INFANTICIDE CHARGE

Grey River Argus, 22 February 1947, Page 7

INFANTICIDE CHARGE

GREYMOUTH WOMAN Committed for Trial Pleading not guilty to a charge of murdering her infant male child at Greymouth on December 31, 1946, Margaret Campbell Doel, a laundry-hand, married, aged 21 years, was committed to the Supreme Court at Greymouth for trial on March 3, when she appeared before Mr A. A. McLachlan, S.M., in the Magistrate’s Court at Greymouth yesterday. Mr W. D. Taylor appeared for accused, and Mr F A. Kitchingham for the Crown. Yesterday’s heating occupied the greater part of the day, and, in all, fourteen witnesses were called for the Crown.

A schoolboy, aged 10 years, said that on January 4, he was playing on the beach near the southern end of the Greymouth aerodrome with his mother and brother. He found a bag which, when pulled rattled as if it contained stones. He and his brother got a piece of glass and cut the string with which the neck ot the bag was tied. They emptied it on ’to the ground and found it contained some stones, a towel, and the partly decomposed body of a baby. Witness informed his mother of his find, and later in the day, accompanied Detective B. H. Constable to the place where Jhe bag and its contents lay. Seven large stones and a towel produced in court were similar to the ones witness had found in the bag. Corroborative evidence was given by his brother, aged 12 years. Detective Bruce H. Constable, of Greymouth, detailed the recoverey ol the partly decomposed body of what appeared to be a newly-born child, and the exhibits produced in court. The bag in which the body had been found, was a portion of a salt bag. A thin strip of towel and two pieces of linen were removed from the neck of the child, Dr. Ray having cut them to remove them from where they had been tied in a single knot. A shopping bag, produced by witness, had been received from accused s lesidence at Taylorville on February 1.

Alister Francis McKenzie, a groer’s assistant, of Greymouth, said that he remembered a woman coming into the shop where he was employed and getting a bag, but he could not remember the exact date. On instructions from George Boucher witness obtained a salt bag from the back of the shop, and cut the top off it where it appeared to be weak. He identified the bag exhibited as being similar to the one he had supplied. George Martin Boucher, a grocer, of Greymouth, stated that he knew accused by sight, she having often made purchases in his store. He remembered her coming into the shop about the Christmas period and askinc for a strong bag. McKenzie and witness were the only assistants on duty during the lunch hour when the occurrence took place. Accused had made a few other purchases and 'hen left the shop. Shortly after witness left for a holiday, and had not seen accused again.

WORKMATES’ EVIDENCE Maureen Malloy, a clerk employed at the Westland Laundry, stated that she knew accused slightly. When she (witness) first met her about a week before Christmas, 1946, accused appeared to be pregnant. On the morning of December 31 witness was in the dining room, when she heard Doel calling from a lavatory that led off the room, asking her to pass over a bag that was in the room. Accused only opened the.door tai enough to allow the bag to be handed in Witness next saw accused on January 13, when she appeared much thinner. , , Betty Anderson, a Starcher, en ployed at the laundry, said that accused appeared to be pregnant the morning of December 31, and when she saw her about mid-nig in Guinness Street, her appearance was obviously changed. She ident - fled a toweT exhibited as being similar to one used at work. , Joan Willa Moar gave corroooiafjve evidence, adding that accused had declared that she was not pregnant. On the morning of December 31, she had missed accused. at work, and had gone to the dressing room to see if she was all right, Accuse , who was in a lavatory, ref used the offer of some asprins, and lolcl to “go away.” About an hour later witness found blood on the lavato> seat and washed it off when the i est of the staff were having tea When she saw accused a S a on January 3, she appeared to he much thinner, and was wearing < lO Evlyn° C Marjorie Cairns said she had been employed at the Laundry, prior to which she u as a nursing aid. She worked- with ac cased, and had noticed from her condition that she was pregnant. In conversation, accused said that some of the girls at the Sundry seemed to be under the impression that she was pregnant, but such was not the case. On December 1< she com plained of violent pains, and went outside to the cloak room for a short time. On the morning of December 31, witness, at the direction of the manager of the laundry, went to look for Doel at about 8.30 o clock and had found she was in a lavatory. Later she saw accused had come from the lavatory, and was sitting in the cloak room. Subsequent y the manager had spoken to her, and that was the last she saw of her until about mid-night, when she observed her at the New Year celebrations in Mackay Street. Martin Joseph Kennedy, a taxi proprietor of Greymouth, said that he had picked up accused at the laundry in response to a telephone message at 9.30 a.m. on December 31 and had conveyed her to a residence in Chapel Street. The girl did not look well, and said that she had not been feeling well for some time. He identified accused as the woman he had taken to Chapel Street. Andrew Fergus Cunningham, manager of the laundry, said that he had known accused for aoou_ a year, and up till January 9, she was employed at the laundry. Prior to December 31, he had noticed that she was pregnant, and she had asked if she could take her holidays as -from January

9, about a month before they were due. On the morning of December 31 he had noticed she was not at her work, and had sent witness Cairns, to see where she was. Later he saw accused in the dining room, at which time she was sitting down, and appeared to be seriously ill. He arranged to get a taxi, and sent her home. When he next saw her on January 3, she still appeared to be ill. She left on her holidays on January 9. He identified a towel as being similar to one used in the dining room at the laundry before December 31. Mr Taylor: "Not an uncommon pattern I suppose?” Witness: “Not at all unusual a few years ago.” In answer to further questions by Mr Taylor, witness stated that the staff of the laundry was between 14 and 15 females in the factory, and two in the office. In addition there were male employees. The only working time accused had lost was when he had sent her home on December 31, at which time she stated that she was still willing to carry on with her work. Helen Marshall Sweetman, sister of accused, a married woman residing at 6 Chapel Street, said that Doel was living at Taylorville during the time she was working at the laundry, and travelled to Greymouth each day by bus, calling at witness’s home where she picked up a bicycle, and cycled to work. Ori the morning of December 31, accused returned home from work at about 9 a.m., when she had said that she was sick. Previously in answer to a question by witness, accused denied that she was pregnant. On her arrival on the morning of December 31,'she had her shopping bag with her. Witness identified a bag produced in court as being the one that accused was in the habit of taking to work. When accused returned to her home, witness did not know what was in the bag. _ About 10 a.m., accused went out, taking the bag with her, and returned later with some parcels. Between 2 and 3 p.m. she again left the house saying that she was going to do some shopping. Witness did not remember whether accused took her bag with her the second time she went out, but she took her bicycle, and returned in time for tea. That night, witness went to the pictures, and on her return, accused went to a dance, returning home after the midnight celebrations. On the following morning, she went to the races. William Raymond Fell, Detective Sergeant, of Auckland, stated that with . Constable Parker of the Women's Division, he located accused at 25 Lincoln Road, Auckland, on February 1. She was taken to the police station, where she made a statement. Mr. Taylor lodged a formal objection as to the validity of the statement as evidence, on the grounds ‘•hat it was not made voluntarily.

Accused‘s Statement.

In the statement, accused said she was 21 years of age. On September 5, 1941, she married Frederick William Keith Doel. Her maiden name was Wilson. There were two children to the marriage, aged live years and 19 months respectively. She had been seperated for about a year, and her husband was taking action for divorce against her because she had walked out on him. She had lived with her mother ever since the separation, but had seen her husband from time to time. About March, 1946, she discovered that she was pregnant, and knew that her husband was the cause of her condition. Detailing the happenings of the morning of December 31, she stated that she felt quite well when she went to work, but at about 8.30, felt ill, and had gone to the lavatory, where the child was born. On the previous day, she had taken a piece of towel from the dining room at work and placed it in her bag, where she also had a piece of linen. After the birth of the baby, she lifted it out of the pan, and the baby sort of whimpered. It was a full time child, and was alive. After lifting it up, she tore a strip of linen off the piece in her bag, and tied it around the baby’s neck as tight as she could. She did not want the baby, continued the statement, and she knew it would die because of her action. She then wrapped the baby up in the piece of linen and the towel, and placed it in her shopping bag.

Buried in Rubbish Dump.

Later in the day, she went to Boucher’s store, and bought a salt bag and then returned to her sistei s place. After lunch, she cycled to the beach, where she placed the baby in Uie salt bag with some stones, with the intention of throwing it into the sea. She could not do this because it would have necessitated her walking out a considerable way to reach deep water. She then saw a rubbish dump nearby, and decided to bury the child. With a stick, she scraped out a hole between two and three feet deep, and buried the child in the bag. She had received no assistance whatsoever from anyone else. During her pregnancy, she had never consulted a doctor, nor her husband or anyone else of it. She said that she did away with the child just because she dill not want it. If she had kept it, hei husband might or might not have wanted her back —she didn t know . He had not been prepared to give her a home of her own when they wene living together. "The child was dead when I buried it” continued the statement, "but I don’t know when it died.”

Doctor’s Evidence.

In evidence, Dx\ H. S. Ray, Medical Practitioner, of Greymouth, stated that he had conducted a post mortem in the Grey River Morgue on the body of an infant child he believed had been found in a rubbish dump. A piece of towelling about an inch wide was tied in a single knot around its neck, upon which was supeiimposed another single knot of some light coloured material tied tightly, the evident intention of these ligatures being to cause strangulation. Owing to the partly decombosed state of the body, it was impossible to say what had actually caused death. The baby was in a huddled position, and had the skin of a normal European. It was newly born,'and appeared to be a full term child of about seven pounds weight. Apart from the ligatures, there were no signs of violence. The internal organs were in too decomposed a condition to form any opinion as to the cause of death,

and it was impossible to say whether death had occurred before or after birth. From the condition of the body, he considered that it had been concealed about 12 or 14 days.