THE CAIN MURDER CASE.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1548, 3 February 1887, Page 2

THE CAIN MURDER CASE.

THOMAS HALL FO UND GUILTY. EIGHTH DAY-TUEBDAx\ [Bt Telegraph]. (Before Bis Honor Justice Williams, and' a Special Jury.) Dunbdin, Feb. 1. \;,The trial of Thomas; Hall for the murder of Captain Cain, stepfather of his wife, after lasting eight days, came ,U).,a conclusion this evening, when, the jury, after the retirement of little over an hour, returned to Court with a verdict of •' Guilty," and the 'Judge, assuming the black cap, sentenced prisoner to death, execution to be: respited until the; question of the admission of evidence was considered by the ■ Court; of Appeal. The Judge added that he concurred iii the verdict of; the jury. i ;; Mr Chapman continued bis -address' for the defence this morning,"'and it occupied up to. the luncheon adjourn* ment, whon Mr Haggitt addressed the' jury on behalf 6f ; the Crown.' : He made a scathing reference to the suggestion maJe by the defence that the motive of gain was not sufficient to cause Hall to cruelly kill a dying man, and asked the, jury to remember that here was a man who did not hesitate to attempt to poison his wife at a time when be ongbt to have given her his utmost care. , The Judge summed up in a most painstaking manner, going through 1 the evidence and sifting it, pointing out to the jury where any conflict occurred J He was at times wearisome to the large' attendance in Court, who could scarcely hear him. He paid that the .case was practically that accused wascharged with accelerating the death '. of Henry Cain by administering antimony. The case divided itself into two branches : the first, was death accelerated by administration of antimony ? and secondly, was that administered iby ; the prisoner Hall ? The evidence adduced for ? ths ■ Crown ! divided itself into two parts: the phenomena and inferences. In considering it the jury would haveUv weigh carefully the evidence of experts, and: dißtiri|fiisli'bel'ween th%. facts they had observed arid inferences which itbey drew. He:then proceeded to describe the appearance of Cain in life, and- the symptoms from which he suffered, and compared these with the condition of the body .when exhumed. He said it appeared to him a' mistake had been made by Dr Ogston in. mixing up the urine and other matter, so that it was impossible to say if. thß antimony was being eliminated, His Honor, then reviewed the medical evidence at great length, and said that the jury would bay? to be, satisfied that 1 death : was accelerated by antimony. They would have to exercise their own' common 1 sense in the matter. "His Honor jtheu proceeded to deal with the question, Was the antimony administered by the prisoner Hall ? and concluded by telling the jury that they could take into consideration the charge of attempted, wife poisoning against the prisoner, and give full weight to it. ", The jury retired at 6.20 p.m.,' and re. turned into Court at ten minutes to eight with a verdict of "Guilty." - His Honor said 'Ho intended reserving for the Court of Appeal the question as to the' admissibility of the evidence objected'tcbytbe counsel-for tlie defence. The 3 &6t gave ; him? power to delay sentence, or to pass sentence and respite execution. It might be more convenient if he passed sentence now and respited execution, Prisoner was then ssked if be; had anything to say, why sentence, should not be passed on him. .

Prisoner: Ido not see tha.t it will do any good. .'.' i His Honor said to prisoner, as already intimated, the legal question would be considered by the Court of Appeal, and if there was anything in it prisoner would have the benefit of it. He continued : '• I do not think it is in the least necessary for me, to'add one word to the sentence, which, bylaw, I have to pronounce. The judgment of the law is that you, Thomas Hall, be taken from the place where you now are to the prison from whence you came, and thence to the place of execution, and that there, in manner and form by law appointed, you be hanged by the neck until you are .dead." He. then said that he would order execution to be respited until the question of law regarding evidence was decided by the Supreme Court. The Judge's voice trembled in delivering sentence, and bo' oppressive was the solemnity of the scene that there was scarcely a pprson in Court unmoved except the prisoner. Eleven jurors were for a verdict of guilty from the commencement, but the twelfth wished a rider censuring the manner whioh the post morttm was conducted.