MURDER TRIAL

Manawatu Standard, Volume LI, Issue 72, 24 February 1931, Page 3

MURDER TRIAL

NATIONAL PARK TRAGEDY.

Per Press Association. HAMILTON, Feb. 23.

The trial of Charles Colston, aged 38, a moulder, of Wanganui, for the murder of Alice Rose Florence Anderson, at National Park on January 6, opened in the Supreme Court at Hamilton to-day before Mr Justice Smith.

Mr H. T. Gillies, Crown Prosecutor, in opening the case for the prosecution, described McFarlane’s farm wjiere the tragedy took jolaee.. The house stood beside a little-used road in Upper Retaruke bush district, some miles from National Park station. The spot was utterly desolate, Mr Gillies said. 'Ffre murdered woman, Mbs Anderson, was formerly known as Mrs Fisher, owing to an alliance formed with Fisher, to whom she formerly acted as housekeeper in Upper Retaruke, and later at Wanganui. To him she bore a child. Her sister, Mrs Tolley, had formed an alliance with the prisoner, Colston. She hnd two children, Ernest, aged 16, and Phyllis, aged 14, who were known to many people as Ernest and Phyllis Colston, i

On December 18 Colston, Mrs Tolley, Mrs Anderson, and three children, accompanied by the boy Storr, who was friendly with young Tolley, went into Upper Retaruke with a view to entering upon the abandoned farm for cutting firewood, said Mr Gillies. They arrived at McFarlane’s farm on the night of January 3. On the Saturday night a case of wine arrived at the farm. On Monday a second case reached the house, and on Wednesday morning a third case of wine arrived at National Park station for Mrs Anderson. The adults of the party commenced to consume the wine on Saturday night during a game of cards. By Tuesday morning, when the tragedy occurred, about 19 bottles had been consumed.

Mr Gillies here stated that prior to leaving Wanganui Colston purchased a gun and cartridges under ail assumed name. On Tuesday morning there was an argument over certain bottles of wine that had been bidden. Later, Colston, becoming angry with Phyllrn Tolley, followed, her with a gun and fired at her. lie was followed by Ernest Tolley with a rifle with the avowed intention of shooting Colston if the latter shot his sister. On returning to the house Ernest Tolley found Mrs Anderson and liis mother fighting on the floor. Fie managed to get Mrs Anderson back to a room. Ho had a pea-rifle in his hand. Young Tolley would say that he locked Mrs Anderson’s door on the inside. Shortly afterward Colston came along and endeavoured to get into the room by banging on the door. Tolley know Colston had a gun. Young Tolley would say that, becoming alarmed, lie broke the window with the butt of the rifle, and, jumping out, ran and hid in the bush. It would be shown that later a shot was heard and it was contended by’ the Crown that this was fired from outside the window by Colston at Mrs Anderson as she stood up in the room in front of the window. Three shots were fired that morning. ‘One, the Crown held, was fired by Colston at. Phyllis Tolley one at Mrs Ander<wn and one at the tyre of., the motorcar belonging to Mrs Anderson. The bov Storr in the meantime had /galloped away on a horse to get the police. After remaining in hiding for a time young Tolley came out. Getting in the motor-car lie drove in the direction of National Park station. On his way he picked up Colston, his mother and the little boy Fisher.

The defence, said Mr Gillies, would be that the rifle went off during a struggle between Colston and Mrs Anderson. The position of the pellets in the woman’s face and the fact that there were.no powder marks or burning on the face discounted this theory, while the pellets embedded in the centre wooden astragal of the window showed that a shot must have been fired from outside.

Mr Gillies said that careful experiments had been made by experts with shots fired at various distances from the window. These showed that at 4ft. Gin. from the window a shot fired made exactly the same marks on the astragal and gave exactly the same pellet pattern on a piece of wood as was found on the dead woman’s face in a position six inches within the room. Mr Gillies intimated that tho four-year-old child of Mrs Anderson would say that “Uncle Charley” shot his mother. Exactly what credence should be given to the story of a child of such tender years was a matter that rested entirely with the jury. Counsel read the law hearing on the question of drunkenness and its relation to crime, which laid it down that drunkenness was no excuse.

"William Augustus Hulton, surveyor, of Taumarunui, gave evidence as to visiting the scene of the tragedy, where he made certain measurements and a plan of the locality and the house. Tho latter showed blood stains on the wall and the floor of Mrs Anderson’s room. The damage to the astragal was quite new. There were pellet marks in the wall behind the window. These were higher than the ones in the astragal. Owing to the angle at which the shot was fired anything in the line of fire within the room from a height of 4ft 1 Jin to sft would have been struck by shot.

Dr. W. J. Feltham, of Raetihi, said that on the way to McFarlane’s farm he met a car in which was the woman’s dead body. It was still warm. The woman had died from a shot wound, and he assumed that the shot hnd been fired from a distance of from 20 to 25

feet. Witness saw Colston that afternoon. He appeared dull and apathetic. Dr. E. Fisher, of Taumarunui, who conducted a post mortem examination, described the injuries received by Mrs Anderson. The hearing was adjourned until tomorrow.