POISON MURDER

Greymouth Evening Star, 17 September 1940, Page 2

POISON MURDER

WIFE WRITES CONFESSION The Appeal Court in Bloemfontein (South Africa) confirmed the conviction of Mrs. Irene Adelaide Blyth for the murder of her husband, Lindsay Harry Blyth, when it answered in favour of the Crown questions of law reserved for its consideration by the Witwatersrand Supreme Court when convicting Mrs. Blyth. The questions of law reserved raised the issues of mainly whether the confession made by her was rightly admitted in evidence, and if so, whether there was evidence in addition to the confession which warranted a conviction. The confession was contained in a letter written by Mrs. Blyth to the police, which read: “This is a confession to the fact that I murdered my husband, Lindsay Harry . Blyth, on January 2, 1939, by arsenical poisoning.” This letter, dated October 20, 1939, was the first thing to cast doubt on Mr. Blyth’s having died a natural death. The day after its receipt by the police Mrs. Blyth denied that it was true, and said in a further written statement to the police: “I played the fool when I wrote this letter to the police. I wrote it when I was in a fit of temper. I had a row with the man I am now living with. It was to spite him that I wrote this letter.” As a result of the letter Mr. Blyth’s body was disinterred about nine months after burial', and found to contain a considerable amount of arsenic, which had caused death. The trial Court found that Mrs. Blyth had Jived a life of great misery with Mr. Blyth, who was a heavy drinker, and, considering that extenuating circumstances had been proved, imposed a sentence of life imprisonment instead of'capital punishment.