LONDON MURDER TRIAL.

Timaru Herald, Volume XCVIII, Issue 18084, 21 September 1923, Page 7

LONDON MURDER TRIAL.

Two Ghastly Crimes.

ASTONISHING EXAMPLES OF

DEGENERACY,

BY CABLE--PRESS ASSN.—COPYRIGHT (Received 8.30 p.m., September 20.) LONDON, September 19.

A sensational trial at Glasgow, of Mrs Newell, for the murder of a newsboy, has concluded. A small girl, daughter of Mrs Newell by an earlier marriage, gave astonishing evidence. She said she went indoors from the playground and saw a newsboy lying on a couch. Her mother covered the face with paper breeches. She then tried to raise the floor with the poker, in order to hide the body. Finally she put the body in a bundle on the go cart, the little girl being given a seat on the top of the bundle. Discovery camo through the dead boy’s foot protruding from the go cart. A crowd collected aud the mother was arrested.

During the trial, the male prisoner proved conclusively he was not at home at the time of the murder and the charge was withdrawn.

Mrs Newell was sentenced to death

Herbert Fryatt, aged 20, was' indicted at Old Bailey for murdering his wife.

Mr Leyton, counsel for the defence, pleaded that it was not Fryatt, but an evil spirit which did the deed. Ho was possessed of the devil, which was an old-fashioned, but perfectly accurate description of epilepsy.

Prisoner broke down in the box and cried that he loved his wife truly. Mr Justice Swift said: “Try not to distress yourself. You have nothing to worry about.” Fryatt said: “Suddenly I found myself trembling all over and lost consciousness. When I waked I found my wife dead. I knew I had killed her at once. I got some spirits of salts the wife used for cleaning clothes and drank some.”

The doctor gave evidence that ' the prisoner committed the deed in a state of epileptic automatism. A verdict of guilty while insane was returned.