MISS PILE'S DEATH

Evening Star, Issue 17394, 2 July 1920, Page 4

MISS PILE'S DEATH

A CHARGE OF MURDER. HELESf GLEGG BEFORE THE COURT. The circumstances concerning the death of Olive May Pile, aged 20 years, who was ; found dead in a house at South Dunedin occupied by Helen Glegg (an elderly woman), were inquired into in the Police Court-this morning, when the- woman Glegg was charged with that, on or about the 28th of Slay last, she did murder the girl in question. Mr J. R. Bartholomew, S.M. \ presided. ' ';

Mr A. C. Hanlon appeared for accused. William John Pik, fisherman, residing at Karitane. said that deceased was his ' daughter. He identified her body at the j morgue on the I,4th: 6 of June last. Sha 1 was 20 years and 2" months old. Up to | nine months ago she lived all' her life at ! home. She was- employed at Oamaru osr a j servant, and was lately a wardress at the j Seaciiff Mental Institution. He found out I about her condition a month before her J 'death. She left home, and neither wit- ■'. nese nor his wife knew where she was. { Witness was twice in Dunedin inquiring : for her. He received no notice from accused that his daughter was at her house. Charles- Thomas Burdett, surfaceman, in the employ of the Railway Department, [ residing at Oamaru, said -that he met de- '; ceased there seven or eight months ago. I He went out with her several* times. : About four os. five weeks ago Mr Pile and deceased saw witness. On the Wednesday following witness came to Dunedin. He met deceased the nert day. Thev caught a St._ Hilda tramcar and got off at the Kensington corner, and proceeded to the house of accused.

The Magistrate warned witness that he need not answer questions that might in« criminate him.

Witness, proceeding, said that acctfsed took witness and deceased to the sitting room. They were in the house a few minutes when accused asked what they were going to do. Deceased had apparently been at the house fcefore .unknown to witness. He told accused he did not care what it was going to cost, that he was prepared to pay. She replied that tho cost would be £29. Witness paid her. He stayed in the house for about 20 minutes. Accused left the room, leaving witness and deceased together. Witness took his departure, leaving the girl hi the : house. He returned to Oamaru. The following -Monday afternoon he received a telegram irom Dunedin: "All well. M. Pile." He also received a letter from May Pile, and went to Dunedin on Saturday, the 12th of June. He destroyed the telegram and letter. On arrival at Dunedin he went to accused's house. It would be about a quarter-past 10 o'clock at night when he got there. Accused opened the door, and witness went into the passage. She asked him if he was the girl's boy, and he replied "Yes." She then told him that the girl was dead. Witness had previously asked her if he could see Miss Pile. Accused added that the girl had been dead about an hour. Witness said : " What am I going to do-?" and she said: " What am I going to do?" She said that she had sent for a doctor, hut he had not arrived. She said that deceased had given her the 'address of her father's home. She told witness to get away as quickly as he could. He then left the place. She told ; him not to say anything about it. Wit- j ness stopped in the Provincial Hotel until i the Monday morning. He never gave ac-i cused his name and address.

Mr Hanlon had no questions to ask. John HungerfordNaylor Bowman, clerk in the employ of Mr Wilkinson, solicitor, said he had been boarding with Mrs Glegg for sis weeks tub* prior to the death of Miss Pile. Just before 7 o'clock on Juno 12 he rang up Dr Lindon at the request of accused. She said the girl had an attack of bronchitis. LaterJ witness again rang up Dr Lindon at the request of accused, and told him he was urgently required. The house had four rooms, and witness occupied a bedroom at the back. A Mr Martin was another boarder, who slept on the sofa in the kitchen. Witness knew Miss Pile was in the house, but he never saw nor spoke to her. Ke -thought he heard_ another woman in the house. No drinking went on in the house on the night of the 12th. witness had been out, and it was just when he arrived home that he was asked to telephone. John William Hall, assistant superintendent of Dunedin Telegraph Office, produced a telegram handed in at 12.47 p.m. on May 21 Addressed "to Burdett and with" an endorsement on the hack giving the address of accused. Another telegram was handed in at 3.15 p.m. en June 4, and was addressed to It. M'Leod, Hartley Arms Hotel. Clyde, stating : "Send party next week," and signed *"" Glegg." The endorsement on the two telegrams was, in his opinion, in the same handwriting. Dr Lindon said that on the 12th of June he received a telephone message to go to Mrs Glegg's house. He received a second urgent message. He arrived at the house shortly after 9 o'clock at night, and found a young woman in bed dead. She was partially laid out, with a handkerchief round the jaw., The body was quite warm. An examination of the body did not show any marks of violence. He < i learnt from acccsed that the girl had been in the house about a fortnight, and had

not been very well for a few days, that she had rheumatic fever "two years,, and that she suddenly became ilj ihafc night and had died. Accused said she thought the girl must have died from heart failure. She showed him a book to indicate that the girl had not been very ill, as she hatf been reading in the afternoon. Accused told him if he had arrived earlier he could have seen that the girl was dying from heart failure. Being unable to give a certificate as to the cause of death, he reported the matter at once to the police. Constable Hart said that the last witness reported the death of deceased. Witness went to the house of accused, and there saw deceased. Accused said that aha was a friend of hers, and that her namei was May Pile: that she arrived at her •place on the 27th of Mav from Puketeraki for the purpose of spending a holiday prior to seeking employment. She said that sho occupied the same bed as deceased, and; that on the night of the 10th of June sho' heard her heart thumping. She asked her; if anything was the matter, and she :e-j plied " No." The following day deceased" went to Lamb's Pharmacy, in Rattray street, and* bought sixpence worth of sal volatile. Accused added that they -went to bed at a quarter to 10 o'clock the samo evening, and that she attended to her. Deceased did not complain of feeling ill. At 7.30 the same evening she said deceased began to breathe heavily, and realising that something was the natter she sent for Dr Lindon. She said that the girl continued to breathe deeply, and that she died in her arms. Prior to leaving the house accused asked witness to have a beer. He visited the house shortly before midnight, and from the street could hear voices and loud laughter. Dr Drennan, Government Pathologist,who made a post mortem, gave evidence that the cause of death was septic infection. Ho could find no trace of any recent injury which woa'd account for; the septic condition. Chief-detective Bishop then called Wil- . liam Keith M'Leod, laborer, of Clyde, | whose evidence, he explained, applied to ' this and another chargo against accused, who would later be charged with that on;

June 9 she did; with intent to procure : a certain result, unlawfully use an instm* ■ ment. The Magistrate formally cautioned th.e ' witness that he need* not answer any question that might incriminate him. Witness said! he had: been keeping company with Miss Rose Williams, and; in •' April last he wrote to Mra Glegg. On J-:me 4 he received l a telegram in answer. Four days later Miss Williams left for Dunedin to 20 to accused's house. Witness later received a telegram from Miss Williams to say that she was in hospital. Sergeant "Thqmson said_ that at about 11 a.m. on June 13 he visited the home of accused: with Detective Hall, and in the front room found the dead body of May > Pile lying on a bed. There were no external marks of violence. After describing the finding of the instruments by. Detective Hall, the sergeant said that 1 when thev enter the room where' Rose Williams was accused said there . was no one in the room. Detective Hall said he was going in.' and when he did! I he found Rose Williams in the room. i Atthis stage the case was adjourned! till the afternoon. *

r. Dr Evans said" that he vent to accused's 'house on Sunday, jAe 13th of June, nnd . cxammed a girl named Rose Williams, lying in bed ill. He cams to the ' conclusion that she was suffering from .Wood-poisoning, and had her removed to 1 rt S' He Vras of the °P inioll that there had been some external interference. i >le agreed with Dr Drennan's findings of j *™'POft mortem held on the body of the i girl Pile. The case, was proceeding at 4 p.m.