CHARGE OF MURDER

Taranaki Daily News, 5 September 1935, Page 7

CHARGE OF MURDER

GREYMOUTH SUPREME COURT. GRAND JURY’S TRUE BILLS. By Telegraph—Press Assn-—Copyright, Greymouth, September 4. The Supreme Court opened this morning before Mr. Justice Northcroft, The Grand Jury returned true bills against Sydney Judge on a charge of causing actual bodily harm, and against John Skikelthorp Page, aged 36, single, on a Charge of murdering Margaret May Smith, aged 22, at Blackball on September 24, 1934, also on a charge pf the attempted murder of Jean Kennedy Clark and Ethel Anni© Bragg. Miss Smith died after eating chocolates from a box posted to Misses Clark and Bragg. Evidence was given in the lower court that the chocolates contained strychnine, and enough strychnin© was found m th© body df Miss Smith to cause death., The address on the parcel of chocolates was alleged to be in the write tog of Page, His Honour in his address to th© Grand Jury said' that the Judge case offered little difficulty. In toe Pag© cas© the evidence was voluminous and consisted largely pf toe similarity of th© handwriting of accused with that on the parcel.' There was other supporting evidence. ' His Honour warned the jury that it was not their function to consider whether Page was insane at this moment and therefore incapable of being properly tried, or whether he was insane at the time of the alleged offence. These were matters for the court after the jury had returned its bill. The jury’s concern was whether there was sufficient evidence to put Page on trial. The jury took. 15 minutes to return a true bill against Judge, and. an hour for a true bill against Page. The trial of Judge then started.