THE BAYLY TRIAL

Manawatu Times, Volume LIX, Issue 7486, 9 June 1934, Page 8

THE BAYLY TRIAL

(Continued from Pago 7.) weight was represented in the bone identified compared with a total human akolcton. / “Tho weight of bone positively identified is 41b. 7 ounces,” replied witness, who said the weight would bo greater before burning. The weight of an unburnt skeleton was 101 b. Bones years old would burn black. There was nothing to show whether the mattor clinging to the burnt bone had been old and decomposed flesh or now flesh. 1. was possible that other matter burned with clean bonce might make a deposit on tho bones. Value of Blood-group Testing. On the resumption of the Court after lunch Mr. Leary again questioned Dr. Gilmour on the value of blood-group tosting. “Assuming that Mrs. Lakey’s blood, tho blood at tho implement shed, the blood on the wheels and the blood on Bayly’s clothes had been typed, it is possible that very valuable evidence may have been available to tho jury! asked counsel. . “Yes,” agreed Dr. Gilmour. Then it might have been shown that all tho blood on the Lakey property came from Mrs. Lakey?—lt might have been feasible to show that all came from the same group. If two kinds of blood had been found on the Lakey property, it would have been proof positive that two people died there? —Yes. If tho blood on the suggested assail ant is of a different group from that of the suggested victim, it would bp proof that it was not that of tho vie tlmf —Yes. If the blood on the assailant and that on the victim belonged to the same group, that would show it might havo como from tho victim?—Yes. But it would not prove that it had como from the victim? —No. Then tho value of the tests is to show innocence and not guilt?—Yes. Re-examined by Mr. Meredith, witness said he had made 15 experiments on different stains on theso lines. “As a result of my.experiments, tho test is not sufficiently-reliable to warrant its uso in medico-legal work,” continued Dr. Gilmour, who added that, if tho blood wero still wet and fresh, there was a possibility of success, but if dry, it was not reliable. He had tried 5 to test Mrs. Lakey’s blood, taking the stain from tho piece of wood used to open her mouth, and ho had got no result. Was there any wound on Mrs. Lakey which could havo caused the stains in the implement shed?—No. Some of the stains were obviously caused by spurting blood. In reply to his Honour, witness said he was of the definite opinion that the stains in the implement shed were not Mrs. Lakey’s blood. He could not have done both the grouping and precipitin tests on Bayly’s trousers; there was not enough blood for both purposes. The bloodstains about the implement shed were not fresh enough to make the •group test. Burning of Human Bodies. Requested by the Crown Prosecutor, Dr. Gilmour read a summary from different authorities detailing the time occupied in burning human bodies in various types of furnace. He detailed the various stages of burning during the experiments. The carcasses had been reduced to small fragments of burnt bone. Witness produced a package of bone, left at the conclusion of tho second experiment, less tho residue detained in the first experiment. “What was tho most difficult thing ' to burn?” asked Mr. Meredith. “The internal organs and intestines,” replied Dr. Gilmour, adding that the intestiness of an animal were much moro bulky than those of a human. At the conclusion of both tests some fuel remained not burned at the back of the drum. In the case of comatose asphyxia, the air was not cut off. There was a marked difference in the appearance of persons who died from drowning and those who died from comatose asphyxia. In cases where oxygen was cut off, there were marked signs of carbon dioxide in the blood, which was noticeable in Mrs. Lakey. The fact that tho five men who saw the body removed from tho water noticed frothy blood on the face corroborated witness’s conclusions. ‘ ‘Can you say how many post-mor-tems you have made in the course of your professional career?” asked the Crown Prosecutor. “I have made between 2000 and 3000,”’ replied Dr. Gilmour. Tests made on matter adhering to the tuft of hair showed that it might be blood. The reaction was strong and immediate, indicating that it was almost certainly blood. In reply to his Honour, Dr. Gilmour said the amount of haemorrhage resulting in a wound from being shot or being struck depended entirely where the individual was struck. Dr. Philip Patrick Lynch, pathologist, of Wellington, detailed handling a number of exhibits. The tuft of hair produced comprised 200 to 300 hairs, about 2i inches long. At tho baso of tho hairs w-as matter which gave a rapid reaction to the benzedene vest, indicating that it was dried blood. Further crystalline and precipitin tests failed to give definite results. The precipitin test failed if heat had been applied. Coagulated. Blooa. “From tho appearance of tho material and the result of the benezedeno test, I formed the conclusion that it was coagulated blood,” continued Dr. Lynch. The bones of all groups had certain features in common. They were * all burnt; they were all associated with wood and charcoal, and they wero all fragile, some extremely so. Tho edges in. all cases were free from weathering. A number of tho bones in all the groups bad on the surface a dark ” '-Are you referring to notes?” asked Mr, Meredith. “No,” replied Dr. Lynch. “They ,had on the surface a dark material which suggested that they had all been freshly burned. There was a ..neral similarity in the appearance. Tmr?o ?/as • no dirt or ingrained fractured edges, as would bo expected if the bones were /exposed .to the weather for any long

period. One bono exhibit was that of a muscular individual. It displayed dark, bubbly material which, however, was not present on tho joint surface. .The broken edges were sharp, without signs of wear or weathering.” Dr. Lynch then demonstrated the human characteristics of certain of the bones exhibited, including tho cheekbone, atlas (or upper vertebra), and portions of the vault of the skull, which showed two layers separated by a spongy layer. In regard to the skullbones, the curvature showed the size of the brain, which was larger in man than in other animals. Tho pacchionian pits, ■made by tho, blood channels, were of some importance in fixing the. age of tho individual; they deepened with age. “One would judge that this portion of tho skull came from an individual in middle life,” continued Dr. Lynch, who answered question? by members of the jury in every case whero the handled bones, he claimed, were characteristic of human origin. Witness stepped in front of tho jurybox and gave a detailed explanation. “I would say that the bones were from ono human individual, from general points of similarity,” declared witness. Among those recognisable as human were the heelbone, portion of tho baso of the skull, to which tho muscles of the neck wero attached, tho bones of the vault of the skull all showing the same general features. Among the bones not definitely recognisablo as human were somo which could bo from the pelvis. In ono exhibit wero seven pieces of cloth which witness had not classified. A further portion of tho atlas which was characteristic of man and tho apes, was found as tho only bone among a large quantity of charcoal in another exhibit. The Court then adjournod till tu-mor-row morning.