THE WESTPORT MURDER

NZ Truth, Issue 183, 19 December 1908, Page 1

THE WESTPORT MURDER

And the Question of Compensation.

tl this paper is not laboring- under a misapprehension it can be taken as.' a certainty that when Parliament assem-. bles more than one member untrammelled 'ay party ties will move m the very laudable matter oi ! having the adminis 7 tration of the "« New Zealand Police Fortfe carefully and; " impartially investigated. To make ,this investigation ; the more complete it is really difficult to decide how such will be effected', without a thorough and re'iabfe rehearing of the facts of the famous, or, rather, infamous, Westport jnurder : case, where two men, foreigners to this country, were convicted of the manslaughter of an individual named Botrle, en the perjured evidence ef a youth named Connelly, who subsequently corJ^ESud lo Ms guilt of tne crime* fcr .which... the two-, foreigners were found' guilty, anf who now is serving a Kjutcnce of seven years' imprisonment for perjury while the murder goes unpuniate*. The facts of the\ AVestport murder case are of evLch recent date that roofilly ' •vflryb6dy*>ftß»^j«^^ acquaint, ed wvUi them, and being- so fresh m the pwblte mind, the necessity of reiterating ifhe. circumstances cf the crime are ob : < •via ted. The two foreigners charged and coQtkted cf a crime of- which abundant prcol is now available to prove their janoceace, were Olaf Halimn and Anders 'Andersen. They were seamen lelontjing to a beat iben m . port at Westport. RifStt through their trial they were ably tUten*e4 : ..liy T^coUnscl, but the defence raised—an ; iiihi— -fi&s- not sufticient at their trial t» coi' 1 , if.cc the juiy of their inno--jancs. r This laftt may also he taken as l± in«iicuiknlii.aV the Crown presented a very strtaj; and 1 c.neksive caso for th» i.r*.M-tt'i.icn>. and "Truth" will con03d© tikis, it was a "strons" case m moio than to? sense. '' The police thoroughly Imbued with tlie idea that the mea {hey, had arrested were bloody arid brutal nluri;rcr* t ' leit no- stone unturned, iyLortd no. statement, spared no, expense, so knj £.s it hilocd, if possible, to place a rope round the necks of the two men charged. Ihisc men were practically friendless and helpless. Arrayed, against ihem. were toe best talent the Crown could fee../ Assisting counsel for v tL\<*. Crown, ready to db. the slightest hidd nj, were the so-paTed watch-dogs of th& community, i.e., the police,' who,- so far as' the Westport murder was concerned, wore a pack of blood hounds intent only on tearing their quarry to , pieces, • Hovf suc:es.%ful fee police , were wef all know. Halinen- and Andersen were convicted, at hast - of 'manslaughter, -and re-> oeived each a sentence; of seven years' from air Justice Chapman, who was, on the evidence ha had heard, of course, thoroughly convinced of thedr guilt. Still, Judges are only human, and, thereT fare, liable to err, and we have not yet heard of any reported expression of ©pinion, from that Judge on the terv riblo miscarriage of Justice t in which his Honor . was so : 'greatly, concerned," liy reason of the fact that he sentenced two men for a crime of which they w»re .innocent. We need not enter; into any 3iscvssion oi -what might have happened had these men been -found guilty of wilful murder and had teen judicially strangled from the gallows. This much, however, can be said, a verdict of manslaughter was far from satisfactory^, to tLe polire ; those police officers who played a prominent part m the miserable bungle -would have . earned . greater kudos had it tufn::d put a hanging matter, hut &s it is notr, when we are face to face with the fact, that the innocent suffered and the guilty "escaped, moire than «no big police reputation has been ruined. .» . • \ '■■'■■ • . '■' Of this Westpbft murder, "Truth," of , all papers m New Zealand, nets had most to - say, simply because the wretched dishonest daily press of this f country has ■ not dared, or" at least has declined, to toll the truth, as it smiuld be told, of »h« miserable manner m which everything was bungled, though; when it became altogether top apparent that the police had blundered it was not' ? slqw to hold a brief for the policemen, who from the, earlieststages of the case must have m their hearts entertained misgivings of the foreigners' guilt, as it is on record that a week after the murder was committed Connelly, the convicted ' per jurer and selfconfessed" murderer, stated that he and • ' h* alone had anything to do with Bourke's daath. It has been further proved that the police endoavored and succeeded for the time being ,m suppressing - the evidence of a 'woman who was at the scertc oj the "bloody de^d/ Her. evidence, or a

statement from her, was discarded pimply Lecause.it did not dovetail fn with the theory the police held. This and more we know, as m "Truth's" issue of Oc-r tober 10 we charged Inspector. Black and Chief Detective Mcllveney of wilfully suppressing facts which, had they hecn adduced at the trial of Halinen and Andersen at Nelson, might have altogether altered the complexion of things. T\yo innocent men -would probably have been acquitted ; the real murderer would probably, have been punished ; and, what is more, the repu- | tation of the police for stooping to anything dirty .might not now have been .so infamous. Further, had the police "played the c-ame" Anders Andersen, ope of, the accused men, might not have been m his grave, and we , are assured toy medical testimony that it was the worry and. mental, strain of tlie terrible . ordeals that he went turough -that sent Andersen to an immature grave. ' Had the police not shown such alarming activity m their attempt to gaol men whose guilt they dpubtedv there .would not now be any question of compensation to one man and the relatives of another, whb were made , martyrs, who . suffered m order that one or two over-boomed, but certainly* very ignorant, police officers should earn glory and ecflat as great detectives. Vanity is the ruling fashion m the police foree L and ■ when to suit the vanity of a detective or two one man . or more stands m deadly peril of being swung into eternity from the scaffold, to be well and truly hanged m approved judicial st3le, one cannot afford jto beat about the bush, but to call loudly for Justice for those blood-hounds, who when trouble ' Hreatens, endeavor, but vainly, to throw the blame on a publip that would not come forward and tell all it knew. The fact that these policemen suppressed' material evidence, that they endeavored to save Connelly from the Nemesis that was on . his tracks, that every muscle was strained, 1 every nerve galvanised, every possible penny spent, to save Connelly froni being convicted for perjury all serves to show the desperate position the police were placed m. When a jury's verdict of "Guilty" removed the faintest glimmer of hope, the police then began to think it possible that there had been a miscarriage of Justice. Detective Mcllveney received from Connelly a full confession of his, guilt- of Bourse's death. But this fact was forgotten until' Truth" dragged it into the light of day. Connelly's confession was but a repetition, or, at anyrate, an enlarged repetition of a confession made to Mcllveney months before. And m the face of all this, Minis.'ter for Justice McGowari has, with what "Truth" prefers to call the unwonted impudence of a public man, asserted that so far as he knew, there was nothing m the evidence to justify any compensation being paid. ■•• ' • ■ This paper is , not just now m the position to say whether or not the matter of compensation has been mooted m Cabinet. Sir Joseph Ward is credited with the statement that the matter would be considered at an early opportunity. When r -Minister for Justice McGowan was asKed abput it the other day he declared, according to a daily paper report :— . ' - ; ■ £}o far as he knew there was nothing m the evidence to* justify any compensation being paid. The State' should j not be called upon to pay comperisa- " tion on account of somebody having given false evidence. If the State or the police had done anything wrong, that; would be another matter, but he had. yet to learn that such was the case. The State must do what was right and fair to all, but the mere fact that • these men were charged ny the State with a crime did not entitle them to . compensation. They might, under certain circumstances, be so entitled ; but he had not yet learnt that such circumstances existed m the case under notice. He was, however, quite open to conviction. With the assertion that there was nothing m the evidence to justify any compensation we have already dealt. That it wouttd be foolish and futile to pursue the argument that the State should be called upon to pay compensation on account of somebody having given false evidence, we . willingly concede, but the State owes a duty to the most humbUe and common member of the community. Should he be the victim of circumstances and unjustly accused and wrongfully convicted before a properly constituted Court of Justice; it is the bounden duty of the v State, when it becomes convinced that an injustice has been done, to promptly intervene, but so ,far as Halinen and 4nde) sen are concerned, the State, or what is better, the Department of Justice, and the Police, were allied with a perjurer. All stood

by Connelly, and resisted to the bitter end all attempts to prove Connelly the perjurer he is. The Crown, as represented !by vain and villainous policemen, was I worsted. Justice triumphed m the long : run, and it was only fair to the two men that some recompense should be mado th*em for the great wrong done them. Were the conviction of HaHinen and Andersen resting wholly oh the perjury of Connelly, Minister for Justice McCiowan's bombastic outburst about- the duty of .the State might be considered', sound ami sensible, v but when we find that: the State or Police did wrong m suppressing material evidence, it is. the duty of i the Government to at; once declare 1 for the purity of Justice and to compensate Halinen. It cannot perform miracles and bring the dead back to life. Who was responsible for the mental anguish of Anders Andersen, that culminated m a series of epileptic seizures and death J .Surely the State or the Police. It cannot bring Andersen back to life. It can at least offer some monetary recompense to his relatiA'es m a far-away land, whose grief at their loss can be at anyrate partly consoled by the knowledge that their relative . was innocent of the awful crime with 'which he was charged and convicted. "Truth" has no desire to unduly prolong the matter. This is tihe only paper that has advocated the claims of the foreigners, and if the "State must do what was right and fair to ail, Mr McGowan as Minister for Justice must, if he closely investigates the facts 'and ciiy cumstances, come to the conclusion; paini ful as it might be to him as head of such a Department, that it was more than Connelly's perjury that helped to convict the two men — it was a damnable and diabolical conspiracy on the part of the por lice to gaol two men, no .matter what .the cost might be. There are circumstances m the Westport murder .case that call, loudly for further action, but pending the claim for compensation, "Truth will say no' more. ,It is pleased beyond all measure to learn that flhe Minister is q|uit« open to conviction. If the State proposed to pay J.J. Meikle £5000 for wrongful imprisonment, the outcome of a private prosecution, still greater are the claims of Halinen and Andersen's tives when we find that it was a State prosecution and that every blunder perpetrated is laid, and riglMy laid, at the door of the State's servants. .

It is indeed, evident that Mr Mcttowan is antagonistic to the claim, notwithstanding his assertidn that he is still open to conviction. Apart from the Minister's quibbling and straw-splitting this paper is afraid that there is more than the bounden duty. of the State at the bottom of things. Chief ■ Detective Mcilveney, who bungled and blundered so badly m the matter, is a pet pimp of Commissioner Dinnie, and as the question of compensation would necessarily involve a practical re-hearing of the case, Mcllveney's position, therefore, would be an unenviable one. He it, would.. be who would have to bear the brimt of all the attacks that woufld be made, but as this man Mcllveney has a wonderful pull somewhere, and as he is a pal or a pet of the Commissioner, any reflection on Mcllveney's duty would mean a reflection on Dinnie's administration, the effectual suppression of the question of compensation would temporarily set aside the inevitable ir{j!uiry into Dinnie's administration. McGowan, as IVlinister, has on more than one occasion stuck by Dinnie, and by specious promises to .Parliamentarians checked the asking of curious and squelched the making of speeches m the House that would help to purify the police atmosphere. No doubt, by throwing cold water on this latest claim, for .compensation the Minister hopes to throw many off the track. We doubt not that a great deal more Will he heard about the Westport murder. The coming Parliament, it is to be trusted, won't be so easily gulled as was the last.