THE MAORI MESSENGER. Auckland, July 5, 1849.

Maori Messenger : Te Karere Maori, Volume 1, Issue 14, 5 July 1849, Page 1

THE MAORI MESSENGER. Auckland, July 5, 1849.

In the two last numbers of the "Maori Messenger," we published, for your information, the full particulars of the evidence taken at the trial of Maroro, the cruel murderer of the family of Branks, near "Wellington. We did so to satisfy your minds of the anxious care which ia invariably{nianifestcd, by an English judge and jury, to prove to the conviction of every mind that the criminal charged with an offence must have been the person who committed that offence. This is frequently a matter of much and anxious difficulty, especially in a case of murder: •—for that atrocious crime is rarely seen to be committed, and the law is sensitively and jealously alive to prevent the escape from punishment of all who hiay have participated in depriving his fellow man of life. The commission of this crime is, therefore, generally proved by circumstantial evidence; —that is, by a chain of facts tending to show the guilt of the party charged with the deed—such for

instance as stains of blood upon the person or npparel, possession of any effects belonging to the party murdered—threats used towards him—a lurking about his premises—and an inability on tho part of the prisoner to give a satisfactory account of himself. These and other such circumstances are all brought to operate against a man charged with crime, and although there have been examples, and lamentable examples,—some interesting narratives of which we shall, at a future date, transcribe for your perusal, —of men innocently executed for murders of which they were wholly guiltless, yet such unfortunate instances are rare, and in n large majority of cases, —such as that of Maroro himself—when the hour of execution draws near, the obdurate heart becomes touched, and the departing culprit generally strives to make his peace with God, and to offer the only amends to man, by confessing that the verdict of tho jury and the sentence of the judge were equally just. The cowardly crime of murder has happily been of rare occurrence since the Maori and the White have pledged their faith and exchanged the covenant of peace with each other. "When Lieut. Snow, and his wife and child, were inhumanly butchered on the North Shore, the crafty assassin accomplished the slaughter In the manner most likely to cast suspicion on the Native race. So artfully was this done, that we are told many of yourselves were inclined to believe that the sanguinary act was one of Maori device. And, yet, behold how greatly you were • wronged —how cruelly you wronged each other. • Through the merciful interposition of providence the perpetrator of that atroci'y was discovered, was tried, convicted, and executed upon circumstantial evidence; and although his confession, for some cause or other, h&'s never been made public, yet it was publicly asserted that lie died with an acknowledgment of his guilt. You will perceive by a reward of Fifty Pounds, advertised for the discovery of tho perpetrator, that another shocking murder has recently been committed, at 110 great distance from Remuera. The presence of a Maori near 'lie murdered man, towards the close of the evening on which lie wna killed, has been sufficient to excite suspicion, in some minds, that Maories have been guilty of the cruel act. We trust for the honour and manhood of the Maori race that you will be able to clear yourselves as triumphantly from the blood of |pocr Jones, as"j fiom't'iat of the unfortunate Snows'. Exercise your ingenuity—make every inquiry—and if you can obtain any clue, follow it up until the murderer, or murderers, be brought to justice. An inquest sat to investigate the facts connected with this crime for three days. One Maori was brought before tho Coroner in cusloily, but nothing at all calculated to incriminate him being adduced, he was at once discharged. It may be well to remark that this wos not the Maori seen by tlic boy Biggs near Jones on tho evening of the murder. That Maori has not since appeared, and it is a pity for Itia own sake that he should not. The following is a narrntive of the sad affair as far as it yet is known. On the evening of Monday the ISth of June, a pensioner, nntned James Jones, a butcher at Panmure, was returning to that village leading a li'ack pig which lie had bought in Auckland, lie was met, about a quarter of an hour before sun set, (by Robert Biggs and his son William, between Mr. Henry's farm and the tea- < tree bridge on the Papakura road. J»nt's and Biggs had a s!iort talk and then passed on. There was no one on the road beside Jones, except a Maori. The . Maori was on the opposite side of the I roadj before Jones, and was going the i

«:>mo wqy Os lie was. * Biggs could not tolf -whether tlio native was tatoocd or iiol, but tiv.' boy, his soil, saw quite plainly time he vas 'atooed. The narivo wore a blanket- wi-h a ltd stvi)-c —lie had no woanoM tint ti-o boy could see ;~-bis arms were rolled up in iiis Uinnfit't. lhe k°y never, that !>« knows of, saw the iiative brW, and dyes i»>t tljink lie should know l:sm again. The native brduglit • licKve the Coroner was not the native dip boy saw r.eaf Jones. t Two i-i-iisioners, named Joseph Hobincofi* n• i :t Lawrence Condon going totlieir V.o.k from Ho wick, the following morni„.r between 8 and 9.Q'cVock,.niet a boy, „m ied P.oiu h. them, as ■,;' [h>:u Auckland.,, Koacl. appeared to bo . >*e said tligVQ was ft IK.UI-lUis;.' .oi\ the road mtfi bu tWit cut, ar.il- cut ftVjout tl»c head. Ki>foustfi l,Ai Hoac]i ninto SergpauJ Cleary s ' nud givg, the- alarm, whilst, he hjid Condon wrut. a-id took charge of the body, ioa,- vi ica a black pig wWi-a v.nulijjii; r . Robinson leu Condon *wtii tiie' bm'iv whilst ho wenC'to the. revest lio-cn foi- lie!p. . He saw Uirepjncn there. F !,vV V g° with. Mm to view the iu»ih\ .Several patties had been to ViWq tV.boi!vJ:y and turned it upon »tV!,*Utvck tlilting his absence. It was about* jnite arid, a quarter fp Henry s firm where they first, saw the body. Ivobinsonimd Coyd,on, remained by the hotly' until they gave it up to a policeman; thpy then went to their work after telling ivliy ti'.ey were. . ' jOr. iW'G.uaranexammed tliebody which as sadly jnulilated. Tf he throat was cut. 'there .woto several stabs on tho right cheek ant', through both cars, Six wouiu.s 'on'tlVe back of the head—four .wounds m the back, one, six inches deep,,penetrating jlie hcait. There were many otlier ■woiLids, some penetrating ihe. intestines. Ti.c Dr. did not. think the wounds could be inflicted hv a tomahavyk. A knife, iiroiluecd in Court, was HMy to have inflicted s.ii h wounds. Thq body had t tho appearance of otto that had (jflercd great je&utfiiice. J3i'id«-et Jones, the widow oHhe.mul-'dcrc-4 iVi;v.i. slated (hat. \\o left Pariinure, after breakfast,.ou the morning of the lSih to "o to Auckland to buy i>;gs. She kept a l'trlit expecting him all night, but lie never came. M as told next moyfting he was lying dead on the scon? ; A> i"t to tl:e. v.eigbb.ourliood of where the body 'was ly;;ig but could go no further. Her iiusbaiid was a, butchera very quiet —knew no one who hat/ spue or 'enmity 'a-aai&t liini. Would, recognize the. knife i'.e was in the habit of using. Thekiiife produced belonged to her husVjauil., She gave this knife to a Maori who was working at her husband's house. She 'gave it. to him, about 4 o'clock Tn the ereiiin" licr husband ,was muYdered, to cut some raupo with. 'llie native did not return to her that night will the kuife. "fehc never, before, saw the.blade of a knife produced. Her Imsbanf and the native l ad no .quarrel with each other. Wbe.i Wr husband left hoiiut he had'thrco pounds Jlfteeii'shillings which lie took to buy pi 's. Hi& clothes and his money were alf he had about him. /fhe nativo .kncw'sjie had given lier husliaiul t.liomo- ' ney on"th.it nioriiing. The nalive asked ' her. aW>Ut 4 o'clock, where her husband was gjrtlPv ■ hiiri to Auckland to buy-a pi;?- . ' Tiiisls a cousjse account of what transpired at t'.;c Orst day's examination, alter a'.iifltiyci'Ayho was in custody, was discharged, j . ■ • On me second day Thomas Mar.lavnoni a carter cmploj'ed to convey the body to the I'aiiniurc liui, heard a jingling sound in taking U.o tea-tree, upoii which the hody hail Jain, from his cart. He looked, and found the broken blade ot a caiviug Vnife, oil which there were some Km its like rust, which quickly wiped oil". The laiii'e could nut have been used in cutting 'the tea-tree which was pulled and broken j,y i) U ; poUce. The knile, we are informed, • fated into the stabs upon the body. A variciy of suspicious circumstances led to the appieliension of a carpenter named Uauiel Reardon, and of MaryQueenan, the ' wife cf Francis Queen (in, residing at Ho\Vick. Rrprdon and Quecnan were seen • lKissiii"-1 long the same road, and on tlic same evening as that on which Jones was 'murdered The faces of'both the nrtii ami the woman were severely scratched,

as if they had been engaged in some violent scufllc : and when Rcardou was taken from Out the bed, in which lie was found with Quccnaii, lie exhibited (lie greatest possible agitation, attoiiij)tin;r (o bribe Const..hie Ili'v.'.lerson, with two pounds to let him go. The woman's conduct was, likewise calculated to create thcinost unfavorable impressions, and' ft very geiieral opinion that they were tile assassins !:e:;:in to he entertained. A second and a ihlrd day were therefore spent in tho most .searching inquiry; numerous witnesses . were .produced, hut the deeper the itO'air was probed the less the suspicion grew, until not a reasonable doubt, that the guilty parlies were yet to be discovered, remained. . , ' At the time that Highland hiS son met Jones at one part oi the road, ftnothe'r witness had encountered Ixeardou ami Qiieenan within sight of Panmnre, and many o:nor witnesses swore [o seeing' them at the bar of Green's public house, just as the. candies were being lit. From (Jreen's tiiey were traced to Campbell's, and every . further step tliey took was known. Not a-spot of blood, and not the least attempt to have washed away such stains. ctuhl be shown. The scratches were accounted for by their own drunken sqiiabblings, mid the money found on Hcardon was mostly in new hall-crown pieces, similar to tliore he had received from ft person in Auckland. They were accordingly discharged from custody, and a reward of £.')o has been proclaimed for such information as may lead to the discovery and apprehension of the. muWlrrer or murderers, who will much longer elude the grasp of .justice.