Further Evidence at Murder Trial

Chronicle (Levin), 4 March 1948, Page 3

Further Evidence at Murder Trial

■ AUGlvAND, Mareh. 3. Further evidcuce wus giveii' today at Ihe relrial of ' ' ALns.- r 1'uiiay LotiiNe llaskell, aged ' 49, boirore Mr. Justico Finlay and jiiry. Adcused i4 chargecf wi!h murdefing Mrs. Gladys Ruth; Itus: den at Horotutu lioad, One Tree ' llilJ,' 011 June 0, 1947. •' ' Mrs./(.Vutliia Eleanor WagstafT said ■sho was living at aceuked''s tiat at" Newton Iioad in June of last year. ' Slie lii'lther 'Httw ,nc)r"'3ieaf\i,"a(yf?iiscfd:1 bil' morning of the murder. Next day aecused was trying to account for her movements 011 June .1 and asked witness to say she had seen her- that moriiing. Witness told the poliee she had' seen aecused as she did not thiuk if was 'important at the timo but she later eoi--reetcd 'her statement. *' The husband of the previous witness, another former.tenaut of Newton Road, Ernest Cyril Wagstaif, said in crossexamination that he had often seen aecused walking. Ile had not noticed anything nnusuai about her walk. Bhortly before lunch aecused called j eounsel to the dotk aud ALr. Robinson . informed the court that she was feeling g 111. The adjourmneut was theu taken. g The iirst witness in the afternoon, g Mrs. Lillian May Fry, of Newton Road, g said she saw quite a big lire at the 0 bottoni of aecused 's yard on the morng ing of the murder and she later saw 0 aecused ou the Haturday after the murder. Witness asked if "Dick" had done ii aud aecused said, "No. He would uot have the guts to think of - sueh a' tliiug let aloue do it. " Shortly after that aecused went to hospital and when she eame out she toid witness the net was elosiug round her and that the poliee had found a key to Ihe Rusden . residence in a drawer in her bedroom. " Aecused said she thought Dick had plaeed it there on the Thursday before 0 the murder when they had a row. ''Dick" and a frxend. -had tried- to l'rame her. Dr. Leslie Alan. Speddiug^ said he was atlached to the Auckland hospital ou Juue 9 when aecused was admitted witii mulliple cuts on both arms and both legs. They could not be described as serious and could have been selfintlicted. Aecused would not be in any danger of losiug her life from the amount of blood she lost. To Mr. Robinson witness said in cases of atteinpted suicide the ignorance of the person concerned could have lod to these results. The Governinent Analyst at ' Auckland, Kenimth Massy Grilfin, jiroduced bottios of ashes taken by the poliee from the yard at Newton Road. ' He said these contained respectively flock mattress lilling, mattress ticking,. earpet, tyre rim covering, remains of a heavy woollon coat, two or three typcs of cotton or rayon (which could have been the Jining of a coat or dress material), llock material (possibly padding from the shoulders of a coat), remains of women 's shoes, "two shirt buttons, vv'aistcoat buckle and intcrloek material. Mr. Griffin will be erossexamined when the court resumes lomorrow.