Five to Die

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 547, 27 December 1928, Page 6

Five to Die

Natives Who Murdered Old Digger BATTERED WITH IRON BAR Five natives were sentenced to death in the circuit court ht Potchefstroom (South Africa) recently, for the murder of William Lucas, an aged digger, on the alluvial diggings at Reismierbult, on the night of August 30. Thfey were tried by a jury, whose verdict was unanimous. All the natives received the senS tence stoically. Each, in reply to the usual question, declared that he was innocent. The jury took only 12 minutes to reach, its decision, the announcement of which was greeted by a slight outburst in court. The murder was of a brutal character. Mr. Lucas, who was 73 years of age, lived quite alone except for an aged and decrepit native attendant, in a wood and iron shack in an isolated part of the diggings. He was aroused from his sleep, and was battered to death wit£i an iron crowbar when he opened the door of his hut. There was ample evidence that Lucas put up a desperate fight for his life, and that the old native came to his assistance, and was stunned with a blow from a heavy instrument as he emerged from his reed shelter near by. Hunted for Weeks The Crown relied largely on the possession of various articles belonging to the deceased digger by the accused natives, who were hunted down after a large area had been scoured for several weeks by the police. Counsel for the Crown made it clear to the jury that in law it was sufficient to show complicity between the accused without having to prove who actually struck the fatal blow, and he laid stress on the Crown’s reliance on certain articles of clothing and a watch, the property of the deceased, which were subsequently found in the possession of certain of the accused, or had passed through their hands. The Crown witnesses included a native who related conversations he had heard in gaol while awaiting trial between the accused men. Counsel for the defence alleged that this man was set by the police to spy on the men accused of the murder, and the court permitted him to examine the witness on the circumstances of his hearing the talk before admitting the statement as evidence^