DOCTOR'S EVIDENCE

Northern Advocate, 23 June 1920, Page 3

DOCTOR'S EVIDENCE

Dr. H. A. Good was th next witness. He gav 6 evidence of being called to the house of deceased on June 3rd. He found the body of Phillips iying in the whare, on a stretcher, to the right of door. The body was in a prone position upon the stretcher partly lying upon th e face, towards the wall. The right elbow and arm resting against the wall. There was an extensive wound upon the head. The contents of the skull, the blood and brains and bones were blown for ward on to th e pillow and walls in iront and above the body. On examining the wound it was evident that the shot had entered from behind and gone out forward, in front.

There was no singing or burning of the hair of the head about th e wound, indicating that the shot had not been died within a foot, but h e could not say from thai how far away. The nature of the wound showed that death would be instantaneous and the body could not have moved after the shot had been fired. On examining the body it was evident, from considerable post mortem staining, that death had taken place some two days or so before. The left arm was flexed and underneath the body. The left hand was tightly clenched and it contained some human hair, or hair that looked like human hair. This indicated that the man was conscious when he was shot, and not asleep, as the muscles were contracted.

On stripping the body, witness discovered an abrasion on the inner surface of the left thigh, just below the scrotum, which had been recently inflicted before death. He was absolutely satisfied that deceased could not hav e fired fc he shot himself. He formed the opinion that the shot was fired slightly downwards and parallel with the wall opposite the door.

To Mr Stout: The man had been dead more than 48 hours when witness saw "him. The abrasion on the thigh must have been caused before death.

The Magistrate: "If the deceased was shot while he was lying on the couch, what distanc e was . the gun

away?"

Witness: There, was no doubt he was shot while lying on the couch. He thought th e gun was furthest distance away that the room would allow. He would say the muzzle of the gun would b 6 three feet away. That was his opinion. The extent of the wound was 5 inches, approximately, in diameter, and that showed that the gun must have been some distance away to allow for the spread of the shot sufficient to cause such a wound. THE DECEASED'S WIDOW

A small, frail-looking woman, obviously of Maoi-i type, next took the stand. She gave her name as Polly Phillips, and elected to give evidence in English. She was, she deposed, the wife of the deceased man and she lived with him at Mokau. On Friday, 28th May, she accompanied her husband to Whangarei and had with her two children, a girl and a baby. The other four children were left at home and the accused man, Billy Peters was looking after them. She returned to her home on Sunday and the four children left dt home were there when she arrived. The accused was not there then. The children ran down to the buggy to meet them on their return, and her husband sent one if them to look for Billy Peters and to tak e some medicine to a neighbour. Her husband and 'she then went up to the house, and he sat down on th e bed and took his boots off while witness went into the kitchen to cook some tea. Some of the children then called out that Billy Peters and two others were coming up to the house, and before they got up her husband came into th e kitchen where she was. They all came in and sat down by the fire. Her husband then went into their bedroom, and called out to Peters and John Leigh to go in there. The other man, Albert Potter, remained in the kitchen.

"I went into the bedroom," contin* ued witness, "and they were all drinking whisky and writing figures. I then went back into the kitchen, and called them out when tea was ready, and they came.'

After tea three of them went into the front room where the piano was and the accused started to play the piano, while her husband and. John Leigh stood at the front door. Afterwards her husband and Leigh went into the bedroom and were drinking whisky, some of which her husband gav c to her when she went in. After she came out to get the children's tea Peters went in and she heard them talking (Witness first said"growl ing") She told her children to hurry up and go to bed. She got water to wash her baby and began to undress it by the fireplace. QUARREL AND ISSUE

"My husband then came out into th e front room and called out to me, j 'Mum, come over here quick.' I stood ■ up and came in. My husband then picked up the lamp from th e small table and took it into the bedroom. When I went in my husband was stand ing against the bedroom doo 1 " holding the gun. Peters was sitting on the •bed. My husband told me to sit down on the bed and he said: 'Look here Billy, I'll smash your head off' and he started to hold th e gun and point it. Peters jumped to him and I put my baby on the bed and jumped to him too. I tried to cool them down, and pull the gun away from my husband, but I couldnt' get it. He told

me to go to hell out of it or he would shoot the whole lot. I took my baby up and went through the front room and called my big boy to get up. He was sleeping on the sofa, and he called out to the other children."

She went into the kitchen and her children were standing by the fire. She then ran outside with all her children, and up th e side of the hill, but not very far up. She went past the shed and fence up into the tea-tree. Not very long after she heard a gun go off at the house. She stayed a little longer and then slipped down and in through the front door. She looked through a crack in the bedroom door and saw her husband lying on the bed dead. The lamp was burning in the bedroom. There was no one else there. She then ran outside and called for John Leigh, but got no answer. She then called for Billy Peters, but got no reply. She called as loudly as she could.

Then she called for Harry Allen, and ran down to his place. H e heard her coming and met her by the footbridge. "I told him what had happened,"' she said, "that Douglas was dead, and he came with me to my house. When I left the house to go up the hill there was only my husband there with Peters. John Leigh had gone, but I don't know when he left.

The gun was generally kept in the bedroom, and the gun (produced in Court) was her husband's gun. She did not se e Billy Peters leave the house. The night was not very dark; it was moonlight, with clouds. From where she was in the tea-tree she could see the house.

Questioned concerning the whisky she said: "My husband brought the whisky to the house. He gave it to me on the train at Kamo. It was two bottles of whisky. I don't know where he got it. My husband kept the cartridges for th e gun some in a box, and som e in a drawer in the

bedroom,

DRUNKEN VIOLENCE

To Mr Stout: "There was no other gun in the house that I knew of. My hunbarid has threatened to shoot, me before. ' He was fairly drunk that night. At other times he has knocked m e about, but not when he was drunk. I took the children away because I was frightened when he said he was going to shoot. I knew that my husband had been in trouble, before he married me, for shooting another woman. I did not see John Leigh leav e the house. There was a revolver in the house that belonged to my husband. W e stayed at Hikurangi on Saturday night.. I was told that my husband had a fight that night. When I came down from the tea-tree I went t 0 the front door — I can't say why. Th e back door was the nearest.. GIRL'S CORROBORATION

A little girl named Margaret Philips, nine years of age, upon her promise to speak the truth, said she remembered her father and mother coming home on Sunday May 30th, and her father sending her with medicine, also h e told her to tell Billy Peters to come. She saw him and told him. Potter and Leigh were, with him and they all came back to the house with witness and went

She then told a story of their movements in the house that corroborated her mother's account. She and her sister went to milk the cow. When they returned the men were having tea. After tea the men all sat down in the kitchen. Then Leigh went into the sitting-room with her' father and Peters, who played the piano. She saw John Leigh leave the house. Peters, after he had finished playing, went into the room where her father was. Her father came out and took the lamp. After that they started fighting. "They meant Peters and her father.

The little witness then described her mother taking them all up into the tea-three, where they heard the gun go off, and her mother ran down. Harry Allen came, and called the children down. ADJOURNMENT At the conclusion of th e little girl's evidence the Coroner's Court and the continuation of the preliminary hearing of the murder charge, were adjourned until nine o'clock this morning.