BABY MURDER CASE

Evening Star, Issue 18046, 14 August 1922, Page 5

BABY MURDER CASE

TRIAL OF YOUNG MARRIED COUPLE. BOTH PLEAD NOT GUILTY. TEN CROWN WITNESSES. The trial of Stuart Cecil Harland and his young wife, Heatherbelle Harland, on the charge of the murder of their infant female child at Dunudin oa or about June 17 last was comm, red in the Supremo Court this morniug before His Honor Mr Justice Hashing and the following jury of twelve: Wm. Lishner (foreman), Duncan Trainor, '’jiomas George Thomson, James Hamilton irquharson, Alfred George Walker, Wm. jharles Craig, Dugald Patterson, Wm. JVatson, Albert Edward Richards, Walter Ellis, Robert Leslie Morrison, and Andrew Watt. There were twenty-one challenges, the Crown exercising its right in thirteen cases and the defence in eight (each prisoner being entitled to six challenges). Mr A. C. Hanlon, with Mr B. S. Irwin, appeared lor the accused, who pleaded not Juilty. THE CROWN’S CASE.

Mr E. B. Adams (Crown Prosecutor), in opening the case, said that the child was born and murdered at the house of a Mrs Mould, in Dundas street. The female

accused came to Dunedin from the South

ibout the beginning of the year, and at Easter time Harland also come here. The Xmple were manned at the registry office Wo on April 19 last. A fortnight later Mrs Harland, in answer to an advertisement, went to the house of Mrs Mould, in Dundas street, and there rented a double room. Her husband had returned to the Bluff, and the wife went to live alone at Mrs About a fortnight later Harland again came to Dunedin for a week-end. He then returned to the Bluff, where he was employed as a slaughterman. Early in Juno he again visited Dunedin, and remained here until the 50th 6t that month Ho stayed with his wife at Mrs Mould’s practically throughout the 'nonth of June. There was no indication that Harland was pursuing any work while here. He followed his occupation at the Bluff, and it seemed a significant fact that at this .particular time he should have left bis work to stay with his wife here. About July 17 a boy named Harris was paying about near the foot of Park street, Ind there found a parcel near some bush. Whoever put it there was evidently not acquainted with the geography of the town. The parcel was not placed in the hush on the Town Belt. There were private dwellings close to where it was found, vnd anyone who knew the place would iavo gone further on and put the parcel [n the bush where it might still have >een. The boy carried -the parcel to his 'a rents, and the father band that it confined the body of a child. That was on July 17, and the accused were charged vith having committed the murder on June 17. Of course, there was Ho definite evidence as to precisely * T hen the parcel was deposited where I was found. The Crown believed that it ms placed within a day or two of the birth oi the child. If that were the fuse, the body was lying out for practically a month. On examination it did not show signs of putrefaction. The suggestion might be made that it could not have oeen lying out so long without indications pf putrefaction. The answer to that was that at this particular time of the year there was a cold frosty spell for about a honth. A point that had to bo borne in Hind was that the body was well wrapped ip, and that would tend to check decomjositlon. There would be medical evilence as_ to what temperatures covered putrefaction. The body was found in a ihady spot, where the sun would have difficulty in reaching it. It weighed about Ojjlb, was in a healthy condition, and well nourished, and was fully developed. It would also be proved that the lungs were /oil of air. There were two pieces of tape round the neck. The body was wrapped in a piece of tablecloth, a towel, ind two pieces of brown paper. ihere was nothing at this paa'ticular stage to connect any particular person With the charge.. On one of the pieces of japer being examined it transpired that there was written on it the name of Mr Lange, who, it was afterwards ascertained, was a student living at Knox College, hrem what he said on being seen ?y detectives, it appeared that Mr i ( ange was in the habit of taking his washing to Mrs Mould. He said his prac■fe W^en k® got his washing back with his name on the paper, to take the fiper and the string with which it was tied and put them away in a* drawer' for us© again. The paper would be returned F Mrs Mould with Mr Lange’s name on t- .Mrs Mould, on being shown the paper, recognised the writing as being hers. On the second piece of paper, with the name °f Aliken and Sons, tailors,-on it, bein'' mown to Mrs Mould, she identified it as .laving received it from Aitken and Sons with a costume coat wrapped in it., Mrs Mould also recognised the towel which was wrapped round the body as her property. The piece of tablecloth was recogmsed as having belonged to Mrs Harliwich, who kept the Hotel Carrington at Gore, where the accused) had stayed some time previously. Similar pieces of tablecloth were found in the room occupied by the accused at Mrs Mould’s. It was Mrs Harliwich’s habit to sew tape round the corners of her tablecloths, and pieces done in the same way had bean found. The case_ for the Crown impended on circumstantial evidence, and the impression might get abroad that it was weaker than other evidence, but that was not so. Round the neck of the child were pieces of tape which corresponded with tape found in the room occupied by the accused. A towel from the Hotel Carrington was also found in their room. About the-iniddle of June last Mrs Harland was in an advanced state of pregnancy. Detective Beer saw the accused at the Bluff, and subsequently at Invercargill, where a statement was mad© by Mrs Harland. The accused came to Dunedin, and the woman was examined by Dr EVans. A search of the room occupied by the accused in Dundas street revealed ‘blood-stained towels and cloths in a suit case. There were also blood! stains on the mattress and on a jersey coat which Mrs Harland was in the habit of wearing. Further, a piece of tape was found with blood stains on the end of it. Mrs Mould would say that on the morning of Saturday, June 17, the male accused asked her k> see lis wife, as she had not been well all night. Witness went to the room pnd tried to persuade Mrs Harland to crjl a doctor, out she replied that she would soon be all right. ’ She remained in bed until the Sunday afternoon. On the evidence the jury should have no difficulty in* finding that ,the child found in Park street was the child of the two accused, and that it had been murdered. THE EVIDENCE.

George Lawrie, assistant building sr veyor to the City Corporation, gave form evidence regarding the plan of Mrs Monk bouse.

Neil Harris, a boy seven years of age, deposed to having found the parcel in the bush. He took this homo to his father. He remembered the police coming afterwards. He showed them the spot where lie had found) the parcel. John Harris, father of the previous witness, attendant at the Dunedin Hospital, and residing al, 11 Park street, said he , remembered July 17. On. that d;iy his boy brought home to him a parcel, which he said he had found. This was about 4 o’clock in the afternoon. The parcel was about a foot long, and the outside wrapping was of brown paper. ' On opening at he found the body of a child. Witness rang up the police, and did not touch the body until they came. There was doth as well as paper around ' the child. Hvn»d Braithwaite Lange, medical stu4mV residing at Knox College, said ho bad been in the habit of taking his wash&to Mrs Mould’s. 92 Dundaa street, on days. He usually called for it aftergWSkrde, and it was arrays wrapped in bwwn paper. His name was usually writtMa on the parcel in pencil. When he got the parcel homo ho usually, after opening It, placed th* paper,’ together with the and « notebook, in .the bottom.

drawer of a duchess©. Several other students at the college sent' their washing to Mrs Mould. It was witness’s practice to use the same paper when again talcing his washing to Mrs Mould. He was shown a piece of brown paper by the detective, and identified it, by reason'of his name being on, as a piece in which he had received hia washing. He knew nothing of the body of the child found in Park street until spoken to by the police, ami could in no way account for, the papei being found round the body. Another piece of paper bearing the name of Aitken and Son was shown _ him by the police, but'he had not seen it before. The towel produced was also shown him. He had never seen this before either. To Mr Hanlon: In the first place he put his washing into a piece of brown papei’, and took it to Mrs Mould. He could not say how many pieces of paper were used in his transactions with Mis Mould. He had been taking his washing there from March to June, and was still doing so. There might bo several pieces of brown paper in Dunedin with name on it. Some students took them laundry in laundry bags and) others m brown paper. Alexander Maine Aitken. tailor, said no knew Mrs Mould. Ho remembered her getting a costume coat* altered at his shop. This was in .May of this year. Ho delivered tbo coat to Mrs Mould in a piece of bro wn paper at his shop. Iho writ ing upon it witness took to bo.that of aMr M'Connochie, who was agent for the firm from whom witness got some tweed. To Mr Hanlon: Ho could not swear that the paper went to Mrs Mould, only that it came from his place. Ihere was a possibility that there had been dozens of pieces of paper addressed similarly to him by the same people. Elizabeth Jane Harliwich, proprietress of the Carrington Hotel. Gore, said she remembered the female accused staying at her place under the name of Miss Smith. She stayed with witness for about three nights. Mr Harland cam© along on April 17, and both lg£t next morning. _ They occupied) separate rooms. Witness identified the towel produced by the name upon it. The piece of tablecloth produced was similar to some which they had; she could not identify it. Sometimes she sewed tapes around the comers of tablecloths; the piece produced showed the mark of a tape having at one time been sewn on. This practice of sewing on tape was a common one with most housewives and the like.

To Mr Hanlon: That the stitching on the cloth was something after the style of her own was fis far as she could say. James Dick, draper, with an experience of over fifty years in the linen trade, said he had examined the pieces of tablecloth produced. Each; ivas of tho same pattern and same quality as far as he could judge, and might be portions of tho same tablecloth. There was nothing common or uncommon about tho it was what is known as the ivy leaf with the key border. Cross-examined: That kind of material came out sometimes as tablecloths and sometimes in pieces. Many such pieces might be imported at the same time and bo of the same pattern and quality as the pieces produced. David Tannock, superintendent of reserves for the City of Dunedin, also local observer for the Meteorological Department, produced a chart showing the minimum and maximum and mean temperatures observed for the period between June 17 aid July 17. This showed tho average mean maximum temperature to be 47.9, the average mean minimum 36.2, the mean 42, and the mean terrestrial temperature 30. His opinion was that it would he colder near the ground than 4ft above the ground. To His Honor: The was unusually low for the time of year, averaging 3deg of frost for the whole period. Cross-examined: There was no frost for the first three days after June 17. Any sort of cover, such as foliage, would prevent temperature going so low as it would in the ease of an object being left uncovered. La lira Mould said that Mrs Harland engaged a room at her house, saying that she had been staying with her husband’s people for a time, but wanted to leave there, and subsequently that she would he married a year in August. Her husband, she said, was a slaughterman. She came to stay about May 3, her husband bringing some luggage tho previous night. Mr Harland came up for a week-end about a fortnight later, and l again about the beginning of June, staying this time till tho 17th of that month, when they left, saying they were returning to Bluff. Both Mr and Mrs Harland repeatedly told witness that it was their intention not to have any family; thait they wanted to have a goo;l time, and travel. Witness suspected Mrs Hariand’s condition at first, but after what had been said had thought no more about it. Mrs Harland always wore a loose jersey. On the night of June 16 Mrs Harland had a bath and went to bed, and witness heard Mr Harland walking up and down stairs from midnight and through the early morning. She concluded iff was Mr Harland tfom the noise and from the fact that ho had mention©! next morning that he had been up and down stairs. The same thing happened three or four nights afterwards. She heard no noises from the adjoining bedroom. Mr Harland, on the first occasion, had told her his wife had been “very ’crook” all night, and asked her to see her, and persuaded) her to see a doctor. Witness saw Mrs Harland, who said she had been unwell, but would not see a doctor. , Continuing her evidence after the luncheon interval, Laura Mould said that Mrs Harland did not leave the house after her illness until the Wednesday. Before leaving finally the latter said she might return any time. Witness missed two towels about a fortnight before the couple left, and a sheet after they had gone. Witness identified one towel (the one found round the body) as having belonged to her, and said the other was similar to the one she missed. She also identified her own handwriting on the piece of paper, stating that she was in the oi wrapping Mr Lange’s washing in orown paper. The students nearly always brought their washing in the same piece of paper, until it was worn sufficiently to warrant a change. Witness'borrowed some tape from Mrs 'Harland at one time, returning other tape in its place—similar to the tape produced. Witness washed the sheets and pillowcases from the accused’s room after they left. She found some bloodstains on the sheets. The clothes found by the detectives subsequently in tho room were also bloodstained. Mrs Harland had leftseveral things, including a suit case, behind, and some of the clothes were found in this, others under the mattress. Mr Hanlon had no questions to -ask. Detective Beer was the next witness. The case was proceeding at 4 p.m. ■