GUILTY OF MURDER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20642, 14 August 1930, Page 12

GUILTY OF MURDER.

£■ imanly's Trial ended. \' ■ DEATH SENTENCE PASSED. ; INSANITY PLEA FAILS. I - ; i . ■ STATEMENT BY ACCUSED. . " NEVER PREMEDITATED." , [BY TELEGRAPH. —OWN CORRESPONDENT.] WANGrANUI. Wednesday. ' Tenso scenes in the Supremo Court at Wanganui to-day culminated in tho pass;, in'g of the death sentence on Herbert .Frederick -Manly, who was found guilty of murdering Gladys Cromarty at Wanganui on May 9. Tho Chief Justice, Sir Michaol Myers, presided.. Tho trial has lasted for three days; To-day's proceedings commericeQ' with the address to the jury of •' accused's ' counsel, Mr. W. J. Treadwell, ' and this occupied over two hours. Mr. N. R. : Bain, Crown Prosecutor, delivered / his-address yesterday afternoon, 'Mr. -Treadwell said he made no excuse or-, apology for the length of time ho had : tuken-in-eliciting from witnesses anything in favour of tho unfortunate man who was ,y, on trial for his life. Ho was sure the juiry^ask'ed : for no oxcuses. It was the jury's iluty-to : decide whether that young lif# wa§ -taken when accused had full possefe3foriroF!hi&" I facuities or whether at the was incapablo' of realising what ho was' "doing. ' TTiff-question of evidence hinged on the fact Whether tho accused was in full possession "of"'his faculties at tho tinio; whether'he was capable of distinguishing between right and wrong. Mr. Treadwell contended that if tho evidence showed that Manly was driven by an irresistible impulse for which hp was. not responsible, a verdict not of guilty, but of guilty while insatii* Should'bo brbught in. His Honor: I cannot see my way to direct the jury as Mr. Treadwell suggests. Mr. Treadwell said: " 'Guilty, but insape,' does not moan that tho accused is released. He is detained during the » pleasure of His Majesty. During that period/he suffers tho greatest punishment r of ail, that of remorse." The law was that anyone at the time of committing an net was deemed to bo sane, and if tho defence of insanity was get up tho onus was upon the accused to prove it. In the present case they could only hope to discharge, that onus by placing. before the jury what had come out in evidence. * * "Very Best Relations." Counsel .submitted that the letters before" the Court were not those of a man S whol)ad proper use of his faculties, and jiK that no person could bo convicted of an £ offence if, when he committed it, he was labouring under a diseaso of the mind and was incapable of knowing that he was ' < doing wrong. He said a friendship between Manly and the girl had sprung up f while they , were at Koatanui, and the relations between Manly and the whole Cro- ;' marty family had been of tho very best. Manly had s been treated as a son of tho family... • Right, up to .April 30, when Gladys • returned homo" from Wellington, relations we're o£ the happiest. .If Counsel said he was not taking any notice of tho evidence .of Vera Murray, .who said tho couple were quarrelling on Hi April /29,' because they were walking up f and down a street in ' Wellington. If a 4' quarrel had' taken place that quarrel must have occurred on the morning of - 'April 30. It was obvious that something took place on the morning of April 30. Whether'MaMy: made any charge against ; the gM and' she rightly resented it, for thtf gFrHvas evidently of the highest character, there was no evidence to show. The fact remained; that Gladys returned tho ring' and came home to Wanganui. § ' "An Extraordinary Letter." iij, .Then Manly rang Dora Cromarty on the telephone. To use Dora's own words, ho was "heartbroken." Manly then Went back to the hotel and wrote "this extraordinary letter to Dora and her mother." Counsel said ho referred to Manly's first, letter to Dora, which contained the ramblings of a mind affected by the. fact that'the engagement had been "broken -.off; Tho letter was written in such/a rway that there was no doubt that Manly's reason was gone. referred to the meeting between jV«rafCampbell and' Manly in the kitchen nt the, New Zealander Hotel,'when Manly made- an extraordinary statement that if he could not get Gladys no one else could. No sinister importance could be attached to that, statement when • one considered the state of mind Manly was in. Mr. Treadwell then referred to the next letter to Mrs; ;-Cromarty and Dora, in which Manly said he did not want Gladys to go-to Wellington and .in which he deferred tp her and certain other people. "I put it to you," said Mr. Treadwell, was* not. a syllable of truth in tho" allegations. No one suggests anything against the girl!' On the contrary, her cbtiduct v was most exemplary. She appears to have been a modest girl." These-.things; .went to show the state of mirid of Manly, at the time. Counsel asked if'the state of mind of a man who coiild write such letters was consistent with/that of a sane man. They all went tot show that his reason was distorted. Statements Contrasted, <Manly made another extraordinary statement regarding tho lives led by hotel girls, ; said counsel. He held no brief ' . for hotel girls, but he ventured to stato that they were just as respectable as their 'sister's" holding better positions. After having made these accusations against others Manly then went on to eulogise himself.by saying "Manly my name and "manly my principle." Was this the writing of a sane man? On the evening of May 8, at Wanganui, relations were again of tho happiest, yet the Crown would havo tho Court believe that-Manly contemplated the murder of tho/girl because he had .said it would be the last time'hc would take her to the pictures. He said: "It will bo the last time, girl,", using "girl" as a term of endearment. If at this timo he contemplated murdering the girl to whom he was rio attached, was it likely that ho would have made a statement of that nature in tlio presence of witnesses ? If ho had intended up to stage tec.take the life of tho girl ho would havo done so while out : with her that night. The .letter written on May 8 to the policp he put in his pocket, so that the police would find it. It indicated , not that, he intended to murder his sweetheart, but that he intended to take his own life. Mr. Treadwell referred to the fateful afternoon when Manly was joking with tho family before- going upstairs. He asked if Manly could at the time act tho part, if he could act tho hypocrite. Counsel contended that he could not. Manly had also made arrangements to visit friends at Wanganui East that evening. After the tragic happening ho made no effort to conceal the. fev evidence of the crime. Iw Counsel said that in determining S- f whether a man was insane or not. there I four considerations, namely, family •y. personal history, circumstances subsequent conduct. In Manly's caso Were handicapped by not being able ?i}der <jvidenco of family history or to personal history, but and j : the subse- ■ conduct, of accused.) All Manly's

statements indicated a benumbed brain, and his actions were not those of a sane criminal. If, in the circumstances, the jury thought Manly did tho deed wantonly and wickedly, with a full realisation of what ho was doing, then he asked them not to deviate from their bounden duty; but if they found that Manly, at the timo of committing tho deed, was not capable of distinguishing between right and wrong, then counsel claimed their vordict. "Upon tho evidence that has been adduced and upon that evidence alone is the prisoner to bo judged," said His Honor, in summing up. Ho then referred to tho publication in newspapers of a photograph of accused, such publication taking place while the police were investigating the "matter. "In this caso, fortunately," said His Honor, "that publication has dono no harm, becauso it is clear, and indeed it is admitted, that accused was tho person who actually killed this girl. But, supposing that were not so—supposing there had been any question as to the person who had done tho act ? "In such circumstances tho publication of tho photographs might have dono incalculable .harm to the accused or to tho Crown. That is to say, to tho interests of society. Such publication was an act of gross impropriety and truly regrettable on tho part of the newspapers. If such photographs havo occurred in this caso, I hope such a thing will never happen again." His Honor said ho wished to emphasise the point, that tho jury was not concerned with tho question of penalty. Tho samo construction applied to the caso as to' any ordinary case of theft or any other case that might bo beforo a jury. Consequently, whether it be liberty, reputation, or -life at stake, it was tho duty of the jury to apply precisely tho same principles to the caso, and the issuo had to bo proved beyond reason or doubt. Alternative Verdicts. v His Honor proceeded to deal with tho meanings of homicide and murder, with what was meant by the defence of insanity, and what insanity meant in criminal law. Tho jury, he said, might also find a verdict of manslaughter, but he could not find anything in the evidence that would justify such a verdict. In fact, it had not been suggested by counsel for accused. Further, it was not possible to find a general verdict of not guilty. Tho only two verdicts that could be returned were guilty, or not guilty on tho ground of insanity. In law everyone was presumed to be sane until the contrary was proved. This being so, tho real question was whether, it had been proved that, to tho satisfaction of tho jury, tho accused was insane. Generally, in such cases there was some kind of evidence in support of insanity or otherwise. However, it was possible for tho circumstances of the offence to be such, and for the evidence called by the Crown to bo such, as to indicate to the jury that accused was insane at tho timo of tho offence. Tho presumption was supplied by tho evidence for tho Crown, and that was what Mr. Treadwell was asking. Meaning of Insanity. Natural disabilities, disease of the mind, or delusion, were not factors in tho present case. Lack of mental balance or mental deficiency was not in itself insanity within the meaning of tho law. It would never do for the law to say that in no. circumstances was a mental defective responsible for his crime. Irresistible impulse was not a defence under the law uhleas- the "person who was governed by that irresistible impulse did not know or understand tho quality of his act. ... .... Because a man killed a woman by reason' of an infatuation, followed by an engagement which was broken off, and jealousy or depression, such was not a sufficient defence unless, when ho killed tho woman, he did not know the quality of his act and did not know that ho was doing..wrong. Was tho jury satisfied that Manly was insane according to the definition upon which he had directed them ? *

His Honor referred tb statements made by Manly in his letters as indicating his intentions. Tho day before tljo 'girl's death Manly wrote: "Tho wholo secret I will ..carry with me. Her letters are in one of my cases. Another caso is at Thorndon station." Another extract from the same letter stated: "Sho has let many down, but no moro will suffer as I have." His Honor asked what that meant. Did it mean that the girl would be alive when the letter was found ? If ■ she would be, why tho statement ? It was for tho jury to say. Judge Quotes Letters.

Might there not have been an intention to do away with the girl and then himself, asked His Honor, and then later to have found that ho had not the courage. Arid then, was it not that there was nothing he could do but give himself up? His Honor said it was his duty to put all aspects to tho jury. Ho quoted the following extract from a letter written by Manly on May 1, before the tragedy: "Do. girl, try just to say you'll consider. Give mo time, give me a little encouragement, I implore you; otherwise I can't say what will happen." Also, on April 30, Manly wrote: "I can honestly see two valuable lives destroyed." However, said His Honor, this was not necessarily sinister. Then there was the statement to Vera Campbell, that if he could not have Gladys 110 one else would. Again, they could not take any notice of that. His Honor next drew attention to the statement on the evening on May 8, before tho couple went to the pictures. Manly had said: "This is the last time, isn't it, girl?" That, of courso, was capable of another interpretation. But all these statements were followed by the girl's death. Question ol Premeditation.

It was not necessary for the jury to come to the conclusion that the act was premeditated days beforo tho tragedy. That did not matter. Tho question was whether it was dono knowing the seriousness oE the act. A further fact was that tho knife had been sharpened recently. What for? At tho police station, when charged with tho murder, accused had asked: "Is sho dead?" That indicated that accused did not know what he had done, hut then, on the other hand, why did he go to the police station ? His Honor said it came back to tho quostion of irresistible or uncontrollable impulse, but something more than that was required, and that was that accused did not know tho nature or quality of his act. If the jury reasonably and sincerely thought Manly did not know the natiiro or quality of his act, then its verdict would bo not guilty on the ground of insanity, but it must bo remembered that Manly knew where he had been, for ho told tho police that he went into the girl's room. Ho said sho was sleeping and ho had tho knife.

Verdict of Guilty. "Under tho direction I havo given you, you may Jind a verdict of manslaughter," concluded His Honor, "but, personally, Ido not see. how that is possible. The alternatives are either guilty or not guilty on the ground of insanity." Tho jury retired at 12.55 p.m. and returned at 4.5 p.m., with a verdict of guilty. His Honor said that after a very fair trial, in which Manly had been ably defended, ho had been found guilty of a crime for which there was only one penalty. Manly, visibly affected, stood in the dock. When asked if ho had anything to say, ho replied in the affirmative. Facing His Honor, Manly said, in a.husky voico: "It was never at any time premeditated." He spoko so quietly that his statement had to bo repeated by, the senior sergeant, who was'standing beside the dock. Donning the black cap, His Honor then passed the death sentence.