Young Man For Trial On Charge Of Murder

Greymouth Evening Star, 14 October 1948, Page 4

Young Man For Trial On Charge Of Murder

(P.A.): - WELLINGTON, October 13. - After a 1 hearing;in the Magistrate’s Court, Wellington, which lasted until after 9 p.m., Edward Raymond Horton,- aged 20, blacksmith’s striker, who is charged with the murder of Mrs Katherine Gladys.' Cranston on Mount' Victoria on ' September 26, pleaded not guilty. He was committed by Mr A. A. McLachlan, S.M., for trial at the sessions of the Supreme Court, which open in Wellington on Monday. The Crown case was conducted by the Crown Prosecutor (Mr W. H. Cunningham), assisted by DetectiveSergeant F. O. Scott, who took a leading part in police investigations. Mr A. J. Mazengarb appeared for the. accused. • ■ Men Seen On Mount Victoria Giving evidence after the luncheon adjournment, Arthur George. White, aged'll, said he and.a friend, Peter Dalrymple, were playing in the' park on Sunday morning in question. On the way back they saw a man on one of the tracks going up Mount Victoria. They decided to play at following him. When they were about 10 yards from the man two dogs the witness and his friend had with them rah and jumped at the man. When the .man saw them he went faster and then went into the bushes. They then saw a' second man and switched the game to him, following him to a house in Alexandra road. The second man was in . khaki longs and might have had a blue shirt. The first man was wearing a blue suit with white stripes and a blue shirt. The shirt produced was similar to that worn by the first man, said the witness, but the trousers produced were not tfie same. It. was about 11 a.m. when they saw the men. Peter Hew Dalrymple, gave evidence on similar lines. George Wallace Stewart, a storeman, said he had known the accused for about 10 months. About 2.30 p.m. on Sunday, September 26, he saw the accused half-way along Countenay place. The witness stopped to talk to the accused and saw bloodstains on his pullover and under his right eye. The witness mentioned the blood and the accused said he had been in a fight during the morning. The accused, said witness, should have seen his trousers. They were “absolutely spattered with blood.” As far as the witness could remember, the accused asked if he .had any money and the witness said no. When Stewart was giving evidence of accused’s remarks about the bloodstains, the accused called across the Court: “Why don’t you tell the truth for a time?” Frederick John William Clark, orchardist, said he travelled with the accused from Christchurch on the Tuesday before Sunday, September 26. The accused had little money and the witness gave him 15s. He met the accused in the New City Hotel, Wellington, on the Friday and gave him £l. On the Saturday morning he gave him more —how much he could not say exactly. The witness did not see the accused on the Sunday. On the Monday he saw the accused at the New City Hotel again. The accused was again short of money and the witness again gave him some. The accused was dressed in different coat and trousers from those in which he had travelled from Christchurchh.

Conversation On Station

The accused showed witness a cut on the hand, which was swoollen, and said he had been in a fight with a Maori outside a restaurant on Sunday evening. The witness mentioned to the accused that he intended to go to Palmerston North that evening. When the witness went to catch the Limited the accused met him and said he would like to go to Palmerston North or Nelson and sought help with his fare. While they were talking two policemen came up and the accused went away with them.

William James Davis said he was living in Room 1 at the People’s Pal; ace during the week-end, September 25-27, and was sharing a room with a man called Hellyer. The witness was employed at the Pier Hotel. When he went to his room on the Saturday after work the accused was there with Hellyer and remained all night, the accused being in Hellyer’s bed. Neither the witness nor Hellyer left their beds on Sunday and had no meals. When the accused left in the morning about .10.30, he was wearing a blue grey suit and witness identified a suit produced as the suit worn by the accused. The accused returned about 3.30 p.m.

Loan Of Trousers

During the afternoon the witness did hear the accused ask Hellyer for a loan of Hellyer’s blue trousers, and say he wanted to send his own to the dry cleaners. . The witness and Hellyer left the accused in the room at 6.30 p.m., and the accused was still there at 10.30 wheg they returned. Next morning the accused asked Hellyer for a loan of his suit coat. As the witness was dressing himself he picked up accused’s blue shirt from the flooi’ and saw bloodstains on the front as well as on accused’s trousers. The stains looked as if they had been wiped over with a wet cloth.

Raymond James Hellyer, labourer, who was sharing a room at. the People’s Palace with, the previous witness, said he knew the accused. He met him in Herbert street on Sep- ' tember 25 about 7 p.m. The accused I told the witness he had nowhere to stay and the witness invited him to . stay in his room. | The accused left about 10 a.m. on the Sunday and returned about 3 p.m. or 3.30 p.m. The accused had a cut on his finger. The witness did not notice whether there was any t blood on the accused’s clothes. The accused said there had been a fight < “at the pub.” I The accused obtained a loan of witness’s bell trousers and suit coat-

on the grounds that he wanted to have his own cleaned. The condition was that the accused should have his own cleaned on the Monday morning and the lent clothes should be returned by the Monday night. By permission of the police he saw the accused on Tuesday and asked him about the clothes. Accused had nothing to say about witness’s clothes, but said he could not return them as he was not going to tell the police anything about his own. The accused then said they were in two parcels in the closet .between the two 'beds. Richard Barton Simmons, actingdetective, produced the neck of a beer bottle, heavily smeared with blood. It had a sharp spike of glass. The witness said he found it near the body, with other pieces of broken bottle. One giece of glass was on the left calf of le body. Arrest Of Horton ' Cyril ■ William Naylor, acting-detec-

tive, said that with Detective Baker he was on duty at the railway' stationabout 6.50 p.m.. He saw the accused. He asked him his name arid address and his reason for being on the station. As a result of this the witness felt Horton should be questioned more closely, and asked him ro go to the detective' office for further questioning. At the police station the accused 1 made a statement in which he described. his movements. By order of the witness’s superiors, the accused was arrested on an idle and disorderly charge. Detective-Sergeant Albert lan Knapp said he accompanied a pathologist to the scene of the tragedy. Later he found deceased’s watch suspended m foliage 15 feet down the bank from where the body was found. It had stopped at 12.5. It was covered with blood and the moire wristband had i been undone, and was fully extended. ! Later the roadway was searched and spots of blood were found. Spots oi blood were also found down the bank. There were three patches of blood on a flat below, the roadway. The witness produced pieces ot a broken beer bottle found at the scene. Pathologist’s Evidence I Philip Patrick Lynch, pathologist, described the injuries to the body. He said that with Dr J. O. Mercer he made a post-mortem examination. He also examined clothing belonging to the accused and accused himself. The body when found, said the witness, was on its back, with the clothes forced right up round the neck. One leg was completely naked. In his opinion death had occurred only a few. hours before. Later that evening he ascertained that the body had been violated. ...... x .i. i Dr Lynch said he concluded that the deceased had been struck a number of blows on the head and at least three on the face. The deceased had been throttled with violence and had received multiple stab wounds. The deceased could not have survived for more than one hour. The blows and stabs could have been delivered with a bottle. It was not necessary to suppose any other weapon was used. i Detective’s Evidence

Detective-Sergeant Fergus Oliver Scott said he saw the accused when he was brought to the police station on the night of September 27 and saw the cuts on his right hand. When the earlier witness, Hellyer, wanted to see the accused on Tuesday about Hellyer’s suit, the witness asked the accused where the a'ccused's own clothes could be recovered. The accused told witness that he had dumped his clothes by the conveniences at Courtenay place. A search in that area was fruitless and the accused then said he would tell Hellyer where the clothes were but would say no more to the witness. The witness arranged for Hellyer to see the accused and later the witness recovered the clothes from a cupboard in the office of the People’s Palace. On September 30, said the witness, lie produced the recovered clothes to the accused, and told him they were inquiring into Mrs Cranston's death. He warned the accused than he need not make an explanation, but what he did say would be taken down and might bv used as evidence. ‘The accused then stated that the clothing was his property. He had gone for a walk up to the wireless station. The accused gave details of his actions when he attacked a woman in brown.

Alleged Admissions

The statement, said the witness, included admissions that the bloodstained clothes were those of the accused and that the accused had removed a watch from the deceased's wrist and thrown it into the trees. “The watch said 12.5, and it would have been about that time that I did it,” the statement said. The statement, after saying that the accused had been seized with a sudden impulse and had not premeditated attacking a Woman, gave accused’s description of his later movements and the borrowing of clothes to replace his bloodstained coat and trousers, said the witness.

| Cross-examined by Mr Mazengarb, the witness said there were no stains on the pullover the accused was wearing. The accused was held in the de? , tective office from about 7 p.m. to 11.10 ; p.m. on Monday before being arrested l on the vagrancy charge. The next day Ihe was charged with vagrancy in the ! Magistrate’s Court and remanded. | Mr Mazengarb: An unusual course. | The witness: I would not say so. We ] wanted to make further inquiries. j You had a full admission that he had .no lawful means of support. Was not i that sufficient?—We wanted to inquire ' further.

I The witness said the accused was brought from the Mount Crawford gaol at 9.30 a.m. on Thursday.

I Mr Mazengarb: At what time did you ’ take a statement from him.—About 1.30 p.m.

I Four hours.—Yes. 1 You had suspicions you wanted to look into? —We wanted to make more inquiries about his clothes.