GUILTY OF MURDER

Chronicle (Levin), 8 March 1948, Page 3

GUILTY OF MURDER

lHfs. ;flaskdll Senteneed To § e Imprisonment lHCKi^D;uvf.arcli 7. Aftdi; deliberating jfbr three and a?' ^/habf hours on Satufday aftefnoon the'^ury. foujid' Mrs. ,P,ansy Louise Fran-C tcesfHaskell, aged*'49, .guilty. of murdenng Mrs. 'Glady's 'Ruth Busden eight months ago in- the . kitchenette of her home at One Tree' Hill. She was immediately senteneed by Mr. Justice Finlay to impyisonment for life with hard labour, and within 10 . minutes of the vefdi'ct she was being: driven away from the Supreme Court to the Auckland prison where she has beendn custody since her arrest 1'ast . August. ■ ! Wlien the retrial, which like the lirst trial occupied niue days, was resumed on Baturday morning the senior counsel for the defence (Mr, Robinson) completed his three and a half hour addtess and his Honour, speaking for an hour and a half, summed up the case. Beiore the jury retired shortly before 1 p.jn. the public was.excluded from the building while the jury was away at dinner and many people stood in the main entrance without liaving anytlxing to eat waiting to be aliowed in again. Women lost tbeir hats a'nd cried out, with j)ain as the crovvd surged forward in a tight erush when the doors were reopened. More than 30Q0 p.epple, some of whqm stood up on seats at'tlie;baek' to get a better view, crammed themselves into narrow "public galleries and overflowed out into corridoi's t'o hear the verdict.

A babble of voiees died away and the atmosphere became hushed and tense when the jury returned at 4.30 and the [ prisoner came up into the dock from the cell below where she had spent a three aml a half hour vigil. yho stood with lier eyes glued on the jury as his Honour, preceded by the regiatrar, entered the courtroom. The forenian announced the verdict of guilty and the prisoner cried " oh, oh, " and stood as i£ transilxed with her ipouth open. A murmur from the-cro'w^d was silenced by the court' erier*. Ilis Lionour thankcd the jury for their long ajxd arduous services. and relieved them fl'om ali jury service for seven years. ; When the prisoner was asked if she had ailyt'llingi fto sav, Mr; Robinson said he felt it was his duty to niention something he had already drawn attention to during, the. course of the trial. His Honour said the matter need not be broughl up then. ••Tn:,pris.onex .Jus . Hpnpjur ,said:_.Yqu„ ha.vp been fpund guilty of a very eruel uiurcler." ■v- — «.-r- % Prisoner: But I have not done it! His Honour: I do not want to add to uny feclings of re||ret jthat may actuat^'' you uo w or-tfn* |th^, ;fip;ure. /ha accordf ance with the lawA.Sehf&ifsd yoruSp iml1 prisonment with ■hard. labour for life. As the warder took her by the arin th.e prisoner whispfered: ' "Don't toucli •ne ! ' ' and then slowly descended the ' stairway from the dock with the asyistance of the prison matron. Alany people rushed to tKe dffveway at the back of the Bupreme Court building to watch the Black Maria drive oif and the prisoner in the back was seen vvaving through one of the windows. Witnesses came twiee from as fax away as Christchurch to give evidence in the case which was the longest and costliest in Auckland since the Bayly trial. The jury failed to agree after the first trial in JNVvember. Forty-four witnesses were heard and more than 100,000 wortls of evidence were recorded in the retrial. , ( Mr. V. R. Meredith and Mr." G. D-.: Speight conducted the Crown's case during the trial in November and the retrial, and Mr. Robinson was assisted on botli occasions by Mr, N. J. Bhieif.His Honour 's Summing Up. Five major classilications under which the jury' "might consider the .Crown's evidence were offered to them by his Honour in summing up. They were: (1) The. evidence designed to show that Mrs. Rusdeu was aiive until well into the morning; (2) that designed to exculpate the husband and the witness Rix; (3) that designed to show accused's maliee tovvards deceased; (4) that designed to show she had possession of a key to the Rusden house, and (5) that designed to show her participation in_ the murder. Ilowever horrid the erime and however deep the guilt alleged against anyonc, there was one golden rule that actuated the law — it never sought to convict anyone unless it could satisfy the jury beyond reasonable doubt of the guilt of that person. On every issue prisoner was entitled to the benelit of the doubt. Turning to the evidence which set out more conelusively to prove that prisoner was guilty of the crirne, his Honour said he did not know what the jury's view of Rix might be, but he suggested that the term that best fitted him was "a smart '' Alee" and the propef way to treat him was not to believe him on any point unless it was eorroborated. From him came the inside story of th'e1 March assault which wonld otherwise have been wrapped in mystery and there. was mueh to eorroborate him. on tiiat.