PIHA FIRE CASE

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 119, 23 May 1939, Page 5

PIHA FIRE CASE

TRIAL OF TWO MEN

EVENTS REVIEWED

(By Telegraph—Press Association.)

AUCKLAND, May 22

The trial was continued in the Supreme Court this afternoon of two Australians, Gordon Robert McKay, aged 43, alias Tom Bowlands, wool and hide dealer, and James Arthur Tal T bot; aged 38, labourer, on charges en which they were committed for trial by the Lower Court.

The charges were that, on or about February 12, they wilfully set fire to a dwelling-house, thereby committing arson, and that, on or about February 10, they interfered with a dead human body.'They were further charged with conspiring by deceit to defraud the Mutual Life and Citizens Assurance Company, Ltd., Sydney, of £25,500 by representing that McKay was dead. Mr. Justice Fair presided. Mr. V. R. Meredith, with him Mr. N. I. Smith, appeared for the Crown, and Mr. W. Noble defended McKay and Mr. J. Terry defended Talbot. The arrest of McKay was described, after the luncheon adjournment, by Mr. Meredith, who then told of tests made by the Government Analyst with ashes and other debris from the Piha fire. He said that Dr. Walter Gilmour. pathologist, would give evidence about bones found at the fire and his conclusion that the whole body had been burned. Dr. Gilmour also made the significant discovery that some partlyburned cotton wool was still adhering to the palate of the skull, indicating that what had been burnt in the fire was a dead body, which had been lafd out for burial. briefly outlining the charges, Mr. Meredith said there was the fact that McKay was heavily insured. The premium was due on February 1 and the policy lapsed unless a substantial sum of, money was paid by March 1. "These two men come to New Zealand," continued Mr. Meredith. "They hire a car and they go to Piha and to Avondale, where they hire a garage in a side street, near Waikumete Cemetery. McKay 'makes inquiries from young Shine about' the condition of his father's teeth. The body is exhumed at night. The following afternoon they hire a garage. You have evidence that they ask the owner of the garage if it will make any difference what time they come in. They say they may be late. "After they leave the garage there is no car and there are no bundles in the garage, but a shovel and sack are left behind. It is definitely established that the clay found in the garage was similar to the clay which came from Shine's grave. "Then, after leaving the garage, they appear at Piha, where they are seen by residents that night. We have a fire, and from the time of that fire McKay disappears and is not seen till he is found by the police wearing a beard. He then says he is 'Tom Bowlands.', He has to be identified by someone from Australia. FIRE IN BACH. "Some of the main acts have been done by McKay and some by Talbot. Why is the garage hired? To drop something in, it will be alleged." It was quite clear, said Mr. Meredith, that a dead body had been burned on that bed at Piha Once the jury had come to the conclusion that the two accused removed the body from its grave, the question was, what were they going to do with it? It jmust be destroyed or something done with it. A person did not take a corpse out to Piha to recuperate with, after having his teeth out. ' Shine's body was destroyed that night in the burning of the house at Piha, Mr. Meredith contended. It had to be destroyed. The < next question was, could there be any motive in this case? The motive might be found in the huge insurance policy which was going to be payable to someone on McKay's death. What object could there be in exhuming a body, committing a*rson, and destroying the body and then cabling immediately to - Sydney information about a man's death? There must be an object of gain to someone.

Referring to 'he conspiracy charge, Mr. Meredith said that perhaps the intention to carry out.the acts had been formulated in New South Wales, but a conspiracy was the acting, in\ concert or combination of two people to do something unlawful, and, so long as that combination existed, so also did the conspiracy exist.

Mr. Noble rose to say that he disagreed with the prosecutor's interpretation of conspiracy.

His Honour said Mr. Meredith was making submissions, and, if his submissions turned out to be incorrect, Mr. Noble would have an opportunity to draw attention to that fact.

Mr. Meredith closed his address at 2.50 p.m., when his Honour announced that it had been deemed advisable for the jury to visit the garage at Avondale, the bach at Piha, and the Waikumete Cemetery. That would be,done that afternoon.

The trial was then adjourned. <