PONSONBY MURDER CASE

Evening Post, Volume XCIX, Issue 123, 25 May 1920, Page 8

PONSONBY MURDER CASE

DENNIS GUNN BEFORE THE

COURT

FINGER-PRINT EVIDENCE NOT ENTIRELY RELIED ON.

(IT MLIORAPH.—PRISS ASSOCIATION.;

AUCKLAND, 24th May. At the Supreme Court the hearing of .the charge of-murder preferred against Dennis Gunn in respect of the death by shooting on the night of Saturday, 13th March, of. Augustus Edward Braithwaite, postmaster at Ponsonby, was continued. The Hon. J. A. Tole, K.C., with Mr. J. C. Martin, conducted the prosecution, the prisoner being defended by Mr. J. R, Reed, K.C. ; and Mr. X J. Prendergast.

. Mr. Martin in his opening address j said that the case did not entirely iely j on finger-print evidence. There was-some j additional evidence which he did not j think he would have been entitled to i ask the jury to decide on alone, but, i coupled with the finger-prints, he thought ; it should be given great weight. Coming^! to the movements of Gunn, counsel ex-" I plained that on the day of the crime j Gunn was seen standing about in the ■ neighbourhood of the post office, and j on th;e other side of the road, but that was not a matter-of undue importance in any -ordinary way. It was important, however, to know thaj> Gunn was there, because if he was there he could not be anywhere else. When the police arrested him in his own house, G-unn said, in answer to inquiries as to his movements, ■ that 'he was at home all the Saturday afternoon. He was asked again," and after a little hesitation he corrected himself and said that he was with his brother Tom. He said, that they went down to Wirth's Circus, and, seeing a big crowd there, did not go in. He went on to explain in detail his movements up to 6 o'clock, when he said he left his . brother in Karangahape-road. i He had no difficulty in giving a detailed . account about his movements in the ' afternoon to a detective. His memory , was absolutely clear and distinct. Then j the detective said' he was not so much ■ concerned with what Gunn was doing in the afternoon as between the hours of 7 and 9 in the evening. Then Gunn thought, and said he went to the pictures, but it was after the 8 o'clock session. There was no word as to where ; he was during the time from 7 to about a quarter-past 8' o'clock. This was extraordinary in view of the fact that accused was able to account for his every movement during the earlier part of the day and for the liter part of tne evening. ' "He left a gap just at the critical hour, and picked up his movements again just after the critical stage," remarked Mr. Martin, adding that, tak'en in conjunction with all the other circumstances, this was important. STATEMENTS BY WITNESSES. The first witness waa Annie Braithwaite, widow of the murdered man, who, described her movements on 13th March, and her discovery of her husband lying on the kitchen floor when she returned home about 9 p.m. T • Several witnesses living in the vicinity of the Braithwaites' house testified to hearing revolver shots, followed by a scream. A woman living next to! the Post Office said she heard a smashing sound from the direction of the post office on the night of the murder. She was ill at the time, and although she attempted to investigate she collapsed. The case is expected to last for a week. .