WOMAN BEFORE COURT

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLVIII, Issue 208, 1 August 1928, Page 2

WOMAN BEFORE COURT

ALLEGED ATTEMPTED MURDER. WELLINGTON, July 31. The hearing was commenced at tho Supremo Court to-da.y of the charge against Marion Koerbin of attempting to murder her husband by poisoning. Koerbin in evidence said that he was married in 1912, but the marriage was not happy. Owing to his wife’s complaints that she was not receiving enough money,, the parties separated three times. Witness paid her £5 2s a week, increased latterly to £5 10s. She wanted £IOOO cash to get out on the house and him to get out. For some timo they had been in the habit of having meals alone, his wife cooking them. Ho suddenly became ill with vomiting, headaches, burning pains in tho stomach, and giddiness, and after a week in bed he lost thirteen, pounds in weight. His suspicions were aroused when from the dining room through an open slide he saw his wife, after putting porridge out on a plate for their son, put the pot on the gas cooker again and add something to tho porridge pot. He took samples of tho food in order to have it analysed and it was found to contain barium carbonate. In some tripe was found ground glass. Searching her room, he found what afterwards was ascertained to be these substances. He stated that four cats had died after receiving scrapings from the porridge pot, showing the vomiting symptoms experienced by himself. Mr A. B. Sicvwright, accused s counsel, cross-examining Koerbin, was frequently pulled up for asking irrelevant questions, His Honour holding that Mr Sievwriglrt was trying to excuse accused on the grounds of her husband’s alledged bad treatment of her. The case is to be continued to-mor-row.