MAORI FACES TRIAL ON CHARGE OF MURDER

Wanganui Chronicle, 3 May 1949, Page 5

MAORI FACES TRIAL ON CHARGE OF MURDER

Evidence Given By Expert As To State Of Rifle NAPIER, Last Night (PA).—Experiments with a rille allegedly used in killing Paul Pohio, aged 28, a Maori, oi Tangoio, were conducted by a ballistics expert in the closing stages o£ the first day o£ the hearing ing a murder charge against Tiemi Ranapiri, a 41-year-old Maori labourer, also of Tangoio. Air. Justice Cormui is presiding, Mr. L. W. Willis is appearing for the Crown, and Mr. H. W. Dowding ior the accused. Most of today was occupied ing evidence of the accused’s daughter, in whose room the shooting was alleged to have occurred. FIRING OF SHOT ADMITTED. “The fact that accused fired the shot which caused death will not be contested, but the jury will have to decide whether it was murder, manslaughter or justifiable homicide,” said the Crown Prosecutor, opening the Crown case. Continuing. Mr. Willis described the discovery of Pohio’s body at Ranapiri’s home with a bullet wound in the head. He added that while accused and others had been to a party earl er in the evening there was no evidence to indicate that any of the parties involved were under the influence of liquor. Te Mairuna Pohio, market gardener, father of Paul Pohio, giving evidence through an interpreter, said he had never heard of any ill-will between the accused and his son. Mr. Dowling: Is it not a fact that your son was a very much bigger ipan than the accused? Witness: No. In my opinion they were about the same size. Mr. Dowling: Did your son have a reputation as a fighter?—When he had some liquor he was inclined to be quarrelsome. Mr. Dowling: Was he often under the influence of liquor.—Yes. Mr. Dowling: Has your son been convicted for indecent assault?—Yes. Mr Dowling: Was he not frequently in trouble with other Maoris in the district?—On two occasions I know of he was in trouble. Witness said the accused was a good man and had been a friend of his. James Spooner, pensioner, of Tangoio, said that on February 5 there was a party at his home. There were eight people present, including the accused and his wife and Paul Pohio. There were two dozen bottles of beer. Everybody had a share and all the liquor was consumed. Pohio left the party at 11 p.m., saying goodbye, and Ranapihi and his wife left about half an hour later. DAUGHTER’S EVIDENCE Erena Maharanui Ranapiri, aged 15 years, said she was the daughter of the accused, and until February 6 she lived at her pa/vt’s home. She was the eldest of 12 children in the family Witness said her parents wen*- 'co a party on the night of February 5. Witness said she went to bed about 8 o’clock. She and the two younger sisters, aged five and six years, occupied one double bed. A ten-year-old brother occupied a single bed in the same room. Witness went to sleep and was awakened by the presence of someone else in the room. This person was Paul Pohio Witness admitted intimacy with him. Later, the door of the room opened and a light shone in and her father came into the room, continued witness. Pohio was sitting on the edge of the bed. Her father was carrying a rifle under his right arm, said witness. She identified the rifle which was produced. After coming into the room her father stood at the end of the bed, said witness. “He looked wild,” she said. “Re was looking at Paul Pohio.” After resting the barre’ of the rifle on the end of the bed her father said he had half a mind to s /,ot Pohio. Witness did not remember Pohio replying. She then heard the gun go off. Pohio fell to the floor wounded in the head. Her father then threw the rifle on the floor and walked out of the room.

Mr. Dowling: Was your father on friendly terms with Paul Pohio? Witness: No. Mr. Dowling: Had they been working together?—Yes. Mr. Dowling: Did Pohio visit your home quite often?—Yes. Mr. Dowling: Had he been there just visiting only a few days before his death?—Yes. While Mr. Dowling was cross-exam-ining witness about what her father saw when he came into the bedroom, His Honour commented that if counsel was leading up to the point that the accused was very angry with what he saw in the room, he .would support it. It would be a fa’* inference if the jury considered the accused was very angry with what he saw. Dr. George Edwin Waterworth, who examined the accuf|?d on February 6, said he considered, the accused’s physical and mental health was normal. There was a smell of stale alcohol about the accused. RIFLE IN DANGEROUS STATE Senior-Sergt. Gregory Gerald Kelly, ballistics expert, said the rifle produced in Court had been worn into a dangerous state, having a trigger release pull of only one and threequarter pounds, whereas the minimum safety pull for this type of firearm was four pounds. It could be discharged by a sharp blow on the butt, or by dropping the barrel on to a.solid object.