THE HORSHAM TRAGEDY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14132, 6 August 1909, Page 5

THE HORSHAM TRAGEDY.

MRS. COX ACQUITTED;

HAY GETS FIFTEEN YEARS;

By Telegraph.—Press,Association.—Copyright. Melbourne, August 5. . Albert Hat and Mrs. Martha Cox were . charged at the Supreme Court to-day with '-."'; the wilful murder of Edward Booth by Cox, the female prisoner's husband, at Horsham, on July 12.

Hay was found guilty of manslaughter, and sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment. Mrs. Cox was acquitted.

The murdered man and his wife had been married for only a few years, and there was considerable disparity in their ages. They had no offspring. Hay, who is 20 years of age, is a blacksmith. 'During the past four months he had visited Cox's shop daily, and it is believed that Cox, who was a very inoffensive man, became jealous. Hay told the police that he had quarrelled with Cox, who accused him of always being drunk when he came to his shop. He struck Cox several times with a toy gun. He then grasped Cox's throat, and held it for 15 minutes till Cox was dead. He afterwards washed the dead man's face. Mrs. Cox also admitted that Hay killed her husband. The medical evidence showed that Cox had been strangled, and that death was accelerated by a weak heart.