MAREO RE-TRIAL

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXX, 15 June 1936, Page 5

MAREO RE-TRIAL

SECOND WEEK OF HEARING KEEN PUBLIC INTEREST MEDICAL PRACTITIONER’S EVIDENCE (By Telogiaph—Press Association) AUCKLAND, This Day. There was keen public interest when the Mareo re-trial entered the second week this morning. Ernest William Gieson, medical practitioner, Wellington, gave evidence that in the course of practice he had acquired knowledge of the barbituric group of drugs and had experienced one case of veronal poisoning in which two hundred and fifty grains had been taken. He was familiar with the circumstances of the Mareo case. After Mareo had been committed for trial from the lower court he had read all the depositions and advised the defence from time to time before the first trial. During the last few days he had perused the evidence of several of the principal witnesses. “I am still of the same opinion now as I was in January” said witness. “I have studied literature on barbiturics and veronal generally. I would accept the statements of Dr. Gilmour relating to the average medicinal dose and the average fatal dose. Usually veronal is taken to induce sleep, but occasionally it is taken by people during the day although it is not prescribed like that by medical men. It would be taken by highly nervous excitable people to calm them, but for such cases bromide is usually prescribed.” Witness added it could be said that Mrs'Mareo was likely to be susceptible to drugs in view of,what had been said regarding her temperament. Published literature showed that people who took veronal automatically would take whatever was available. There was nothing striking about the evidence that she had taken not less than a hundred grains. No inference could be drawn from the amount of veronal extracted after death from various organs. Literature stated that the amount taken could be guessed at but not determined. In none of the reported cases was he able to find a suggestion as, to how an estimate could be formed. Dr. Gieson said he did, not think the factors on which the medical witnesses relied for the statement that Mrs Mareo had a dose of a hundred grains of veronal were sufficient, adequate or reliable. The fact that a hundred grains or more was a fatal dose did not help the estimate as to how much Mrs Mareo had. - Referring to the nightdress and kimono which had been removed from Mrs Mareo before Dr. Dreadon’s arrival, witness paid it was known that there must have been veronal in those garments. “We have one positive finding—the amount of veronal the analyst actually found and weighed, and one find, ing which is unknown —the quantity in the garments sent to the analyst, which he was never able to recover, said Dr. Gieson.