MAN SHOT IN THE HEAD

Taranaki Daily News, 9 June 1932, Page 7

MAN SHOT IN THE HEAD

HERMITAGE MURDER CASE SCENE IN BEDROOM DESCRIBED. SUICIDE POSSIBILITY DOUBTED. EVIDENCE FOR THE PROSECUTION. Telegraph.—Press Association. Titnaru, June S. A charge of mur,dering William Edward Wogan, barman-porter, at the Hermitage, Mount Cook, on November 5 1931,° was brought against William John Thomas Whalley at the Magistrate’s Court here to-day before Mr. E. D. Mosley, S.M. Whalley was arrested at Hokitika on April IS. Wogan was found dead in his bedroonl°with a .22 calibre bullet in his head. At the inquest Charles Digby Elms', manager of the Hermitage, said he had examined the wound, which was clean, there being no sign of singeing or burnin". At the resumed inquest .on. February 29 the coroner returned the following verdict: “That Wogan died from laceration of the brain substance and haemorrhage, the result of a bullet wound fired from a .22 rifle. The facts 60 far proved, in my opinion, definitely exclude the conclusion that deceased committed suicide. _ They also are, in mv opinion, inconsistent with the deceased’s having accidentally shot himself. The matter is now one for the police to take such action as they may be advised, and the inquest may be legally reopened if the occasion warrants this course.” The Crown Prosecutor conducted the prosecution and counsel appeared foi Whalley. “BILL HAS SHOT HIMSELF.”. Wallis George Williams, photographer at the Hermitage, said there was about four yards between his bedroom and Wogan’s. About 6.5 p.m. on November 5 he heard a shot when he was in the back. yard. He looked round to sec where the shot had come from and then walked to his own room, but he saw no .one.- While there he ■ changed his boots and socks. Whalley then appeared at the door, saying, “Bill has shot himself.” Whalley went to the kitchen and Williams followed. Whalley remarked: “Go to Bill.” Waiting until Whalley returned, Williams followed him into Wogan’s room and found Wogan lying on the floor in the far corner between the settee and the table. There was a space of about eight inches between the table and-the settee. The only other articles in the room were a chair and the bed. Wogan was lying with his.back against the° wall and his hands by his side. Wogan had nothing in his hand and there was no sign of a rifle Replying to- the Crown Prosecutor, Williams said: “It looked to me as though he had been put there. ’ . There was a wound on the left side of Wogan’s head and was blood on the°settee near Wogan’s head. Whalley remarked something about Wogans shooting himself accidentally, and added: “You had better feel his heart; I haven’t the nerve to feel it.” Whalley left the room, Williams following, and later they returned together. _-_■- At Whalley’s suggestion Williams helped Whalley to lift -the dead man on to the bed. During this proceeding Elms (the licensee), appeared and inquired what had happened. “Bills been shot, replied Williams, who in answer to another question said he did not know how it occurred. After Wogan’s body was placed on the bed he did not see anything in the room he had not seen previously. . NOT BEEN SEEN SHOOTING.

During the year Wogan, had been at the hostel witness had never seen him go shooting alone or accompanied. The tragedy was talked over by the staff at the° Hermitage that - evening.. Whalley said that Wogan had. been sitting on the settee with a rifle between liis knees. Accused added that he was going.out of the door when he .heard a shot, and, on turning round, saw Wogaii on the settee with the rifle’on his knees: Charles Digby Elms, licensee of the Hermitage Hotel, said Wogan had been employed as a barman-porter for 11 months, and Whalley had been engaged as chef for about six months. The two men’s rooms were close together at the back of the hotel. A few minutes after (i p.m. on the evening of November 5 Elms heard a rifle shot,when he was coming from, the storeroom. On investigation he saw Whalley'and Williams entering Wogan’s bedroom, and he followed At the door he asked 'them, “What’s going on here?” as the pair had Wogan in a half-standing attitude near the bed. Whalley replied: "Bill has shot himself. Elms, noticed that blood was oozing from a wound in Wogan’s head just above the ear.. . The rifle was produced in Court, and at the magistrate’s suggestion Elms demonstrated the position in which he found the weapon. The rifle was lying hard against the wall, with the muzzle pointing towards the table and the trigger upward. Elms said he replaced the rifle in the. position in which he had found it. Later when Constable Mackintosh arrived the- room and everything were the same” as when Elms had seen them. RIFLE REMOVED.

On his return to the dead man s room later Elms found the rifle had been shifted outside the door .and was leaning against the wall in the yard. He replaced it on the settee in the same position in which he had found it. He examined the wound. It would haidly have been seen for hair which, howevei, was not singed. Elms had never known Wogan to go shooting. Douglas Standage, manager of the Mount Cook Tourist Company, said that on the afternoon of November 5 Wogan was off duty until 5 o’clock and spent his time playing tennis. Standage saw Wogan on his bed about 6.10 p.m., and <m examining him put his hand on the man’s heart and thought he detected a elio-ht flutter which, however, stopped immediately. He examined the bullet wound on the left-hand side of the head. The hair was not burned and. there was no sign of blackening round the hole. He saw Whalley just outside the door handling the rifle and working the bolt to see if it was unloaded. Whalley remarked that they ’did not want any. more accidents. When Standage expressed the view that the rifle should not be touched it was placed against the wall and later was replaced in its former position. CONSTABLE EXAMINES ROOM. Half an hour after midnight Constable Mackintosh arrived, and, accompanied by Elms and Standage, examined Wogan’s room, where the constable look charge of a spent shell. Richard William Dingwall, engineer at the Hermitage, stated that shortly after 6 o’clock he entered Wogan’s room and saw the body on the bod. There was blood on the settee. There was no sign of scorching. . Alf-Brastad, shop-manager,. Christchurch,. stated that last November ..he had been guide at the Hermitage, where lie had been for six years. He said that

Wogan had never asked to borrow a firearm. To Brastad's knowledge Wogan had not done any shooting. "Did you put any particular question to him about the rifle in the room? —I cannot remember.” "Did Whalley say what they were talking about when he went to leave the room’’’—“About horses.” Estella Boucher, pantrymaid, said Whalley and Wogan frequently used to talk about racing, and Whalley sometimes remarked in the star! room the different horses he and Wogan had backed. . Henry Charles Arthur Stinson, general at the Hermitage, stated that he had never seen Wogan handle a firearm. About 4 p.m. on November 5 Whalley left the kitchen with the intention of visiting Wogan’s room. He returned at 0.5 and told Stinson to get some brandy; Wogan had shot himself. Later Whalley asked the second cook to carry on with, the dinner as Wogan had. met with an accident. Whalley then left the kitchen, but later in the staff room Stinsori**heard Whalley say that Wogan had been sitting on a chair with the gun Between his legs. . *John Henry Wear, importer, Christchurch, said' that on November he was staying at the Hermitage. A little after G p.m. he went to Wogans room. Wogan was lying on the bed and appeared to be in a very bad Way. He did not remember who was in the J 0 but saw a. man whom he took to be the chef standing outside the door. Wear examined Wogan and saw * wound above his left ear. The rifle wds not in the room at the time. The magistrate: "Did you examine the wound?”—“Not in detail.” . ‘■You did not notice any singeing,,®! the hair, or anything of- that sort? — "No.” • - ■ "FRIGHTENED . OF. GUNS.” ,J Argyle John Hutchison, grocer, Hokitika, said he had known Wogan a good manv years. Hutchison had often been shooting but Wogan had. never been with him; he was too frightened oi * "un, or even of an empty cartridge. Andrew Mackintosh, police constable, Fairlie, said that about 6.15 p.m., he received a telephone message from the Hermitage that the barman had been shot. The constable went to the Hermitage and was taken to WoganS bedroom. He saw a wound in the head above the left car. The wound had been caused, by a bullet from a .22 calibre rifle There was blood round the wound and on the face. There was hO evidence that the bullet had gone through the head. It was also clear that the wound had been caused by a rifle held at rigut angles to the head. There was no trace of blackness or powder round the wound, and no singeing of the li3.ii. ■Between the settee and the table the constable found on the wall a spot about 5 inches in circumference and 3ft. 2in. from the floor. It was clear this spot had been caused by Wogan’s head having struck the wall, as there were of hair oil. From this point to_the floor there was a streak of blood which formed a small pool on the floor. Ther was a good deal of blood on the settee, and this was fresh when he examined

NO BLOOD ON RIFLE. A rifle was on the settee close against the- wall. He examined the rifle. closely but found no blood on it. He found a .22 calibre shell under the bed. A box of live cartridges was found in the room. After a good deal of searching the constable found a sum of money (£7 18s. 9d.) hidden in a boot. The constable interviewed Whalley, who made a statement in which he said he had known Wogan about six years. They were mates and Wogan often went to Whalley’s room to talk over different matters. Whalley borrowed a. rifle from Alf Brastad, the guide, m order to go shooting. He went out on Wednesday and Thursday, and on the latter occasion Wogan asked hint to leave the rifle as he wished to go shoot-, ing. On the following afternoon Wogan was playing tennis, and when he returned at 5 o’clock Whalley showed Wogan how to load the rifle. As he was leaythe room with his back turned to he heard a shot. He turned round and° saw Wogan had been shot. Wogan had previously been sitting with the rifle between his knees. Whalley was sure that after having shown .Wogan how to load the rifle he had empued it.. He and Wogan had sometimes discussed racing and they had had one or two bets. The two men had always been on the best of terms. . s Dr. James Sutherland, Fairlie, said he made a post-mortem examination Of the body. He found a clean-cut circular wound about the size of a split pea on the left side of the skull. The hair was not affected in any way. He looked for singeing or burning but found none, and there was no powder mark. - He found that the bullet had entered the head horizontally, at right, angles to the skull. Death was caused by laceration of the brain and would have been almost instantaneous. He would be surprised to learn Wogan had lived any length of time. The Court adjourned until to-morrow.