MAORI WOMAN CHARGED WITH MURDER OF HALFCASTE BABY BOY

Wanganui Chronicle, 2 February 1949, Page 6

MAORI WOMAN CHARGED WITH MURDER OF HALFCASTE BABY BOY

WELLINGTON, Last Night (PA). —The murder of her foster child, 18-months-old half-caste Lee Kim Ahpene was alleged against Peggy Maaka, a Maori domestic, aged 24 years, who appeared in the Supreme Court. It was alleged that accused drowned the infant, who was clubfooted, in the Ruamahanga River at Te Ore Oore near Masterton on November 10, 1948.

Mr. Justice Fair was on the Bench. Mr. W. H. Cunningham appeared for lhe Crown. Mr. G. Joseph, with him Mr. D. W. Foster, represented accused.

Mr. Cunningham in his opening address said the evidence would show that a rather ghastly and cold-blooded crime haj been committed. On the facts the case would not be very complicated. The child was born on April 5, 1947, at Gisborne, its mother being a Maori and its father a Chinese. Accused was not the baby’s mother, however. Accused had been living with another Chinese at the same market 'gardens in Mangeare as the mother and father of the child. Before the child was born an arrangement was made that if it were a boy, accused and Yee Kim Wah—the man she was living with—would adopt it. If it were a girl, the parents would retain it. The boy was born clubfooted. A month or two after the adoption, the baby had to be put into the Auckland Hospital with a broken leg. He was in hospital no less than nine months. While the baby was in hospital, accused bore a baby girl. Legal forms for adoption had not actually been completed said Mr. Cunningham.

Wah, accused and the two children had come to live in the market garden at Te Ore Ore. The boy had broken his leg again and spent nine weeks in the Masterton Hospital. Accommodation had been found in a curious dwelling in a water tower, there being two rooms. Some time before November 10, the boy must have got out of his cot and broken his arm because when the body was recovered the arm w’as only in a healing state.

i On November 10, the child had been seen in the vicinity of the water tower and appeared bright and cheerful. After going to the pictures in Masterton during the afternoon accused told Wah she was going again that night. Wah had gonei to a neighbour’s for tea and had taken his daughter with him. Accused had told him not to be too long and to hurry back to look after the boy in the cot. Wah returned in about half an hour and found the cot empty. Accused returned soon after 9 p.m. and burst into tears when she heard of the missing child. She had said the boy had been in his cot when she wept out. After a search, the matter was reported to the police. Accused had told the police she had gone to a theatre in Masterton and left the theatre at the interval as she had seen the second feature. She said she had left the boy in his cot and he was awake when she left. She had no idea where the boy was or who may have taken him away. On being further questioned on the following Sunday, accused admitted she had decided to get rid of the boy and, while Wah was having tea at a neighbouring house, she took the boy down to the paddocks behind the Chinese gardens and made her way to the river bank. Here she said she abandoned the boy among some trees and long grass near the river. She had not killed or injured him. in any way. The body eventually was found in a sack in the water close to the bank. Accused then made a further statement in which she said she left the sack with the boy in it close to the water, where she knew he would drown. She had just made up her mind suddenly to do it. She was tired of looking after the child and having one of her own. She did not want him any more. The post mortem report showed that deceased had a fracture of the thigh that had occurred shortly before death. A number of bruises had been found in the substance of the scalp. These injuries to the scalp had been of some severity. There was a recent healing fracture of the radius. In the doctor’s opinion death was due to drowning, Mr. Cunningham concluded. Through an interpreter Yee Kim Wah, market gardner, gave evidence on the lines of Mr. Cunningham's address. Witness said he thought accused received £5 or £6 Social Security of the child. While they were living at Te Ore Ore the boy had a fall from a stool and consequently espnt about five months in the Masterton Hospital. One day the boy had fallen from his cot at the water tower. A growth or bruising appeared on the right arm but witness did not know if this was the result of the fall. Cross-examined by Mr. Joseph, witness said he did not know both the child’s feet were clubbed. Accused had been very fond of the child. Witness had heard accused screaming as if demented with pains in her head. He had never noticed foam on her lips on these occasions. Accused had two or three of these turns a weeK before the boy went missing. Detective-Sergeant F. A. Gordon (Masterton) said accused had apparently been keen to lead the police to believe the child’s natural parents in Auckland had come and taken the child away. She had stated her correct name was Phyllis Thompson and ‘ that she was not married to Yee Kim Wah. When witness questioned accused, she had said: “I put the little boy in a sack and threw him in the river.” She had stated that the child was alive at the time.

Cross-examined by Mr. Joseph, witness said that accused had first been charged with abandoning the child. Mr. Joseph asked would the river level at 1.30 p.m. on Sunday be the same as 7.30 p.m. four nights previously? Witness said there had been rain on one day only, and, although the river was slightly discoloured at this stage, it was not in flood, it would not be many inches above normal for the t’mc of the year.

The Court adjourned till tomorrow