WAIKINO MURDER
COMMUTATION OF
SENTENCE
PUBtIC CONCERN EXPRESSED
The decision of the Executive Council to commute the death sentence on the Waikino murderer, Douglas Herbert Cartman, has been the subject of indignant criticism on the part of a number of people, in view of the circumstances of the crime. Inquiries made by the "Evening Post" as a result of this expression of .opinion- reveal the fact that in addition to its being part of the Government's policy not to carry out the death sentence, Cartman himself was of sub-normal mentality, without being legally insane. Those who are concerned with the Government's leniency in this instance point out that in the summing up of. the case by Mr. Justice Fair, he said that the evidence indicated that Cartman' knew what he was doing at the time he did it. In view of this, and the horrible brutality of the crime, those who have voiced their protest against the decision of the Executive Council feel that the extreme penalty as imposed by the Court should be carried out. It is learned from official quarters, however, that there is no power to alter the decision of the Executive Council.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19401001.2.90
Bibliographic details
Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 80, 1 October 1940, Page 9
Word Count
196WAIKINO MURDER Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 80, 1 October 1940, Page 9
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