Charges of Murder.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5270, 29 May 1895, Page 3

Charges of Murder.

j THE WINTON CASES. i [Peb Pbess Association.] ! INVERCARGILL, Mat 28. j An inquest was commenced to-day on i the body of Dorothy Edith Carter* one of the two b.bie. first found in the garden of The Larches, East Winton, and with the murder of which Minnie and Charles Dean are charged. ; Louisa Cox (Christchurch) deposed that lin accordance with an arrangement . through a Mrs Isett she brought the ' deceased child, which was born on May 23, . 3894, and was the offspring of her ■ daughter, Mary Louisa Carter, a married ' woman, to the Bluff by steamer on April : . 30, and there in a private hotel delivered i it to a Mra Gray, tp whom she gave an ; envelope. The child was in good ; health. Witness identified Mrs Dean as ;' Mrs Gray, also clothing found at The ! Larches as that given to Mrs Dean with ; the infant. ' A chemist at the Bluff deposed that he gave a woman who signed "M. Gray" in the poisons book, sixpence-worth of laudanum about noon on April 30. He I could not identify the woman as Mrs [ Dean, but a girl who lived many years j with her said that the writing in the ! poisons book waß Mrs Dean's. f Eather Wallace, ,an inmate ,of The J- Larches, aged 15, deposed that Mrs Dean | told her on April 29 that she was going to ■ the Bluff for a year-old baby; that she j brought it home on April 80} that .wit-. : neas met her at the. Gap Road (a station i short of Winton) ; that she carried the i child home, and that its name was Dorothy Edith. Among Mrs Dean's parcels was a piece of new oilcloth. The child remained till May 2, when witness carried it to Barkley station, north of Winton, and there put it on the northbound morning train with Mrs Dean, who had a light tin box with her. Mrs Dean returned on Saturday, 7May~4, without the child. The box was much heavier than when she left. Mrs Dean said that it contained bulbs given her by Mrs Cameron, of the Mataura Hotel (That lady being called denied that she gave Mrs Dean anything but' slips of flowers). On the way home through the paddock Mrs Dean told her to put the box in some bushes for the night. Witness went for it the next morning and brought it to The Larches. It was still as heavy as on Saturday. Mrs Dean put it under the bed, and witness next, saw it on Wednesday, May 8, at the door, open and with a little soil in it. In other parcels brought by Mrs Dean were clothes worn by the baby Dorothy, also those for a smaller child. Witness identified the oilcloth in which the body was wrapped when exhumed, as that which had been on a table at The Larches, and on which the new cloth Mrs Dean brought home had since been placed. W. G. Everett (guard) and M. M'Kellar (rabbit inspector) proved that Mrs Dean and a child travelled to Dipton. Both knew her. T. Baker deposed that he assisted Mrs Dean to the hotel at Dipton and back to the evening train. She said that she had come off a boat. She carried a tin box both ways. It was quite light. Ayling, hotelkeeper, corroborated this evidence, and said that Mrs Dean told him the reason why she left the train was that the child was ill, C. Davis, guard of the evening north train .going to Lumsden, knew Mrs Dean and saw her and a child get on the train air Dipton. He went through the train to colleot tickets shortly after, and Baw her and the child alone in a carriage. Returning soon after to the van, he saw the child lying oh a cushion with a tin box between her and Mrs Dean. Later, he passed through again, but saw no child, and at Lumsden, Mrs Dean left the train without the infant. He Baw her next morning on the Lumsden platform without a ohild. A boy of twelve years, who carried the tin box to an hotel in Lumsden, and two servants of the house, deposed that the box was much heavier than it now was, the boy saying that it took him all he could do to carry it. T. Martin, railway guard, said that he knew Mrs Dean. She travelled with the train from Lumsden to Gore on May 3. She had no child, but carried a tin box. Three guards, who will trace Mrs Dean further, could not be called to-day, being absent on duty. Further evidence was given of the return to Clinton, where Mrs Dean stated that Bhe had. been to Clarendon Station (where the Hornsby infant was laßt seen alive), that she stayed at Mataura on Saturday, and the fact that she had no! child with her was also deposed to. Mr Hanlon and Mr Hanan, who appear for the accused, put no questions. j Mr .T. Macdonald, for the police, ; suggested an adjournment for the day, whioh was agreed to. He said that he hoped to finish to-morrow, unlesß it should be deemed necessary to examine Professor Black, who had returned to Dunedin. INVERCARGILL, Mat 29. The inquest on the body of an infant found buried at the Deans' residence at Winton waß continued this morning. ' Detective Herbert deposed that when Charles Dean was shown the bodies of the two infants just after they had been dug up, he said : "My God. I suppose I'll be brought into this. I know nothing about it." Witness found in Minnie Deanß* bedroom, under a mirror, a bottle containing about half a teaspoonful of liquid, labelled chlorodyne, and another Neill's cholera mixture. These had been handed to Professor Black. The head of the infant when dug up was bent forward on the breast, the feot lying forward and the back curved. The body straightened out I soon after it was dug up. No one tried to I fit it into the box, which in his opinion j would hold both bodies. j Mr Macdonald, Crown Prosecutor, stated I that Professor Black, a most material witness, was now engaged on a grave matter • in Dunedin, and an adjournment was ! granted till Tuesday afternoon, by which time it is expected that tbe inquest on the I ; other child Eva Hoinaby will be com--1 pleted. . ■■ I