THE ALLEGED BABY-FARM

NZ Truth, Volume 28, Issue 909, 28 April 1923, Page 5

THE ALLEGED BABY-FARM

Coopers Again Before the Coirt Massacre of the Innocents Investigated. The Cooper case continues to be an assured draw, and capacity business was recorded at the Wellington Magistrate's Court on Monday, when the now notorious pair, Cooper and his wife, were on view. Their presence was due to the necessity of taking further evidence m the murder charge against the two arising out of the discovery of the dead body of an infant buried Jn the grftunds of Cooper's house at Newlands. Since the charge was laid two more bodies of young infants have been unearthed, and, the evidence Of these discoveries will be used m the Supreme Court ito strengthen the Crown theory that Cooper and his wife m THEIR DARK, LONELY HOME at New lands, surrounded by trees and . well back from the road, conducted a systematic practice of doing away with infants and collecting premiuirjs under the pretext of having the babies adopted. Cooper appears little the "worse, for - his long detention since the beginning of this year,, and anxiety, if he has experienced any, has left no noticeable trace on hla features. Waiting for the Magistrate to enter, Cooper sat m his chair with perfect nonchalance of demeanour, despite the fact tf»at with his wife he shared the concentrated gaze of a hundred pairs of eyes from the back of the Court arid could distinctly hear the low buzz of conversation going on—and he -was- the subject of it. 'It is true,. however, that Cooper finds SOLACE IN MED^ATJON on the meroy of the Almighty/ and with his Bible m his hand has frequently • declared at the gaol that the Lord will save him. In earlier d,ays he was a pillar of the Seventh Pay Adventiste' faith',' but latterly, if stiU of this persuasion, he has not a^own any marked leaning towards any particular : bejief. However,- he- has, to imany of his lady, clients, spoken m terms disclosing him to be a man of religion. Mrs. Copper sat,, as she has throughout earlier proceedings; without looking up, and apparently resigned, as if to some horrid penance, to hear the wretched, sordid details through. The police matron sits beside her and, during the- long- wait prior to the opening, they converse m. monosyllables; As m a sketch of the female accused published m "Truth" some few weeks ago. the high* collar of her overcoat was worn turned up and concealing the lower portion of her face, Magistrate? Page was on the Bench and the 'evidence for the Crown was elicited from .the witnesses by Crown Prosecutor Macassey, Lawyer Treadwell appeared for Cooper anty Lawyer Jackson .for the female accused. The first witness called wai Matilda Maud Adams, a married woman residing m Fitzgerald Street, Stj Albans, Christchurch.. Her evidence was connected with the first baby /of the woman Beadle,' who bora two children to Cooper. 'She stated that m the year 1920 she was residing at 302 Manchester Street,- Christchurch, and m July of that "year- saw an advertisement m a local newspaper applying for a kind person to take charge of a, baby. She answered the advertisement, and a few days later the accused Cooped called at her house. He asked witness If she would look after the bkby for a fortnight. Witness asked its sex and Cooper informed -her- -it' wast a male. "I aJso asked him," said witness, "if the mother \* "','"'•'.'■''., WAS A MARRIED WO^fAN." What did he say to that?-HHe said no, but she would be married shortly. Was there any mention of ]payment? — Yes, he asked me what I would take It for, and I offered to take- |t for 12s 6d a week. ■ V . ! And did he come back?--tYes, he (panic batik the same evening! with the young woman and the baby. ■ Who carried the baby 7-i-The young lady. .-.. ■-...■ Have you seen the young lady since? /\. — Witness said she had. She knew the young woman now as Mius Beadle, Witness went bri v to say that they came inside and sat down, the woman etUl holding the baby. Was the child In a healthy qondltion? — Yes. it was perfectly healthy. • And It was handed, over to you to look after foiva fortnight?— Yes. Did any of. them give youvthe name of the ehild?~Yes. I askeqi what I should call it, and Cooper said, "QALL .HIM .HENRY." In reply, to. a question a«t to what address wcAild find him, Cooper handed her a' card on which was written his name; care of Post Office, Wellington. • • •■■•■•••■■■• :• < Did you have occasion to communicate with Cooper, after he left?— Yes, about a week afterwards. There was a death m my fanilly then, find before 4 I went away I wrote to Cqjoper, or 1 * may have telegraphed, and auld, "Come and see the baby, it is not well," ov something like that, When I returned from Tlmaru there was a wire from Cooper saying he was ejtmring to Chri3tchurch. He came lat^r and the young woman Beadle was w;lth him. This waR some time m the month of Autfast, 1920. Witness went oh to say that she told Cooper she could not keep the child t longer as it was a cross baby, and m any case . she had contracted only for a fortnight. ' How much .did he pay you?— He paid ''*•* me a fortnight's pay arid, gave me £1 j well. 'Ho said, "There you are. you deserve credit; Take this pound." 'i Wns the child m good health when ; you hand&T It over?.— Yes; i perfectly. r - He had been circumcised, and that was v what made him cross. I Witness subsequently Informed the ■ Court that she could riot say definitely [ Ihnt Cooper gave his address as care r>f Post Office. All she could say with certainty was that the address was "Wellington. Mr. Macasaey intimated that he proposed to call.evldenoe next m connection with what he would call the No. t baby, which was exhumed on March 27. and he would deal with that one separately before proceeding with evidence concerning No. 3 ba,by, which >ri»s exhumed on April 3. Constable Hftvhurßt, who dug No. 2 baby up. was then called, and related his exploit. He stated that it was burled only TEN INCHES BENEATH THE SURFACE ' on the side of a gully about twelve yards from the "crib" — the outbuilding In which expectant mothers-were housi cd. \Thcro was some indication of ashes\ln, <ho grave, but he could not sny fffiLcerta'.n If the matter was ashes. The/baby was lifted from tho grave by pr, Wright and taken to the morgue. ' was Ihoro nny clothing on the body? —£70, thero \vn3 no clothing. ! 4 1 x&w what appeared to bo the body of an infant lying m a hol« about nine r inches deep," said Dr. Wright, m reluting what met his eyes when sum- > moned to Newlands by the police for • the purpose lndlcatod aupve. Matter . round tho body had tho appearance of *s ashes. Thoro was a J FORK AND TEASPOON li with the bddy. and these uitonslls (prot ducod) had the appearance of having I been burnt. The body was m a very decomposed condition. It was placed m a wooden box and taken to the morgue. The following day witness ond Dr. Hector mado an examination ct the remains. How long In your opinion had this child been burlod?— Possibly about a ■ added It was imposslblo to >delormlne the sex. and ho could not "*av whether the child hod Mved or noi f for Hector gave similar evidence, and i" reply to lawyer Trend well said ho <Hd not think the child hurt boon m the ground for two yoarn. for the ren«o» tUnt a pitik-colorcd flt'M mas* r«mainod In the nwl. rop-eaftnuns the [ JJSbT Had the child b«*fc d«*d for

two years, the pinkish color would not have remained. Regarding the burnt fork and spoon found In the grave -with, the baby. Detective McLennan said that other forks and spoons similarly burnt were discovered underneath the -crib. When the accused- were asked what they had to say regarding the discovery of this child, Mrs. Cooper said, "I can only refer you to my solicitor." Cooper said, "I would like to see my solicitor before I have anything to say. I don't want, to say anything before I see him. You remember me coming to the police station anl reporting a man. f 6r stealing my tools — a man named Golder, who stole my tools out there? I reported the matter to Constable O'Donhell, and I went with him to see Golder. Golder swore m front of O'Dottnell that he would ■ ••"'.■; GET EVEN WITH ME." Senior Detective Lewis, who was present when- the accused were questioned, said when Cooper saw what; he said was being taken down he declared, "I don't want you to take this down." He was unable to furnish Golder's address. More about Golder was heard from Constable O'Donnell, of Johnsonville, who stated that Cooper came to him m November with a report that a man named Golder had gone into his store illegally and stolen a saw, a hammer and a mattress. This was a Bmall store subsequently burned down which stood on the site of Cooper's present homestead. Witness later accompanied Cooper to the place, and, jSKhile , there Cooper informed Mrs. Golder that he wished she and her husband would get out of the place, He reckoned that j Golder had stolen, the key to. obtain i entry, whereupon Mrs. Golder became j very angry and, told Cooper to take his I mattress, as she would rather sleep on the bare' floor, When <3<rtder arrived he reckoned that Cooper was telling a lie and that Cooper ha,d given him the key m town. Golder was vety annoyed, aboqt the proceedings and WOULD HAVE ASSAULTED COOPER if witness had hot been there. From what passed, witness 'gathered that

Golder had paid Cooper £2 10s deposit on a section and was to be allowed to remain m the store, until he had built a place for himself. Golder reckoned he had been taken m and didn't wiab to go on with the transaction, an£ would leave next day if he could obtain a refund of his deposit. r Coope? eventually gave him an 1,0.V1 for thy amount and the two shook hands. Witness did not hear Golder say '' he would get even with Cooper, nor was anything said . about stolen tool? Cooper's house was burnt down o\. September 30, 1921, and was rebuilt on the same site. The store was burm down about five months ago. '< Here endeth the story about No. 2 baby. . i No. 3 baby, it was related by Constable Carroll, who unearthed, it. was j buried very little deeper than No. 2.1 He came on it on April 3, over 40 yards from the rear of the crib. Dr. Wright was called upon to lift the body from; the grave, which was about 18 inohes deep, In his evidence the doctor said he was of opinion that the body was that of a full-time child and that it had ben buried about aix months. He w*is unable to determine the sex. The examination revealed that the SCALP WAS BURST and the skull laterally compressed. He was of opinion that the latter Injury was due to pressure, but he could advance no theory as to the cause of the former. Lawyer Treadwell: Not only are you unable to give the cause of death, but you are unable to say whether it left its mother m a living state?— The presumption is that the child lived, as it had, on something that might have heeh a blttder. <■ ', • ' : ~ ' Detectiv^ McLennan Bald Mrs. Cooper had nothing to say when interviewed regarding the discovery of this baby. Her only remark was: "I can just refer you to Mr. WHford as I did the last Cooper observed: "Absolutely nothing to Bay. Is there anybody watching that property? I know absolutely nothing about any of the children I have been told were found on; my house section at Newlands.'' . The Magistrate said he -would forward the depositions to the Supreme Court to be added to those already .taken. , ■ It is understood that the police are now m touch with Golder, who Is living at Ngalo, so that evidence from him will be obtainable at the Supreme Court hearing if required. The amount of popular interest m this case was pointedly indicated on Tuesday when It was Intimated that Coopor and his wife would be brought before the Court again that afternoon at 3.30 o'clock for tho purpose of dealIng with certain matters m tho depositions. When that time arrived a big crowd had colleced. and the body of the Court was well filled with curious observers. The first matter dcnU with wn9 In connection with earlier charges of abortion ujyainst the male accused. When they were disposed of Dr. McLuurln, Dominion Analyst, had not completed his anulysiH of certain mixtures found In bottles m Cooper 1 ,: town office, where Cooper is ulleged to havo performed IHokiil operations, and ho was called for this purpose. Tho only other business wns In having tho depositions of one, Vincent Barnao, an Italian fisherman, rosworn and made available for the murder charge.