober when he left them. His house was only 120 yards distant, and yet Mrs Hamilton declared that he did not arrive until about 1 o'clock, when he made his appearance in a beastly state of intoxication. With reference to the axe found, it had been taken charge of by the police, and submitted to Mr Pond, Provincial Analyst, in order that he might ascertain if there were any stains of blood on it. He had examined the supposed blood marts both with the naked eye and with a microscope, and had found that there was no blood upon it. Therefore the axe would have to be dismissed from the case. He might also state that the "blood-stained " trousers and hat of the prisoner Priestley had been examined by Mr Pond, with a similar result. Blood was found upon the trousers, and it might be stains of blood of a mammal; but it was surrounded by some fatty matter, as if blood and grease mixed had dropped upon it. He thought it only fair that these matters should be stated, as the Press had attached great importance to the discovery of blood stains. He had now mentioned all the matters in connection with Mrs Hamilton. As regards Priestley, it would be incumbent on the prosecution to show that he had been intimate with the Hamilton family; indeed it would be shown that he was on terms of very great intimacy with them, and that he was frequently discovered in the house, sometimes on occasions when, if his actions had not been of a questionable character, he would not have been there at all. It appeared that Mrs Hamilton had been confined several mouths ago, and Mrs Cowper, the nurses would state that when attending on her, Priestley was not only very frequently in the house, but also in Mrs Hamilton's bedroom, sitting on the bed and conversing with her in a very free and easy manner. Indeed, so often was he there, and so long did he stay, that she could not perform, for his presence, the daily duties which were entailed upon her. A Mrs Carnahan would also say that prior to Hamilton's death she knocked at the door of the house, and getting no response, went round to the back, and, after knocking there, had entered the house, when Mrs Hamilton made her appearance, looking flushed and surprised, and followed by Priestley, who managed to make his escape from the house. It would also be shown that Priestly was present in the house on the night prior to Hamilton's death, the 27th; that he subsequently met Mr Richardson and informed him that he intended going out to Onehmiga, and that he afterward alleged that he had gone out there, and had spent the night at the house of a friend named Short at Mangere. A detective went out and made enquiries about this statement, when he fonnd that it was entirely false. Prisoner, upon being taxed with this mis-statement, said he had made v mistake as to the night he had visited Short's house, and lie then made another explanation, winch was also proved to be "fishy." He further said that he had been fishing, and this too was shown to be without foundation. There were two witnesses, Mrs Home and Mr Lees, who would state that on the Gth December Priestly came to meet them and implored them to state he had been at their houses on the night of this occurrence. Lees, however, declined to do anything- of the sort. On the 14th December, Detective Walker saw Mrs Hamilton in the presence of Priestley, and on the loth he was arrested, when amongst other things, some documents, such as letters, notes, <fee, were found in his possession. These would be produced in due course, together with some sermons and reflections upon Scriptural subjects. One of the papers, which evidently referred to Mrs Hamilton's statements at the inquest, contained a number of memoranda. Mr Cooper here observed that these were prisoner's instructions to his counsel, Mr Tyler, and the police had actually confiscated them. The Crown Prosecutor went on to say that another of the documents was an acrostic, the initial words of each line forming the sentence, " When shall I. sleep with you, my love." This production was found, together with a letter from Priestley, within a blotting pad, and it was useful as showing prisoner's character. The case was one of exceptional delicacy and intricacy, and the evidence resembled a bundle of faggots rather than a strongly-linked chain, inasmuch as each fact by itself might not prove much, but the whole taken together was very strong. It would be for the prisoners to show that they had no connection with the affair whatever, and he only hoped and trusted that they would be able to do so. Doctors Walker, Goldsbro', Dawson, and Hooper were the first witnesses examined. They all declared their belief that the extensive fracture on Hamilton's skull could not have been produced by a fall on a bedstead. The wound corresponded closely with the axe produced. Three witnesses were examined to prove Hamilton was sober when he left them at midnight. George M'Rac deposed that he called immediately after Hamilton's death, and Mrs Hamilton told him that she heard her husband fall twice and went to his assistance, then limning , to her own room, and that she did not sec him again till 7 o'clock next morning. Mrs Ann Cnlleu deposed that she was next-door neighbour to the deceased man Hamilton, and knew the Hamilton* very well. Recollected the evening preceding Hamilton's death. Witness added—l went into the house that day by the back door, between 7 and 8 in the evening, and saw the prisoners there. I met Priestley at the outside door, and ho at once went away. The only other persons present besides Mrs Hamilton were her three children. I had a conversation with Mrs Hamilton, in the course of which she spoke of her husband's intemperance and his unwillingness to allow her proper means. She said, further, that he was subject to cramps in the stomach, and she was afrie-d he might go off some day

in an attack. She also remarked that she had no means to bury him if he should die, and that he was drinking , constantly at night. Next morning, at" <5 o'clock, I saw Mrs Hamilton drawing water from her own well, the fence between the two yards being low enough to permit of my seeing all that passed in Hamilton's yard. Mrs Hamilton was engaged in washing something. It has been her custom to call in my assistance in case of sickness to children or herself, but on this morning she did not tell me that there was anything wrong in the house. I had good opportunities of observing the relations between the husband and wife, and always thought that he was very kind towards her, while there always seemed to be plenty of food and clotJiing in the house. I never saw him come home drunk, although I saw him rather frequently. On the day in question I enquired of Mrs Hamilton some particulars about her husband's death. She told me that, after coming home, he had fallen, and she called out from her bed, '' What is the matter, Hugh r" but that the only answer she got was a groan. She said that he had fallen against the bed and split his head, and she showed me the part of the bed that he had fallen against, Hamilton was then lying dead upon his bed. I knew Priestley pretty well. He lived at Mrs Neilson's, the house above Mrs Hamilton's I had often seen him in Hamilton's house. I have seen him enter both by the back and front. - Margaret Carnahan deposed —I am the wife of Joseph Carnahan, compositor. I was well acquainted with the Hamiltons, and was pretty often at their house. I frequently saw Priestley there — indeed almost any time I went, I have seen more familiarity between the prisoners than ought to exist between a single man and a married lady. I have seen him play with her hair, and bathe her face and hands with lavender water. Mrs Hamilton always called him "Tom," and I have seen him leaning over the back of her chair. Some four or five months ago I called at the house, aud knocked at the front door for admission. I knocked several times, and noticed that the blind on Mrs Hamilton's bedroom window was down to its full length, so that I came to the conclusion she had gone out, However, to make sure I went round to the back door, and on hearing a noise in the bedroom I entered the house, thinking she must be in. Mrs Hamilton came to the back door, looking very flushed, worried, and put out, so that I asked her what was the matter. "Oh,"' she repliep, "nothing is the matter." She then asked me if I was u-oing to her mother's, and I answered "yes," but that I had some little sewing for her. I went into the house then. Before Mrs Hamilton opened the door I had seen through a window Priestley come down the passage and go in front of the house, and he may have" been coming from it or the other front room. Other witnessess gave evidence regarding the familiar relations between Priestley and Mrs Hamilton, and the contradictory statements made by prisoners regarding their conduct on the night of Hamilton's death.