Attempted To Make Wife Take Poison

Chronicle (Levin), 12 October 1948, Page 6

Attempted To Make Wife Take Poison

CHRISTCHURCH, Oct. 11. Pleading guilty to a charge that, with intent to hiinoy and injuTe June Annette' Naiepa, he attempted to make her take poison on September 14, Joset Naiepa, a grinder, was committed to; the Supreme Court for sentonce by "Mr. F. F. Reid in the Magistrate's Court today. Accused'. wifq> in evidence,. said .she, met him in England during tk.e war' when she was a-omember -of the W aaf S,. He was then attached to jthe-- Bolisht section of the R.A.F, After the war she returned to New Zealand and they ex-. clianged letters. He came to-New Zear> land in December last -and they married. They agreed to separate in March but a reconciliation was effected untiJ' June when they finally separated. Re-; turning to the flat with her mother after the- pictures on September 14 shesaw a scrap of' paper wltich. had 'been in her husband's possession when the)5 separated. Milk in a eup in the -flat was a yellow brown colour as was some in the milk bottle. There was a thick sediment in the bottoni of the cup. Her husband once threatened to cut her throat and take his own life. _ , In reply to counsoi Mrs. Naiepa said her husband attempted to cominit suicide when they lirst decided toseparate. . Mrs. Sadie Mary Buddle, mother of Mrs. Naiepa, gave corroborative evv 1 dence. She said that when she was emptying two hot water bottles on September 15 she noticed that the water was a dirty brown shade. She- pourecl it into two jars which were Jater'itaken away by the police. - v jo*: Detective Sergeant G. W. Alty said that he went with Senior Defce.ctive Brady and other officers to a house in ('olombo Street about 12.-15 a.m. on Sepr tember 15. Aceused was asleep in' bed. He, was awakened and later taken to the Central police station where he was questioned. Naiepa said.he went into his wife 's flat and put silvter salts' in the milk and in a tea caddy. He had bought the silvcr salts in 'England and had used some of it for silvcr plating. He said he had no wish to poison his wifo but only wantcd to make her sick. He kncw silvcr salts was cyan'de ot potassium. In his statement Naiepa said lie was born at Craeow, Poland. HC served in the Polish Army and let'l Poland after the German invasiou in 1940. Ile reached England by way of Yugoslavia, Rumania, Turkey and Greece. He served in the Polisli section of the Royal Air Force. His wife wanted the separation. He did not. Wkness said that accused was quite frank. He was in a distressed state -of mind. ' . " i,;' Senior Detective F. ^1. Brady gavt! cqrrol)orative evidence. He said- that Naiepa told the police he' 'had ®J)ut silver salts in the tea caddy/ * :assured them he 'did not put poisoh in aiiy other articles of food except the milk and tea. Norman Patrick Alcorn, Government analyst, said he examined the bowl b'f i milk, eup, tin of tea, milk , t)Qt'tlp an.c] two glass jars containing liquid. There was eynide in all exhibits except tjie cup and there was silver in all exhibits ineluding the eap. A cup of tea madp from those ingrediqnts— tbe water, tba and miik — would contain 1.3, .g'raing 'of potassium eyanide," approximatejly, oqJquarter of the minimum fatal dose. To IHr. Bowie (for Naiepa): No onb would drink a full cup of tea of fhat brew. The symptoms wrould have made tliemselves manifest before the -whole cup was drunk. Naiepa pleaded guilty to the charge i and was committed to the Supreme Court for sentence.