UNCONSCIOUS MURDER.
EPILEPTIC KILLS WIFE.
: A./ SUCCESSFUL DEFENCE. "POSSESSED OF THE DEVIL." A young husband who murdered, his wife while in a state of epileptic „ automatism was ordered at the Old Bailey, London., to be detained during the King's pleasure. '" .. ..." ':::'"' . ?!"/: The man was Herbert John Fryatt, aged 20; of Sidmouth Road,. Leyton. ',Ho strangled his wife on a bed, and shortly afterwards drank spirits of salts. He was a victim of epileptic fits. " My case is," said .Mr. Fuller, defending, " that *it was not Herbert John Fryatt who' murdered his wife, but an evil spirit. He suffers from epileptic fits, and in the old days a person who suffered from this disease was said to be " possessed of the devil." Fryatt, in the witness-box, broke into tears and said that he loved his wife truly. Mr. Justice Swift: Try not to distress yourself. You have nothing to worry about. Tell your story as simply and plainly as you can. ' Fryatt: We went into the house to read, and were perfectly happy together until I felt myself trembling all over. I then lost consciousness. I found my wife
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Bibliographic details
New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18553, 10 November 1923, Page 3 (Supplement)
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187UNCONSCIOUS MURDER. New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18553, 10 November 1923, Page 3 (Supplement)
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