THE COOPER TRIAL

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXI, Issue 18783, 17 May 1923, Page 5

THE COOPER TRIAL

THE COOPERS ON TRIAL YESTERDAY’S EVIDENCE The Newlands murder case, tn which Daniel Cooper and his wife are charged with the murder of an infant whose body was discovered buried on their property, was continued in the Supreme Court at Wellington yesterday. The evidence was mainly that of medical men, and detectives. The latter stated that Cooper had been promised every assistance to prove that Miss McLeod’s child had been adopted, as stated by him, but he had not taken advantage of the offer.. Kepresentatives of the Registrar General deposed that no notice of adoption of the child in question had been received. There was a record of its birth, but none of its death. (Per Press Association). WELLINGTON, May 16. When the Cooper case was resumed this morning at the Supreme Court, Dr. Wright, continuing his evidence, detailed the result of the post mortem examination made by Dr. Hector and himself on the body of the child taken from the grave on Cooper's property, the evidence being on the lines given in the Lower Court. The conclusions drawn from the examination were that it was probably a full-time child and had lived at least five days. The Injury to the knee indicated violence either before or after death. The same condition applied to the opening in the abdominal wall rise. The injuries were not caused while the body was being exhumed. .. There was nothing to show what the actual cause of death was, but there was conclusive evidence that the child had lived. The child might have been anything from five to fourteen days old. It had dark hair and had probably been in the ground two months. The injuries visible on the child could have been caused during burial. To Mr. Treadwell: If he said .in the Lower Coiurt that the child had black hair it would have been correct. In the lower Court he fixed three days as the minimum time which the child had lived. Counsel then submitted to witness certain propositions from admitted medical authorities, which went In the direction of proving there was a difficulty in determining the age of a dead child from its height, weight, etc., with most of which witness agreed. In the case of the decomposed body of a young child age was largely a matter of conjecture. There were several tests in determining whether a child was full time, some of which were not very certain. The condition of putrefaction would be affected by the class of soil in which it was buried, by drainage, whether it was putrefied before burial, and whether it had been removed from one grave to another. The body had been washed before being weighed at the morgue. The weight was approximately four pounds. It was his opinion that the body had not been in the ground more than two months, but. he could not say it had not been there four or five months. To Mr. Wilford: He could not say definitely what was the cause of death. When the Court adjourned for lunch Dr. Hector was giving evidence corroborative of that given by Dr. Wright. After lunch, Dr. Hector was under cross-examination, the questions and answers being similar to those put to and received from Dr. Wright. Dr. McLaurin, Government analyst, gave technical evidence as to the contents of the child’s stomach. He found no traces of poison. Minnie King and Mary Conrick deposed to receiving from Cooper certain baby’s clothing (produced), this clothing being that which was left at Newlands by Miss McLeod. Acting-Detective Jarraid gave evidence as to the finding of a child’s body on Cooper’s property at Newlands, and as to interviews between both the accused and the police when they were asked to produce McLeod’s child, when Mrs. Cooper replied she had nothing to say. Cooper said it was impossible for him to produce the child while he was in custody. He was told that he would be given every assistance in producing the child. To that he made no reply. When charged with the murder of this child Mrs. Cooper replied, "1 am not guilty” and Cooper repined: “I am innocent.” The spade produced was one found on Cooper’s property. He had used It to clear away earth from the top of the grave and he saw that it exactly fitted a mark made in the clay on the side of the grave. He was certain the injuries subsequently found on the body were not caused while he was using the spade.

Inspector Mcllveney deposed that when he asked Mrs. Cooper for an explanation of bitrial of the child in her grounds at Newlands she merely replied: “I would like to see my solicitor, Mr. Maule. I have nothing to say.” Senior Dectective Lewis gave evidence as to statements made to him by Cooper. When told that the body of a child had been found at Newlands, he professed great surprise and horror. Ho practically insinuated a man named Lupi had done it. Hugo Lupi, a fisherman, deposed that he knew nothing of Miss McLeod having a child at Newlands and he never buried any child there. Acting Detective McLennan gave particulars of documents and baby’s clothing (produced) found in Coo-

pen’s office and in other respects he corroborated the evidence given by the previous police witnesses. To Mr. Wiltord: When Mrs. Cooper was interviewed and said she would like to see her solicitor, her solicitor was not brought because she did not ask that he should be brought. She merely said she would like to see him and that she had nothing to say. He saw no bright shining discs in, Cooper’s house and he did not know what such discs would be used for. Frederick William Hart, clerk of the court at Wellington, said ho could find no record in the court books of the adoption of Miss McLeod’s child. No such application or order had been made In Wellington. John Kennedy, formerly clerk of the court at Palmerston North, had searched records there and could not find any record of the adoption of Miss McLeod's child.

The representative of the Regis-trar-General’s Office said his offices had not received notice of the adoption of Miss McLeod’s child. There was a record of Its birth, but none of. its death. To his Honour: The files in, the Head Office were complete if the local registrars did their duty and sent in the notices of adoptions in, their districts. The Court then adjourned till 10. a.m. to-morrow.