Labourer Charged With Murder Of Watchman At The Wellington Station

Wanganui Chronicle, 7 September 1950, Page 6

Labourer Charged With Murder Of Watchman At The Wellington Station

WELLINGTON. Last Night (P.A.)- — There was only a fair crowd iu the Wellington-Magistrate’s Court when Leo Sylvester Hannan, aged 50, labourer, alias Herbert James Ross, appeared before Mr. J. Hassell, S.M.. this morning, charged with the murder of Frederick Andrew Stade, nightwatchman, at the Wellington Railway Station, on August 10. Evidence was led for the prosecution by Mr. W. H. Cunningham, and Mr. R. Stacey, with him Mr. H. L. Davidson, appeared for accused. Twenty-four wit-

nesses will be heard. Hannan was handcuffed to a policeman and sat calmly through the first day’s proceedings. Hannan, on entering the dock, asked for a remand, saying he had no solicitor to represent him and that he was expecting very important information from Auckland. The magistrate said he understood counsel had been assigned to Hannan but the arrangement had not been satisfactory “In my opinion your case will not be prejudiced in the slightest degree if Mr. Stacey is willing to act,” said the magistrate. ”He can be here and object to any evidence he may consider inadmissible.” I he present hearing was only a preliminary one, added the magistrate, and the sooner it was taken the sooner Hannan would know the basis of the police case against him and be able to instruct his counsel. Evidence would be recorded in typewritten depositions and ei erything would be done to assist Hannan, said the magistrate. "Very good, your Worship, replied accused. Plans and photographs of the railway station and various points, including where the body of Stade was found were produced in evidence byEldon Oakes Moore, a draughtsman, and by William John Miller, a police photographer. Albert Baoumgren, railways ti attic foreman, gave in evidence details; of Stade’s hours and duties. He had found Stade very conscientious and a good workman. Stade’s normal shift was 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. “I saw Stade just as I was about to leave the station on August 10 said witness. “I had just dispatched the 1140 p.m. unit to Johnsonville. It was customary- for me always to locate him before I went home.” Asked by Mr. Stacey whether Stade was a man who would stand no nonsense, witness said he did not know him well enough to comment on that. . To Mr .Cunningham, witness said he could recall no complaint against S ade HEARD CRIES. Sydney George Reed, Railways Department cadet, said that on August 10 he was on night shift in the raiways exchange room on the first floor above the Featherston Street entrance. At about 1.20 a.m. he heard some cries and at first he thought they came from Featherston Street. He went to that side but, hearing another cry, he knew they came from the station concourse. At the Featherston Street side he did not see or hear anything. Witness then went to the window overlooking the concourse "I saw a body in the concourse. All the concourse lights were out and there was a dim one coming from No. 2 platform," he said. To Mr. Cunningham, witness said ; that he could just see a dark form . lying on the concourse. He saw no person leave the station. Witness said that after seeing the body he went straight to train control and did not go back and look through the Featherston Street wind°To Mr. Stackey, witness said that there were two walls between him and the concourse. Witness said that when on night shift he often saw people coming home from parties and making something of a row, but August 10 was a quiet night in that respect. James Alexander Gower, train con trol operator, said that at 1.21 a.m. on i August 10, Reed came to him and| Gower went down to the concourse. The lights on Platform No. 2 were on. i To his knowledge, the lights were on all night. He saw a body alongside. the kiosk when he came off No. 2 Platform. That was the first time he say it. He thought someone had collapsed. The lighting in the concourse was dim to him as he had been working m bright lights. He then went to the stairway he had just come from with the intention of ringing for an ambulance, but for some reason, he went back to the body, shaking it by the shoulder to see if something could be done. “Then I realised that something was wrong and put on the lights. It was immediately apparent that he was badly hurt, ’ said Gower. He did not know Stade personally. He would have been to the body within a minute of Reed calling on him at 1.21 a.m. He , based his estimation of the time Reed called on the fact that he saw a clock ; at 1.23 a.m. and wrote down the time, j Acting-Detective Arthur Henry, Hart, attached to the Criminal Invest!- , gation Branch, said that in the early I morning hours of August 10 he went to I the station with another officer. Ht received the call at 1.25 a.m. and wasi there at 1.28 a.m. On entering the station he saw’ the body of a man I on the concourse. An examination of | the body made it obvious that the , man w’as the victim of foul play. He I recognised Stade. He contacted head-j quarters for senior officers of C-I-B. to. be sent immediately. In meantime.. uniform police arrived. A search was made and a guard put over the body, i The search did not reveal any unauthorised persons about the station. , MAN SEEN IN CAFE. Rata Leonard Prince, stereotyper, of; Waddington, said he had supper at! the Night Bird Cafe. Lower Cuba Street, at 12.30 a.m. He saw a middle-1 aged man, 50 or 55 years of age, conic | in. His height would have been about sft. 9in. He was wearing what seemed to be a working suit. The coloui I he did not know, as witness was colour' blind. The man was wearing a hat. Prince said he thought the man had one or two days’ growth of stubble on 1 his face. “I noticed that he appeared to me to be carrying a turnkey. It was not complete, the socket end having been cut off. It appeared to me to be made of iron.” Witness was shown a shank and handle exhibit afid said it was Zmilar to that carried by the man he aw. but he thought the handle was >nger. The man came in at 12.35 p.m. . week later, Prince attended an

identification parade at the Central Police Station and identified accused. Prince said to Mr. Stacey that 24 hours passed before he volunteered his information to the police. He had : read a newspaper account of the incident and said it was that that i stopped him coming forward before 1 he did because the report said the police were looking for an instrument : of galvanised iron, which was not what he had seen. On the question of his colour blindness, he said he could distinguish the colours of white, yellow and black, could tell most blues, brown occasionally and orange. He could distinguish shades without knowing their colours. Mr. Stacey objected to the photo- , graphs of the body and its injuries. Martha Manning, waitress of the Night Bird Cafe, said that on the night of August 9 a man came in at 12.40 a.m. and asked for a cup of tea. he was not carrying anything. The man was about sft 6in tall and was dressed in brown trousers, a bluish coat and a dark felt hat. He left : after about five minutes. Witness later attended an identification parade at the Central Police Station, where she recognised accused. HEARD CLINKING NOISE Kenneth Ivan Gibson, journalist, said that about 1 o’clock on August lb he was walking down the east side of Featherston Street. When he came • to Whitmore Street he saw a man approaching. The man was on the station side of Whitmore Street. Wit- ; ness could hear a clinking noise as the man walked as though something metallic was banging on the ground. He could see nothing that might cause the noise. He thought the man was about sft Bin tall. Witness continued to the Railway Station, hearing all the time the clinking sound. He had caught the 1.15 a.m. train. To Mr Stacey, witness said it was a clear, still night. The clinking sound was heavier than that which would ; be caused by the tapping of a metal- : tipped walking-stick. Mr Stacey: You know the type of ’ heavy working boots with metal fixtures to the soles? Witness: Yes. ' Mr Stacey: Can you swear that the ■ sound you heard could not have been * caused by a loose heavy heel plate?— ; Yes. You were not for any particular j reason on the alert against this man? , —No. IRON BAR SEEN Alfred Alexander Beatty, 18-year- 1 old labourer, said he was escorting a i young woman to the Railway Station on the night of August 9 when he saw • “an elderly chap” in Whitmore Street carrying an iron tar in his right hand. He could hear a clinking sound at ' every step. The man followed them into the Railway Station. Not long afterward, witness saw the man just outside the ambulance room door at the Johnsonville platform before witness left. Beatty said the man still had the bar in his hand. “He raised the iron bar as if he were going to ] throw it.” What witness saw the man 1 carrying was very similar to the bar produced. At no stage did witness see a cross-piece. It was not clear at the time, said Beatty, but he thought < the man was wearing a greyish suit and a hat. He had a shuffling sort of . walk. At a parade Beatty was unable 1 to identify the man. Mr Stacey objected to the evidence on the grounds that it was irrelevant. IRON BAR CARRIED A P. and 'JL telegraphist, Thomas i Eric Forde, said that on arriving ai | the station about 1.13 a.m. on August 1 10 he saw a man with an iron bar in his hand. The man preceded him on to No. 2 platform, carrying the bar close to his leg. Witness did not see the man s face. Mr Stacey objected to this evidence as irrelevant. He had spoken to the man on No. 2 platform a few minutes before the Johnsonville unit ieft at 1.18 a.m., said Clement Walter Free, railways guard. He later identified the man as accused. He had asked the man if he was going on the Johnsonville unit. The man had said: “No. I want to go to a lavatory and the public one is locked.” The man was standing -near the staff lavatory at the time. He heard Stade calling out something to the man. He did not know what Stade said. Stade had been standing nearer the entrance of No. 2 platform | than lhe man. They were the only two on the platform. At 1.17 a.m. all I the passengers were seated in the train. Witness did not hear the man say anything to Stade. He did not notice that the man was carrying anyI thing. The man was about sft lOin j tall, between 40 and 50 years old. and ! was wearing dark clothing and a hat. Later that day he had picked out ac * I ( used as the man he had spoken 10. j The man had sjoken to him normally • an inoffensively. AN ALTERCATION | John O’Connell, engine-driver, of I Ngaio, said he walked out to the plat- | form. He saw Stade talking to a man at the corner of the foreman’s i office. “I knew Stade was having I some altercation, but what it was I , did not take much notice,” said G’Coni nell. “He was talking with his hand | kind of remonstrating." The man j he saw was about sft lOin tall and ; would weigh about 11 stone. He wore (Black shoes or boots, dark ch thes and |a fell hat. “Stade was a man who was very ' abrupt when approached,' said O’Con- ■ nell in reply to Mr Stacey, j Asked if Stade was the “old soldier" i or “sergeant-major” type, witness re- ! plied: “Exactly.” | O Connell said that Stade had i “hardened himself” to get rid of loiterers, even against his own personal i I nature as witness knew it. I Mr Stacey: Was his policy toward : I loiterers and unauthorised persons I strict and one of short shrift? Yes. | Mr Stacey: If approached tactlessly i would he be demonstrative and uncompromising? Yes. He was inclined 1 io be excitable. This concluded today’s evidence. i The hearing will continue tomor-