CHARGES OF MURDER
Woman Considered Unable To Plead
(P.A.) WANGANUI, November 6. An order that the accused be kept in strict custody in Porirua until the pleasure of the Minister of Justice was known was made by Mr Justice Findlay in the Supreme Court today after the jury had found Mrs Alice Te Patu, aged 48, unable to plead on three indictments for murder through being insane. The accused, who clung to the police matron in the dock through the brief proceedings, made no response when charged and sat with her head bowed.
The charges, concerned the murder of Bobo, Rangi and Rukowai Te Weri, aged six, seven and 11 years, at Putiki on May 11 last. The battered bodies of the three boys were found in bed at the home of William Emia, with whom the boys and the accused had been staying. Mrs Te Patu was found unconscious in another part of the house with self-inflicted wounds on the head.
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Bibliographic details
Southland Times, Issue 25514, 7 November 1944, Page 6
Word Count
162CHARGES OF MURDER Southland Times, Issue 25514, 7 November 1944, Page 6
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