BONES OF A MAN

Taranaki Daily News, 26 January 1934, Page 7

BONES OF A MAN

PATHOLOGIST’S EVIDENCE ' FRAGMENTS FROM RUAWARO FRESHLY BROKEN SURFACES EVIDENCE AGAINST BAYLY. DOUBLE CHARGE OF MURDER By Telegraph—Press Association. Auckland, Last Night. In anticipation of further evidence from Dr. Walter Gilmour, pathologist at the Auckland hospital, the crowds outside the Police Court, where evidence against William Alfred Bayly on a double charge of murder at Ruawaro is being continued, to-day numbered hundreds more than earlier in the week, and there was a long queue outside the door. In front of the Magistrate’s bench are two tables crowded with exhibits, over 50 boxes containing fragments of bone and charcoal ready to be identified. Many exhibits are in cardboard boxes with glass tops, and most of the bone fragments lie on cotton wool. Dr. Gilmour said that in the envelope of fragments which he received on December 9 from Detective Allsopp he identified" some as parts of a human collarbone and a shinbone and three pieces from the skull. Other fragments ’ were unidentifiable, but some were animal bone.

On December 5 more fragments contained some unidentifiable bone and a brace runner, a stud fastener and a piece of cloth. In the exhibits received from Detective Findlay there were four pieces of rib, two of thighbone, one of fibula, one of legbone ,and four of backbone. Dr. Gilmour gave much more similar evidence. He said he also found burned cloth, leather (including one with a nail in it) and a burned sprig. Another exhibit contained part of the bone on which the human head moved up and down, IDENTIFICATION OF BONES. After describing one exhibit, Dr. Gilmour said he deduced that the bones came either from the same person or from a person of similar build. They were of the size and build of a muscular adult. In further evidence Dr. Gilmour identified pieces of wrist bone, pieces of the base of a skull, a metal trouser button, sprigs from boots and a lace fastener from boots. Dr. Gilmour, in reply to Mr. V. R. Meredith, Crown Prosecutor, said that of the bone exhibits 61 pieces were of human origin and of these several were from the skull. The latter were easily distinguishable. They appeared to be from the skull of a middle-aged person. The doctor gave detailed reasons for his conclusion that they were human skull bones. There were definite indications that the bones were those of an adult, but they gave no evidence of sex. However, the attachments of the muscles were strongly marked, and they were therefore probably male. Mr.. Meredith: From an inspection of the bones could you draw any inference as to when they were burned. Dr. Gilmour: Yes, they clearly were burned recently. Most of them were so fragile that they would not have stood exposure to the weather. None of them showed signs of the weather. The broken surfaces were freshly broken. One very important point is that there is evidence on the surface, of charred flesh. FAIRLY RECENTLY BURNED. He concluded that the bones were fairly recent at the time. of burning, £ut it was impossible to determine how old or how fresh they were at the time of burning. The next witness was Dr. P. P. Lynch, pathologist of the Wellington hospital, who had examined the exhibits in company with Dr. Gilmour. He gave evidence regarding tests for bloodstains and tests and classification of bones on the same lines as Dr. Gilmour. On December 12 he and Dr. Gilmour received from Detective Sneddon a tuft of hair. “We examined the tuft of hair together,” said Dr. Lynch. “It was divided into portions. One was to show the general colours of the hair, one was left unaltered and some hairs were mounted in wax. The tuft contained -about 500 hairs of an average length of 2i inches. It was brown in colour, turning grey. No hair roots were found. A microscopical examination proved them to be human hairs, and their appearance suggested they were from the scalp. They were for the most part coarse, which suggested they were male rather than female.” . In summarising his evidence on resuming in the evening Dr. Lynch said he had identified 65 pieces of bone as being of human origin. Fifty-five were fr/jm the skull, 52 being from the vault. The pieces that formed the vault of the skull showed the structure of human skull bones. PECULIARITY OF BONES. Dr. Lynch went on to describe'in detail other portions of bone which he had said were human bones. “Ridges on the bones corresponding to the muscle attachment are so strongly marked as to suggest they are male bones," said the doctor. The growth of the bones placed the age of the individual at not less than 25 and one of the skull bones suggested the individual was at least at middle life. “They are the bones of a male adult or else the bones of a muscular strongly made female adult,” added the doctor. “I think the presence of strongly marked muscular attachments would be very unusual in a female.” Dr. Gilmour said there were indications that there was flesh on the bones when they were burned. He thought they had been burned recently, a matter of months. The findings of Dr. Gilmour regarding the post-mortem examination of Mrs. Lakey’s body were read to Dr. Lynch. From these he concluded Mrs. Lakey was struck by severe blows, rendered unconscious and fell into or was placed in the duckpond. Dr. Kenneth MacCormick, surgeon, Auckland, gave evidence on similar lines regarding the exhibits of bones. The hearing was adjourned till tomorrow.