TRIAL OF DEEMING. PASSING OF THE DEATH SENTENCE. IMPRESSIVE SCENES IN COURT.

Otago Witness, Issue 1994, 12 May 1892, Page 35

TRIAL OF DEEMING. PASSING OF THE DEATH SENTENCE. IMPRESSIVE SCENES IN COURT.

The trial of "Albert Williams," otherwise Frederick Bayley Deeming, for the murder of Emily Mather at Windsor, began on Thursday, April 28, in the Supreme Court, before Mr Justice Hodges and a jury. There was a great demand for seats, but admittance could only be obtained by ticket, arid those who had failed to provide themselves with one of the passes issued by Sheriff Anderson were left lamenting outside. The police had the strictest orders, and the magic words press" and "barrister" was no effectual " open sesame," as mauy of those who attempted them discovered. THE APPLICATION FOR POSTPONEMENT. When the court opened it was to hear an application by Mr Deakin and Mr Forlonge, who had been retained as counsel by Mr Lyle, the prisoner's solicitor, for a postponement of the trial. This was desired in order to allow time for inquiries to be made in England and elsewhere as to the, family history of the prisoner and his early life, which it was believed would throw light upon his mental condition. The application was supported by two doctors— Drs Springthropearid Fishbourne— who declared that, as a result of several interviews with the prisoner, they believed it was possible that he might be insane. They could not say he was insane, but equally they could not say he was s.me; and they would like to know whether his father ami mother, his grandfather and grandmother, &c, had ever been insane before they could settle the question. Mr Justice Hodges did what everybody who heard the evidence of the two doctors did— laughed their speculations and indecision out of court. His decision was as follows : —

Tdo not think I need hear the doctors on the other side. No -matter what adjournment is granted, they would not be able to make any satisfactory statement as to the prisoners previous state of mind at the time at which it is all-important that < we should know; and further, it appears to me that the doctors will only be -able to make their opinions surer by, ad tfiey call it, investigating facts outside tho prisoner's mind, and finding whether the statements made by him are true or false. This means investigating his early history and infancy aud the history of his parents. As I understand it, it means that they should undertake the functions of the jury and determine whether or not all these facts stated by him are true. These statements never could in all reasonable possibility be verified in the ordinary course of this trial, unless it kept on for two or three years; nor could they be verified in any way necessary in a court of justice. I think possibly it may be right in this case to put a question to the jury— aud very likely I shall do it— which would not be put in an ordinary case. That will be the question as to what the jury would consider the condition of his mind to have been. Admitting the facts proved upon which the doctors founded their opinions, would that make them arrive at a conclusion as to the state of his mind in December? The finding can go to the Executive who can deal with facts that I cannot

deal with, and receive evidence that I cannot receive, and if they feel disposed to act, it is for them and not for me. I cannot see that any postponement would put the prisoner in any better position with regard to this evidence. THE EVIDENCE CONTRADICTING INSANITY. The trial therefore went on. Mr Lyle, con* suited with the two counsel, and the result Was that they announced to the court that he had withdrawn their briefs. The court, therefore, assigned the same two counsel to the prisoner. It was stated that Mr Lyle had withdrawn also, but this was incorrect, as throughout the case ho acted for the prisoner and prompted counsel. The evidence was in the main the same as at the inquest, and bore out the history of the crime as it is familiar to avery reader. The new evidence was that of the dootors who were called by the Crown on the question of the man's sanity— Dr Shields (the Government medical officer), Dr Dick (superintendent of Yarra Bend Asylum for many years), .and Dr Jamieson (city health officer). These gentlemen were cross-examined by Mr Deakin at great length, but the astute politician has had no experience at the bar, and he did harm rather than good by his questioning. The three doctors declared most decisively that they could perceive no trace of insanity in the prisoner. His father and mother and all his relations might have been lunatics, that would not affect their opinion that when they saw the prisoner in the .Melbourne Gaol ho was not a lunatic. He was -able, •' said Dr Shields, to give a close and intelligent attention to his questioners for two nours at a stretch and betray not the remotest symptom of a mental want. True, his moral standard was low ; but he appreciated fully the fact that the general moral standard was higher than his own, and that in following out his own he was offending against the law. And it was true, also, that he attempted in various ways to impress the doctors with a belief in his insanity. He " shammed " outrageously. For instance, he told Dr Shields he saw his mother beside him every morning about 2 o'clock. She whispered to him, and he had to "shout" back to her. Dr Shields asked the warder in charge : " Do you hear him shout out in the night ?" "No," replied the warder. But that night he did shout out. The matter-of-fact, common' sense doctor could only regard this as a clear attempt at imposition. Another statement the doctor could not swallow was that he always, as regularly as his birthday came round, lost consciousness for the day, or perhaps.for a day and a-half . These and many others the doctor believed to be deliberate lies invented to impose upon him. DEMEANOUR OF THE PRISONER. The demeanour of the prisoner was altogether different from that which he had assumed at the inquest. My own theory is that he had been buoyed up by his solicitor (Mr Lyle), with the hope that the postponement would be granted ; but he lost all hope, when -Mr .Justice Hodges gave his decisive refusal to, that request. Describing the prisoner on the second day, the Argus writes: — "There was no question yesterday as to the pronounced alteration in' the prisoner's demeanour since the inquest. Subdued as he had been on the first day of the trial, he had, nevertheless, smiled chesrfully from time to time, and had certainly shown no such traces of "anxiety as were in his face when he confronted the court yesterday morning^ There were heavy lines about his features, and he looked beyond disputs worn and haggard. On entering the dock he at once raised one of the small desks whioh are fixed on hinges in the enclosure, and occupied ,him : self assiduously in writing a note to his counsel. This done, he seated himsfelf, and listened quietly, almost without a,change of attitnde, to the evidence the whole day through." And again, speaking of him onthe third day it writes: — "The third day witnessed a deeper depression than before in the demeanour of the prisoner. He entered the dock pale and visibly suffering from the exhaustion .consequent upon the prolonged strain which behad undergone. During the usual calling over of the names of the jury he faced the court standing, then sank back upon the seat, and, resting his head wearily upon the rail behind him, closed his eyes. There were heavy lines on either side of the mouth and beneath the eye's, giving a' gaunt and drawn expression to the face,. and he wore throughout the day a long great coat with velvet collar, as though, despite the crowded condition of the court, he suffered from chilliness. ,He sat during the six or seven hours' ordeal motionless for the most part, with his hands clasped upon his knee, bestirring himself only at intervals to send a note to his counsel. During the examination of Dr Mollison, who conducted the post mortem at the morgue, and who described minutely the shocking appearance of the corpse, Williams was to all outward appearance perfectly unmoved. He continued busily engaged in writing, with a heavy frown upon his face and his lips set in the resolute manner habitual with him. Once during the long-drawn-out medical evidence the court was momentarily aware of a movement and angry muttering on tho part of the prisoner, caused by his resentment of the staring to which he was being subjected by some persons preseirb. The warder moved a little nearer to" him iv the dock, but no other notice was taken of the incident." , THE CLOSING DAY. Herewith is summarised from the report in the Argus a description of the proceedings on the final day -.—. —

The impressive drama which has been enacted for four days past in the Criminal Court was brought last night to the only termination which it was possible for those apprised of the evidence to expect. Late in the evening Frederick Bayley Deeming, alias Albert Oliver Williams, after having the advantage of an eloquent and stirring address on his behalf by his leading counsel (Mr Deakin), and after supplementing this by making from the dock, by his own mouth, one of the most extraordinary orations ever heard in a court of justice, was sentenced to death for the murder of his wife at Windsor. Pregnant with interest as the proceedings of the previous day had been, they were far eclipsed by the combined fascination aud horror which held the auditors during some of the concluding passages of this remarkable trial. These feelings were first provoked early in the day when Dr Springthorpe, the first of the medical witnesses for the defence, entered the box, and began to recount the prisoner's statements to him, made in gaol, concerning his own past and his family history. Much of this was in the fullest sense horrible and revolting. True or false, no names were spared, and so objectionable were certain of the statements that the doctor endeavoured to avoid reading this-portion of the autobiography. At first the effort was unsuccessful, and the court was informed of the prisoner's unsupported assertion of a horrible case of incest in his own family. Subsequently, however, the witness paused again when he came to statements which he described as "gross" concerning the Beverley marriage. As they affected living persons "he was most reluctant to read them, and was successfully supported by Mr Deakin in this objection. One obvious result attended these revelations, and that was the gradual but complete crumbling away of all lingering doubt as to whether the prisoner denied in any way his identity with Frederick Bayley Deeming. Another branch of this extraordinary autobiographical statement related to the prisoner's physical condition. The numerous female spectators who occupied seats in court had their eais presumably offended by a repulsive recital of the maladieß contracted by the prisoner, and subse-

quently to further details from the lips of Dr Springthorpe as to the ferocious sentiments towards a certain class of women professed in consequence by Deeming. But the most painful sensation of horror and astonishment which had yet been experienced agitated the crowded assemblage in court at the passages which were iloW to conic. Against both wives— the woman buried with her murdered children beneath the floor at Kairihill, and the unhappy girl battered and gashed to death in the Windsor cottage— the prisoner had advanced charges gross and atrocious. The first wife he had forgiven twice for unfaithfulness— she had foisted upon him two children which were not his own; the second wife, Emily Mather, had been the accomplice of another man in the appalling massacre of his first wife and little ones at Rainhill, had pressed him. into marriage with her. had deceived and finally deserted him in Melbourne). With literally bated breath the auditor^ listened to deliberate assertions that Emily Mather was now hiding from justiCd because the Rainhill horror and her own guilty complicity in it had been discovered. DR SPRINGTHORPE'S STATEMENT. The following are some of the more important passages of Dr Springthorpe's recital of the statements made to him in gaol by the prisoner, and upon which he founded his belief that the prisoner was insane or partly so :—: — The prisoner told me that his father had been cranky) and died in an asylum ; that his mother had been in all asylum before his birth; and came out for his birth. His brothel* Sam, he said was in an asylum, but that only his brother Albert knew of this. Another brother was asthmatic. He hadi:hree sistersj-one of Whom suffered-from a serious family trouble. His Age he srtid was between 36 and 39* his name Frederick Deeming. He remembered nothing of his life before 12 years of age, except that he was in an asylum. From 12 to 16 he was always ill and in mischief, and he was called "Mad Fred." He said he threw a girl into a canal for calling him "Mad Fred," but pulled her out again ; then he threw her in again, and left her. He never knew what fear was, and on one occasion went into a cave and shot two lions and captured a lion cub, which he took home to Liverpool. From the ago of 15 years he had been fond of women, whom he liked to make happy. He would spend anything for a girl whom he liked, and on one occasion he spent LIOO over a girl whom he never saw_ again, and did not know. He was never with a girl for a week, but she wanted to marry him. On his birthday he was always UllcoilscTous of his owrt oxietence. which he ascribed to the fact that his mother was unconscidus at the time of his birth and for three days afterwards. He had questioned his parents on this subject, and had told his father that he suspected there was something worse. His father's reply was to knock him on the head. He stated that he is visited by his mother at 2 o'clock every morning, and that she always tells him that whenever he has a lady friend he is to kill her, and that he must also kill his wife. So much did these admonitions disturb him that he has often got up and taken a revolver to shoot his wife while she slept. His wife knew of this because his mother had told her in her sleep. His mother continually pestered him in this way, and told him not to tell anyone, even his brother. She had always told him that ho was bom to be hanged, but that if he lived 40 years he would oecome a good man. He sent his wife to England to get her out of the way, though she didnt want to go. His wife never saw his mother, but he told her why he was sending her away, and she implored him to rather kill her. He had LII.OOO buried in two boxes in South Africa. He mentioned a character known as old Ben Young, or Old Ben as he calls him, whom he got from Mrs Mather and Miss Mather to carry out repairs in the house, for which Mrs Mather was agent. He says that his wife came down there, and that he refused to go near her ; that Old Ben came down to him at his hotel— the Rainhill Arms— and said, "If you give LSO, your wife says she will go away." He says that he did give her the LSO, and that he never saw her again. He says also that Old Ben told him that she had gone away, and that he (the accused) •helped to send the luggage and wrote the pieces of paper with the address. A few days afterwards he was out for a drive with Miss Mather, whom he had previously told that he was a married man, and on this occasion she asked him if he would marry her. He said that it was impossible. She replied, " The obstacle is removed." Then he seized her by the throat and asked her what she meant. She made no answer then, but when they drove back homeward and they got near home she said, " Aren't we going to be friends ?" He asked her again what she meant. She said, " Never mind ; but tell me." He theTi said he would marry her if she promised to tell him. Then she told him, and he took an oath not to betray her, and they were married. Then the narrative goes on to the other murder. He says that as they neared Adelaide he noticed his wife disconsolate, and asked what was the matter. She then said that she was not his wife, because she had a husband already living, named Hughie Hughes, who was in Australia. When they came to Melbourne they were coming out of the Cathedral Hotel and met Hughie Hughes. Then they had an altercation in the street, and decided to separate. He did not think she was murdered, because he saw her again on December 29 on his way to Gippsland. The reason she did not appear now was that the Rainhill murders had been found out, and she would be accused of being the accomplice of Old Ben. I have here a sworn copy of a letter which he wrote to Mrs Mather in reference to that. It reads :— "23|4|92. "Dear Mother,— l don't know what you will think of the newspaper reports, but you may rest assured that Emily is not dead, but alive and well so far as I know. There has been a wrong identity of the body found. I have no more idea whose body it is than you have, but it is not Emily's. But if Emily's whereabouts is known she will be arrested for the Rainhill murders. Of course you know all the particulars, and who was her associate. Emily told you all about it. My advice to you is to make the matter known to the police at once. Emily will keep out of the way. Do so at once, and have the man arrested. lam sorry you did not tell me of Emily's first marriage. You knew she could not be my wife, even if I had mariicd her. It is, of course, easy to see your idea for having the marriage so quietly conducted, and not even let your own friends know or when it was to take place. If you decide on telling the police all you know of the affair please wire me as soon as you get this. I have sworn not to betray Emily in any way. I know what her suffering must be now. If. the trial goes against me you will surely not let the public think I was guilty. Hoping you "will think the matter over, and do whatever you think best.— l remain, your son, "Albert, "Known here as Baron Swanston." Dr Fishbourne also gave evidence as to the prisoner's state of mind, and both were crossexamined by the Crown Prosecutor. The tendency of their evidence may be gathered from the following questions put to Dr Fishbourne by the judge :— His Honor : Can you swear that the prisone 1 " knows what murder is? Witness : I can not. Does he know his obligation to defend himself —that this is a capital charge, and that he stands in peril of his life?— l do not know whether he thinks he stands in peril of his life. He knows that he is here on the charge of murder. Does he know the result of a conviction?— l am not able to form any opinion. . Supposing the prisoner to be suffering irom an overwhelming delusion, and that he bought the cement and the sand for the purpose of the crime, could he hold his hand for a week or a fortnight— as long as he pleased— and carry out the act at such time and under such circumstances as he pleased ?— Yes. , , , ..... If this is your view, the jury must deal with it. I don't think there is much in it. Mr Deakin addressed the court in a fine oratorical effort, but hiß speech made no great impression. THE PRISONER MAKES A STATEMENT. Mr Walsh, the Crown Prosecutor, then occupied 40 minutes in again pointing out the strength and completeness of the chaiu of evidence forged against the prisoner. Hardly

had he ceased when the court was startled by the voice of the prisoner. He had risen" composedly, and, advancing to the front of the dock, demanded in spite of his counsel's advice to say a few words on his own behalf. Although the time chosen was irregular no objection was offered by the Crown, and Deeming forthwith began to speak. He was deliberate and clear in speech, and although his voice is naturally harsh and rasping, there was no unpleasant ring in it during an oration which occupied nearly an hour in delivery. Occasionally there was a break, as" when he referred again and again to the utter worthlessncss of life to him, and to the one solace and comfort left him — namely, tho consciousness of his own innocence and of the fact that Emily Mather was still living. One heavy hand he rested upon documents placed upon the little ledge in front of him/ and with wide open eyes fixed upon the jury-box he alternately expostulated and protested, but always with deliberation, mildness, and a very perfectly-assumed air of undeserved martyrdom. Every head was turned towards the dock as he commenced speaking, and Deeming found the scrutiny intolerable. " You can hear me very well, gentlemen, without staring at me," he said in a deprecating tone, and for the time, but only for the time, glances were averted. It required no more than the first sentences to show what the man was, and to provoke once more speculations as to how he could by any process of reasoning have successfully passed himself off for a man occupying a good station- in life/ The Blight 'nervousness which almost imperceptibly affected him at the Commencement played havoc with his aspirates, and in numberless other ways during his lengthy speech he showed himself a man utterly uneducated, yet acute, cool, and Watchful to a more than ordinary degree. It was really a solemn farce that was now being played out before the hushed court.

THE CLOSING SCENES. The jarring and generally painful address of the prisoner was succeeded at last by the calm tones of the judge. Moving the candlesticks which were placed to light hid desk so that he could command an uninterrupted ■View of the jury, his Honor turned in his seat so as to con« front them, and commenced with an impressive warning that they should watch themselves, and free their minds as far as possible from any prejudice which might have existed before the opening of the case; He reviewed lucidly the evidence step by step, making clear, as it was inevitable he should do, many damning facts against the prisoner, yet stating impartially the alternatives presented to the jury. The address, which seemed short, lasted really for an hour and three-quarters, and the retirement of the jury for an hour and 20 minutes. •They returned at the end of that time, and the semi-disorder into which the court had lapsed in the interval at once gave place to a profound stillness. The prisoner, emerged from the cells below the dock with demeanour greatly changed from that which had characterised him during the close of his address. The broken voice earnest utterance had given place to a sprightly air, and he faced the court with hands in both trousers pockets, and a decided smile upon his face. Whatever hope he might have had, if any, was dispelled by a glance at the jury box, and he forthwith pulled out a document and affected to peruse it intently. Therefore the verdict of guilty, which was delivered in a low voice, did not seemingly reach his ears. He glanced up with an affected air of bright interrogation only when the loud challenge to the prisoner was pronounced, and then he repeated shortly instead of at length the disjointed remarks of the afternoon. It was dim candlelight now in the court, and the countenance of neither judge, jury, nor prisoner could be very clearly seen, but in the voice of Deeming as it emerged from the gloom of the dock there was no falter or hesitation. His trial, onse for all, had been unfair ; his innocence must be shortly established ; and he would only ask again that his Honor would pass sentence upon him without remark. In this he was not disappointed. Eyeing him steadily, bub with a look of withering contempt, Mr Justice Hodges announced that he had no intention to do more than pass the bare sentence upon him. " That's all I want," interjected the prisoner with singular alacrity. Vanity seemed to rule the man's nature even at that moment, and he desired merely leave to orate to a jury at length in ungrammatical sentences without being forced to listen in return to scathing utterances from the bench. The sentence was heard by the prisoner with folded hands and the same oddly cheerful expression of face. As the solemn words were finished he ejaculated "Thank you," tossed his head slightly, and with a smile that was half sneer left the dock. The following is a detailed report of the final scene : — The jury retired at 23 minutes past 7. After an absence or about half an hour they sent into court for some of the exhibits. At 20 minutes to 9 o'clock they returned into court. In answer to the usual question, the foreman said they had found a verdict of Guilty." In answer to the questions submitted, the foreman handed in a written statement. His Honor : Then, gentlemen, you say that the prisoner is not now insane ; that if it had been proved that his father and his mother had each been inmates of a lunatic asylum, and that he had twice been in a lunatic asylum, you would still have been of opinion that he is not now insane. You say, also, that he was not insane at , the time of the act charged against him, and so say you all ? The Jurymen : Yes. The Usher : All persons are commanded to keep strict and profound silence under pain of imprisonment whilst the judge pronounces the awful sentence of the law. The Associate : Prisoner at the bar, have you anything to say why sentence of death should not be pronounced upon you ? The Prisoner : All I have to say is what I said before, that I am not guilty, and that I have not had a just trial. It is against all justice that I should have been dealt with as I have. It is a matter of impossibility for the jury to have been of a different opinion to the general public. They have had weeks with the papers drumming at them the same as the rest of the public have had. They did not think at that time that they were going to be appointed as jurymen to consider this verdict. They may say what they like, but it has prejudiced them against me, and it is that alone that has brought in the verdict. It is not the weight of evidence, for by the weight of evidence it ought not to have gone as it has. I told the jury in my address that it was a matter of indifference to me whether they brought me in guilty or not guilty. Whichever way they brought in the verdict I should not consider it a just one, because the trial has not been just from the beginning to the end. It is not because the law would not permit an adjournment. It is simply because I would have been an expense to the Crown, nothing more or less. So far as the sentence goes I do not fear that, not a little bit. I know I am innocent, and that comfort will cavry me to the end. There is only one thing I warn the public in general, and that is in future not to deal with a man again as they have dealt with me. I say I thank for this the public of Melbourne, and no one else ; and though I may die for this I shall not be dead long before they know my innocence. If it is not made known here it will be made known elsewhere, but I do not think it will come to that. It will be made known before that happens. I hope, in passing sentence, your Honor will make it as short as possible. I have been here four days, and I have been here since 10 o'clock this morning, and it is time that I was

released # from, it. It is useless wasting a lot pf tiffle going into a long address. Ido not fiO the need of it, I know what lam here for, vdri if I had done It I should not have done ifc without ca!use/ and if a man has just cause he isjustified. Etett if I had been released what is life tome? I should ttoi have lived 24 hours. It is better for the law to destroy me than for me to destroy myself. I have a happy feeling in my conscience that I am innocent as itis possible for a man to be. It is a matter of indifference to me what the public think; they may say what they like. There is only one thing would have comforted me, and that is if Miss Rounsefell did not believe me guilty. If she had believed me innocent it would not have troubled me if all Australia had believed me guilty. Because it is the papers that has done it. I was condemned before I left Western Australia. Those gentlemen knowvery well that for weeks the papers was drumming at them. Is it possible that opinion and that prejudice should be driven out of them in four days? Nothing I could savior your Honor could say, would drive it out of them. His Honor : It is not my intention to say one word beyond passing upon you the sentence of the ' The Prisoner : Thank you. That is all I want. His Honor passed sentence of death in the usual formula. The Prisoner : Thank you. The court was then adjourned.