MAREO CASE

Greymouth Evening Star, 20 July 1942, Page 2

MAREO CASE

ENGLISH EXPERTS’ OPINION

AUCKLAND, July 19

In the considered opinion of Sir William Wilcox, a world famous English toxicologist, who died some time ago, the late Mrs Thelma Marco died of a drug self-administered. Her husband, Eric Mareo, was twice tried for murder and sentenced to death. The sentence was afterwards commuted to life imprisonment. The first trial began on Monday, February 17, 1936.

Sir William Wilcox’s report is believed to have been in the hands of the Attorney-General (Mr Mason) for some months. A copy has been made available for publication in Auckland by Mr Paul Verschaffelt, formerly Public Service Commissioner in New Zealand.

“In my opinion,” stated Sir William Wilcox, “the psycho-neurotic state and mental breakdown from which Thelma Mareo suffered during the last few weeks of her life led to the taking of barbitone to relieve her symptoms, and the mental unbalance resulting from this was associated with her taking the large fatal dose which caused her death. If she had access to veronal the drug was, in my opinion, self-administered, as so commonly is the case in fatal cases of veronal poisoning.” After an exhaustive review of the full record of the first trial and also some information about the second trial, Sir William Willcox expresses the opinion that Thelma Mareo died from veronal pneumonia, adding. “in which no medical treatment had been given.” A second opinion had been given by a leading English criminal lawyer, Mr E. G. Hemmerdc, K.C., who examined the reports of both trials at the request of his sister. “In my opinion,” states Mr Hemmerdc, “the second conviction is profoundly unsatisfactory. The evidence of the Crown seems to me too weak to justify conviction.”