SHADOW OF THE SCAFFOLD

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23507, 18 November 1939, Page 2 (Supplement)

SHADOW OF THE SCAFFOLD

Nightmare Ordeal for Man Who Joked with Scotland Yard

FROM his own lips I heard the story of the man who thought he would be clever at the expense of the police and how his jokes recoiled upon his own head, writes the Dorchester correspondent of the News of the World, London. The man just stepped out of the dock at the Assize Court after being acquitted of the murder of his oldest friend.

«TT was so .preposterous when the / I detectives seemed to suspect J- rce that I thought I would have a little joke," he told the correspondent. "It was my fault entirely that in some ways I misled them." It had taken a jury of 12 Dorset men nearly two hours to decide that the . speaker, Joseph Williams, aged 71, of Bourne Valley, Toole, was not guilty of the murder of Walter Alfred Dinniran, a wealthy retired garage proprietor, of Brauksome, Poole. Dinnivan was found dying from terrible head injuries in the lounge of his groundfloor flat on the night of Sunday, May 21. Before the jury retired, Mr. Justice Croom-Johnson warned them that the long arm, of t'oincidence would not do in "this extraordinary case," and that was no direct evidence against [Williams. Trial Lasts Four Days It was stated at the beginning of the trial, which lasted nearly four days, that all the evidence to be offered was purely circumstantial. -In the room where Dinnivan lay dying was a beer glass which was said to bear the imprint of Williams' thumb. On the floor were found a brown paper bag of peculiar shape, a hair curler of antiquated design, and the ends of five cork-tipped cigarettes. When Chief-Inspector Burt, of Scotland Yard, who _was in charge of the investigations, searched Williams' C house he found a brown paper bag exactly like the bag found in the flat. / Creases in the bag found near the body of Dinnivan showed, the police suggested, that it had been used to wrap up the weapon with which the victim ■was bettered to death. The finger-print on the glass, it was alleged, was left by Williams when ho visited Dinnivan. Expert evidence was given by Dr. Roche Lynch about saliva found on the cork - tips of the cigarette stubs. He stated that the saliva was of the same group as that of Williams. Williams, it -sras also declared by the prosecution, was in- financial difficulties, and had asked Dinnivan for help. In the witness-box he strenuously ; denied that he was near Dinnivan's house on the night of the murder. "I could not kill anyone," he declared. "Once I tried a destroy a cat, but could not." A few minutes after walking out of the dock a free man Williams told his story. "You can call me a fool right away," - he exclaimed. "I realise now that much of what has happened to mo in the three months I have been in custody *-vras entirely my own fault. But can you blame me? "I knew from tho very beginning that I was completely innocent of the murder of my friend of more than 60 years. We had played together as > boys. I was a few years older, hut as the years went on the difference in our ages' disappeared. "I prospered in business. I was proud to call "Dinnie"—as I called Dinnivan -—my friend. -We never had a cross jword at any time. When, as motor came in, he wanted to transfer from a horse business "to a car business, 1 helped him with money, and was pleased to do so. "Latterly, and you must remember we were both getting very old, I did lioi see so much of him.

"My own fortune was dwindling away because I was too lenient in many cases, and because in my latter years 1 havo been a bit of a fool in business. "What was more natural than to think of my old friend, who, so far as I knew, was still prosperous. I went to see him, hoping that he ■would oiler to help. I did not ask for anything, and I am certain to-day that if someone had not killed him he would havo come to my aid. "I heard that Dinnivan had been murdered, but it never occurred to mo that I would bo suspected. "Then, slowly, I realised that the police were taking an undue interest in me and my movements. It puzzled me for a time and then, such is my nature, I bccamo amused. "I thought that surely Scotland Yard could not possibly make such a mistake as to suspect me. But they did. And one day I .found myself being led to the police-court. I had made statements, and I would like to say now that I have no grievance against Chief-Inspector Burt, Superintendent Swain, or any of the other officers engaged in the investigation. "It was my fault entirely that in some ways I misled them. But the joke was on me, as I discovered when, after several Court hearings, I was landed in Dorchester Prison. "For 24 hours I lay in a state bordering on collapse. I could not eat. I could not sleep. I could not think. I only wish now that from the very beginning of the investigations I had been more helpful, instead of trying to bo clever at Scotland Yard's expense."

"Then," Williams went on, "came another great shock. I. was taken to Brixton Prison, arriving there just before dinner-time. There were 15 of us at a long table in- tho hospital ward. A young man oposito mo said, 'Hello, what are you in for?' In order to save his feelings, I said, 'l'll tell you after dinner.' 1 thought I was the only murder suspect in the hospital. Murder Suspects "But I dropped my spoon on the floor when he remarked quite casually in reply, 'Oh, that's all right. I am supposed to have murdered my wife.' Within a few seconds I discovered that every one of the 15 of us sitting at this plain deal table "was accused of murder. "They included three soldiers accused of a murder at Hindhead; Jackson, who was subsequently acquitted of the murder of his wife at Deal; a Chinaman; and a man charged with murdering his sweethearts mother in North London. "What they told me in confidence I will never give away, but somehow there was a 'matey' feeling between us all.

"Then came the declaration of war, and we were moved to Wandsworth. At Brixton and Wandsworth the officials were very kind. At Dorchester, although the prison officers themselves did what they could for me, I found that to be confined for 23 hours out of 24 was very depressing. 1 "It was then that Mr. Norman King, the solicitor who defended me throughout, appeared like an angel come to my rescue. He brought me news of the outside world and said, 'Never fear. You will not bo convicted.'

"In my heart I knew that I should not be convicted, but somehow in the dreariness of the prison cell I could see the shadow of the scaffold and the rope

hanging over me. Innocent men have been hanged before, I argued. Maybe they will hang inc. "It was a terrible thought, and I put it behind me, but every now and again it would come back. At times I was driven to desperation. At others I was exalted in the belief that friends outside, avlio had now been joined bv Mrs. Wilson, mv ex-housekeeper, would rescue me frdm the dreadful fate which seemed so close. "Then came my transfer to Dorchester for my trial. Day after day I stood in the dock ; listening to the evidence for and against me. "The trial was a ghastly nightmare. Thank God it is all over. I am afraid 1 am too old now. but, having fought on the North-West Frontier, in Egypt, and in South Africa, I would like to offer my services to my country again. "'What does the future hold for me? [ don't know. I have a military pension of 12s 6d a week and an old age pension of 10s. I also have a number of medals and, if necessary, I would become a conimissionare at a hotel wearing my medals in front and a ticket with the words 'The. man they tried to ,hang,' on my back. "But frivolity has already led me into much troublo, so perhaps 1 had better bo serious now."