"MONDAY WILL BE MY LAST NIGHT ON EARTH"

NZ Truth, Issue 1127, 7 July 1927, Page 5

"MONDAY WILL BE MY LAST NIGHT ON EARTH"

\ Mildly Jealous of Girl-Wife's Friendship With Young Dick Finnic, f Davis Deliberately Planned Double Tragedy ,

AMAZING 'STORY OF MATED WEDDING IN MURDER DRAMA

I ■ ''. . ' ■■■■■:"'■'■■■.. .•■"' . ' — [ '■ ""• ' ■ ... v , | ' . v . (From "N.Z. Truth's 11 . Special Christchurch Representative.) . . / i ; LIE was a slave to the demon of jealousy. Always the sinister voice loreathed into. his ear, filling I , his mind with bitter thoughts, until fear^ of losing his wife's affections became an obsession.

I QO jealous was he that he refused to allow the butcher, the baker/ | the milkman or anybody else to call at the home of his 19-year- | .old bride.

ND then — when 'he* found a letteiv addressed to his wife and written by Dick Finnic, of Timaru, m addi- ' tlon to a further letter his wife had written "to a girl friend telling 1 her not to mention Dick's name— the green-eyed monster took full possession of Frederick Charles Davis, the Christchurch linesman, and with cold intent-he planned the murder of his wife and his. own suicide. "Monday will be your last night . on earth," he told her two hours before the tragedy, and he then sat' down and wrote a letter to his sister, Fanny Salter, expressing regret at what he .contemplated doing. "With this letter he enclosed the two incriminating missives."'- ,' :> •■■ „ -.. :.. And then, m. the early hours of the morning, he cut the throat of-, his, sleeping wife, slashed his own • heck and .placed his head m the , gas o^en with the tap' full on. -Murder and suicide was the verdict. '. ■ -■■-.. . . ■■■■■•■•.. ■■■ . "N.Z. Truth" has already told the story of the tragedy and the gruesome discovery made by neighbors; m the house at 294, Manchester Street, when they, entered m response to the frantic appeals of Dorothy; Finnic and. Vera Wilson^ two young relatives of the victims, who had spent the nightprey to* a riamefess terror^— in the house of death. .'.' . ■'■■:■■... . ';: But the real story was. not revealed until; the adjourned inquest,; which threw' considerable light on the motive for the ghastly act committed by Davis. ".--■■■'' There, were some sensational disclosures before the Coroner ;and a dramatic outburst by the brother of the dead man. - ■ tjt; was revealed that the couple „--', had.liyed together as man and wife . .'<fori.oyer' a year, unknown to the >•;. girl's /mother, the actual. . marriage at the registry of- '■'] fjce ; ;as. ; recently as May 14 last. It was further elicited that there was nothing m the letters; intercepted by Davis— and! used by him v as an excuse for;, his^crimer— to establish any improper, relations between Mrs. Davis and. :pick ; Finnic, the Timaru youth, iwhoni/ -sHe ; . met while on holiday re'c'eh'tiyV 1 ..^ ' ••" '••; -...-■. .';•■.■: . TO BLAME .v^Thesii discovery of Dick. Finhie's letter ito^his: wife, caused Davis' to .express '■himself i/as" being nearly mad with he penned his final epistle I to ; his' sister. -. . ■„,,'• ■ : ■•: : '■:< The inquiry:; all -went to show that iDayis,; madly jealous }of\ his .wife, had ; jtimped 'i, $p ' ,hasty ( cphclusions, over iw^.fch'^^^r&odeaj'-sUiaj^tJy^'iind. that he :'Md ■■■deliibe'fM'elly plannfed to "murder his vwife''--anid' : :i'hen J >k'ill'''.hlnibeU.-- : ; r "From the evidence the' age of this man was 36 and that, of the girl 19, and apparently they lived together for twelve rhbnths and had a child before they /were married," commented Coro■iier Mosley.- • ■ • : .'■ •■ "It seems to me that the man's !, conduct -had not been of the best ■ to take advantage of this young , .'- girl like he. did, and if any. blame .•is attachable to either of the parties

Q— — ■•■/-, - if: is attachable to the man and not the woman. . "With regard to the wife's: trip to Timaru, she seems -to have been on intimate terms with a youngnian there, but there may have ■ been nothing wrong m it. . ; "Probably there was not, but ■ a young girl of 19 probably cannot be expected to exercise the same restraint &s a man of 36 or of a woman of more mature years. "There may, as I have said, have been nothing wrong m the relationship, but, to put.it mildly, it xras indiscreet, and this may have had the effect of driving the husband mad with jealousy,, though it should not have had that effect." ' Significantly' enough, the coroner did not add to his verdict that Davis had committed the act "while of unsound mind," and having regard to all the evidence it , was clear that the crime was pi'emeditated and carried out. with cold and unflinching intent. How Davis first came to know his wife, Edith- May, will. niSver be known. The dead girl's mother was unable to- enlighten the coroner on ihis point, but he first came under her notice as a suitor for her daughter's ; hand over, twelve months ago. .. ' ; Davis; who was a naval reservist, came to New Z_ealand two years ago after a distinguished record of service. During the war he» was. m the submarine forces and won the D.S.M., aiia later he served m the Australian Navy. ' ■ THE MOTHER'S CONSENT Arriving m the'Domlnion, he obtained employment with the Post and Telegraph Department as a linesman, at Christohurch, where he met the girl whose" slayer he was destined to be. How and where he 1 met her is' hot known, for he never entered the home of the girl's mother. When calling for- Edith he would wait outside the. gate and Mrs. Wilson met him under these circumstances one night when she was introduced. Mrs. Wilson formed quite a good impression of the- m ah, who seemed to be a courteously-spoken suitor.. Shortly after this Davis and the girl told/Mrs. Wilson they desired . her consent to their marriage, and this was readily given. The girl being under age, the mother's sanction was necessary. . t Mrs! Wilson was ill >at the time and she was unable to attend the. ceremony. : • . • As it happened, that did not matter, as here was no. ceremony, the couple going off to live as man arid wife instead. .■•.'■■ They took up 'their residence m a house m D!ean Street and m due course a baby was born. ■ ' ... All this tinie Mrs., Wilson said she was m ignorance ?• of the real stsite of •affairs, and it was "not until' two months ago that Davis came to her and told her the truth. "I have an awful confession to • make," he told the girl's mother. "We are not married, but I will do the right thing now." Davis obtained Mrs. Wilson's consent to the marriage a second tim&- and she saw to.it that there was no "hedging," being present at the registry office where the ceremony was performed! That was on May 14 last. •

O- - — ■ — .' ; , ' .. i - | But just why Davis had thought it necessary, to- come to Mrs. Wilson twelve months after. they, had led her to believe they were married, brought forth an unusual -admission when Lawyer Burns, who appeared for the dead girl's relatives; asked a pertinent question; ■.-.■■' ■ ■■' ■■■-. .■■ . ■ .; .: /,.. „':'■[ ''V.' "Why should he have" come to you and confessed that he was not married to your daughter?" asked cotUisel. : "I have not the slightest idea," was the reply. ' • ■. '. '.; ':, j^ETTERS TO HIS WIFE But when counsel asked if Davis had not been dubious about hi 3 superannuation m the Postal Department, Mrs. Wilson recollected that he had said something about getting malnten_ance m respect of his training at the Tnaval camp which he had to attend. If he were a married man he had said he could obtain maintenance for his wife and child. ' And as it happened, the marriage took place, before Davis went into camp at Auckland for a. fortnight early m June. : ■.. Until he went away there had been nothing unusual about his attitude towards his wife. : During the 1 fortnight he was absent, Mrs. Davis went to Timaru for ten days With her baby and stayed with the Finnies, who were friends of hers. It was while she was m Timaru that she met Dick Finnic and they became very friendly. '■;■• ••■■ . . " ,': x Meanwhile, Davis, m had also met somebody for whom he entertained a strong attachment. V His first two letters home we/c lovable ones, but m the third letter he informed his wife: "I have : found a woman, not a child/ Whatever her feelings vrere ori reading this, Mrsi Davis did not comment about it to her sister, who stayed with her. ■ ■ '. •■. ;. ■ - . -.' ..' . ■■'■:.■ „ No doubt her friendship with Dick Finnic consoled her for any change of affections her husband had experienced. She received a letter from Dick Which was couched m very friendly terms— bordering on intimacy;— <and it was "to prevent the knowledge of her friendship reaching her husband's ears that she wrote^ to Ruby Finnic and begged of her, not tomentibh Dick's name when she wrote. . v But for some reason that letter, apparently, was never posted, because it was to fall into': the hands of Davis on his! return homeL. •• He arrived back from Auckland the Sunday before the tragedy and the meeting between husband and wife was- most affectionate. ■ He complained about a rough trip down and seemed a bit morose. It was plain; ■ however, during the next few days that his attitude towards his wife had changed. mor6se an p moody \ , ."Vle.ra^.l^ilspji,,".. sister ;of Mrs. Davis.! who^ iJived m;;, the house with, them, had; noticed •it,- and on one; occasion .hearii Davis ;remark that he had a job to go to m Auckland. . . . . , Mrs. Davis said she did not want to go north, whereupon her husband said that he had "found a woman m Auckland—not a child." What reply the wife maxle to this Vera did not hear as she was called out of. the rooni at the time. • 'On the Wednesday evening fol- . lowing his return home Davis was very quiet and moody and told the

o " „ . /, , . — — women inthe, house that he did not -wish to be disturbed. They did not 'think much of it, however,' putting' his "> mobdiness down to his being 1 a bit "off color." But the following: Saturday- — the day preceding the 'tragedy— Davis was more than usually, morose, although he was not irritable.. '....■. .-"■ Itwas hot until the Monday morning that Mrs. Fanny Salter, Davis's sister, received through' the post , the, letter, with the' two enclosures, which, the dead man had -posted two, hours before his ghastly act. „.;'■■ . , 'Also, delivered at -her house, and ; left m the ..wash- house, was a tin trunk containing the dead man's . -most treasured; possessions and all ' v his personal effects,, which he ask- : .cd.her m a noteto take care of.' This was the tragic , story told Itp the coroner. But there was. to" follow a dramatic outburst bij the part of the dead brother, Joseph William Davis, . who Addressed the Court following the c6roher*s invitation to anybody who ..could- throw -further light on the' actual tragedy rto come forward and state what ttfey knew. ' ! A ."* .. "Sir, I cannot see how a man of my brother's reputation .and disposition could possibly notify his wife that he was going- to ' murder her; unless some' thing very, serious had happened all at once," said Davis, stirred to the: depths with emotion.' ',' "It is utterly beyond me . to utiderr stand it. My. brother always had, the reputation of a gentleman and v a more even-tempered man never lived. ' COMMENTS "His reputation m the Navy and his" D.S.M. and ten other medals prove that, sir. He was also a Mason . - .'. ." The Coroner: This Court is utterly- regardless of the fact of • whether, he, was a Mason; or' riot.It is neither here nor there so far as the Court is concerned. ■: Davis: But' there are a lot 6C things being said: about him m ttfe papers The . Coroner: I, Cannot help what the papers say; You will be well advised to sit down. For all I kripw, : the" reporters may be taking down a full note of what you are now saying and it is not doing your brother any/ good.- Beastsaid, soonest mended, you know. VLadvise you. to sit down. ; y > - . Davis took the hint and said no V ' more. ■'■ • ' '■; ;.-■ ' ;: - ..,'■ :j •[ After making the remarks already quoted when returning his yerdict,' the cqroner went on to deal with: the mental state of Davis at the ' time of the tragedy. . "■ ,-,'.-', ...:.'. .-'■••-,.. ' ■:".■ ■" .7- .■'.■■. ; "If the" deceased had extreme .cause for jealousy over a considerable period of years," he said, "one could have possibly understood his committing this dreadful act, but- if the only evidence he had :of what -he regarded as his wife's indisoetiqn is contained m the letters before the , Court, then there is certainly nothing m them to drive a man to distraction and 'make him do. what he has done. , "Maybe^ putting the best aspect on .lt-..a11,,-this.;man;with'long;; ) warf.gei^'ice;' especially |-;in^ the^ submarine ., branch; of the Navy; 1 was affectedVby his experi- 1 ' ences, which had a bad influence oh his . mentality.. , ..- ■ , /"I wish to believe that this was the case and that his war service, upset his mental balance. .• ; : "I. prefer to think this was the position; that, it was a case of a disturbedmental state goaded by jealousy causing him to take this terrible method of ending his- troubles." „./.' : A verdict of murder arid suicide was returned. ' - . ■ ' .■ ""