AUCKLAND BURGLARIES

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 10, 11 July 1912, Page 3

AUCKLAND BURGLARIES

ACCUSED BEFORE THE COURT. AUCKLAND, 10th July. A sequel to the recent long list of burglaries in Auckland was the appearance qf several men in Court to-day. Ernest Kirchirtz, a German, aged twenty-seven years, and Charles Murphy (alias Reynolds), a Canadian of twentybix, were charged with having broken and entered the Clarendon Hotel on 27th June by night with intent to commit a crime. After a quantity of evidence had been, given, both accused pleaded guilty, and were committed to the Supreme Court for sentence. Paul Eugeno Scrim and Charles Murphy were then charged that on 20th June they broke and entered the Great Northern Brewery by night with intent to commit a crime. Chief-Detective Marsack stated that in this case he had perforce to ask for a remand, as all the witnesses he required from the Great' Northern Brewery were in bed with the mumps. One of .the two previous accused, Scrim, and James Grant were bracketed to answer a charge of breaking and entering the chop of Arthur John Ellyett, grocer, of Mount Eden, on 12th May, and the factory of Messrs. Cousins and Atkiite, Stanley-street, on 6th June. The door of the shop had been farced with a jemmy and the safe opened by means of blasting, the door being practically destroyed. A sum of between £20 and £30 wae stolen. Chief-Detective Marsack, in the box, stated that upon the night in question, at about 11.15, he was waiting for a cai* in front of Messrs. Cousins and Atkins's factory. An explosion occurred in the factory, and agiumber of people came rushing up, amongst them the two accused. He persuaded the onlookers to go away, and then proceeded round to the back of the factory. The two accused followed him round, and when h& turnt:d the light upon them they asked him what was the matter. He made an. evasive reply, and they went away. He next saw Scrim at <ihe Police Station, on the day of his arrest, when he admitted having been at the back of Cousins and' Atkins's factory that night. Later on Scrim said : " Make it as light as you can. I did you a good turn that night. Grant wanted to shoot you, saying that as you had recognised us we would he arrested. I stopped him from doing anything of the kind, and said that if he tried it I would shoot him." Later on witness saw Grant, and taxed «him with the intention of shooting.* Grant, on being told that Scrim had said so, replied: "No, it was just the other way about. Scrim wanted to shoot you, but was afraid it might make too much noifie. I pereuaded him not to." Detective Powell said that the two accused were together on 29th June, when Grant said to Scrim: "You said you would 6hoot Chief-Detective Marsack, only it would have made too much noise." To this Scrim replied: "No, it was you who wanted to shoot him. Don't push all the blame on to me." Detective Cumraing corroborated the evidence of Detective Powell. Scrim pleaded guilty to both charges, while Grant put in a plea of not guilty to both. They were accordingly committed, one for trial the other for setftence. Scrim alone was then called on to answer a charge of having broken into the warehouse of C. E. Hemus at Newmarket on 3rd June, and having stolen the sum of £2 15s 9d. To this charge he pleaded not guilty, and was committed to the Supreme Court for trial.