SUPREME COURT

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 208, 5 September 1935, Page 9

SUPREME COURT

THE CHOCOLATE CASEPAGE CHARGED WITH MURDER I Per Press Association. ] GREYMOUTH, Sept. I. The Supreme Court opened this morning uelore Mr. Justice Northcroft. J lie grand jury returned true bills against Sydney Judge on a charge of causing actual bodily harm and also against John Skilkelthorp Page, 36, single, on a charge of murder of Margaret May Smith, 22, at Blackball on September 24. 1934; also of attempted murder of Jean Kennedy Clark ana Ethel Annie Bragg. Miss Smith died after eating chocolates from a box posted to Clark and Biagg. Evidence was given in the lower Court that the chocolates contained strychnine, and enough strychnine was found in thu body of Miss Smith to cause death. The address on the parcel of chocolates was alleged to be in the writing of accused. His Honour, in his address to the Grand Jury, said the Judge case offered little difficulty. In the Page case the evidence was voluminous and consisted largely of the similarity of the handwriting of accused with that on the parcel. There 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 his trial. The jury took 15 minutes to return a bill against Judge aud an hour for a bill against Page. The trial of Judge then started.