MAREO AGAIN FOUND GUILTY.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 18 June 1936, Page 7

MAREO AGAIN FOUND GUILTY.

, Sentence of Death Passed. ; Trial Rises to Dramatic Climax. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) AUCKLAND, Last Night. For the second time this year Eric Mareo, the well-known musician of Auckland, had to-night to hear a jury bring in a verdict of guilty of murder against him and to listen to the Judge pronouncing the sentence of death. There was a very large crowd about the precinct of the Court when the final decision came at a somewhat earlier hour than had been expected. When the first trial on the same charge concluded on February 26 the verdict was one of guilty with a very strongrecommendation to mercy. No such recommendation was made to-night. The trial began on June 1 and has thus lasted for 14 days. The jury retired at 5.30 and were back in their places a few minutes after 8 o ’clock. Mareo showed considerable emotion in the few sentences he addressed to the Court before Mr. Justice Oallan pronounced the inevitable sentence of death. The charge against Mareo, who is 45 years of age, was that he murdered his wife, Thelma Clarice Mareo, aged 29, at Auckland on April 15 of last year by administering poison, veronal, to her. The prosecution was conducted by Mr. V. R. Meredith, Crown Prosecutor, and Mr, F. McCarthy, while Mr. H. F. O’Leary, K.C., of Wellington, and Messrs. T. Henry and K. C. Aekins have been in charge of the defence.

Public interest as snown by the attendance at the Court has flagged at times during the lengthy retrial of Eric Marco, but it rose to a climax today. All day long there was the busy going and coming of cars and pedestrians, and long queues of men and of women formed up at their respective entrances. Early in the evening, when it was known the verdict w r as to be expected, the crowd grew to record size, and about 7.30 p.m. the police found it necessary to close and guard all entrances. Scores of cars were parked in the neighbourhood.

The final address for the Crown by Mr Meredith closed at 12.20 and was followed by his Honour’s summing up, which lasted until 5.27 p.m., when the jury retired. Sharp at eight o’clock there came a sudden stir among the crowd that had succeeded in gaining admittance to the Court. “Sit down! ” shouted a constable. “Stand oil the scats!” called another. The swift movements of the officials indicated that the jury was returning. Mareo, the central figure of the drama, returned to his place in the dock in time to watch intensely the faces of the jurymen as they entered one by one. He turned toward Betty Mareo, who was seated in the witness seats, and smiled, and then turned again to watch the jury. The registrar exchanged a brief word with the foreman. The noises in the Court had hushed to silence before the sharp cry of “Silence” heralding the entry of the Judge. “Gentlemen of the jury,” asked the registrar, “have you agreed upon your verdict?” ‘‘We have,” was the brief reply. “How say you? Do you find the prisoner guilty or not guilty 1 *?” came the second question. The foreman uttered one word: “Guilty’ ’ A low, stifled sob could be heard and signs of emotion among the crowd were suppressed by the call • of “Silence”

Mareo, braced against the rail of the dock, stood with his mouth slowly working. He looked toward Miss Mareo and softly called “Betty” He then squared his shoulders and faced the Judge. “Prisoner at the bar,” continued the Registrar according to the prescribed form, “have you anything to say why sentence of death should not be passed on you?” “It is very hard to say anything under the circumstances,” said Mareo, his voice showing signs of emotion, “because it is the second time I have been through this terrible ordeal. 1 can only say that it seems to me from a logical, clearminded man’s reasoning, from the way the whole of this case has been conducted by all the counsel. and after your Honour’s, may I say, marvellous summing up, I have been sentenced on the lying word of Freda Stark. I ought not to say that,” he added after a pause, “but what can I say? Nothing more.”

As the Judge put on the black cap the Court crier stood forward to deliver his challenge: "Oyez! Oyez! Oyez! All manner of persons arc ■commanded to keep silence while the judgment of death is pronounced by the Court upon the prisoner at the bar, upon pain of fine or imprisonment. ’ ’

“Eric Mareo,” said his Honour, speaking slowly and firmly, ”the sentence of the Court upon you is that you be taken from this place to a lawful prison and thence to the place of exe■ention and that you be there hanged by the neck until you are dead, and may the Lord have mercy on your soul. ’ ’

After hearing sentence of death Marc© looked again to where Betty Mareo was sitting and called her name almost inaudibly. Probably she was too overcome to be aware of it. Slowly, and apparently reluctantly, he descended the steps gazing into the faces of 4he silent crowd at the back of the

court. AnoTOer call for silence prepared the way for his Honour to address a few words to the jury and to counsel engaged in the ease.

“Mr. foreman, and gentlemen of the jury,” he said, “I am now able to discharge you, and on behalf of your country I express my regret that your services on this occasion have kept you so long and have been so arduous. 1 have to thank you on behalf of your country for your long, patient and careful attention to this case. When a service of such unusual magnitude and duration falls to a jury it is within my power and it is proper to give you an exemption from further service for a term of years. In view of what has been done in other long cases of recent occurrence in this city I think a further complete exemption of six years is appropriate and I so order. ‘ ‘ It remains only for me to say this. This has been a very long and arduous trial and has laid a very great strain upon,members of the Bar, the leading members and junior members who have shared in the presentation of both sides of this case. I think I ought to say that all of them have done their task extremely well and in full conformity with the best traditions of the Bar in this country and in Britain, and particularly do I thank them all for this, that despite the heavy strain we have all been under from the nature of this case, day after day they have behaved to one another throughout as gentlemen of the Bar and in perfect good temper.” “The court stands adjourned until 10 o’clock to-morrow morning,” called the crier as the Judge retired through his door and the tension relaxed. A number of voices arose all over the court.

Betty Mareo gave way to unrestrained sobbing until a young man and woman hurried to her assistance and helped her away. Marco’s son, Graham Mareo, did not appear to bo present. Still in his wig and gown and sunk limp over the bar table Mr. H. F. O’Leary, K.C., who had twice fought Mareo’s long losing battle, bore the appearance of a man who had been struck a cruel blow. Probably the public would have remained discussing the position indefinitely, but officers of the police quickly shepherded them outside the building where groups remained in conversation for some time.

JUDGE’S SUMMING-UP. “We are all human,” said Mr. Justice Callan, in commencing his summing up to the jury, “and whatever efforts wo make we are likely to err. in handling the great amount of material in this case. If I should mis-state anything, it is your right and duty to help to correct me.” His Honour said it was for the prosecution to satisfy them beyond doubt that the charge had been proved. The jury would approach the matter with the same earnestness and degree of care as though their own lives depended on the right answer. The whole case had to be tried to the jury’s satisfaction on the evidence at this trial as though Marco had never been tried before.

The Judge’s summing up was continued after lunch until 5..‘10. His Honour reviewed the evidence at length. He said it was definitely established that Mrs. Marco had died of veronal poisoning. The next questions were: Did Marco give it to her? Did he give it to her with intent to kill? Regarding the first of these the Crown set about answering it by this means. They said they would prove that Mrs. Marco woke voluntarily and would show how long and under what circumstances she stayed awake. Then they would show that after the milk was given she went from sleep to coma. They said they would establish that it was scientifically impossible for those facts to happen without a further dose of veronal and that veronal must have been given in the milk. If each of those steps had been safely taken, said his Honour, then it was safely established that Mareo gave the milk that killed her. If any one of these broke there was a break in the case.

The history of the symptoms of the patient depended almost entirely on the evidence of Freda Stark to such extent that if the jury had not entire faith in that evidence it was not good enough to build medical opinion on. Was she sincere? She was a long time in the box and so some impression must have been formed on that question, iiis Honour would say this much, that u was a very useful thought to ask; “Was she at all shaken in her crossexamination?” The doctors do not agree, pointed out his Honour, but you as laymen must try to understand what it is these doctors arc saying and you must not be afraid to determine it.

Motive was dealt with by his Honour. If this man killed his wife, why? After quoting authorities his Honour said two things in the trial had been brought to notice. They were the apparent lack of association between Mareo and his wife and the association of Maroo and Eleanor Brownlee. There had also been stressed the tragic and melodramatic letter written by Mareo to Betty. If the suggestion was that his state was desperate, that he had lost his job and he perhaps thought there was no hope for his film project the jury was entitled to ask what particularly would cause Mareo to take Thelma out of his life with him if ho contemplated suicide. If by evidence of another kind the jury saw that the man had committed murder they were not to be held back from finding him guilty