HUSBAND CENSURED

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23707, 14 January 1939, Page 9

HUSBAND CENSURED

INQUEST ON WIFE “ INCONSIDERATE ATTITUDE ” CORONER’S STRONG COMMENT THE ROTORUA TRAGEDY (Per United Press .Association) ROTORUA, Jan. 13. “I do not think that I can complete this inquiry without commenting briefly upon the inconsiderate attitude of the husband toward his wife,” said the corpner (Mr W.;L. Richards) to-day at the conclusion of the inquest into the death of Gladys Lane, a married woman, aged 40, and Lewis Cottingham, aged nine, Mrs Lane’s son by a previous marriage. Mrs Lane was found'lying .on a bed in a bach in Ti street, Rotorua, early on the morning of January 5, suffering from a deep gash in the throat, while beside her on the bed lay the body of her t son with a rope wound tightly round his throat. Mrs Lane i was not dead when the discovery ,was made by her husband shortly before 8 o’clock, but she died some hours later in the Rotorua Hospital. V . , “Tears After Death” The coroner, returning a verdict .that the. boy died from strangulation, inflicted by his mother, and that .the mother died from selfinflicted wounds, said that it must have been evident to the husband that his wife was in a delicate state of health. At the opening of the inquest for identification purposes, Lane had appeared overwhelmed by grief, but subsequent evidence had disclosed that he was not very considerate towards his wife during a critical period. Although he did not consider that the tragedy was altogether avoidable owing to the. woman’s state of mind, the coroner suggested to the husband that it was preferable to have shown consideration during the woman’s lifetime rather than an abundance of tears after her death. That kind of sorrow was frequently of a very questionable sincerity.

Detective A. J. White conducted the inquiry for the police, and Mr R. B. Chadwick appeared to watch the interests of the estate of the deceased woman. Evidence was given by three doctors regarding the nature of the woman's injuries and those of the boy, and also regarding her general state of health; The evidence showed that the woman’s injuries were selfinflicted. while those of the boy were not. Delicate State of Health Dr H. Bertram said he had been attending Mrs Lane for some time. She was in a certain condition which would tend%o cause nervous unrest, and it was possible that she had caused the injuries responsible for her own death and that of the boy during a brainstorm, caused by puerperal insanity. She frequently attempted to discuss her domestic troubles with him, stating that she was not happy with her husband, and that he was trying to get her money away from her. i Mr Chadwick said that Mrs Lane had approximately £IOOO when she married • Lane, but had very little when, she died. He asked Dr Bertram whether Mrs Lane gave him any indication of what happened to the money. . ■ . ’ , / Dr Bertram, in reply, said she did not, but she told him she would not separate from her husband because if she did he would get her money. He advised her to see a solicitor and see whether she could get matters straightened out. Husband’s Evidence Arthur Leicester Lane, aged 27. a carpenter, husband of the deceased, said he married her at Wellington in May. 1938 and the boy lived with them when they came to Rotorua. He saia that for a fortnight before the tragedy his wife had been in a very nervous and upset condition. On December 31 they a difference of opinion about a motor car, and he removed his sleeping quarters from their bedroom to a garage on the property of his wife. She did not seem to care whether he did this or not. On the evening before the tragedy, when he returned from work, he found his wife in bed, witness said. She seemed very worried, but he did not take a. great deal of notice, as she had been like that for some time. He retired about 9 p.m.. blit was awakened about dawn next morning by his wife knocking on the door of the garage. She was weeping, and wanted him to return to their bedroom so that “they could part friends.” He refused, telling her not to be silly, and she went away, saying, “Don’t blame me for anything I might do.” He went to sleep again, and when he went across to the house at 7.30 to get his breakfast, he found his wife’s bedroom door locked. He procured a key, and found her lying on the bed with a deep gash in the throat but still breathing. The boy was lying beside her almost covered by the bedclothes. He immediately summoned the police and a doctor. A razor belonging to him and stained by blood was lying on the dressing table beside the bed. There was also a letter on the dressing table. Denial of Cruelty Witness denied that he had ever been cruel to his wife, or that he had ill-treated her. Asked by Detective White how he explained the statement made by Mrs Lane in a letter to her daughter in Auckland that he had nearly knocked her head off her shoulders, and that he was a cur and a bully, he said he could not explain why she should write such a letter. Their married life had been happy until she became so irritable that he left their bedroom and went to sleep in the garage. When the inquest was continued in the afternoon, evidence was given by Emma Stock, who resided in another section of the house occupied by Mr and Mrs Lane, and by James Shannon, a labourer, who occupied a room adjoining the garage in which Lane was sleepjng. Both said that they had seen some signs of unhappy relations between Mr and Mrs Lane, but Miss Stock said that she had seen nothing which justified the terms used by Mrs Lane in her letters regarding her husband . Wife’s Bank Account Questioned by Detective White, Lane said that he did not know that his wife’s bank book showed that her account had dwindled from a credit of £6OO 4s a few months ago to £l6 before her death." He had had nothing from her with the exception of a few pounds while he was in Wellington. He admitted that he had not been as considerate

as he might have been to her before her death, but he denied the general allegations of cruelty and neglect.