SENTENCE OF DEATH.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 15931, 31 May 1915, Page 5

SENTENCE OF DEATH.

NORMAN KEALS CONVICTED.

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PRISONER REMAINS CALM.

CLOSING SCENES OF TRIAL.

LAW" REGARDING INSANITY. He solemn sentence of death, which the prisoner heard unmoved, marked the termination of the two days' tiial of Nonnan Edwin Reals. The jury found accused juilty of the murder of his sister-in-law, Edith Emma Keals, and her infant child it Onewhero in February last. When the trial Was resumed on Saturday morning Mr. J. C. Martin addressed the jury in defence of the prisoner. The law as regards insanity, he said, had not altered from what it was 75 years ago, when mental science was in its infancy. The one question for tho jury was: Did Keals know at the time what he was doings and, if ho did know, did he know that, ho was doing wrong? Counsel reviewed tho eccentiicities in the prisoner's behaviour during the last ten years, urging that, there was every indication of an abnormal state of mind. There were periods of normality followed without premonitory symptoms by outbreaks of inBanity, the final outbreak, except for its dreadful consequences, being an exict repetition of previous o.'.es. Mr. Martin concluded his address to the jury, which lasted about 15 minutes, by arguing that Keals did not realise lyhat ho had done, otherwise he would have attempted to make good his escape, instead of hiding in the vicinity. Ciown Prosecutor's Address. Strangeness of manner and eccentricity, said the Crown Prose. the Hon. J. A. Tole, K.C., in his final address to the jury, did not, according to the highest legal authority, justify a jury in bringing in a verdict of not guilty on tho giounda of insanity. The behaviour of the prisoner before and after reach of his previous outbreaks, was always the same— of a sane man— there was no evidence to show that he was insane during these outbreaks. Why, asked' Mr. Tole, had not ii plea of insanity been set up when Keals had been convicted and sentenced for climes on other occasions? He vas a sano man when convicted in New Zealand and in Australia, yet now, for the first time, the plea of insanity was set up. Mr. Tole, read extracts from various letters written by accused, both before and after the tragedy. These, he said, showed the coherence and. continuity of the prisoner's resolve to have his revenge for what he considered to be an injustice done to him, and they also showed his consciousness of the wrong which he had done. "You cannot, as a jury, -reanimate the dead mother and child,' concluded counsel, " but you can "say that the author of this terrible crime wasiesponsible for his act, even if you exercise the privilege of expressing your opinion that mercy should be -extended to him on account of his moral and mental weakness." His Honor's Summing Up. The facts of the case, said His Honor, the Chief Justice, Sir Robert Stout, in summing up, were not in dispute, so therefore there was in real ty but one issue for the jury to decide, and that was the state of the prisoner's mind at the time when lie committed the murders. After quoting the law on the subject, His Honor said that if tho jury thought from the evidence that the prisoner knew lie was killing, and knew that the killing was wrong, then they were bound to find him guilty. ' H : s Honor then reviewed the evidence, which, he said, discountenanced the theory of a sudden impulse of homocidal mania. The accused had planned the tragedy, his preparations extending over several days. He had a bad disposition, having committed cr'mcs on previous occasions, and he had a motive for this, the last of his crimes. But for the fact .that his revolver went wrong he might have killed some of his pursuers and himself. ' Regarding the medical evidence, Hi? Honor remarked that doctors do not diaw any fine distinctions between points where normality ends and. abnormality begins. A man having an abnormal mind was not sane in the eyes of the doctor, but the law dealt with such people from another point of view. If tho man knew that what lie was doing was wrong, the law said he must suffer punishment. His Houor concluded by pointing out that there were three possible verdicts. The jury, might find tho prisoner guilty and fully responsible in a mental sense. They might, however, find a verdict of guilty, adding that the prisoner's power of self-control' had been diminished by insanity, and therefore recommending him to mercy, or they might find him not guilty on the ground of insanity. "To draw the lino between sanity and insanity is very difficult," His Honor said, "but society is based on reverence for human life, and has laid down that human life must not be taken lightly, and, being taken, those who take it must not be treated lightly." Passing o! Sentence. _At 11.45 a.m. the jury retired to consider their verdict. When at lunch time it was announced that they had not as yet come to a decision a large number of spectators in the body of the Court left, but about fifty or sixty of the public, including some women, returned later, and waited throughout tho afternoon for the closing scenes. At 3.15 p.m. the jury returned to the Court, and, in answer to a question from His Honor, said they had not agreed upon a verdict. 'In reply to further questions, the foreman said that there was nothing which His Honor could do to help them. The jury then retired again, hut returned a few minutes later with the announcement that they had agreed upon their verdict. Amid a breathless silence, the foreman said that the jury's verdict was one of "guilty." Instinctively nil eyes were turned to the prisoner in the dock, but his features wjffe impassive. He made no reply when asked if he had anything to say why the sentence of death should n-t be passed upon him. In old-time phraseology tho usher commanded all men to keep silence during the passim; of the death sentence. A solemn hush fell over the Court, and in a low voice His Honor said: "Prisoner at the bar, I have now to pronounce the most solemn sentence that can be pronounced by ojie man upon another, and, in so doing I shall follow tho form laid down by statute." Assuming the black cap His Honor pronounced the sentence of death The condemned man heard it without a tremor. Touched on the shoulder by a warder, lie turned and with a firm sten walked down to the cells. • Turning to the jury. His Honor tl.a-.iked them for service rendered to* their country and informed them that they were discharged.