LENGTHY INQUIRY

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

LENGTHY INQUIRY

ELSIE WALKER CASE. METHODS OF THE POLICE. Per Press Association. AUCKLAND, March 1 ; At the resumption of the with regard to the police methods m the Elsio Walker case Dr. Gilmour, director of pathology at the Au Hospital, stated that lie visited the morgue at Dr. Murray’s invitation The . stains on the girls jaw suggested the possibility b or I oning. He also attached importance to a bruise on the scalp and the congestion of the brain. There was no sign of bleeding on the body. H had' not then seen the girl s clothing. He did not think that he saw ChietDetective Hammond at the morgu when the first post mortem examination was made. Had he seen tli girl’s clothing at the time of the post mortem it would have made a great difference to the examination. He subsequently learned the re f u ]{' or the microscopic examination of the c othing. Dr. Murray and lumself had not formed any intention of making an additional report, but they were making up their minds more definitely. As the result of the post-mortem and other examinations, they decided that their evidence at the inquest would correspond with the additions that they had made to their report, they came to that conclusion on knowing that the examination of the clothing and the analysis of the stomach had not furnished additional evidence. Thev had not altered their original decision. After a visit by Detective Bickerdike on December 6 they made an addition to their report. SUGGESTION OF FOUL PLAY. He was interviewed by a reporter who suggested that there had been foul play, but he neither agreed nor disagreed. The reporter referred to the "blow on the head and produced a stick which ho had found. A superficial examination of the stick showed no blood. , . Witness was asked: Did anything in this theory of foul play coincide with your opinion ? AVitness replied: Yes, in reference to tlio blow on the head. BLOOD SAMPLE SHOULD HAVE BEEN KEPT. Dr. Gilmour said that immediately he saw the girl’s undergarments and the blood stains on them he realised that a blood sample should have been kept. There was no evidence as to the cause of death other than the blow on the head. He was satisfied from the condition of the organs that the theory of exhaustion was untenable even if the girl was out all night in the thinnest garments. It was extremely unlikely that a girl brought up in the country would die of sudden tear. That also would leave entirely unexplained tho marked congestion of the brain and the bruise on the scalp. “We determine,” he added, “that the only evidence we had pointed to the concussion as the cause of death. Wo could find no evidence of any other condition. This evidence of concussion, however, was not sufficient for us to say absolutely that death was duo to concussion.”