MRS KOERBIN TO STAND TRIAL FOR ATTEMPTED MURDER

Manawatu Times, Volume LIII, Issue 6666, 20 July 1928, Page 8

MRS KOERBIN TO STAND TRIAL FOR ATTEMPTED MURDER

Case for Jury, View Held by Magistrate COUNSEL’S OBJECTIONS FAIL Per Press Association, WELLINGTON, Last Night. A plea of not guilty to the charge of attempted murder of her husband, Herbert Koerbin, at Wellington on June 26 last, was entered by Marion Koerbin in the Magistrate’s Court to-day at the conclusion of the case for the prosecution.. She was committed to tho Supreme Court for trial. Mr. E. Page, S.M., was on the Bench. Chief-Detective Ward prosecuted,'; and Mr. A.' B. Sievwright represented the accused.,., , , ",

Continuing his evidence this morning, Dcteetivc:Sepgeant Holmes said that he asked the accused what was in the jar, and she replied, ‘ ‘ They , are crystals for making up the stuff with.” Ho had taken a small portion between his finger and tnumb anti then said—‘‘This is powdered glass.” The accused made no reply. . 1 Witness also found some very small pieces of very thin glass. He asked what they were for, and the accused replied, “It will be from some old electric globes we had in the other house. My husband is always rummaging through my boxes and , making, them untidy.” i He then returned to the kitchen,, and later took a statement from the accused in which she said that the powdered glass found in the locked box under the bed had been,there for-a long time. She had not used it nor the oxalic acid in her husband’s food. The powder in the bottle found in her pocket was rat poison... . : I Witness subsequently called at a'grocer’s strop in Courtenay Place and purchased a tin of rat poison to see if it agreed with tho powder found ih the accused’s pocket. , * ■Mrs. Koerbin showed no signs of mental trouble, and from her conversation witnessed gathering that she regarded her husband as a very mean man. :Sho stated that he was worth about £56,000, and that his meanness was the cause of his trouble in the home. ■

Detective-Sergeant Thompson, -who was with the previous witness when the accused was arrested, gave corroborative evidence. Dr. Maclaurin, Dominion Analyst, said that on June 26 he received from the police various samples of foodstuffs, and made analyses of them. With the exception of a plate of porridge which had been poured out for tho boy, oatmeal, cabbage,sand roast mutton) all the other samples contained barium; carbonate. He found no glass in the samples. He described the effect of ground glass as causing irritation. / This concluded the case for the prosecution. ‘.‘No Case Tor Jury.” : Mr. Sievwright submitted that there was no case to go to a jury, and tho Court, he contended, would not, be justified in committing, tho accused for trial. ■ , # No evidence had been given which could be justifiably construed by a jury to find the accused guilty of attempted murder.-’- ■ • ) “T do-submit,” .he said, “that on that ground this Court is justified in discharging the accused. Mr, Page: “Why do you say.that? What is your foundation?’’ Counsel skid that his foundation was two-fold. . No evidence had been given to show: that the accused desired to murder her husband. The onus was on the prosecution, firstly, to 'prove that she had a desire to cause his death. There had been no evidence of that. Secondly, the evidence showed quite clearly that the administration or attempted administration of the food containing barium carbonate was in insufficient quantities to cause any harm. It was innocuous in this quantity, even if Koerbin had taken it. Prom the analyst’s report, it had been seen that in no instance was there sufficient to cause death.' . - ■ ■ In no instance among all the food submitted for analysis was there a greater amount than 21.9 grains of barium carbonate, and a third of what was referred to as the minimum fatal dose. Magistrate’s View. Mr. Page: “I do not propose to discuss tho details of the objections raised by counsel, but simply say that in my view the case is one which must go ■forward for consideration by a jury.” The accused pleaded, not guilty, and was committed to the Supreme Court for trial.