MURDER CHARGE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23717, 25 July 1940, Page 11

MURDER CHARGE

THE WAIKINO TRAGEDY:, TRUCKER ON TRIAL MEDICAL EVIDENCE The pathologist at tlie Auckland Hospital, Dr. W. Gilmour, was one of the principal witnesses for the Crown in the Supreme Court yesterday in the trial of Douglas Hprbert Cartman, aged 22, mine trucker, from Waihi. Cartman, for whom Mr, Henry and Mr. McCarthy are appearing, is charged with the murder of Mrs. Elizabeth Agnes Hamilton at "Waikino on the > . evening of April 2. Mr. Justice Fair is presiding. The Crown , case is being conducted by the Crown Prosecutor, Mr. V. H. Meredith, and Mr. N. I. Smith. For the first time for some yeafcs the ? women's gallery of the Court was opened and was occupied by about a score of spectators for most of the dayDr. Gilmour, who went into the witness box at 12.30 p.m., gave his conclusions as to the cause of death, and he was still under cross-examination when the Court rose for the day at 5.30 p.m: Four more witnesses remain to be heard' for the Crown. Detectives' Evidence Continuing the evidence for the Crown, Detective John Hayes described the position and appearance of the , bodies of the boy Lloyd Moran and of Mrs. Hamilton as he saw them on the day after the tragedy. There was a blood-stained tyre lever lying about six inches from Mrs. Hamilton's head, on which there were severe injuries." Evidence of a visit to accused's home in Waihi on April 23, when he noticed certain damage on accused's car, was-, given by Detective H. F. Miller. He produced a statement that lie took from accused on April 25, in which he said that on the night of April 2 he drove to Waihi Beach, returning home at 10.40 p.m. and then going to work in the mine.

Jury Inspects Oar . The results of an he made of the accused's car were given by Constable B. Digby Smith. He had come to the conclusion from the appearance of the mud underneath that the car had recently run over a fairly large and yielding object. i An adjournment was taken to allow the jury" to examine the car outside the Court.

A tyre lever produced was identified by Roy Albert Fitzpatrick as having gone with a car which he tradediu and which was subsequently in accused's possession. „ The Government analyst, Kenneth Massey Griffin, gave evidence concerning 15 pieces of broken headlamp glass submitted to him by the police. He found them to be exactly the 'same in specific gravity and refractive index as a piece of glass found in the headlamp of accused's car. They were from the same batch of glass. Two pieces of broken cleat examined undoubtedly came from the same iron.

Pathologist's Testimony . Dr. Walter Gilmour, pathologist at the Auckland Hospital, said the tyre lever found beside Mrs. Hamilton was stained with human blood for a distance of eight inches. ■ On Mr. Henry objecting that the ness was referring to a copy of his notes instead of to the original, His Honor said Mr. Henry was entitled to ask for the originals; arid the' hearing was adjourned to enable Dr. Gilmour to wet them. " When the Court .resumed after lunch, Dr. Gilmour said ho found hair resembling that of Mrs. Hamilton on the tyre lever. Hair recovered from parts of accused's car resembled either that of Mrs. Hamilton' or of Lloyd Moran. On other exhibits from the car he found, as well as human hair, a greasy substance containing human blood, and animal fat which might be human. A number of human blood stains were found on inner fittings of the car. On a stick found near the body of Moran there were bloodstains and _ hair resembling that of Moran. In his opinion Moran's death was due to fracture of the skull and laceration of the brain. Numerous Injuries On the body of Mrs. Hamilton there were numerous wounds and- injuries. Some of the injuries would be. caused by a crushing force, such as being run over by a car. The head injuries were such as could have been produced by a tyre lever. He did not think a car could have produced them, or that the injuries caused by the car would have produced unconsciousness. Witness said if Mrs. Hamilton had been given immediate care after being struck by the car there was a remote chance of her recovery. • The head injuries would be fatal within minutes, and the cause ,of death was the injuries to the brain. He gave medical reasons for his belief that the head wounds were inflicted during life. There was clear indication that the body had been violated.

Answering Mr. Henry. Dr. Gilrnour said that not any of the convictions he had expressed was subject to reasonable doubt. The injuries from the car would be very unlikely to cause loss of consciousness. They might have caused fainting from pain. It was _ a reasonable possibility "that all the injuries suffered in the collision with the car could cause death a short time.

The hearing was adjourned until thismorning.