TWO WOMEN CHARGED.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVIII, Issue 17942, 18 November 1921, Page 7

TWO WOMEN CHARGED.

ALLEGED FORGERY OF WILL.

S [GNATURES Q\J ESTION ED.

CASE FOR PROSECUTION.

The trial of Mary Ann Miller, aged 62, and her daughter, Elizabeth Cecilia Cochrano, aged 32, on charges of alleged forgery and uttcranco of a will was commenced in tho .Supreme Court yesterday, before Mr. Justico Stringer and a jury of 12. Mr. V. R. Meredith appeared for the Crown, and Mr. A. Moody for the accused.

In his opening address Mr. Meredith said an old man, Ernest Frederick Delius, who had boarded with Mrs. Miller for a number of years, died in tho Auckland Hospital in April, 1917. Immediately after his death Mrs. Miller rang up Mr. A. K. Duthie, solicitor, saying sho understood ho acted for Mr. Delius and asking him to go to tho hospital and obtain his keys in order to open his box to seo if ho had left a will or any notification about his burial. Mr. Duthie did this and was later shown by Mrs. Miller into a room where there was a large wooden box, which he opened. Ho found it contained odd papers and clothing. Ho did not find tho will, and Mrs. Miller then said "Let mo havo a look," and shortly afLcrwards sho produced a document and said " This looks like a will." Mr. Duthio saw that it was a will, and when ho told Mrs. Miller that apparently everything was left to her sho showed signs of joy and threw her arms around his neck,

Public Trustee Refused Probate. Tho document read as follows:—"I, Ernest Delius, being of sound mind, do hereby give and bequoatl) to my friend, Mary Ann Miller, of 54, Cook Street, Auckland, ali cash, property and effects owned by mo at my death in consideration of her attention during my long illness. I should desiro to bo buried in tho Church of England Cemetery, Waikumete. This is all I desire, and I wish to appoint Mr. A. K. Duthio my executor in this ray last will and testament. Signed by me, Ernest Delius, this 22nd day of January, 1917. Witnesses: James Gardiner, Auckland; Thomas Spiccr, Hot Springs, To Aroha." Tho will, said Mr. Meredith, was apparently drawn by someono who knew something about the procedure, but not very much. It seemed the person knew it was necessary to have two witnesses, but did not know it was necessary to stato that the witnesses signed in tho presence of each other and of (he testator. It was because of the faulty witnessing that tho matter came to light, for it then became necessary for Mr. Duthie to obtain affidavits from tho witnesses. Letters were sent, advertisements were inserted in newspapers, and inquiries were made by tho police, but no trace could be discovered of James Gardiner or Thomas Spicer, and it seemed certain that theso two persons never existed. This aroused great suspicion in Mr. Duthie's mind, and as ho was shortly leaving for the front and did not want to have anything more to do with tho matter he handed tho will over to tho Public Trustee. Application for probate was subsequently made by tho Public Trusteo and it was refused.

Word Mis-spelt Attracts Notice. Counsel said that expert evidence would be given by witnesses that the will was not signed by Delius at all. Ho handed several photographs of handwriting to the jury and said experts were hardly needed to satisfy them of the truth of this assertion. Onco satisfied that tho will was a forgery, tho next question was "Who would bo likely to forgo it?" The natural inference was that it would be the persons who wore going to benefit under the will. It was somewhat important that on another occasion an old mau living at Mrs. Miller's house—it was not suggested there was anything wrong in this matter—agreed that in consideration of her looking after him she should receive some land at To Papapa. It might be that Mrs. Miller thought she should also receive the property of Delius, who apparently had no relatives in New Zealand. The experts would give evidence that in their opinion it was she who wrote "James Gardiner, Auckland," and that all the other writing in the will was tho work of Mrs. Cochrane.

Counsel referred to the mis-spelling of tho word "cemetery" in tho will, and drew attention to the fact that in a statement dictated by tho polico Mrs. Cochrane used tho samo mis-spelling, an "e" being omitted. Ho also said that some years ago Dolius purchased certain land and the agreement for sale and purchase was signed by him in the presence of Mr. Duthie, who acted as solicitor for tho vendor. It appeared that tho person who signed tho name of Delius in the will, instead of copying tho actual signature in tho agreement, took the name from the attestation clause, "signed by the said Ernest Delius in the presence of." This name, as a matter of fact, was written by Mr. Duthie, and was very different from tho signature of Delius.

Solicitor's Suspicions Aroused. W. A. Hawkins, registrar of the Supremo Court at Wellington, gave formal evidence regarding refusal of an application made to tho Court by the Public Trustee for probate of .tho will of Delius. ; Derosit and withdrawal slips bearing ! the signature of Delius wero produced by a clerk in the Auckland Savings Bank. Alan Kenneth Duthie, solicitor, gave evidence regarding his part in tho affair as outlined by Mr. Meredith in his address. He said the will was enclosed in a largo envelope, on which tho word " Will " was written. Mrs. Miller had been looking in the box for only between i half a minuto and a minuto when she pulled out tho envelope. Ho was not watching her at the time. Afterwards a small tin cashbox was examined, but it meiely contained papers and bank drafts from England. A largo will, written in German, and comprising 30 or 40 pages, in which tho name of Delius was mentioned, was also found in the wooden box. It was evidently tho will of a relative of tho deceased. Witness compared tho signatures of Delius in tho will and tho agreement and declined to apply for probate because ho considered tho document was a forgery. In cross examination, witness said he did not know that Delius had another name, but ho had heard Mrs. Miller refer to him as " Mr. Paul." Ho believed Delius was a German. He was positive the will was not in tho cashbox. In reply to tho Judge, witness said he ' formed the opinion that Delius was a j well-educated num. i Evidence of Experts in Writing.

Deteotive-Se.rgoant Issell stated that when he first interviewed Mrs. Miller sho said Delius frequently borrowed inonoy from her, and led her to believe ho was practically destitute. On this account sho did not. take him seriously when ho said he was going to make a will. On a later occasion, when witness questioned Mrs Miller regarding tho signatures in tho will, sho said she had often heard Delius speak of " bis friend Spicer," but she bad never beard him mention the name of Gardiner. When arrested, Mrs. Miller exclaimed: " Merciful God! It is a lie. I have nothing to fear, before God. I havo told you tho truth." Mrs. Cochrane made no reply when charged. Walter Dinnie, private inquiry agent in Wellington, and formerly Commissioner of. Police in Now Zealand, and at ono time chief inspector in tho forgery department of Scotland Yard, gave detailed evidence in regard to the handwriting in tho will. 110 compared it with the writing in statements made to tho police by tho two accused, and in a diary found in their possession. Tie had no doubt that tho signature, " James Gardiner, Auckland." was written by Mrs. Miller, and all the other writing in tho will by Mrs. Cochrane. Herbert Philip Mourant, public accountant, Wellington, and for 22 years in tho servico of tho Bank of New South Wales, waß giving evidence on similar lines whan the Court adjourned for, the day,