LIFE SENTENCE
SMITH'S CRIME
The escaped prisoner Smith was sentenced to death at Timaru on February 4, 1938, for the murder of an. aged storekeeper, Mr. William Gaby, at Arundel, Canterbury. The victim was found dead in the kitchen at tlie back of his shop with his hands tied together behmd his back with a bootlace, arid his ankles tied loosely together. Death had apparently been caused by a blow on the head from heavy blunt instrument. 11 was pleaded on behalf of the accused that fc© struck the deceased, but-without any intention to kill. ,
The sentence, of death passed by Mr. jfustic* Nar&croft was commuted to
imprisonment for life by the Executive Council and was announced by the Minister of Justice on March 8,. 1938. The Minister then stated that although, the prisoner's mental condition was probably not such as to cause him to be entitled to acquittal on the ground of insanity, and consequently no evidence of insanity was submitted at the trial, the prisoner had, in fact, been confined in mental hospitals at intervals for.many years. Mental experts advised without doubt that the prisoner was insane.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19401002.2.115.3
Bibliographic details
Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 81, 2 October 1940, Page 11
Word Count
189LIFE SENTENCE Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 81, 2 October 1940, Page 11
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