ELTHAM TRAGEDY.

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 18 February 1926, Page 10

ELTHAM TRAGEDY.

CHARGE OF MURDER

PREFERRED AGAINST GRAY. On a charge of murder, the trial o'. Arcnibaiu Liny oi iutbam, was commenced in the Supreme Court at New i-'lymouth yesterday before His Honour Mv.. o ustice Reed. -Ur. C. JLi. U eston, ana with Uim Air. L. -U. Moss, appeared lor tlie down, anu Mr. A, A. tote wart on Eltham represented tlie prisoner, and pieaued not guilty. Mr. Aioss intimated that the defence would be a plea of insanity, and in view dr the prisoner’s state ne asked tnat ‘he might be permitted to leave the court. The application was granted.

in outlining the case Air. Weston said tliat the accused belonged to .a , religious sect known as tiie Flymouth Brethren and he tliougnt that from his nature he was attracted by the more gloomy side of that sect s Defiers rather than with its brigntei side. From papers in the possession of the Clown it was evident there was a gloomy side to that religion. At the time of tlie offence the accused was under notice by his department t.< transfer to Dannevirke and in con.secquenoe had sold his house. A plan, ■of tlie house was placed before the jury. Proceeding, Air. AVeston described the scene of the murder and the finding of Gray in the wash-house by his neighbour, Carter. Gray had said it had been his intention to kill his family and take his own life and in view "of this the only possible defence could be that of insanity. To establish this, however, it had, to be .shown that the accused did not know at the time that what he was doing was wrong, and that he did not understand the nature of the quality of the act committed. In this case Gray did not know' what he was doing, as his admission to tlie police. showed that lie was capable of forming tlie intention to do away with himself and his family. Counsel dealt with the legal aspect of insanity, and invited the jury to take a broad view of the definitiou given in the Act. He urged the jury to be satisfied before bringing in a verdict of acquittal that the plea of insanity was completely proved. George Henry Carter, neighbour of Grey, recounted the happenings of the morning of November 26. AVhen witness pulled Gray out of the washhouse he asked him if he knew what he was doing, and lie replied ‘‘No,” AVhen he asked him if he Knew he had killed his little boy h e again said. “N 0..” Witness said Gray was industrious and conscientious. He belonged to the Plymouth Brethren’and took his religion seriously. AH the time witness had lived- next to .the Gray’s, and that was about 14 years, lie had seen nothing to suggest any bad feeling towards the bov who was killed.

Albert. Kemp, in reply to Mr Stewart, said Mrs. Gray was greatly upset, and was crying to her hu shall cl that he -had killed her little AVillie. Accused, however, was very dazed, and showed no emotion. Thomas McQueen said he thought Gray looked dazed, and all he heard him say was to ask for a drink of water.

Medical evidence as to the wounds received by the hoy was given by D. D. H. Saunders. He said that the neck incision was very decisive, and everything was severed right to the spine. Gray told him that the boy had in no way annoyed him. It was a fact that when insanity appeared in a family it was likely to be latent or apparent ■in other members of the family.

Constable Townsend said when he saw Gray he asked him if he knew what he had done, and accused answered “Yes” in a quiet tone. He said he had been nervy and sleepless lately. He had intended to kill the whole family and then take his own life. At the police station Grav sat down and said “It’s an awful thmg I’ve done; I don’t know why I did it.” His admission was reduced to writing (produced) and Gray signed it. His Honor: I take it you are not objecting, Mr Moss? Mr Moss: No, your Honor. His Honor: It is doubtful if such a statement is really admissible. Mr Moss. I don’t otn’ect. your Honor.

Continuing, the witness said that about 11 o’clock the same morning Gray wrote a letter to his wife from the police station, in which he asked her forgiveness and suggested she should -sell out and go back to Scotland. AVitness took Gray out of the cell to the police office and. though he was white and nervous, he did not seem particularly distressed. He was depressed. To Mr Stewart: The statement taken from Gray was made about an hour after the crime was committed. Constable O’Donoghu said that on the way to New Plymouth Gray said that if he was hanged for his crime they would do him a good turn. He said he deserved to be hanged. Dr. Brewster, gaol surgeon, New Plymouth, said that Gray seemed, to be of the belief that he had acted under some outside influence which lie could not explain. In opening the case for the defence, Mr. Moss said they would definitely submit that there was in Gray’s case a form of mental disease. He pointed out that even the case for the Crown showed that on the day of the crime Gray was very far from being a normal man. He detailed Gray’s movements for several days prior to the time of the offence, and said that his whole behaviour could not suggest anything hut tlie belief in a continuance of tlie happy domestic relations which had previously existed in the family. He contrasted this with the brutality of the crime and said it could only he attributed to a man who was suddenly switched off the rails of sanity and did

something for which lie could not he held responsible. Fred Surndells, health inspector, New Plymouth, /produced correspondence to show that a contributing factor to Gray’s mental state was departmental worry. Dr Mercer; health ofhcer for the Wellington district, said he received many complaints from Gray as to his grading (David' Brown, of Grey Lynn, gave evidence of liis knowledge of the Gia> family and of the fact that the youngei brother of accused was eccentric and commonly regarded as mad. Dr Blair, acting-superintendent ot Porirua Mental Hospital, said that while he had Gray under observation since* the crime the accused had to-d him that periodically he had fits ot depression and sleeplessness in which the idea, of suicide came into. Ins mind. Gray used to weep for the loss of his .son, but he said he had no feeling of cuiilt He'believed that it was an affliction sent by God to try him. Eternity would explain why it had been permitted From what the witness had heard, and from his own observations, he was convinced that he was suffering from acute, melancholia and was not responsible for bis action at the time. The witness said it often happened that before the mental sterna burst there was a period ot calm. Dealing with the. statements made by Gray to the police constables, and to the apparent calm of the man, the witness said he would expect his mind to clear very quickly after the event. Dr. Jeffries said he believed! that the case was one of mere depressive lnsan--1 medical evidence for the prosecution was along similar lines. Mr. Weston said that the Grown did not propose to call any medical evidence in rebuttal, whereupon Has Honour said he did not think it would be safe to convict. All the medical evidence was on one side, and while Mr. Weston might have reduced its weight a little by his cross-examination, His Honour thought that in the absence* of rebutting evidence, the evidence* of the alienists must stand. Mr. Weston said hei thought the case should go to the jury. His Honour said he would put the case to the jury, athough if they disregarded the evidence of the doctors and found that Gray was sane, he thought the executive would have to treathim as an insane man. On Mr. Moss intimating that he did not intend to address the jury. His Honour briefly summed up, pointing out to the jury that no attempt had been made bv the defence to upset the case for lie Grown that Gray had killed liis son. The defence relied on insanity as the grounds for the acquittal. The jury, without retiring, found the accused not guilty on the grounds of insanity Gra.v being then committed zo the Porirua,'Mental Hospital until the Measure of the Minister for Justice lie known.