Labourer To Stand Trial On Charge Of Murder Of Station Watchman

Wanganui Chronicle, 8 September 1950, Page 6

Labourer To Stand Trial On Charge Of Murder Of Station Watchman

WELLINGTON. Last Night (P.A.) —The case for the prosecution Glided today in the Magistrate’s Court and Leo Sylvester Hannan, aged 50, labourer, was committed by Mr. Hessell, S.M., for trml in the Supreme Court at the October sessions on a charge of murdering Frederick Andrew Stade, nightwatchman, at the Wellington Railway Station on August 10. Hannan indicated that he had nothing to say. Mr. AV. 11. Cunningham prosecuted, and Mr. R. Stacey appeared for accused.

The opinion that the fatal head injuries were inflicted on Stade while he was lying prone and probably unconscious from other blows, was expressed by Dr. Phillip Patrick Lynch, pathologist, in his evidence. Cyril Leonard ScanP> police sergeant, said on the night of August 9 he was in a patrol car which, after a i eport was received of the killing of Stade, was looking for a man of whom the patrol had a rough description. At 4.30 a.m. a man who was walking alone was stopped in Manner’s Street. Witness spoke to the man. who said his name was Hannan and that he was not working because of illness. He was taken to the police station. Hannan did not ask why he was to be taken to the station and did not protest, said witness. He was wearing a brown hat. blue suit, check scarf and black shoes. Detective-Sergeant B. Bevage said prior to the removal of Stade’s body to the mortuary he searched the clothing. “O n the body being lifted, a small metal bar fell from the clothing into a pool of blood beneath the upper portion of the body,” said witness. The bar. about .six inches long, was the cross-piece of the turnkey exhibited in court, added witness. Accused told witness at the police station that he had bee n walking all around that night as he could not sleep. Accused had said he was at the railway station at 10 p.m. but later said he did not know what time it was. Asked by witness where he was after leaving the station, accused had said: “I walked along th e whalf, wf"|ked everywhere.” BLOOD ON FACE. Witness said accused had spots of blood on his face, left hand and shoes and that there was about a half-inch piece of fresh fleshy matter above the right cuff of his trousers. The matter was removed from Hannan's trousers by Dr. Lynch who, with Dr. Mercer, had been called to the police station. Dr. Lynch also retained some of the spots on Hannan’s face. Detective-Sergeant Bevege said Hannan was interviewed further and that questions and replies were noted on paper. After leaving the railway station, accused said, he walked around all night. Hannan had said he did not remember speaking to a constable at the Ferry Wharf at 1.30 a.m., but that he might have. He had said he was definitely not at the station after 1 a.m. and did not know where he was. He had said he had gone to the station to use the convenience, but it was locked and that he then went to where the electric trains leave. Asked how he got blood on his hands, face and clothes, accused had replied: “I had a bleeding nose. It bled for four days. Here, what is all this about?” Witness said accused was the n told that the nightwatchman at the station, had been seriously assaulted and it was suspected he might be able to tell the police something about it. “I was not there. I don’t know what you are talking about.” Hannan had replied. “I examined his nostrils and the handkerchief he had at the time,” continued witness, “and there was no evidence that he had recently suffered a haemorrhage of the nose.” Witness added that after the identification parade Hanna n was told Stade had been murdered about 1.21 am. and that he (Hannan) had been identified as being in the station about that time. “What the hell do I know about that? Nothing?” Hannan had replied, adding he did not wish to make any statement and asking again what it was all about. When formally charged with the murder, Hannan had said: “Me murder anyone? Dicken on that. Me mur- ’ der anyone? said witness. FINDING OF TURNKEY. Detective-Sergeant F. O. Scott, who was in charge of the investigations, was the next witness. He corroborated the evidence of Detective-Serg-eant Bevege as to the interview with Hannan and put notes of the interview in as an exhibit. Witness said on August 15, when the police launch was at the breastwork between Railway Wharf and Glasgow Wharf Detective Baker pulled the magnet from the water and attached to it was the shank of th e turnkey exhibit. It appeared to have bloodstains on the end where there was a fracture. Dr. Lynch removed the samples or ' what appeared to be blood. The pipe was taken to the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, to which the peice of metal found on Stade’s clothing had also been sent. Evidence by Detective Scott that lie could walk from the railway station to the wharf in four minutes one wa> and five minutes another way and from the Night Bird Cafe to the Featherston Street entrance of the railway station was objected to by Mr Stacey (counsel for accused) on the grounds that what Detective-Sergeant Scott did on one occasion did not apply to Hannan. Elizabeth Forbes said in evidence that Hannan had stayed at her accommodation house i n Vivian Street from July 13 to August 5. He left the premises on August 5 and the last occasion he went back was on August 7, to get his suitcase. Mr. Stacey objected to witness’ evidence as irrele- I vant. Constable O. J. Scannel. of the wharf police, said he was on duty from 8.50 p.m. o n August 8 until 4.50 I a.m. on August 9. After supper he noticed a man walking along the wharves Witness stopped the man, | who said he was a Masterton contrac- i tor on holiday and that he had in- i somnid. Witness identified the man as Hannan. AU this evidence said was that ac- I cused walked about the streets the : day before lhe crime, as any citizen j was legally allowed to do, said Mr. j Stacey. The fact that he was near ! thr railway station carried no more ' weight than if he was somewhere else. I

• The evidence was not against accused. submitted Mr. Stacey, who asked ihat it be not recorded in depositions. The magistrate. Mr. Hessell, said it was not prejudicial and ordered that it be recorded. Mr. Stacey’s objection was noted. Chief Detective Gibson said that at the parades witnesses Manning, Coveney and Prince had identified accused. Dr. P. P. Lynch, pathologist, said that at the station he saw the dead body of a man lying partly on his face with the back of his head and the left ear upwards in a pool of blood. The blood was splashed out radially. “I could see 'that there were extensive injuries on the back and left side of the head and above and behind the left ear. The appearances indicated that the injuries to the back of the head were caused while Stade was lying prone. When the body was moved I saw a small rod fall from Stade’s clothing to the floor. It seemed that it had been lying Inside his clothing.’ INJURIES DESCRIBED Dr. Lynch'said the post-mortem examination showed that both eyes were black and swollen. There were two splits ip the frontal scalp about two inches long. In both of these injuries the skull bone was exposed. At the back of the head there were a number of parallel ragged splits. In the scalp there were eight or more. Above the left ear the skull was exposed. There were multiple fractures of the skull and extensive haemorrhage and laceration of the brain. There were no marks or bruises on the hands or arms. He concluded that the injuries at the front of the head were inflicted while ‘the dead man was facing his assailant. They were severe but not necessarily fatal. They could render him unconscious. The appearance of the injuries to the back and side of the head indicated that they were caused by heavy blows, while the injuries would be caused by repeated blows from an iron bar or rod. Death was caused by haemorrhage and laceration of the brain, associated with multiple fractures of the skull. Dr. Lynch examined accused generally at 'the police station early on the morning of August 10. BLOOD ON CLOTHES “There were a number of marks on his face and these I saw were spots of blood. Some of the spots could be smeared off and were still moist. I examined his hat and saw a spot of blood on the band. I could see at the time that there was blood on the coat and trousers and shoes. On the trousers was a piece of material that looked like a blood clot. I examined it microscopically. This showed that it was a portion of a human scalp. Accused bore no sign of injury.”

He found blood and fat on the shoes, trousers and coat which, under test, had been proven as human blood. On August 15 he examined a piece of pipe.. There were stains for half its length. He removed some and under the microscope he found epithelial scales, which indicated that the material was from the skin. He was unable to establish that it was human blood.

Mr. Stacey: Would the amount of blood surrounding the body at 2.30 am be consistent with an undisturbed flow from injuries received more than an hour earlier? —“Yes. The amount of blood there was normal for the severity of the injuries.” Mr. Stacey referred to photographs of the body to which he had objected. “It would be possible for a man of sensitive disposition to have a sense of horror at seeing them?” he asked. Witness: Yes. I would say they are horrible. Percival James Comfort Clark, a chemist in the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, said the welding on a six-inch length produced in court showed that half were fresh and half were old breaks. He had compared them with the rod and the shape and the area of the breaks on both agreed. When placed together the rod and the pipe fitted along the length of the fresh break. “I have no doubt the two pieces are part of the same tool.” Along the outside of the pipe was a red stain about half the length of the pipe and varying in thickness. Chemical tests confirmed that the stain was blood.