RECOVERED "LEADER."

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 902, 23 August 1910, Page 6

RECOVERED "LEADER."

-.THE TIERS ON TRIAL. ... CROWN EVIDENCE COMPLETED. DEFENCE TO-DAY. .The .".story., of the disappearance and . recovery of .-the Leader : picturb,- which was : stolen from" the Art Gallery in Whitm'ore: Street,- last March, was re-told and investigated yesterday, when Francis Edwin VTier.' and T Michael Tier were brought to trial ill the Supreme Court 'before. Mr. Justice Chapman .and a jury. The'; picture itself, no longer- rolled up, as it was .during-its late adventures, but ready to' be replaced within its frame, ; and'; apparently none the worse for . its excursion out of bounds, was placed-in court in full view of tho jury. .': Mr. ">H. H. Ostler; of the Crown Law Office, : prosecuted; and t,he prisoners were . defended-by Mr. W. J. -Cracroft Wilson'. 1 The Charges. The accused were arraigned on seven charges— (I).. Stealing, between March 27 and .March 30,. 1910, the oil painting, en-, .titled "Southward from Surrey's Pleasant ' Hills,"" .valued: at ,£SOO, ..the•' property of the.'.Mayor, councillors, and citizens' of '-'Wellington; (2) receiving thn said painting -when they knew-it to have been dishonestly obtained.. (3) Wilfully damaging the 1 picture. (4) Corruptly bargaining ■for. a- reward in consideration of Helping Herbert Samuel Wardell to recover., the picture/, accused' not. having used. all due 'diligence to .cause.the thief to be brought to .trial. , ; (5) Conspiring, on or, ''about April . 16, to commit a crime/ punishable with imprisonment with hard labour for _thr.ee years or .'upwards, namely, corruptly' bargaining for a reward in consideration of jhelping to .recover -the picture without; haying,used- all .due diligence, to cause the - thief ; to be brought to' trial: '(G)' Con- - ' spiring,. tin - ' - or.;about' May 18,' to' •:• 'i: an offence, punishable .with three ' i'. hard • labour,-, namely, to demand, v. :th menaces,;' from. H. S. Wardell, the sum '? '.-with intent >to steal,. thp.- same.' (7)' Demanding, with menaces;; ,£SO from] 8.,5. Wardell, on if ay 23/ with intent' -tov steal the., same. , . .v'; . Both the accused pleaded not guilty.

[..! --. Separate Trials Asked; For. t v'-. ' ; llr.. Wilson' applied to have the tiro, accused tried separately, on the ground y. vgthat' they .:would be-'prejudiced 'if tried together: 'There-; was evidence. , r against ■ ■ Francis Tier -that would not be evidenco /'• -. 'against-Michael Tier. ; The fact'that they "were brothers would prejudice them more - if; they- were trie! 'together. Counsel quoted- authorities in support of his ; .ap-' /' : plication. .-.: His ■ -Honour said ' that ;an ' important' ,-i; - feature -of the -case was.'what- happened; . on the day when .a' message was sent .; : . from th«j wharf to the "Times" office. i There was. evidence: which; , prima , facie, showed' a close, connection between.- the .;. two.men'on that occasion. 'Other-mat- ,/: with,' the betters showed ' - ■'/ that there/were, two men connected with the transaction.', He „did not think the, ; authorities -quoted '.by - Mr. Wilson went ;./' at/all' the - length ;of suggesting - that 1;• J /because there was . evidence? against, ono which was not evidence against .the other,' f ? /. that .that was a -reasoh. i'or ordering them ;; to/be. tried; separately. . The ?Chief. Jus--.pointed- out.in another. 1 case- -- , that that feature was common to nearly tea..r Ell. cases in .which. two men were .charged. with...committing, the? crime ■of lar-. pV '. t ,ce_ny,.together.. ..His Honour .-therefore de- .' ' clined' to -make the order. v: •

- ' The Jury. J. -,There-wasVa good deal of delay in the empanelling of the jury, as. Mr. Wilson jiclaiihed. and exercised the right' to chaj./leiijge.. six" juriors ■on behalf of each of ,the . accused,. while. ■ Mr. Ostler also chal-'i-lenged a number until 'the panel was i exhau'sted. ;Oh • the names of. those who -;; : Efi3!; : ,L>esh',.previously' challenged' being ~ again called over, Mr. 'Ostler j challenged li'-'fouiv. Two were finally allowed to take their places : in . the,, box and 'make up the necessary• twelve. ...' ■. , . Following.: are the , names/of* the jury-, //'menAlexander /; Dickson'-- - 1 (foreman), ■ Charles T.: Culvert, G. JBoddell, Charles

,- Adams,: .Eric i,aurenston,. John J. :K. - I 'Jefferv, C. Reese, H. Riley, Jas. J. Mor- : . '{!an> Percy, -Wright;'-John' Severn,- .James! Brown. The Prosecution. ' .-.The circumstances.' which; Mr:.. Ostler. '■ Crelate'd in his.'opening, have become'fair- - .ly familiar.' Briefly, in to 'an ' advertisement, offering a reward of ,£SO for information, /Mr. ;H;. ,S.' Wardell, . president of the New .Zealand Academy of-Fine Arts',received certain correspond--1 ence,; which he" handed; to the detectives, . who wrote replies. The outccme was tho return of the picture to "Mr. Wardell's :: residence, and, the arrest of Francis ■ 12dwin ,Tier, immediately afterwards, when . in-company. with the messenger who .'bad - just left the picture with Mr; Wardell. V:, .The-testimony .of certain hoys who had " ; fetched a -letter from: a. newspaper office /."for Michael Tier connected both men with : the correspondence., '-"Harry Cowles William's, custodian '6t ;-/. the/ Art Gallery/ gave evidence of • miss- :/; ing .'the picture, on-'-Wednesday, March •-:,50,-; after- the igallery had. been closed / ' from "the 'preceding : Sunday. - I ■-. > .-William' Garnet Caldwell, night clerk ,/at- the ; "Times"/-'office,' gave evidence of ;handing: letters/ to callers .who .brought v/ orders for', letters- addressed ."B. AYilson,. . /'. care; 'Times',. After /being" re- :':-/ quested to do so by• the police, l he inquired- the names of boys'who called for • these letters. .

Three Young Witnesses. • Bernard Rhodes, a', boy of ten,: said hi> V Remembered going to the King , Edward : .'-memorial 'service' on.. i On the Bairie evening he went down towards Hie wharf with :two .other. boys, Elgar Bailey and.'Leslie ;Baldwin-, to see witness's father, who was'employed on the.Maori. , • A man".asked : theni if they, would like to earn sixpence. They.said they would, and at thc'man's request they took a letter :to the "Times' 1 -office, and-.wcro "■ given one to take ,back. ! On the way, another man met them, and' offered them sixpence for the letter, but witness said ■ ■ "No," and/ran on with' Bailey, and gave the.letter to the. first man.. Witness identified the two men. as the . ; i prisoners in the box, .Michael Tier.being ■ !.' the one who-had first, met them. Ho ■ had previously identified them at the police station'. . ' . ' ' ' Elgar Bailey, also, ten years. of age, and Leslie Baldwin, aged eleven, gave similar evidence.

: ' / , - The Correspondence/ . 'Herbert. l Samuel Wardell, president .of the New Zealand Finn' Arts, and an ex-magistrato,. stated; that. Mrs. ■ ■ 'Rhodes, who had. presented, the picture '. to' the city,;gave i£sso for, it, and.it was . insured-.for .£6OO. A reward, of .£SO was 'offered by: advertisement after the' picture disappeared, and a reply, signed ''Bert," was received. The witness identified several subsequent , letters . signed "Bert," which'were, reotl in 'court., ' The writer offered to sellMnformation, but declared that he "wouldn't have nothing to do with the police, at any price," and he warned Mr. Wardell against - trying any "funny business," and in one instance, threatened-'to "send . it, back, in strips." Witness put the : matter in the. hands of the detectives.

■William Edward Lewis, detective, told how the correspondence with "B. 'Wilson" wais carried on by himself and Detective Andrews,-writing ostensibly as Ml AYardell, and dc-tailed the arrest of ; Francis Tier outside Mr, AVardell's residence on -May 26, when, with Edwin Burr, who had carried the picture there. ( A' ! letter afterwards handed to witness by, Mr- A\ r ardell. stated that the .writer had sent back the picture, but had not received the money. till another letter .was received in, the same, way, containing .various -allegations as to what " was seen in the neighbourhood of' the '••residence, and . implying that thodetec-tives-had got the wrong-man. Witness also deposed to the identification of both the accused at the police station by the. three boys.

Cross-Examination. In the course of cross-examination, witness said that ho had found employment for Edwin Burr, who' was cook, in the police kitchen. He did this because Burr was out of work, and might C have gone to sea and been away when . /his evidence .was required. ■ It was not ; witness's fault. that two of: the boys

were together during ,part of the process'of identification - . lit the police station. The detectives had questioned other boys who had been sent to tho ."Times" .offico for letters, but without : result,- as the boys 'had said they would be unable to rocollect the men who sent them-.

Have you examined a man who. said he saw a party leaving tho Art Gallery during- tho period when the picture was taken:'—"Yes."

His Honour: I don't know that you are entitled to go into, theso matters—examining' the methods of the detectives in following up clues that didn't come'to anything. If you have auythiug that really assists your case, you may go into. it. . ; Mr. .Wilson (to witness): Did that man say that the man he saw coining from the Gallery was not one of the accused? —"No." Arthur, Edwin Andrews, detective, gave corroborative evidence. .

Cross-examined, witness said he did not know how many boys were asked to identify the accused at tho police station. He did not know if there were, as many as nine.' After the arrests, he searched tho house . where. the Tiers lived.

Edwin Burr, cook, said that on the evening of May 26 he was accosted near the wharf by a man whom lie had not been able to identify, and who asked him to "assist with some luggage. Tho man took'him to Wellington Terrace,, and there they met another man, whom witness identified as Francis Tier. The latter handed witness a. long parcel like a rollcd-up chart, and a small one. Tier said he wanted him to take both .to his uncle, Mr. Wardell, and bring back the small one,. which he said was a model. Tier directed witness to a house, which proved not to be Mr. Wardell's, and when witness came from it lie encountered the man who had engaged him, who then helped him to find the house. When he found it, lie was shown into -a room, where there were two men; whom he afterwards learnt were Detectives Lewis' and Andrews. They guve him a parcel, which appeared to be the small one he had taken to the house, and sent him out by , the back door. Going away down Bolton Street he was overtaken by Francis Tier, ■ who asked him to hurry. Then the detectives came along- and arrested Tierj: and asked to ifollow, them to the police' station. , - Henry' Jolin King, teller .in the Bank of New Zealand, was called as an expert in handwriting. He expressed the opinion that the letters shown him—signed "Bert" and . "8.. Wilson"—were written by one person, except, perhaps, one "of them. letters—among the earliest of those received—appeared. to ■ have been written'by another person, though there were points of. similarity in the writing, as between them-and'the'others.

Theodore Richard Ilickson, -accountant at. the. Bank of. New South Wales, also ;gave testimony as a. handwriting expert. His opinion was ,that two,. and possibly three, hands had been. engaged in writing the scries of letters.. This concluded the case for. the Crown. The defence will be taken to-morrow. His Honour directed the jurymen not to allow anyone to speak ( to them about the case, and to report' to 'him if anyone did so. They, should not discuss'it even in . their,own families.'

The Court adjourned until 10 a.m. today. ■' ~ V '■/ ■ ' ;