ARMSTRONG CASE

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 15 April 1922, Page 5

ARMSTRONG CASE

' CHARGE OF MURDER

VERDICT OF GUILTY

BY CABLE—PBESS ASSOCIATION—COP\BIGHT LONDON, April 13.

Armstrong, a solicitor in a town in Wales, who was charged with the murder of his wife by poisoning her, was found guilty and sentenced to death.

Medical experts for the defence expressed the opinion that Mrs. Armstrong died ol' a big dose of arsenic taken six days before her death. Mr. Curtis Bennett, in his final speech, em. phasised the fact that the dead woman was just returned from an asylum; she suffered from delusions, and could, no doubt, have committed suicide.

Int«rest in the case was maintained to the end. Mr. Justice Darling, in summing up ; said the case was probably the most remarkable in living memory. He emphasised the value of circumstantial evidence, provided it was good. Regarding the suggestion that the woman committed suicide he asked the jury to consider if she would have said just before she died, "I am not going to die, am I?" if she had taken arsenic herself.

The jury was away three-quarters of an hour, and when they returned Armstrong replied that he had nothing further to say. He stood rigidly to attention while the judge said he agreed with the verdict and passed sentence. Armstrong went to the cells without aid, preserving the same cool and c'pllected demeanour which he exhibited during the long cross-examination.

Notice of appeal has been given