WOMAN CHARGED

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 90, 13 October 1944, Page 6

WOMAN CHARGED

DEATHS OF THREE BOYS

P.A. WANGANUI, October 12. ■ As the result of the deaths of three f Maori, boys, aged 6, 7, and 11 years respectively,- who were found at Putiki.with fatal head wounds on May 11 last, a married Maori woman, Alice Te Patu, 48, was committed by Mr; J. H. Salmon, S.M., today, to the Supreme Court, 'Wanganui, next month for' trial oh charges- of murder. Bobo Te Weri; aged 6, R'angi Te Weri, 7, and Ruakawa Te Weri, 11, suffering ;from severe wounds in their heads, were found by their aunt, Mrs. Mihi Kui Emia, with, whom they were living. Subsequently, the .accused, - also suffering* from wounds, was. found. ■ Dr. C. R; Davies said /he found one of the boys with a fractured skull in one room and the two others, also with their skulls fractured, in another room. Two,were already dead. The third was unconscious and died a quarter of an hour later. Witness found the accused in the sunporch. She was suffering from scalp wounds and he ordered her to ~be taken to hospital. She. was unconscious. Nearby was a bloodstained axe. Her wounds could have been self-inflicted. Detective-Sergeant J. K. Robertson, answering Mr. J. Hussey, who appeared for the,- accused, said she had been under medical observation' at Porirua. Mr. Hussey: Have you any report regarding those observations? Witness: Not yet, but the superintendent of the mental hospital wants her back there. Witness added that he had information from Dr. H. L. Widdpwson^ medical superintendent, Wanganui Public Hospital/and Dr. P. P. Lynch, pathologist, Wellington, that the accused was riot sane. . '■■ : :-