MURDER CHARGE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23486, 25 October 1939, Page 11

MURDER CHARGE

;; CLAVERLEY MYSTERY PATIENCE ON TRIAL CASE FOR THE CROWN 40 WITNESSES TO CALL [by TET-KfiHAPIl —IMIKSS ASSOCIATION] <' 1 CHRISTCHURCH. Tuesday Charged with the murder of his wife, .5- Harriet Jane Patience, at Claverley on ' '• October 1. 'Arthur John Patience, aged A 48 labourer, appeared in the Supreme Court this morning before Mr. Justice Jsorthcroft.' Pleading not guilty, Patience appeared in tho dock wearing a blue double-breasted suit. He appeared quite v calm. Only 32 people were in tho gallery when the case opened, 10 of them i being women. Mr. A. T. Donnelly conducted the " case for the Crown, Mr. Alan Brown : being with him. Mr B. A. Young, one of tlie youngest counsel ever to appear ' Afor an accused in a murder trial, with him Mr. T: A. "Gresson, appeared for Patience. With about 10 witnesses to be heard, the case is expected to occupy eight dnvs. Over' 50 exhibits were set out 011 a table in the Court. Patience and his wife lived at Claverley, a Public Works camp, until October 'of last, year, when Mrs. Patience disappeared. An intensive police search was without result, but 011 July 20 .1 botlv was found on the beach at Taratuhi. This, relatives claimed, was that of the missing woman. Patience was subsequently arrested. Prosecutor's Opening For some time before October 4, 1938, Patience had been working on the railway at Claverley, said Mr. Donnelly, addressing the jury. Mrs. Patience was seen about the camp 011 . the evening October 4, 1938, but then she vanished and nil the resources of the police force failed to disclose her. On July 20 a body was found 011 the beach sufficiently preserved to be : described as one which was like Mrs. Patience. / Doctors would say the body had suffered violent injuries to the chest in life, said counsel. It would be said that tho body was not that of a suicide. The Crown submitted that motive, opportunity, surrounding facts and actions of accused befoi*e and after his wife's disappearance precluded anvl one but Patience being responsible. The Crown held that he had done away ' with his wife. Mrs. Patience had little money, had not spoken of leaving, and had not been seen leaving the camp, or 011 any transport service. No woman of her age had disappeared in New Zealand and remained unaccounted for. . • Continuing, Mr. Donnelly said the Crown would claim that the body was that of Mrs. Patience and that accused j 1 had knelt on her chest, crushing her 1 ':| ribs and stopping her windpipe. j ~i; Actions of Accused !

" On October 7 Patience went to see j ' his son and told him he was going to ' inquire about his wife and Mrs. George, but apparently he went to town and s saw Mrs. Chapman, stated counsel. On . October 15 Patience saw his son and fa id he was going to put the matter J in the hands of -a lawyer. Before his 1: departure for Rosy Morn camp on , " October 17 Patience held a kind of clearing sale of his and his wife's" possessions, burning some of what were .claimed to be Mrs. Patience's clothes. He had not taken an hour oil work to • look for his wife. He changed his status to that of a single man. - Patience had said nothing of his wife's disappearance to the police, one : of the other witnesses informing them. Patience's statement ivas read by . Mr. Donnelly. He told of returning home to find his wife out and of going to bed alone. He did not know when* I she was, but next evening he found - some of her clothes were gone. He told Fletcher his wife was gone., On . the morning of October sho found a . note from his wife saying she was tired of him and camp life and wanted noth- ;■ ing from him. Later he took his wife's remaining clothes to the house of Mrs. George, in Riccarton. The following night, October 8, he slept at a friend's house, but did not inquire for his wife. Victim's Disappearance ; At the end of October, continued Mr. Donnelly, Mrs. Patience had ./ vanished. A search was fruitless. Her clothes had been sent to her relatives. Her corsets were burned at a camp and Patience had done nothing but hve as a single man until disturbed bv the police. While the evidence was circumstan- ' •; r tial, the cumulative effect of the evi- : denco of many witnesses would be sufficient to make it convincing, said Mr. Donnelly. The evidence all pointed one way-—that the disappearance of Mrs. 1 atience was due to accused. ; Evidence given by neighbours of accused and his wife referred to the disappearance of Mrs. Patience. One Witness, whose husband had charge of post office, said she readdressed a .. letter, to Mrs, Patience to Mrs. George, • : her niece, at Riccarton. "When witness • t°ld accused it was the only way of : p ting Mrs. Patience's relatives know Of her disappearance accused was very annoyed. When asked why he did not report his wife's absence to the police, accused said he was going to Kaikoura «nd might see Constable McLennan. ; witness told hirn to leave the "might" out and do it. : Ihe Court adjourned until to-morrow.