THE INQUEST OPENED.

Otago Witness, Volume 23, Issue 2684, 23 August 1905, Page 33

THE INQUEST OPENED.

FURTHER INQUIRIES NECESSARY.

The circumstances surrounding, the death of James Poulton were inquired into by the Coroner this afternoon, and the evidence adduced has certainly added to the taysfcery of the affair, while' it was also of & sensational character, and, in the opinion of the coroner, such as justified a further end most exhaustive inquiry. Dr >*T. Girdler stated that he made an inspection of the body of James Poulton. The inspection afforded him (witness) no indication of the cause of death, and he was then directed to make a post mortem examination. He considered the man died slowly, and this was evidenced by the small quantity of blood in the organs. It would be possible" for deceased to "have been pasping for some time prior to death. There was nothing whatever in the appearance to indicate foul play. The cause of death was failure of an enlarged and fatty heart, accelerated ' by congestion of the lungs and Jcidtoeys. (it was quite possible, in the condition of the man's heart, for a mental shock -to hasten death. Any shock such as a blow or fall would do it, more especially as deceased was- paralysed. The shock jnight be mental, or a slight physical shock euch as a struggle or fall. To the Foreman of the Jury: If outward •violence were used it would show a mark but it was possible for a certain amount of Violence to be ueed without showing a 61 Dr Murphy Btated that He had attended aeoeased for about two years. "When deceased first consulted him he (deceased) !had a stroke of paralysis on the right side. Witness was called to the, house occupied jjy deceased on Saturday morning at about 10 o'clock. Witness inspected the body, Sind found no marks of violence. He then said either he or his colleague (Dr Brockway) would give a certificate. Up to that fcime no mention of shock or disturbance ■was made to witness. Deceased was really on the verge of death at any moment. Witness believed that, having had two Strokes of paralysis, deceased was a man likely to die at any moment, more especially in view of his .advanced age. On Saturday evening witness was called up to &he Police Station and told of some suggestion of violence. He therefore declined to give a certificate of death. The body presented no appearance of any struggle ihaving taken place. There was no .suggestion, either implied or observed, to indicate there had been a struggle. Mrs Charlotte M'Pike then gave evidence. Bhe~ stated that her husband was a carter 5n Westport. Sihe had been residing in deceased's house for about, two months. During that time he seemed in good iiealtn knd spirits. She had never heard ham jcomtphun. Dieoeased had been slightly (paralysed, and walked with a stick. On the night of the death witness went .to her room and remained there,, lying on the bed without undressing. »ne Jell asleep. and was aroused by jhearin* ft knock at her window about

half -past 10. She saw two men outside, and they asked for rooms. She could sc« the men quite plainly, and had already given their description to the police. She told them to go to the main entrance and knock. They subsequently went away. Later on witness heard the men walk into the passage and ask fox Mrs PrimroE-c. She recognised their voices as those of the two previous visitors. That was about midnight. She. heard Mr Posselthwaite say that Mrs Primrose was in bed, and could not be seen. The men replied that they wanted to see Mrs Primrose, and again asked for her. Mr Posselthwaite asked what the men wanted, and Mrs Posselthwaite replied that it was all right, they only wanted Mr Primrose. Witness then heard Mr Poulton come out of his room and ask the men, " What are you doing in my house at this hour of night?" One of the« men replied, " What has that got to do with you; we want a room." Deceased told him to go out, and they refused to go. Deceased then said " I will put you out," to which one of the men replied, "You can't do it." Poulton then said, "I will get someone to put you out." Witness then heard the men walking into Poulton's room, and they seemed to be forcing their way in, pushing Poulton in front of them. Mr and Mrs Passelthwaite went into their own room. They must have heard the struggle or distuxbanoe. Witness did not see any struggle, but could hear it all plainly. Witness only heard one man's voios up to this time, and it was the same voice that* had spoken to her when the men called earlier in the night. Witness heard Poulton say, when he and the other men were in the room, " Get to

— out of this." Some more svearing followed, and then she heard Poulton's voice saying, " What, you would strike me, would you? Don't strike me." This time witness had her head! against the wall just on the other side -of the partition of deceased's room, and the men inside were then only about 4ft from her. She heard one of the men walk out of the room and go outside. Just after one man went out she heard the other, whose voice she recognised, say, " Take that, you old ." She then heard a blow, and also heard Poulton fall back. Pouiton never spoke after that. Hearing the man who had remained in the room go outside, she went to her window and saw him go on to the pathway to the gate, where the other man was standing. The man at the gate, whose voice she then heard for the first time, said, " Did you settle him?" The other replied, "I think I have done for the old ."

The Coroner: We understand Mrs Primrose's evidence is that she remained with, deceased till the time of his death? —Witness: That is not true. f I was in my room looking out at the men, and I heard what I call the death rattle in Poulton's room. Poulton's room was entered through Mra Primrose's room, and I went round aftei seeing the men go towards Hobson street, and I found her door locked. I knocked, and she opened it. The old man was' lying on the floor with only a 6hirt on, and that was disarranged. I felt his pulse, and found that he was dead. Mrs Primrose said, "No; he's only (fainted," and went to call Mrs Posselthwaite, who seemed very excited, and called out, "I wont have anything to do with it; it was them that did it."' Mr Posselthwaite came into the room then, and seemed also excited, saying he wanted to fight whoever did it. Witness also said that death occurred about 1 o'clock.

The Coroner: When did you first tell anybcjdy of wlvat you have told us to-day? — The Witness: I thought that these in the house would tell the police. I said to them, " The wisest plan is for you to inform the police," and I went to my room and went to 6leep. I was aroused at 3 o'clock by Mrs Denham, who came to my room and said, "Mr Poulton is dead." I replied, "Of course he is ; I told you so." Mrs Primrose, Mrs Denham, and Mr PosseHhwaite were there then, and they had been drinking 1 . Mrs Posselthwaite said, "Wait," and her son, aged about 12 years, must have also heard all that took place. Mrs Primrose had been drinking during the week, and was under the influence of liquor on the night of the death. Deceased never drank, and I heard him quarrelling with Mrs Primrose for drinking.

At this stage the inquest was adjourned till Monday next, the Coroner remarking that there 1 was much more in this case than had appeared at first, and the police ought to be allowed time to make further inquiries.

At the adjourned inquest on Monday the evidence of .Mrs M'Pike will be resumed. and the testimonies of Mrs Primrose and boarders who were in the house at the time of the death will be taken.

Mrs Primrose flatly contradicts Mrs M'Pike's evidence, and ■ declares that there was no assault whatever, ancl no interview with two men in Poulton's room. In these statements Mrs Primrose is supported by others; but it t is difficult to see what turn the evidence may yet take, and in the meantime the affair remains to a certain extent a mystery.. The police have descriptions of the two men Mrs M'Pike states she saw, and. a vigorous search for individuals answering to the description will be made. So far nothing in corroboration of Mrs M'Pike's statements has been discovered by the police.