RETRIAL OF MAREO

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22910, 18 June 1936, Page 9

RETRIAL OF MAREO

CHARGE OF WIFE MURDER VERDICT OF GUILTY SENTENCE OF DEATH PASSED (Per United Press Assocuitos) AUCKLAND, June 17. For the second time this year, Eric Mareo, the -well-known musician, of Auckland, had tonight to hear the jury bring In a verdict of guilty of murder against him and to listen to the judge pronouncing sentence of death. There was a very large crowd about the precincts of the court when' the Anal decision came at a somewhat earlier hour than had been expected.

. When the first trial on the same charge was concluded on February 26 the verdict was one of guilty with a very strong recommendation to mercy. No such recommendation wafl made to-night. The trial began on June 1 and has thus lasted for 14 days.

The jury retired at 5.30, and were back in their places a few minutee after 8 o’clock. Mareo showed considerable emotion in the few sentences he addressed to the court before Mr Justice Callan pronounced the inevitable sentence of death.

The charge against Marco, who is 45 years of age, was that he murdered his wife, Thelma Clarice Mareo, aged 29, at Auckland on April 15 of last year by administering poison—veronal—to her. The prosecution was conducted by Mr V. R. Meredith, Crown Prosecutor, and Mr F. M'Carthy, while Mr H. F. O’Leary, K.C., of Wellington, and Messrs T. Henry and K. C. Aekins have been in charge of the defence.

Lengthy queues of men and women awaited the opening of the doors when the retrial entered on its last day. The Crown Prosecutor (Mr V. R. Meredith) resuming his address, said the case was clearly one of veronal poisoning. If Mrs Mareo took it herself it was either suicide or misadventure. If, on the other hand, 'it was administered intentionally by someone else, then the act involved that person in the crime of murder. The Marcos had been married only 18 months, and the bride had £SOO. of which her husband had dissipated £4OO. It was idle to Say they were happy. Three bitter quarrels were known of, and there was an occasion when Marco came home from Dixieland drunk. After indulgence in liquor restraint was lifted, and the real state of mind indicated. Mareo abused his wife that night, and she replied that she would go out into the street if ho would give her back her £SOO, Then there was the mental attitude of the accused on the night he was driven home in n drunken condition by Eleanor Brownlee. It was clear Miss Brownlee came that night with the intention of stopping, for she was equipped with her pyjamas. She must have come on Mareo's invitation. Later Mareo, in a semi-dreseed condition, had ordered his wife out, and said: “ Eleanor will look after me.’' Then there was Mareo’s accusation against his .wife of perversion. By’this time he ha<J had no social relations with his wife, who had been entirely supplanted by Mies Brownlee.

Mr Meredith referred to Mrs Marco's brightness with Freda Stark on the Friday night, and her request to come early nest day. That was the picture of Mrs Marco, but what of Mareo? Counsel then outlined the incident of the writing of a morbid letter to Betty Mareo concerning her parentage. Mr Meredith lengthily described the incidents of the fatal week-end, and. touching on the incident of giving the milk, said Dr Giesen agreed that Mareo’s subsequent sleepiness, together with the fact that he could not be roused, was consistent with Mareo having had a dose of veronal before the time Mrs Marco was taken to the lavatory. Dr Giesen agreed also that the condition of Mrs Mareo was consistent with a dose of veronal being taken just before she went to the lavatory. “Now, gentlemen,” said Mr Meredith, "you get this startling position. Just before the milk was prepared they were apparently both free from the influence of veronal, so you have it that at the same time two different people were showing signs of veronal. If Mrs Mareo got it at that time she got it in only_ one way. ft definitely must have been in the milk. Who had veronal in his possession at that time? Mareo. Who was out in the kitchen preparing the milk? Marco. Then, taking the evidence of Mareo going under the influence, what possible inference can you draw but that when Mareo prepared the milk he put veronal in it. took some himself, and gave his wife the fatal dose? “We are all human,” said Mr Justice Callan. commencing his summing up to the jury, “ and whatever efforts we make we are likely to err. In handling the great amount of material in this case if I should misstate anything it is your right and duty to help to correct me.” His Honor said it was for the prosecution to satisfy them beyond doubt that the charge had been proved. The jury would approach the matter with the same earnestness and degree of care as though their own lives depended on the right answer. The whole case had to be tried to the jury’s satisfaction on the evidence at this trial as though Mareo had never been tried before.

Continuing after lunch until 5.30 Mr justice Callan reviewed the evidence at length. He said it was definitely established that Mrs Mareo had died of veronal poisoning. The next questions were: Did Mareo give it to her? Did he give it to her with intent to kill? Regarding the first of these the Crown set about answering it by this means; They said they would prove that Mrs Mareo woke voluntarily and would show how long and under what circumstances she stayed awake. Then they would show that after the milk was given she went from a sleep to a coma. They said they would establish that it was scientifically impossible for those facts to happen without a further dose of veronal and that the veronal must have been given in milk. If each of those steps could be safely taken, said his Honor, then it was safely established that Mareo gave the milk that killed her. If any one of these broke there was a break in the case. The history of the symptoms of the ■patient depended almost entirely on the evidence of Freda Stark, to such an extent that if the jury had not entire faith in that evidence it was not good enough to build a medical opinion on. Was she sincere? She was a long time in the bos and so some impression must have been formed on that question. His Honor would say this much, that it was a very useful thought to ask, “ Was she at all shaken in cross-examination?”

“ The doctors do not apree,” pointed out his Honor, “ hut you as laymen must try to understand what it is these doctors are Baying.” The motive was dealt with by his Honor. If this man killed his wife, why? After quoting authorities, his Honor said that two things in the trial had been brought to notice. They were the apparent lack of association between Mareo and his wife and-the association of Mareo and Eleanor Brownlee. There had also been ‘dressed the tragic and melodramatic letter written by Mareo to Betty. If the suggestion was that his state was desperate—ho had lost his job and he perhaps thought there was no hope for his film project—the jury was entitled to ask what particularly would cause Mareo to take Thelma out of his life with him. If ho contemplated suicide, if by evidence of another kind the jury saw that the man had committed murder they were not to be held back from finding him guilty.

LONG TRIAL ENDS

THE CLOSING SCENES HUGE CROWD IN COURT (Per United Press Association) AUCKLAND, June 17. Public interest as shown by tbe_ attendance at the court had flagged at times during the lengthy retrial of Eric Marco, but it rose to a climax to-day All da> long there was a busy going and coining of cars and pedestrians and long queues of men and of women formed ."P , eil respective entrances. Early in the evening when it was known that the vci diet was to be expected the crowd grew to record size, and at about 7.30 p.m. toe police found it necessary to close and guard all the entrances. Scores of cars were parked in the neighbourhood. The final address for the Crown by Mr Meredith closed at 12.20. and was followed by his Honor’s summing up, which lasted until 5.27 p.m., when the jury retired. . , Sharp at 8 o’clock there came a sudden stir among the crowd that had succeeded in gaining admittance to the court. “ Sit down,” shouted a constable. Stand off the seats,” called another. The swift movements of officials indicated that the jury was returning. ~, , Mareo, the central figure of the drama, returned to hie place in the dock in time to watch intensely the faces of the jurymen as they entered one by one. He turned toward Betty Mareo, who was seated in the witness seats, and smiled, and then turned again to watch the jury. The registrar exchanged brief words with the foreman. The noises in the court had hushed to silence before the sharp cry of “Silence” heralded the entry of the judge. . „ .... “Gentlemen of the jury,” asked the registrar, “ have you agreed upon your verdict? ” ' “We have,” was the brief reply. “How say you? Do you find the prisoner guilty or not guilty?” came the second question. The foreman uttered one word, “Guilty.” A low, stifled sob could be heard, and signs of emotion among the crowd were suppressed by the call of “ Silence.” Mareo, braced against the rail of the dock, stood with his mouth slowly working. He looked toward Miss Mareo and softly called “Betty.” He then squared his shoulders and faced the judge. “ Prisoner at the Bar,” continucd_ the registrar according to the prescribed form, “ have you anything to say why sentence of death should not be passed upon you?” “It is very hard to say anything in the circumstances,” said Mareo, his voice showing signs of emotion, “ because it is the second time I have been through this terrible ordeal. I can only say that it seems to me from a logical clearminded man’s reasoning, from the way the whole of this case has been conducted by all the counsel, and after your Honor’s, may I say, marvellous, summing up, I have been sentenced on the lying word of Freda Stark. I ought not to say that,” he added after a pause, “ but what can I say? Nothing more.” As the judge put on the black cap, the court crier stood forward to deliver his challenge “Oycz! Oyez! Oyez! All manner of persons are commanded to keep silence while the judgment of death is pronounced by the court upon the prisoner at the Bar upon pain of fine or imprisonment.”

“Eric Mareo,” said his Honor, speaking slowly and firmly, “the sentence of the court upon you is that you be taken from this place to a lawful prison and thence to a place of execution, and that you be there hanged Uy the neck until von are dead, and may the Lord have mercy on your soul.” After hearing the sentence of death, Mareo looked again to where Hetty Mareo was sitting and called her name almost inaudibly. Probably she was too overcome to be aware of it. Slowly, and apparently reluctantly, he descended the steps gazing into the faces of the silent crowd at the back of the court.

Another call for silence prepared the way for his Honor to address a few words to the jury and the counsel engaged in the case. "Mr foreman and gentlemen of the jury," he said. “ I am now able to discharge you and on behalf of your country I express my regret that your services on this occasion have kept you so long and have been so arduous. I have to thank you on behalf of the country for your long, patient and careful attention to this case. When a service of such unusual magnitude and duration fulls to a jury it is within my power, and it is proper to give you an exemption from further service for a term of years. In view of what-has been done in other long cases of recent occurrence in this city I think a further complete exemption of six years is appropriate, and I so order. It remains only for me to say that this has been a very long and arduous trial and has laid a very groat strain upon the members of the Par, leading members and junior members who have shared in the presentation of both sides of this ease. I think I ought to say that all of them have done their task extremely well and in full conformity with the best traditions of the Bar in this country and in Great Britain, and particularly. do I thank them nil for this, that despite the heavy strain we have all been under from' the nature of this case, day after day they have behaved to one another throughout as gentlemen of the Bar and in perfect goon temper.” “The court stands adjourned until 10 o'clock to-morrow morning.” called the crier as the judge retired through his door and the tension relaxed. The murmur of voices arose all over the court. Betty Mareo gave way to unrestrained sobbing until a young man and woman hurried to her assistance and helped her away. Marco’s sou, Graham Mareo, did not appear to be present. Still in his wig and gown and sunk limn over the Bar table, Mr H. F O'Leary, K.C., who had twice fought Marco’s long losing battle, bore the appearance of a man who had been struck a cruel blow. Probably the public would hnye remained discussing the position indefinitely. but the officers of the police quickly shepherded them outside the building where groups remained in conversation for some time.