SECOND TRIAL

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 48, 25 August 1925, Page 16

SECOND TRIAL

CHARGE OF MURDER AGAINST PETER MOUAT

■" NO DIRECT EVIDENCE."

(BI TELERRAFB. PRESS ASSOCIATION.) i CHRISTCHURCH, 24th August. The second trial of Frederick- Peter Mouat, who is alleged to have murdered his wife, Ellen Louise Mouat, at St. Martin's on or about 20th February, and biirnetl the body, was, commenced to-day in the Supreme Court before Mr. Justice Reed. Mr. A. T. Donnelly aippeared for the orown, and counsel for Mouat were Messrs. C. S. Thomas and W. J. Sim. In answer to his Honour, Mr. Donnelly said that the trial would last till Thursday.. _ The Crown challenged ten jurors and the defence two. In his opening address . the Crown Prosecutor (Mr. Donnelly) said that the jury must give to the case impartial consideration. The case for the Crown sought to prove two simple facts—the death of Mrs. Mouat and the killing by Mouat. There was no direct evidence on either point. When the woman entered her home at 10 p.m. on 19th February she was alone with Mouat, and she had not been seen by anyone but Mouat since that time. From noon on 20th February, Mouat, until a fortnight later, persistently and consistently made contradictory lying statements regarding the disappearance of his wife. In the garden of his home were found 31 tell-tale human bones, which it was submitted were all that remained of the murdered woman. The crime could be reconstructed but imperfectly. Mouat's method had been carried out with skill and almost complete success. Mouat had been tripped up by an oversight. It was contended that the bones could not be those of anybody else but Mrs. Mouat. Mr. Donnelly then detailed the . evidence, and concluded by saying that if a crime were committed jn. the,heat,of an_ argument and 'without premeditation it was manslaughter."; In.a case,.of irnjr,d,er;,the jury could, if it considered proper, acquit accused on that charge,^ and convict on a charge of manslaughter. If the jury in the present case were satisfied that Mouat deliberately killed Mrs. Mouat it should convict of murder. If it took .a more lenient view and inferred that he.killed her, but felt that;it would be unsafe to convict him "of murder, it would be warranted in convicting of manslaughter. If the jury felt that the Crown had failed and that there was a reasonable doubt as to whether Mrs. Mouat were dead, or, if she were dead, as to whether Mouat was criminally connected with her disappearance, it should acquit. Professor Gowland was giving expert evidence regarding the nature ,of the bones found when'the Court adjourned.