DRAMATIC OLD BAILEY SCENE

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 7301, 3 December 1910, Page 6

DRAMATIC OLD BAILEY SCENE

THE TRIAL OF HAWLEY CRIPPEN THOM OUE srF.ci.M. cohhespondent. , LONDON, October 21. ' One ; might Lave, imagined; that the general '.public would : . he; heartily , sick and- tired of -the Crippen case.,- The stories of the alleged murder of Belle Elmore had already been, told with a wealth of ghastly and sordid detail., in the ; newspapers, .and principal witnesses had told their talcs twice—at Bow, street ’and again, at the: coroner’s inquiry, arid when 1 the trial proper commenced last Tuesday at the Central Criminal Court, there seemed nothing loft in the case to - revivify; interest in it, Yet Crlppen's trial has practically absorbed public interest this week; every daily paper, morning and evening, has published columns on: columns., concerning the, proceedings ; the court has . been crowded day'by day, and every morning hundreds of people' congregate - in the vicinity of the new Old Bailey, apparently just in order to catch fleeting glimpses’ ‘of counsel and witnesses concerned ■ in tlio cose. • . ■ : i. ~ „

: -The outstanding: feature of the proceedings of the opening day of the trial was unUoubtedly-the accituae of Crippen. He looked a -ridiculously insigniuoant and lonely figure in. the huge Old Bailey dock, which is big enough to accommodate a company ; cic soldiers, but with his legs crossed, his hands folded- in his lap, he looked steadily and unconcernedly about him. Occasionally he stifled a yawn,at, other .times' he made no ; attempt to conceal that sign of weariness ana boredom. Due partly; to’ hts. costume, a neat frock coat, a light., waistcoat and dark trousers, but no less to has general appeaiance and demeanour, ae suggested a respectable organist irom a snlmr church wtaw had just dropped in to pass away. an idle hour, anu lound tno; entertainment positively siup-xi. CKIPPEN PLEADS “NOT GUILTY." To the solemn duestion as to whether he_was guilty or' the murder or .his wile Crippen gave an empnatic negative in. a clear, though .low-pitched voice, -and then, without so much: as, Waiting: ; tor ji er mission, sat down. :

Tne iirst mild sensation came when the jury were called, over. Two of the gooa men and ;true summoned were l quietly challenged,; and ; were at once sent, about their business. Then came Mr Muir's speech fox the prosecution. For an hour and fifty minutes ho spoke in'the low decently, sad tones in which it is customary for a Crown leader to tell a etory of murder to'a.British- jury. / His was a thrice told: tale commencing away .back in -America, coming gradually to London and ,to Hildrop crescent, oulminafcng 'lithe Supper party of January ’ 3tet <mv Mrs CrippenV disappearance, flutter!!!; away to the - various . statements madrafterivards by Crippen, and so merging into the narrative pf those sensationafacte and theories that have gradually been absorbed by the public. Occasionally there would be an added weight of solemnity in Mr, Muir's vcice as. for instance, when he spoke of "Mr/ Crippen's disappearance. '‘From that

moment/' he said, /‘she passed out' of the world that knew her— (pause)—as completely.; as it she were dead. ;- (Pause). She left behind her everything: she " would have left behind Ifcr if -.she..had died. (Pause).', Honey, jewels,’ furs, ? clothes, home, husband —(pause)—all; left! (Long Eause). Crippen, the /prisoner,'mado'.up is.nrind that not only had she left, butleft- never to return. (Pause). He at once began to cbnvertVher property. . . . OLD PACES AKD NDAY. . Then, 1 ' counsel - having . finished/ his damning, indictment, . we had, the .ovj> denoe of old friends in the shape cL‘the landlord , of the. house in Hildrop crescent rented by: Crippen, Mrs;Martinetti and Mrs Smybhson of the ,Music Hall •Ladies' Guild, who repeated the evidence . thev gave at Bow street and . before the coroner. Next camo Mrs llunn, ai» older sister of Bell© Elmore, who deposed to having soon the scar on her sustor'* abdomen before it was:quite,healed, and afterwards, and • produced the letter Crippen wrote to her announcing lua wife's death in California. 1 Then camp Bruce Millar, the man " Crippen; alleged his wife was in love with;* and to-whom ho declared in his amended story to Inspector Dew of Belle' Elmore's, disappear* anco, his wife had fled. ■ _ Mr Millar's evidence was, in - effect, that whilst ho had been fond of Bello Elmore, had visited her frequently during her husband's absence, , and had corresponded , with her r,in ; affectionate strain, he had- neither-had any. guilty relations with her, nor had ho seen he* since, April, 1904. . ;:, ,- ■ v? « More old friends in the person-of-the secretary of the Music; Hall Guild, Mi«ss L© Neve'sf landlady at Hampstead,* Mic« Marion Curnow, London manager of Munyons Remedies, *Mr Rylance, who wa» Crippen's partner in the .Yale, tooth .business, next repeated their Bow street and Coroner's Court evidence; •, and were. cross-' examined and re-examined without, any fresh facts being brought to light. • Andso cam© . the adjournment. • A DAY OP HORRORS.

It was on Wednesday that Mr Tobin gave'a definite indication.'oi ;his. -line; of uefence. He did so a.t,.1h0 - very end, of the day, ! and in a dramatic and startling lashiou.

T'iie proceedings of the day, • which were interrupted for . , a , couple :of - hours througn the indisposition of & j uryman, were full;of the Horrors, of the-ing-room—the necessary horrors oLscien-: tine research; among' the.’vvfragments of' the human-being the x )ro ®ccution declare vb have heen jbeiie Bimore. ~ ’ •> Tnere was scant evidence of human ]ife ; exhibited- in iragments in- glass bowls/* saucers amd cases, which : ciinned: add; rattled - horribly as Professor Bepper, the-Home Office pathological expert, moved thtm .abouc, like paWns oh a .chess-coord of crime,, on the ledge of , the; witness-box.

"On these ‘ hideous relics the whole ; of the day's .battle between i>ro«ecution and defence;-’ hinged.' ;/• * ; ; Professor ! Pei>per is : the medical Sherlock Holmes of the .present'day, but he dotes not ,look. tho'i part;a.t all in.any particular.: 'He loolis, more like a comiort-ably-dff benevolent, ordinary middle-aged man, with ’ mutton-chop ’whiskers; , reminiscent .of mid-Victorian 'times. But this commonplace person-gave a horrible and yet : powerful exposition .. of how science ; can ; build trenchant theories with a'few half-decomposed remains.” * GHOULS IN PHOCKS.

Of the ghastly things that were passed about in court interest was centre*', on u shrivelled strip of skin,- w-hich':Mr' Muir declared had one© been a scar on a humanbody. That strip of skin- ahd the other; “ exhibits'" -presented* to' one p. horrible picture of what Mr Pepperis gruesome task* of examination and reconstruction must have been, and, made one. shudder.: It was aj disgusting; sight to see the "exhibits" passed round'irom the witness to judge, jury- o r. counsel, but a far more disgusting sight was that of the gallery packed with women, and of pretty faces surmounted by the latest creations of- the milliner, peering 'eagerly down upon those things of horror. That women could remain and listen - to the grisly details of Professor Pepper's evidence was almost incredible. That they should stay to see these gruesome " exhibits ’ almost passed understanding. Professor Pepper, though declining to state-definitely whether. the remains which he had dissected and examined were those of a woman, inclined* to the belief that they were. For * what seemed an ago Mr Tobin combated this theory with questions which appeared tiresome and seemed to hare no point. Suddenly-, however, ho asked very quietly whether, if this strip of skin under discussion contained a sebaceous gland it could possibly bo a scar. Professor Pepper replied promptly That it was au impossibility: Mr Tobin "thereupon remarked, oven more quietly, that ho honed to be able to show the jury that 1 tile: strip of flesh was indeed: ho sear, because he had testimony. to prove that it contained a sebaceous gland. A CHANGED CIUPPEN. , ! Mr Tobin's remarks : roused great excitement in court. He had suggested in some intangible way that new and unexpected developments in his client’s favoui were to bo unfolded on the morrow. Certainly Crippeu's -. demeanour underwent a surprising change as soon as the medical-side of. the .problem* to Be solved by- the jury- was presented to, the court, [lis bored and weary look and attitude dropped from him .like a cloak. Ho* leaned back in* bis chair-with, the air of a man entirely satisfied with himself, i and his watery t Blue eyes lit :.up_i: And when the judge announced the adjournment he was on his* feet with the quickness of a boy about to leave school. , He : swung his overcoat over• his arm, and with a.smile of satisfaction on his face, ran down the stairs of the dock for all the world a«

.thoughhis ordeal .was over, and .release at hand. ..■.■■■

"YOU HAVE TO KNOW," If you had entered the Old Bai/ley nt any time lx?tween 10 o'clock and noon y-esteixlay, you- might have fanned that th© law was deciding a dull dispute between chemists. Doctor succeeded doctor in the box, - and the .talk , was all of mydriatic .poisons mineral and vegetable, of.- glands and ;of microvscopio examina- ; tions. It was a dull and tedious period* but - the. change was complete when the prosecution's inedcchl . witnesses' were done with, and Mr. Tobin! ros» to 'address the, jury on behalf of his client. Prom the quiet, passionless, and conversational attitude of the doctors, there was a sudden . change to eloquence and feeling. Whatever the outcome of the trial Mr Tobin scored a triumph. Ho made a really wonderful speech, the ■ burden of which was a cry to the jury iterated and reiterated. "You have to know. You have to know*." He said it over and over again. Ho pointed out that they And to know that J the remains found’ at Hildron crescent were ‘actually those, of Mrs Crippen. They had to know whether. the .dull brown, mark on. thos* remains was the scar which she carried. They had to know whether dr not that strip of flesh did or did not contain, a sebaceous gland. They had to know*, because upon : that fact ’ there might depend the life of a man. Moreover, Mr Tobin, argued, ■ Crippen could never have performed the tasV to cutting up Mrs Crippon's body, as lie had never practised in snidery, and did n ot, possess the necessary “implements or laiowledpe. Then Mr Tobin drew a graphic pks lure of Crippen's life: and habits. endoavouied to show that the little man in' the dock could not bo a murderer,; Hoskctched the picture of a mis understood and. abused and patient man being at-last wrought l up to the pitch of parting with the woman. - who had spoil* ed his life. •, ■■ .. - 1 He -accentuated Crippen's desire to hush up the scandal of his wife's doparture, and sought to justify the liea —which afterwards Crippen. admitted iai the dock, ho had told—to cover up the unhappy tale of his married life., ■, CRIPPEN AS WITNESS. The more one sees .of Crippen the more one stands amazed at the marvellous coolness and self-possession: of, this, insignifi-: cant little man. He stopped out of the dock with the free and; confident-step of' the man who believes in himself, and throughout the long ordeal of examination ho remained- imperturabl© and non v chnlant. Sometimes ho once or twice he. laughed, on; the whole ha could hardly have been more naturalmore ■confident, dr; more i - conversational and friendly :iu manner .than, if he. had been ; discussing .the 1 most ; trivial : of subjects.' . . r . Tho hour during ' which ■’ ho was in the witness box sufficed for the* presentation; of tho main tide which "Dr” Crippen had to unfold. There was a touch of the dramatic about , the closing moments, of the - court. Mr.. Huntley put to his client two crucial questions: Cl) UiQ you ever at any time administer hyoscum to your, wife?*’ and (2) "Have you any idea i.wliose are tho remains that hav& been found ' in tho cellar , of ;the: houso 39, Hildrop: crescent? , . To., the first Crippen replied; /Never .at ‘ any tame, to the second: "I have no idea. I knew* nothing: about ft till. I caipe back to England." . , n . Much of the evidence given by Crippen as ho was “led" by his counsel was of historic interest,; and. scarce could be said to contain clucidatips clcinenta bearing oil the grave charge with vhich he is confronted. Incidentally he denied tbat : he was an 'anatomical expert,-, and said he had never performed a postmortem examination m, his. Hie. .tia made no secret about the purchase of the hvoscine on January 19th. , He employed it’"as nart 'of the composition of , a remedy which he offered for sale, to the public'.- The hyoscino was in extremely minute doses, but - he declared it to. bo a useful drug, and especially efficacious in the treabnent of nerve cases and spasmodic coughs and asthma, dtp, do. dared that his wife was a violenttempered woman', who quarrelled. ovei trifles. Their final: quarrel -was alter th« visit of Mr and Mrs Paul Martinetti t« 33 Hilldrop crescent, on January Jlst. '■“My-wife said she would leave' mo foi good.” said Crippen, “and alien I returued home about 7.30 u.m. on February Ist I found she had really gone, and 1 have not .seen or heard of her since. All the stories he told in the first in - stance about 3ier disappearance Crippen. admitted to bo lies., but he scattered those falsehoods broadcast to " cover up the scandal." •••.•• * _ ; The case was still proceeding when the mail, left, [Crippen ■ was subsequently found guilty and executed.] ’ ' ; “