THE APPIN MURDER

Evening Star, Issue 18729, 3 September 1924, Page 8

THE APPIN MURDER

SECOND TRIAL SIMPSON SENTENCED TO DEATH. Press Association—By Telegraph—Copyright, Australian and N.Z, Press Associiiii'.a SYDNEY, September- 2. Simpson was found guilty of the murder of Constable Flynn .and Mr Guy Clift, an irrigation engineer, at Appin in March last, and was sentenced to death. Simpson, in a statement from the dock, •claimed that Mr Clift and Constable Flynn were his best friends. Ho said that thendeaths were accidental. They received fatal wounds in trying to prevent him from committing suicide, which ho intended.

Simpson was previously convicted. He appealed, and a new trial was granted on the grounds of wrongful admission of evidence. Counsel for the accused pointed out that there was no direct evidence as to the firing of tho fatal shots, and that reliance was placed by tho Crown on a statement by Clift. Owing to a flaw in the proceedings the ordinary dying de.positions could not bo made use of, and the Crown sought to take advantage of what was said by Clift in giving his dying depositions as a statement made in the presence of tho accused. Counsel contended that the law could not accept such statements as actual evidence against tho accused. Tho Chief Justice pronounced that it amounted to a miscarriage of justice, and ordered a new trial. Statements made at tho time of the tragedy were that Constable Flynn and on engineer named Guy Clift were conveying to Sydney a prisoner named George Simpson, who was arrested on a charge of breaking and entering at Campbelltown, when he suddenly drew a revolver and shot the constable dead and seriously wounded Mr Clift. He then escaped, but was later recaptured. Simpson was an employee of the Works Department, and was engaged at the Cordeaux dam works. Mr Clift, who subsequently died, was tho superintending engineer.