THE EHRENFRIED – GUDGEON CASE.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume IV, Issue 854, 29 January 1883, Page 2

THE EHRENFRIED - GUDGEON CASE.

At the Auckland Supreme Court on Saturday, in the case against W. Gudgeon for alleged attempted rape, Mrs Ehrenfried. under cross-examination by Mr Hesketh, said: —I have not asked anyone to say that they never saw Gudgeon in our house while Ehrenfried was in Auckland. I never asked anyone to say as a favor that they never saw me done with Gudgeon. I never asked that of Berta Davis. I have never written to Berta Davis asking her to say that. I never remember having asked her such a thing. Most likely I have written to Berta Davis since the assault. I have always corresponded with her. I certainly have written to her, but I did not say to her that she was to say she never saw me alone with Gudgeon. 1 do not remember if 1 have written. I suppose I would know my own handwriting. (Letters handed to witness.) I suppose this is my handwriting. I looks like my writing. I think it is. I have a doubt about it. If I wrote it I wrote because I knew what a fearful talker she is. —The letter, which boro no da e, ran as fo'lows : —“ Private. Dear, dear Berta— Have you heard the dreadful news ? On Thursday evening my Louis was out for a short time, aud there was a knock at the door and in walked Gudgeon. He told me his wife was in town, and then tried to assault me. I screamed for help, and in rushed Louis and Styack. Of course Louis had him arrested. I think he could not do otherwise. She (Mrs Gudgeon) called the other day for the first time, but I was out, and I have only met him once in the street since you left. I think it is spite, Now, dear Berta, I am going to ask a great favor of you. If anyone, it don’t matter who, asks you if he and I were ever alone of an evening, say ‘ No.’ You can easily say you wore always with me, and oh, Berta, I will never forget you. Say, if we went out of an evening you were always with me, anld when we came homo you sat with me. you need not own that he caraeibto the bouse at all of an evening. I am writing in great haste. Burn this directly you have read it, like a dear. Of course Louis does not know that I am writing to you, so keep it private and ‘burn,’ and oh, poor old Louis he is in such a state. I think it may upset mo. He is too good, and does not know how to do enough for me. He is so kind and thoughtful. I pity him. Be sure and burn this. Don’t let anyone know what I have written to you. If asked say you never left me when Louis was away. Good-bye. Thank you for all your kindness.” —Witness continued ; I know she is not very particular what she says. If I knew she was a liar, I might have written to her not to say things, because I have heard her say very peculiar things about other people. She wrote to me asking me if she should coma down. She said

she had been questioned by his people, and that she had been asked all sorts of thfngs. She wrote to me before I wrote to her. She said, “ Whatever you write to me put ‘ burn ’ on it, and it shall be destroyed.” I, knowing what a “ talker ” she was, told her to say nothing She was told to say nothing. She said she had been asked questions as to whethershe had ever seonj me and Gudgeon alone. I told her to say nothing. She said she had been asked this particular question. That is not the whole of the letter. You have not got the beginning of the letter.--Mr Hesketh applied that the whole of the letter should be put in.—Mr Tyler : We have no more.—His Honor ; It looks very like a lady’s postscript. It has no data to it. These two sheets are of different kinds of paper and the sense does not follow clearly from one side to the other. —Mr Hesketh ; I apprehend what is in evidence tr.u t remain in.—Witness continued • She said “anything you write to me I will burn.” I was to do the same with her letters. Unfortunately I did so. I knew she was riot truthful. lam sure that is not the whole of the letter. I am not in the habit of writing a letter on two different sorts of paper, and I do not write letters without dates. The last word on one page is “ may” and the first word on the next is “ upset.” Ido not know that it is “ may upset me.” I cannot say that I made that request, knowing there were certain proceedings to be taken. I have written several times to her. Ido not know why I asked her to burn all my letters. I did not write to her, because she knew about Gudgeon being with me at night. (Another letter was produced.) This is my handwriting, I believe. [The second letter was as follows :—Thames, 2nd of January, 1833. My dear Berta,— lam just writing a few lines. I feel very anxious about letters I have written you, in case you have shown them to anyone. Oh, my dear girl, be sure and ‘burn’ them. Do not let anyone read them. Burn them all, this one also. lam rather busy getting some little things made. Please goodness, if all goes well, next time you come down you will have rather a different occupation. My old Louis is delighted. He only feels rather anxious. He thinks more about it than I do. Now, my dear Berta, if you have not burnt all my letters, do so at once. I hope you do not let them lie about or tell anyone their contents. Burn this also. With love, your ever grateful cousin, Lizzie D. Ehreneried. ”] —Witness continued: I did not ask from her any particular favors. 1 have never written a letter to Gudgeon. I never remember to have written at any time. It was very unlikely I should have written to him. I don’t remember having written to him while he was getting the house. 1 do not remember sending a letter to him by Miss Davis.— Other witnesses having been examined Mr Hesketh c died for the defence, Berta Davis, who deposed : I was staying at Mrs Ehrenfried’s house at the Thames in the months of June, July and August last year. I know the prisoner Gudgeon, but I did not know him before that time. I met him often while I was at the Thames, at Mrs Ehrenfried’s house and in the street, also at dances. He used to come home with us from Mrs Gudgeon’s with Mrs Ehrenfried and myself. I remember one night Gudgeon coming home with us from his house when Ehrenfried was in Auckland. I remember going into the parlor, which was in darkness, and seeing two figures on the sofa. I recognised Mrs Ehrenfried. She called out, “Oh Berta !” The other figure was that of a man. Some time previously she had left me in the breakfast-room in order that she might see Gudgeon out of doors. After leaving the parlor I went back to the breakfast-room, where Mrs Ehrenfried joined me ten minutes or a quarter of an hour afterwards. I noticed that her hair was disarranged. I saw nothing more of Gudgeon that night. Two or three other times I had wished Mr Gudgeon “good night” in the breakfastroom, Mrs Ehrenfried going to the front door to say “ good night ”to him. She generally returned in about ten minutes afterwards. This kind of thing occurred pretty often during the time I was down, but only once when Ehrenfried was in Auckland. I have been in Gudgeon’s house when he was fitting it up before his wife came from Auckland. It was to take a letter from Mrs Ehrenfried. I was at Mrs Ehrenfriod’s once upon the verandah with her whan Gudgeon passed. I remember calling him over. Ido not know why. He came to the side fence, anJ Mrs Ehrenfried went and spoke to him. I received some letters from Mrs Ehrenfried, and also a subpoena to produce them. I delivered some letters up. I had soma others, but they are destroyed. The two sheets handed in are the same letters.— i'o Mr Tyler : I remember receiving this letter. I see it is on different paper, and written apparently with different pansand ink. I kept this letter in order to show, if I had to come to Court, that I was telling the truth. I received it on a Tuesday, a week or a fortnight before I went down to the Thames to attend the Court there. I am sure of this. I went down on a Friday night, having received the subpcena the same day, and I gave evidence the next day. The fact of Mrs Ehronfried writing me such a letter made me think that I would have to go to Court. It was not written in answer to one from me. I was not interviewed upon the matter byjeither old or young, by Gudgeon or by anyone connected with the case. I don’t know why they subpoenaed me to go to the Thames. No one knew what evidence I could give, and I do not know how Mr Hesketh came to ask me such questions as he has. He did see me, however, about evidence that I was to give. That was last Wednesday, at Mrs Richmond’s. I gave these letters up to him. I had not told my father or mother about them, because they were private. Mrs Ehrenfried is my cousin. I told Alfred Jones that I had a letter. He is clerk at Inglia’. He does not stand in any particular relationship to me. He was talking to the one day about the matter, and I told him I had letters. lam not so intimate with Jones as I was with Horne at the Thames. Ehrenfried did not send me home on account of ray carrying on with Horne. Ho wanted me to stop. I was on intimate terms with Horne. I was not acting the spy on Mrs Ehrenfried. When I said at the Tb ones f iat I received private letters recently, 1 was so confused that I did not knowwhatlwassaying. lam confused now. I remember saying to you in Mrs Nathan’s carriage that I was not going to say any more in this Court than I had at the Thames. That was a lie. I don’t know why I told it.—To His Honor : The two slips of note paper are one letter, but they are not all of it. They form only the postcript. —Mr Hesketh then addressed the Court for the defence, and the Crown Prosecutor having replied, the jury were out one hour, and returned a verdict of “ Not Guilty. ” The mass of the people in the body of the Court cheered and hurrahed. The police at once shut the doors of the Court, and the Sheriff, Mayor Green, got down off the Bench and ran into the body of the hall, but none of the offenders were identified. A large number of names were taken down by the police. The Judge said it was the most discreditable exhibition he had ever seen in a Court of Justice, and he would be glad if the offenders could be identified.