MURDER CHARGE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20362, 20 March 1928, Page 10

MURDER CHARGE.

AGAINST METHODIST MINISTER, ms WIFE’S JEALOUSY. STORY AT INQUEST. (From Our Own Correspondent.) SYDNEY, March 2. With the opening at Omen, Victoria of the inquest on the death of Mrs Ethel Constance Griggs, interest is again centred in the murder charge against her husband, Ronald Greeves Griggs, who was minister in charge of the Omeo Methodist Circuit. The tiny courthouse was packed to the doors when H.c inquiry commenced. Griggs sat on a chair on the floor of the court alongside his solicitor. He listened keenly to all the evidence, but the expression on his face rarely altered. For the most part he kept his hands over the lower part of his face. The new Methodist minister at Omeo sat beside Griggs, who wore a returned soldier’s badge. During the week prior to the opening of the inquest the coroner at Omeo received from Melbourne an anonymous letter couched in the following terms; — “To whom it may concern: It is my duty to tell you that if you dare to say anything to barm my brother, Griggs, no matter what it may be, harm will surely come to you. He is innocent. lam warning you, so now beware, as there is a mighty hand above all earthly aims. Take warning as it will come. —Yours in haste, Sightseer.” The outstanding feature of the evidence adduced is an admission by Griggs that he had been intimate with the girl, Lottie Condon, a daughter of a prominent member of his congregation in whose chastity her father had previously expressed such unbounded faith, and the fact that the two had arranged to, marry after Griggs and his wife had separated. Griggs made statements to this effect to the police, but said that he would not have mentioned his intimacy with the girl had not the girl already admitted her part. It was shown that when Mrs Griggs came home from Tasmania her husband prepared a meal, after eating which Mrs Griggs complained of feeling ill, and went to bed. According to the statement made by the Crown Solicitor,_ on January 10. after his wife’s death Griggs was heard having a telephone conversation with Lottie Condon, in the course of which he said; “Everything is all right now, and later we will be free, and everything will be good;” After that he stayed with the Condons. When the detectives first spoke to Griggs he said in reply to questions that he had obtained some- -strychnine several years ago to poison dogs, and be banded to the police a small bottle of strychnine and another bottle. Subsequent evidence showed that Griggs bad access to large quantities of poison, which were kept by Mr Condon. The statement made by Griggs related the'incidents immediately prior to the death of his wife, and proceededl went to by wife’s room and found her dead. When the doctor came I said: -‘What do you think it was?’ He said: ‘ The heart!’ I said: ‘Do you chink the injection you gave her would affect the heart?’ He said; ‘Of course, it does affect the heart, but I could see nothing in the condition of the heart to indicate tha + I should not have administered it.’ I asked the doctor: ‘ What have Ito do ? ’ He said: ‘ Come , down at 9.30 for the death certificate.’ Later, I said: ‘Do you want to make an inquiry, doctor ?’ He said: No, I am satisfied/ I asked that because it seemed so sudden. I got the, certificate, and my wife was buried at Omeo bn January 4. About 12 months ago I bought Is worth of strychnine at Wade’s chemist shop, Baimsdale. At the same time I bought some prussic acid to poison a dog. I poured the acid out and threw it away. I still have the strychnine, I have been on friendly terms with Lottie Condon, and she stayed at the parsonage at different times with myself and my wife, Latterly ray, wifg was unfriendly towards Lottie. I admit that I did promise to marry Lottie Condon when my wife got a separation. Lottie Condon’s statement is true that I bad intercourse with her. I admit that the death of my wife looks suspicious, but I have in no way been the cause of it. I have on more than one occasion discussed with Lottie Condon how we were going to come together.” A statement by Lottie Condon, whose age is 20, was then read to the court. She said that she had twice stayed with Griggs and his wife, on each occasion for a week, and both times on the invitation of Griggs Mrs Griggs seemed jealous of her being there, and there was a, disagreement between husband and wife because of her. “I had a headache,” the statement continued, “ and was lying on a couch and Griggs put his hand on my forehead while Mrs Griggs was out of the room. The first time there was familiarity between Griggs and myself was after church at Ensay, We stayed at Harmen’s. Another time we were intimate coming home from Cassillis. It was my fault as much as his.” "The statement set out that Lottie Condon admitted having gone to Griggs’s room at her father’s house. Later, she went to Wagga for a holiday, and Griggs visited her there. Later, at Griggs’s invitation, she went to his room at Omeo. She had been seeing him while his wife was away, and occasionally they were familiar. When Mrs Griggs came home Griggs told her at the church on Sunday that Mrs Griggs had been very ill. He said he thought it was seasickness coming back. Griggs had told her that he and his wife were not going to live together any more. “He had promised to marry me,” the statement ‘continued. “He said that if she went back to Tasmania (meaning his wife), and things were fixed up, he was going to marry me. This was discussed by him months ago, and it was his suggestion. Mrs Griggs was only coming home for her things. I think it was arranged between them that she was to go back and get her things.” According to Detective Mulfahey, on January 18 Griggs stated : “ I know now that rny wife must have taken poison.” He admitted having made a claim for his wife’s insurance of £2OOO, saying that he wanted it for the baby which his wife had left. Another interesting witness was Dr Matthews, who attended Mrs Griggs on her return from Tasmania. “ After T told Griggs that his wif e was dead,” he said, “ he asked me if I thought he could have some whisky. He said that he had been shaken up a good deal. I poured out about a tablespoonful from a small flask on the mantelpiece and gave it to him. I also asked him what made him go and look at Mrs Griggs. He told mo that the baby awakened,"and he soothed it, and then went to see how his wife was. I told him to call later in the morning for a certificate, and I gave him one. Ho said to me; ‘Do you think I could conduct the burial service? I think Ethel would have liked it.' I told him I did not think there was anything to prevent him doing it, but that it would be.wiser not to.” Counsel for Griggs ; While you were attending Mrs Griggs did she show any signs of taking her own life? Witness: It never entered my head. She showed no signs of taking her life. Dr Charles Langdon said that he knew Mrs Griggs and had attended her professionally on two occasions in 1926. She was hysterical. Griggs was present. On one occasion he was met by Griggs at the front door, and he said that his wife was excited and nervous. He added that his wife had seen him through the window with his head on Lottie Condon’s forehead. Witness saw Mrs Griggs then, and found that she was hysterical. Sh© had seen the occurrence and she wag jealous. Mrs Griggs was not of a robust constitution. The court ' was cleared; even of the press representatives, when Lottie Condon

gave her evidence, the nature of which has not been disclosed. Mrs Annie White said that she had received a letter from. Griggs after her daughter’s death. “It seems to me that it has all been a dream,” wrote Griggs, “ and that I will wake up some time and still find your dear little girl with me. . . . I went to look at her in the morning she was gone. She had not spoken or moved, and knew nothing of pain, weariness, or anything. Her heart just stopped beating. It was really a beautiful way to go. She just fell asleep and woke in heaven. . Apart from her two days’ sickness there was no pain or weariness, and there was nothing at all to indicate anything serious. She simply fell asleep and heard the call. I cannot realise it even yet. We had planned such a lot for the New Year, and the whole town is shocked. May God give you strength and grace to see His hand in it all.” An important witness for the Crown was Annie Shanahan, whose husband is licensee of the Hilltop Hotel, which is opposite the Methodist parsonage. She said she overheard a telephone conversation in which Griggs said to Lottie Condon “ Listen, Lott. Everything is all right. Not a word. Great, isn’t it? I feel much better. Eating well and sleeping well.” That was just after Mrs Griggs’s death. The Coroner, in giving his finding, said: “ I have no hesitation in saying that Mrs Griggs died from poisoning, but then I am faced with two alternatives—one that Mrs Griggs poisoned herself, and the other that her husband did. On the evidence placed before me I find that she died from heart failure, following arsenic poisoning, and that the poison was administered by Griggs, who I adjudge guilty of murder.” Throughout the inquiry Griggs maintained an appearance of outward calm.