ATTEMPTED MURDER CHARGE

Greymouth Evening Star, 19 January 1944, Page 2

ATTEMPTED MURDER CHARGE

LAD’S TRIAL OPENED

„ BLENHEIM, January 19. on October 4 of last year, a 15-year-old boy. Alan Joseph Pope, walked, into the Post Office aff'the township of Ward and said: “I have murdered Mrs Robertson.” The latter is the mother-in-law of Gordon Roberts, a well-known Ward farmer, lor whom Pope, who was under the charge of the Child Welfare Department, had been, working for about three months. The postmistress, Miss Fay McAlpine, rang the police at Seddon, who on arrival collected the boy and took him back To Robertson’s farm, where on the kitchen floor was found the apparently lifeless body of Mrs Robertson, covered with a sack and bearing the marks of a savage attack on the head. An ambulance was summoned from . Blenheim, 30 miles away, and Mrs Robertson was conveyed to hospital, where her life hung in the balance for days. Eventually, however, although suffering from at least two fractures of the skull, she recovered, and to-day was able to give an account to the Magistrate of the events leading up to the attack when Pope was charged with attempted murder.

. The case was conducted by Detec-tive-f Sergeant Hayhurst, of Nelson, and Mr A. A. Mac Nab represented accused, who pleaded not guilty. .. In 'evidence Mrs Robertson testified that, accused had been well treated by his employer and was regarded as one ot the family. One day .Pope complained of rheumatism, and witness offered him a bottle of oil of Wintergreen, warning him that it was poisonous. On October 4 Mr and Mrs Roberts went to Blenhetim for the day, leaving her and accused alone on the farm. The day was wet and Pope was in the house. There was a pot of soup on. the electric stove, and when witness went upstairs she asked accused to give tne soup an occasional stir. When she returned to the kitchen the room was full of fumes. The soup was intended for the evening meal when the Robertsons would have returned. Witness tasted the soup, which was dreadful. Accused claimed that if there was anything in it it must have got there accidentally. After lunch accused, who had gone outside, returned to the kitchen for a drink of water. She next remembered lying on the floor, and heard somebody running upstairs. She had no reason to suspect accused would attack her. (Proceeding).