THE BRIGHTON MURDER

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22447, 17 December 1934, Page 13

THE BRIGHTON MURDER

ACCUSED ACQUITTED LONDON, December 15. Jack Notyre was acquitted on the charge of murder preferred against him in connection with the deatli of Violette Kaye. Notyre’s immediate discharge ended a squalid panoram of the underworld. Mr Norman Birkett, the defending counsel, contended that the absence of any suggestion of motive was a vital omission, destroying the Crown’s case. Notyre, when the foreman of the jury spoke the words implying his freedom, seemed dazed and overcome, and placed his hand to his head. “You are discharged,” said Mr Justice Branson. Only then did Notyre seem to realise the situation, and he lifted his head and gave a slight bow as he left the dock. The judge, in summing up, had ordered acquittal, if the jury were not satisfied that the blow on the head caused death. His Lordship emphasised the absence of blood-stained clothes identifiable as worn by Notyre when Miss Kaye died. He added that the jury must be satisfied that Notyre’s hand struck the fatal blow. But was it the action of an innocent man to nail up in a cupboard the corpse of the woman he loved, though she was not yet cold, instead of summoning a doctor to try to resuscitate her. A huge crowd strove to get a glimpse of Notyre as he drove off two minutes after the delivery of the verdict amid the customary fanfare of trumpets.