ELSIE WALKER CASE

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIX, Issue 79, 2 March 1929, Page 15

ELSIE WALKER CASE

INQUEST RESUMED. Per Press Association. AUCKLAND, March 1. The inquiry was continued this afternoon before the commissioner, Mr E. Page, S.M., concerning , the police methods in the Elsie Walker case. Dr. Gilmour, director of pathology at the Aucklnnd .Hospital, was questioned at length by the Commissioner regarding reports made to the police and particularly the second report in which the doctors’ opoinion hardened in the direction of concussion of the brain ns the probable cause of death. The Commissioner: Does it not occur to you that, in putting your own report right, you let the police down ? No. Dr. Murray had been frequently in toucli with the police all the time. The Coroner found that death was due to concussion?—Yes.

Do you think ho could have been .justified in coming to that conclusion if you had stuck to your original report?—No. In fact, Ido not think he was justified in finding that verdict on the second report. Do you suggest that the Coroner could possibly have arrived at that finding if you had stuck to your original report that there was no evidence as to the cause of death? —I do not think ho could.

Constable Collins gave evidence regarding the finding of the body at Tamaki and its removal to the morgue. He said that when lie saw the body he thought death was duo to natural causes or suicide. People had begun to collect when the discovery was known.

Mr Leary: Do you think you could possibly have done more than you did to elucidate this mystery? Wtiness: I am sure I could not. I inquired everywhere I thought I could 'get information. In speaking of the finding of the body. Constable Collins, questioned by Mr Currie, said that he did not suspect foul play, although there was hlood under her head. He thought deceased had bled at the nose. Mr Currie: What was there to dispel the natural suspicion that you, as a policeman, would have? Witness: The position tile body was in. The girl had no hat and was wearing an apron. There appeared to be no signs of a wound and the general appearance led him to believe that death was due either to suicide or natural causes. The position of the bushes also helped him to form that opinion. Mr Leary: What was the position of the bushes? Witness replied that the girl looked as if she had crawled in under the bushes. If it were a case of concealment, it certainly was a “bungled job.” The Commissioner: Approximately how many people did you interview in the course of your inquiries? Ido not want you to he accurate to a dozen or so.

Witness: I should say I interviewed between 300 and 400 people during my inquiry. At this stage the inquiry was adjourned till to-morrow.