MURDER OF WIFE

Southland Times, Issue 20648, 21 November 1928, Page 5

MURDER OF WIFE

CHINESE SENTENCED TO DEATH. DRAMATIC APPEAL IN COURT. London, November 19. The Chinese Chung Yi-miao, sentenced to death for the murder of his young wife, made a dramatic three and a half hours’ speech in the Court of Criminal Appeal against the sentence after calling two new witnesses, who stated that they had seen an Oriental near the scene of the murder on June 19. Addressing the Court, Miao said it was a Chinese custom when a woman married that her property went to the husband while she lived, but reverted to her family on her death. Judgment will be delivered to-day.—Australian Press Association. • A message received on October 26 stated that Chung Yi-miao, a Chinese law student, was sentenced to death at Carlisle for strangling his Chinese wife at Borrowdale during their honeymoon in the Lakes district on June 19. Chung Yi-miao heatedly protested his innocence after the sentence, but Mr Justice Humphreys intimated that he believed the verdict was right. Summing up, the Judge said it was evident that the murderer had staged the affair. The clothes of the woman were torn, suggesting outrage, but there was no sign of a bruise on the body. He added that Chung w r as an extremely clever man. who always had a ready answer. The defence suggested that two Easterners, either Chinese or Japanese, murdered the woman for the jewels she carried, which were worth £3OOO. She was the daughter of a Chinese millionaire. The Crown, however, showed that the Orientals were not within three miles of the scene of the murder.