THE AUCKLAND MURDER.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 46, Issue 14100, 19 April 1920, Page 6

THE AUCKLAND MURDER.

GUNN COMMITTED FOR TRIAL. (By Telegraph —Press Association.)', AUCKLAND, Sunday. Denis Gunn, charged with the murder of Augustus E. Braitliwaite, postmaster at Ponsonby, on March 13th, and the robbery of the I oat Office, pleaded not guilty, reserved his defence, and was committed to the Supreme Court, tor trial. Magistrate Wilson, who also sat as Coroner, before returning his finding in that capacity, said he would give the accused an opportunity of going into the witness box and giving any evidence he might wish. Counsel said prisoner would elect not to give evidence. Mr Wilson then gave his finding as coroner. He, said there was no doubt that Mr Braitliwaite had come to his death by murder, and there was no doubt that lie was murdered in order that the murderer might obtain the kevs of the Post Office. As a person had already been committed for trial for the murder, he did not propose to carry his verdict as coroner beyond the finding of the actual cause of eatdh. He found that Braithwaito had been murdered, and that afterwards his keys had been taken from bis clothing. FINGER PRINT EVIDENCE. AUCKLAND, Sunday. At the hearing of the charge of murder against Denis Gunn, Edward Dinnie, finger-print expert, stated that he had examined three cash boxes taken from the Post. Office. He found a number of finger-prints. There was a finger-print on the top of one box which he identified as that of Gunn’s right middle finger. Inside the box he found another, also two finger-prints identical with the middle and little fingers of Braitliwaite. He also found a number of Gunn’s and Braithwaite’s finger-prints on the second box. These were photographically enlarged. He found forty points of similarity with Gunn’s on two good finger-prints. _ He was perfectly satisfied as to the iden-titm-iof these prints. On one revolver he found a fingerprint identical with Gunn’s left middle finger. The elianees of a mistake in fingerprints were estimated at three and a-lialf billions to one.