FOUND GUILTY OF MURDER

Southland Times, Issue 25673, 16 May 1945, Page 7

FOUND GUILTY OF MURDER

LABOURER SENT TO PRISON (P.A.) WANGANUI, May 15. Found guilty of murder in the Supreme Court tonight, Jack Burman Bams, a labourer, aged 37, was sentenced by Mr Justice Johnston to life imprisonment with hard labour. The jury was absent for four hours and 25 minutes, and it added to its verdict a strong recommendation to mercy. Barns had pleaded not guilty to the murder of a Norwegian, John Severin Berensten, aged 46, a married man with three children, at Wanganui on April 3. Referring to the jury’s recommendation to mercy, his Honour stated that it would be referred to the Prisons Board. Mr N. R. Bain presented the case for the Crown and Mr R. S. Withers appeared for the defence. Constable H. R. Hawke gave evidence that the accused walked into the police station and gave himself up. _ The accused said: “I used my .303 with a split-nosed bullet and shot him through the guts. He talked too much.” Cross-examined, the witness said he did not know at the time that the accused was implicated in a shooting. STATEMENT 3Y ACCUSED Detective-Sergeant J. K. Robertson read a statement which, he said, had been made by the accused on April 3, the day of the shooting. In this the accused was stated to have said: “Shortly after 11 a.m. today I was in the bar talking when a man I know well by sight, but not by name, came in. He was skiting about Evans of the Broke. He started talking to me, something to the effect that his sister had married Evans of the Broke and he struck me as being a bit of a liar. I chipped him a bit over what he was saying. I disapproved of what he was saying. Eventually the talk got personal and he said I was ignorant. I definitely could not say at what time I left the hotel with this man, but I said I would show him where he got off, meaning I would call his bluff. I thought he was a plain liar. He spoke of being six years in China and having known Sun Yat-sen. I certainly got fairly drunk, but I could walk and was capable of driving my motor-car.” Here the statement described the taking of a loaded rifle out from under a bed in a house in Hardy street, where the accused lived. RIFLE TAKEN FROM HOUSE “When I took the rifle from my home today I had in mind that I would make him back down on some of the statements he had madp and I thought he would take fright and back down as soon as I challenged him with the rifle in my hands,” said the accused in the statement. “When I went to him in the street I stood three or four yards away from him. I carried the rifle at my hip. I am used to carrying it in that position. I knew there was some conversation between us, but I do not recollect any words that were said. He showed no signs of backing down on anything he said, and was as positive as ever. I knew I had the second finger of my right hand on the trigger. That is my custom. I knew the rifle was in order for shooting, but did not intend to shoot. I cannot account for putting enough pressure on the trigger to cause the rifle to discharge. Neither do I remember taking the safety catch off. The rifle kicked back against me as I stood with it pointed at the man from my hip, and then I knew at once that he would be shot, but I have no recollections of what I did with the rifle. My recollection is that I then went straight to my motor-car and drove it away to Guyton street and then on to the police station.” The defence did not call evidence, but Mr Withers addressed the jury, saying that the accused did not point the rifle at Berentsen and had reason to, believe the safety catch was still on when he got the rifle from the house. Counsel submitted that this unfortunate and tragic happening was a terrible accident. It was for the jury to say whether the accused intended to take the life of another or whether he was guilty of manslaughter because of culpable homicide without intent,