PIHA MYSTERY

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXII, 18 April 1939, Page 6

PIHA MYSTERY

ACCUSED i IN COURT CHARGES OF ARSON AND INTERFERING WITH DEAD HUMAN BOOT A CROWDED COURT ' United Ere,.* A«nnciaf>~' 1 AUCKLAND. This Day. The hearing of the joint charges against two Australians. James Arthur Talbot, aged 43. labourer, and Gordon Robert McKay, aged 47. alias Tom Bowlands, wool and skin dealer, was begun in the Police Court to-day before Mr Orr Walker. S.M. They were charged that on or about 12th February at Piha. they wilfully set fire to a dwelling house, thereby committing the crime of arson, and further. that on or about 10th February, they improperly interfered with a dead human body, that of Patrick Henry Shine. Interest in the hearing is intense, hundreds of people waiting outside the Court from an early hour, hoping to gain admission. FORTY WITNESSES Forty witnesses have been briefed. The hearing is expected to last two days. There was a hush in the crowded Court when the names of McKay and Taibot were called. Detective-Sergeant Nalder prosecuted and Mr R. C. J. Sanderson appeared for McKay, and Mr J. Terry for Talbot. Mr Terry asked that all witnesses, \ with the exception of Detective-Ser-geants Alpin and Trethewey, and also Detective-Sergeant Alford, of Sydney, be ordered to remain out of Court. The request was grantd. Mr Terry made a further application which he said might be an unusual one. namely, that the Magistrate invoke his powers under the Justices of the Peace Act concerning the place where an examination is taken other than in open Court. He asked that the publication of evidence in the preliminary in- j quiry be prevented. The Magistrate declined the request. I PATRICK HENRY SHINES DEATH i The first witness, Gertrude Eleanor i •Sturt, nurse at the Auckland Public i Hospital, said that Shine was admitted on 7th January last, and died on the morning of Bth February. He was thin and emaciated. She laid him out after his death. He had no teeth in when he died. A large quantity of cotton wool was used on that account in plugging his mouth. SAW COFFIN SCREWED DOWN Cecil Bertie Shine, retired, in evioence, said his brother, Patrick Henry j Shine, was 54 years of age, and served in the war with the 38th Battalion of the Australian Forces. Immediately before the funeral, which he attended, he saw the body of his brother in the casket, and witnessed the screwing down of the lid. He saw the casket lowered into the grave, and saw the gravediggers commence to fill in the grave. Before his death, his brother was very thin and emaciated. “I have never seen a man so thin,” he added. Stephen Walter Tilton. funeral director, corroborated the evidence of the previous witness. He noticed a string of Rosary beads with a Cross attached round the neck of Shine’s body. He could not say if there was a ring on the finger. The screws with which he screwed the lid down were the same as those produced by Detective Nalder. There was no clay in the casket. He then saw the casket buried in the Catholic portion of the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ section of Waikumete Cemetery. AT THE CEMETERY Charles Caradus Tyler, monumental I mason, said he remembered the burial of two returned soldiers, Shine and ; Cherry, on 9th February. With others ' he was working close to Cherry’s grave ; Detective-Sergt. Nalder: “Did anyone approach you?” Witness: "Yes; a man came from! the main gate and approached me.” 1 Detective-Sergt. Nalder: "Do you know that man. Can you see him in Court?” W’itness, pointing to accused McKay: “Yes; he is that man.” Detective-Sergt. Nalder: "Did McKay speak to you?” Witness: "Yes; he said. ‘Where is the soldier being buried to-day?’ I said, ‘Which one?’ He said. ‘Are there two?’ I said, 'This is Cherry s. The other is being buried this afternoon.’ I ■ indicated each grave to him.’* The Magistrate: “Was Shine's name mentioned?” Witness: "No.” Detective-Sergt. Nalder: "Was there any other conversation?” Witness: “No, except he made a remark about it being a nice day.” Witness said he attended an identification parade at the Central Police Station on 15th April and from a numhor of men lined up. identified McKay a? the man who had talked to him at Waikumete. ROOMS IN HARDING STREET Maud Selina May Bishop, in evidence, said she let rooms at her house in ! Harding street. A man named K. U. ! Jones called on 6th February, with the | accused Talbot and McKay, stating they j had just arrived by boat. They took a I double room with two beds for a week at £1 weekly. Talbot paid. He asked . if there would be any rebate if they did not stop a week. Witness replied!, ir. the negative. McKay was not pres- J ent when Talbot asked that question, i On Saturday morning, 11th February, McKay had his teeth out. She made him bread and milk and took it into his room. He said they were going to Piha. Talbot would be returning but. he (McKay) would not. Witness said she did not see McKay again until the other day She saw Talbot on the Sunday after when Jones brought him back. Detective-Sergeant Nalder: ‘Was anything said?” Witness: "Mr Jones told me about the fire and said a gentleman had been burnt.. He was very upset. So was I.” Witness added that Talbot, who said nothing to them, continued to stop at her plaec, taking a room upstairs. Wilfrid Guild Lowrie. customs clerk, produced documentary evidence of the arrival of McKay and Talbot by the Mariposa on 6th February. ( Proceeding). ,