SON POISONED

Taranaki Daily News, 15 December 1932, Page 14

SON POISONED

WOMAN FOUND GUILTY. , . .. * ■ SENSATIONAL AFRICAN TRIAL. Capetown, Dec. I Probably the longest murder trial in the history of South Africa ended in Pretoria, when Mrs. ' Daisy Louisa de Melker, wife of a well-known South African Rugby player, was. sentenced to death for the ipurder of’her 20-year-old sori,/Rhodes Cecil Cowie. Mrs. de Melker had been charged also with the murder/of her two' former husbands, William Alfred Cowie and Robert Sproat, her motive, it was alleged, being to collect their ■ insurance money. ' The whole' tangled case contained amazing features and is likely to become a classic in poisoning problems. The Crown Prosecutor, Mr- C. C. Jarvis, alleged that Mrs. de Melker had committed the crimes during the past 10 years, poisoning both, her husbands with strychnine, after they had made wills in her. favour, and her. son with arsenic, for the sake of an insurance policy'for £lOO. / '

For 33 days evidence was taken, and then ,Mr. Justice Greenberg, who sat with two assessors, found that4he murdercharges in connection with the deaths of the two husbands had • not been proven. He convicted . accused on th? charge relating, to the son. - The evidence , mainly turned on technical points,relating to the effects of the administration of strychnine and arsenic. In each , case' exhumation of the bodies had been ordered, and. important questions relating to the retention of poisons in a body long after, interment were discussed.,, , ' < •. . , There were many dramatic incidents in the course of the trial, which, however, mainly centred on-medical interpretations of the symptoms of accused’s three alleged victims. ; ’ '■ Mrs. de Melker, aged about 50, ap-' peared.: astounded at the verdict. She had - given evidence .on ■. her own behalf with the most complete composure. The Judge’s decision undoubtedly satisfies public opinion. On January.’ 1 1926, accused married Sproat, who died bn Nevember 6, 1927. There were five children of the marriage with Cowie, all of whom died early, with the exception of' Rhodes Cecil Cowie. Mrs. de Melker’s brother said she was previously engaged to a man in Rhodesia, who died and left her some money. There was other evidence that while accused was in Rhodesia poison could be obtained with great ease and without registration or restriction, and that strychnine sold there had a pinkish colouration to distinguish it from other substances.

Cowie, a plumber, was employed by the Johannesburg Municipal Council, and worked up to the'day befdre his death without an illness. His wife benefited by over £l5O from a municipal provident fund. . There was also a will, leaving her a further £1245. Sproat was also a municipal council plumber, and was employed until the day before his death, on November 6, 1927. The.. wife again benefited from municipal funds to the extent of £550. Under a will Sproat also left her £4174. In the. case/of. Rhodes Cowie, the son,' there was a will in favour of Mrs. de Melker, btit the estate was of no account, except for an insurance policy of £lOO, for which accused paid the premiums. This £lOO was paid, to her after her son’s death.

When the body of:William Cowie was exhumed traces, of strychnine were found, according to the'evidence. This was also found when the other bodies were exhumed.