BAYLY TRIAL

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22286, 12 June 1934, Page 10

BAYLY TRIAL

DOUBLE MURDER CHARGE EVIDENCE BY DOCTORS FOURTH WEEK OF HEARING (Pe* United Peess Association.) ...... {■ - \ - AUCKLAND, June 11. The Wellington pathologist. Dr Lynch, wag still in the box when the fourth week of the hearing of the murder charges against William Alfred Bayly was commenced in the Supreme Court this morning.. Although the case has reached the eighteenth day the Crown case is still being presented. Public interest remains keen. Again this morning more persons attended than were able to gain admission. ■ Blood group tests were first discussed by; Dr- Lynch, who said mankind could bo separated - into four groups. When the blood cells of an individual of one group were added to the serum of another a different group of ceils was fprrned in coarse clumps, instead of presenting a granular appearance. Grouping _ wag almost entirely confined to the preliminary. tests in blood transfusion. In medico* legal " wrqrk. tests directed to finding whether the stains belonged to the victim from whom, it wag believed they came would be, easy if determination of the group from old or dried stains were as easy as when • fresh blood_ was used. In a common, case of transfusion the test presented no difficulty if the material was fresh. Witness had conducted tests oh several occasions. Knowing what type of blood he was using, he put aside the staing .of blood on the cloth, wood, and leather to determine whether at the end of a day, weeks, or months their group could then be determined'. “The conclusion I came to was that in only a small proportion of cases could one determine from dried stains the proper grouping of the blood,” continued Dr Lynch. “The results were uncertain, and the work, in my opinion, was therefore useless.” Dr Lynch said he , had been at Ruawaro, and had visited Lakey’s, and inspected the bloodstains on the shed battens, which were caused by dripping or spurting arterial blood. He saw burnt bonedust near the door of Bayly e separator room. He was of opinion, although it was fine, that it was of human origin. In reply to Mr Leary,,who read extracts from an article on »blood groujj tests in the "Medico-Legal Criminological Review,” Dr Lynch said the authors of • the article had been working on the subject for 10 years. Witness agreed that the article conveyed that, if the tests were performed delicately enough, it was possible to determine the groups .from dried stains. Assuming that the blood could have been grouped, the result might have been informative, but in a negative way. '. v ; ' “If the blood on Bayly’s clothing was of a different group from the blood on the Lakey property and Mrs Lakey’s blood it would have shown that' the blood, on the clothes did not come from Lakey’s? ” asked counsel. ' ... . / Dr Lynch agreed. ‘ .. “If the blood on Bayly’s clothes.turned out .to be of the same group that would show that it might be the same blood, biit not necessarily that it was?” continued Mr Leary. Dr Lynch said it’would be, far from showing that the blood was from the same individual. Blood grouping was, of more value as a defence than . as. proof. The age pf the stains could not., be determined if the bloodstains were on a garment.' It was impossible to say that all were formed at the .same time: ' ; ; Dr Lynch udmitied that lie was unable tb ; say conclusively that the matter adhering to the tuft of hair was dried blood. No one could state when the individual whose bones formed the exhibit ' had died. The matter adhering to the’ bones was indicative of flesh, but this might haye: heed serai-decomposed flesh. j The animal matter in the bones caused them to bum black. Bone, devoid of animal matter would calcine and burn white, but even in fossil--bone there was organic matter which might cause it to burn black. Blackness alone did not show, the age-of holies.' v ' .' , ; . Pointing to the skull and legbone on’ the table ; before Mr Leary. Dr Lynch added: “Those bone? would probably burn black.” .-.-1 J, ,;■ “ This is an old Maori skull found by a farmer,” said Mr Leary, who produced a spirit. lamp, over which he held portion of the face’of the skull, which blackened as it'burned. • In reply to further . questions, witness said the bones exhibited still showed traces of the muscular attachments. He agreed, that the matter adhering to the bones could not be identified chemically as animal; it might.be vegetable. Mr Leary said that during the week-end he had burnt molasses on the edge of a skull,- producing a charred, bubbly appearance.- . , .. This experiment wag then repeated in court with golden syrup. Dr Lynch declared that, while vegetable matter might adhere to bones during burning, he did not . think anything in the fuel .would flow over, the surface of the bones and adhere evenly. ...“You have referred-to the bones, ah those of. an individual in middle -life. . I suppdse middle life depends on the individual: : 'A .man,of 50 considers himself youibr yet,” said Mr Leary. • “Please treat the matter seriously, Mr Leary,” observed his Honor. , Dr. Lynch said the hones were those of an individual between 45 and 50 years old. ’ . Re-examined by Mr Meredith, witness said' the distribution of the material on the bones followed the distribution of the muscles. In reply to his. Honor, witness said the blood-group tests would have been valuable in this case, provided the. results were reliable. He did not think that tests could have been made to give reliable results. . ' - Dr Kenneth MacCormick, of Auckland, said-he specialised in bone surgery. He had inspected the exhibits of bone, and divided them into three classes, using similar classifications to those used by the previous doctors. Witness said he had no doubt that the bones classified af human were definitely of human origin. He detailed the skull bones,-which showed definite characteris-tics—-namely, pacchionian pits,' suture lines, the occipital protuberances, portion of .the internal ear. Other characteristic bones were the cheekbone, the atlas, portions of the right elbow joint, a fragment of the thighbone, and portion of the heelbone. When- Mr kjeredith requested witness formally to identify the bones referred to Mr Leai-y waived the formality. Bones in the second category consistent with human origin included the inner end of the collarbone, which was not highly developed in quadrupeds. _ The general characteristics of the bones indicated that they were those of a male' rather than a female, certain features pointing to an adult. All' the bones presented similar characteristics. All were burnt, apparently. to a similar degree, and there were no signs of weathering apparent on any of them. “I do not think these bones could have gone through a winter,” continued, witness. “I think they were recently burnt. There is no indication that they came from more than one skeleton. All Had charred animal matter on them.” Witness expressed the opinion that a human body could be burnt in an oil drum furnace, giving, particulars of burning experiments with two sheep at which he was present. In reply to Mr Leary. Dr MacCormick stated tfyat the drums for both burnings were raised on concrete blocks. He would say definitely that the bones were those of a male. The matter was one of strong inference. ‘ He agreed that the muscular development of a raw-boned, working woman would be- greater than that, say, of a man of small stature, working in an office. The height of the individual could not be deduced from the bones exhibited; Although a number of bones were identified from the skull, there Was no bone from the jaw. • “I think the usual experience, when one findh an told skull, is that the jaw is Jnissing? ” said Mr Leary, Witness agreed. - ' ■ ' Mr Leary -then drew a skeleton on a blackboard, marking with red chalk the positions of -bones identified as human, which had also been marked red on the bones exhibited by the medical witnesses. “ There are nine pieces;of human- skeleton ds well as those marked on the skull, observed counsel. “Yes,” replied witness.

Further cross-examined on resumption by Mr Leary, Dr MacCormick stated that he would not say that the charred bubbly appearance of the bones necessarily indicated burnt flesh. Witness had burnt no material as an experiment which would give a guide. At Mr Leary’s request witness came before the jury box with a bone . from among the exhibits showing' the articular surface. .Witness agreed that there was charred material on the joint of the surface for half an inch; There was a heavy deposit on the hollow of the joint and also on the articular surface. It was not possible that any quantity of charred material was rubbed off the bones during the inspection and classification. “All wood of a resinous nature posits a lot of carbon, does it not?” asked Mr Leary.

Witness: Yes. . . ' “And substances like oil also do. ■ “ Yes.” ; During Mr Meredith’s re-examination witness said there _ were 53 bones, wmea were consistent with human origin but could not be placed, and which were not included in the classification as definitely human. . At Mr Meredith’s invitation Dr MacCormick marked these with blue chalk on Mr Leary’s blackboard drawing of a human skeleton. Witness said he had burned dry bones. Old dry bones did not bear the same appearance as those exhibited. “My opinion from the bubbly material on these bones is that they were fresh bones,” declared Dr MacCormick, who added that the bones in the fore and hindquarters of the sheep burned Muring the experiments were destroyed as completely as the other bones. Dr A. A. M'Farlane, of Huntly, said he was called to Ruawaro on October 16. He saw Mrs Lakey’s body on the kitchen floor in Lakey’s house. • Witness performed an autopsy on October 17 with Dr Waddell present. A further post-mortem on October 19 was carried out by Dr Gilmour. At the first postmortem the body was examined externally for injuries, while the internal organs were inspected. The stomach was removed and opened, and then sent tor chemical examination to the Government analyst. There was a small wound on the tip of the chin, and also a email abrasion on the right jaw. There were no bruises showing op the face. ine blood was very dark in colour. At the second post-mortem the abrasions on tne chin and jaw were opened, showing tissue damage. This bruising would be an indication that the party had come m contact with some object, explained Dr M'Farlane. It would indicate that the party concerned had received two blows or had impinged on an irregular object which struck the face in two places. Witness had been told that when the body was removed from the water frothy blood came from the nostrils. , (( Have you any opinion on the cause ot death? ” asked Mr Meredith.. “If the fact that there was froth coming from the mouth is accepted, then i should say the cause of death -was drowning,” replied witness. In reply to Mr Leary, witness said he airived at Ruawaro at 1.30 p.m., or two hours sifter Mrs Lakey’s body was removed from the water; He bad seen no frothy blood, while no one suggested to him that they had seen froth. Witness first heard of the froth from the newspapers after the present trial commenced. Witness had questioned the men who had removed Mrs Lakey from the water as to bow she was lying. When he saw her there was blood-coloured fluid proceeding from her nose. If there had been froth it would have come from the respiratory passages, comprising water, air, mucous and blood. Witness found no froth in Mrs Lakey’s bronchial tubes. "I put .it to you that you found no traces of drowning? said Mr Leary. “I do not say that,” replied witness. " I put it to you that what you saw were more signs of asphyxia than drown-

ing? ” i “ That is so.” ,■ In reply to his Honor, witness said ne had not determined the cause of death. “ Your present position is that you are not prepared t.o say that Mrs Lakey did not die by drowning? ” asked Mr Leary.

"Yes.” Witness agreed that he had not found any signs of respiration of water. If there had been froth about the face he would expect to have found water in the nasal passages. Any foam would keep welling out even if wiped away. ’ ; Mr Leary read a passage from a medical authority stating that froth reappeared, with which Dr M'Faxlane agreed. “ I suggest that one way in which a person .would receive two; blows at once from an irregular object- would be falling?” asked Mr. Leary. -. • V\: . . , “ I could not say " replied witness; who declared that be could not say if /.the marks could be caused by. falling while a person was running. If the fall were heavy it would not bo impossible for the injuries to result. Mrs Lakey would have to have been running to get the momentum for a fall heavy enough to produce the injuries by striking an irregular object. He did not think a person falling full length would receive bruising of such depth, but it might be possible if a'person moving forward tripped up. “I suggest that if a blow were severe enough to knock out Mrs Lakey it may haye been sufficient to. kill her? " said counsel

“That i s so.” ! Witness, detailed the progress of the symptoms following a knock-out , blow which'had proved fatal, including the formation of mucous in the throat. ■ ■■ “I understood I was here to give opinions on facts, not arguments based on suppositions,” said witness, after further questioning. , ... Mr Leary asked that assuming froth emerged from the nose when Mrs Lakey was lifted from the water, would that not be equally consistent with death from coma, allowing she had been placed in the water by a person to make it appear that she had been drowned? ' “The froth in the case of coma yyould be composed of mucous, air, and,_ in the case of drowning, water,” replied ,Dr M'Farlane. “In the case of c&ma froth would be present in the bronchial tubes but froth characteristic of drowning did not appear at the nose.” - “If Mrs Lakey died from coma ana had been put in the water subsequently there might be blood-stained froth in the back of the throat, which might appear subsequently .at the nose?? asked counsel. “ I could not say. Mr Leary then put four statements made by witness to him, all of which Dr M'Farlane agreed were against the conclusion that Mrs Lakey died from drowning. Dr M'Farlane further agreed that certain symptoms were common in all forms of asphyxia. Re-examined by Mr Meredith, Dr M'Farlane said he did not think it required stronger breathing draw m water than air. A person with the face immersed must take in water as long as breathing continued. Suffocation was a form of asphxia which left no evidence behind. ~ Dr A. G. Waddell, of Hamilton, said he saw Mrs Lakey’s body at Huntly on October MO. He was present at both the first and the second post .niortems. 1 believe Mrs Lakey was alive when her face was immersed in the water, he declared before the court adjourned.