CAMERA TESTS

Taranaki Daily News, 27 January 1934, Page 7

CAMERA TESTS

EXHIBITS FROM RUAWARO MICROSCOPIC EXAMINATIONS POLICE EXPERT’S EVIDENCE CHARGES AGAINST BAYLY NINTH DAY OF THE HEARING By Telegraph—Press Association. Auckland, Last Night. When the court opened to-day, the ninth day of the hearing of the double murder charge against William Alfred Bayly, 200 typewritten foolscap pages of evidence had been completed and over 160 exhibits had been produced. Many more exhibits, mostly photographs, have still to be produced. There was again a large crowd at the court. Most of the morning was taken up by Dr. Kenneth. MacCormick’s evidence relating to the bones found, which was on the same lines as that given by two previous expert witnesses. He agreed with the classification made by Drs. Gilmour and Lynch, and described at length the characteristic features of the skull bones. Dr. A. G. Waddell, Hamilton, said that on October 17, with Dr. MacFarland, Huntly, he saw Mrs. Lakey’s body in the morgue. Two days’ later, with Dr. Gilmour, he carried out a post-mortem examination. ' He detailed the result of that examination, corroborating Dr. Gilmour’s conclusions. Dr. Waddell said that in his opinion Mrs. Lakey was alive when her face was put in the water of the duck pond, and death was due to asphyxia. Haemorrhage was probably attributable to two or . three heavy blows on the face, which would probably knock her unconscious. Senior Sergeant E. A. Dinnie, in charge of the criminal registration branch at Wellington, was recalled. He said that at Auckland in November he took several photographs with a microscopic lens, which magnified them eight and a half times. The photographs were of a cut mark on a piece of timber removed from the rails at the rear of Lakey’s house.. He then photographed through the same magnification the cutting edge of the knife. He produced a photograph of the knife in nine sections joined together.

CUT ON TIMBER EXAMINED. The senior-sergeant said he. next examined a cut on a piece of timber and found it ran from right to left. He . photographed a cut' mark and cut it across at approximately a right angle to the ridges shown on it. He then arranged a photograph showing the ridges on the timber and one showing the knife edge in its correct position. He started from the front of the knife, passing the photograph on a woodcut slowly along towards the handle. “I found nothing corresponding until nearing the handle,” he said. “I found certain notches on the knife which corresponded to ridges on the wood.” After a further description the senior-sergeant said: “From comparisons'! have made of these exhibits—the knife and the piece of timber—l feel convinced this is the knife that was used in cutting that section of the timber.” Senior-Sergeant Dinnie produced further photographs which he said showed the impression of steel when pressed into wood. On January 8 and 7 and Wellington he assisted Dr. Brown, of the Auckland University College, to take microscopic photographs of the fire and pin mark on a .22 cartridge case of two test cartridge cases and of fire and pin marks from the rifle which was produced in court. The senior-sergeant was questioned by Mr. E. H. Northcroft, counsel for Bayly, at some length concerning the position of the piece of wood photographed, the lighting used and the circumstances under which the photographs were taken. • In the afternoon Dr. Dennis Brown, acting-professor of physics at Auckland University College, gave long technical evidence regarding measurement tests he made with the knife and wood and regarding the calculations he made from exhaustive tests with rifles and shells. His evidence covered minute scientific descriptions of microscopic markings on the articles. He sought to demonstrate largely by the use of highly magnified photographs that a certain bullet had been fired by a certain gun. Dr. Brown’s evidence lasted throughout the afternoon, when the Court adjourned until 10 a.m. to-morrow.