MURDER TRIAL

Evening Post, Volume CXVII, Issue 127, 31 May 1934, Page 12

MURDER TRIAL

-_♦ £ THE BAYLY CASE

SEARCHES OjXt THE FARM

ANOTHER DETECTIVE IN BOX

SIMILAR GROUND COVERED

(By Telegraph—Press Association.) T; ■■■■_ AUCKLAND, May 30. . The' evidence .of Detective T. ' Wi Allsopp having been completed, the second detective of the earliest arrivals :at Kuawaro, Detective . Sneddon, commenced to relate the . result of his investigations at lakey's and. Bayly's properties this afternoon at the trial of William Alfred Bayly on a charge of double murder. Detective Sneddon's evidence covered most of the same points detailed by Detective Allsopp. Public interest in • the trial -was unabated all day. . Bayly is charged with murdering •'"•" Christo.bel Lakey and Samuel Pender Lakey at Buawaro on- October 15, 1933. The Crown Prosecutor,- Mr. V. B. Meredith, with him Mr. F. McCarthy, is prosecuting, while Bayly is repre : sented by Mr. E. H., Northoroft and Mr. L. P. Leary, instructed by Mr. B. •■■ B.'Lusk. Mr.'Justice Hcrdman is on ■ the- Bench. '..'■-. , SYSTEMATIC EXAMINATION. Re-examined by counsel for the Crown, Detective T. W, Allsopp stated that as the material was found it was placed in envelopes, which were ~ marked to show the time it was dis- :.• covered, where found, and what the police thought the exhibit was. The exhibits were then forwarded to .'"; Auckland and, examined by experts. The exhibits on the table in Court were arranged in five sections—from '■" the cowshed, the garden, the sheep '•-■ dip', the orchard, and the pig paddock. :.-' - The grass in Bayly fs orchard was 3ft high,- he continued. <i ' ■ "Was grass growing all over the -. orchard?" asked Mr. Meredith. "On the old digging the grass had just begun growing," replied Detee.;,tivo Allsopp. The whole orchard had been searched carefully, the police working on hands and knees, i In the dug area of the orchard the soil was sieved. All the garden, including the flower borders round the house, had been examined systematically. ■". In the unused portion of the "ac- •-" cused's cowshed witness first saw old unburnt animal bones on December 7. He took' possession of them on "• December 13. Mr. Meredith then referred to the statement' that Bayly made after the '. finding of the guns, in which the accused'said that the guns were not his !. and that he j could not account for ,- them. ■. ~ .'-... . "How soon after the finding of the /guns was that, made?" asked the Crown Prosecutor. ' ■ .'.. "Immediately he came down after .1 had' shown him them," replied De- " tective Allsopp, who was stood down at' 3 p.m., after being in the box for nearly 15 hours. " SEARCH OP SLACK HEAP. Detective Thomas Sneddon, Auck- ■: land, said that he arrived at Buawaro on October 16 with Detective Allsopp ■'-!. and three constables; On arrival at ■>• Lakey's witness met Constable Rob- • ertson, and was- shown Mrs. Lakey's --.. body, which ho described. -.i. Witness described an examination of -f Lakey's duckpond :and the interior of the house. In a wardrobe in the' U bedroom was a cardboard box . con-. v taining. a "man's, fairly new suit (pro-. ;;. duced). /None of the rooms appeared to. have been ransacked. The beds _... were made. There was a telephone in ' the house, but it i was not working. ,• Witness found a letter in the bedroom ■'- and handed it on October 29 to Detec- ;_ tive Walsh. Baking the duckpond on .? the morning of October 17, witness found a woman's hat. Then' he v;. joined a" search party at the lakeside ■ on-Bayly's property. Searches ' were . made at the-lake and in swamps over a.radius of 15 miles. All the- slack ...was-lifted at the Benown Colliery, "but Lakey's body was not found. -Reverting to October 17,- Detective -[ Sneddon said_ that he went to Bayly's j with Detective .Allsopp, visiting the. ■ accused's car-shed. Bayly met them. Witness said they had been interview■»ing settlers as to when they had seen •V Lakey last. The accused agreed to j';: make a statement. '..'■.: vt' : The detective then dealt with the , finding of sledge marks on Bayly's • property, and the: wheels and the • frame under the wattle tree in Lakey's :'/ paddock. The crosspiece of the frame bore congealed blood; a side member of the frame was also bloodstained. < r There was also blood on the left side - of the axle. Part of the crossbar had '~ .. been shaved, but the policS were un- '...- able to. find the shavings. An exr amination of cow. droppings in the same paddock showed sis with wheelmarks through them. EVIDENCE OF BLOODSTAINS. .-'; On October 19 witness went' to ~-. Bayly's with Detective Allsopp. De- <'.-■, tective Allsopp asked Ihe accused if , -■'. anyone had been on his property with , a sledge. : The accused said no. When : Bayly'g sledge was examined stains were found on the lower side- of the floor boards. The accused, who declared that he . did not know what the stains were, -'■ assisted the police tc remove three boards. The fourth board, also with - a stain,-was not removed on that oc- ', casion. Bayly said he had driven the , sledge, off ..the road to inspect a tele- ' phone post. He mounted the fence, J which he thought was leaning over. ■ ■ Witness inspected the post, and found '"' it in order. ';-' When,the wheels and frame were v^Jbeing loaded on aSlorry at Lakey's yard, Constable Flynn handed Detective Allsopp a batten, continued-Detec-V tive Sneddon, who identified the bat- ' ten (produced}. This had a blood- ,' stain on it. The police made a search about the implement shed • and discovered that a batten from the shed '; wall had been whittled. There were "v -Woodstains on a rail, also on- grass, ■'■ stone, chips, and wood tying below. ',"• The'top and bottom rail and seven '■- fattens of the wall were cut out by -the police. ; ';. -The Court then adjourned.