LAW REPORTS.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1986, 17 February 1914, Page 11

LAW REPORTS.

RONA BAY SENSATION.

TRIAL OP SEYMGUR.

CHARGE OF MURDER.

EVIDENCE FOR THE CROWN,

, The Supreme Court was occupied all day. yeAterday on ni. charge' ,bf; murder which was,' preferred against a young woman named Ellen Margaret Seymour The origin of the'charge was the dis'f cp'very of tho body'of' a. child under "a hpiisb at Roria Bay in November. The contention of tho Crown was, that the child wa3 done to death by Seymour in Christchurch," and; was. afterwards brought to Wellington arid hidden at' Rona Bay. Tho defence,' so far as it was disclosed in the.uncompleted hearing yesterday, appeared tofie that tho child died from natural, causes.-. The date of the alleged offence was set down as September 30, 1913, arid, tlio riame of tho child was given, as The'lma May Davis." .--■-■<•• His Honour the Chief Justice (Sir Robert Stout) presided at the'trial'. Mr. P. S. K. Maeassey conducted tlie pro-, seeution, and Mr. TV 31. Wilford, with him Mr. W. Perry, defended tho case. • The Clown's Contention. ■Mr. Macas.s'ey.stated, l , inter alia, that the child, tho-illegitimate daughter of the accused, was a half-caste Chinese, and was born on August 20, 1912. Passing under the name...of:' Violet May Davis, 'accused had left thp- child --with Mrs. Myall, who kept a licensed bouse for children jn Christchurch. It was placed there 6:i January. 16 of last year, and accused visited it from time to time. On September 29 Seymour produced ari order from the receiving home' at Christchurch' to tako tlio child away. When it left it was strong, healthy, and well nourished. Seymour told- Mrs. Myall at tho tiind that sho »vas going to enter into service afKelbtirne, butthat story would bo shown to be untrue. Later in the day Seymour went to her father's house,' but did not take tho child with her. '. The father would state in evidence-'that when accused left sho had two dre>s cases,: but hot a wicker basket, which she. had afterwards- on the boat.- At-.her-mother's plate she left a perambulator and certain articles of the child's clothing. It,'was the '.Crown's contention that the child was .murdered in Christchurch before tho boat left-that night'.: The Crown would suggest 1 that, the 'child' was strangled, -placed in the wicker, basket,- and taken to Wellington. ' : . Accused left for; Wellington.that night by tlie Wahine. On arrival here' she was met by her sister, Ethel Seymour, arid a man named Leonard Jackson. When,-leaving'tlio steamer Jackson had remarked that tho wicker basket was heavy, and that it must,contain a lot of clothes. Ethel Seymour and accused went over to Day's Bay that day, and ■the two women and Jackson stayed in a house, which was also occupied . by Jackson and Ethel Seymour that nightAccused was then pregnant, and -liad in fact come to, Wellington to givo birth to a-child. She was alone next day, -arid-it was suggested that wht'n sho was aloiieV -sho opened '; the." ■ basket and put 'the';'.,body ' under the house. -Accused's child, her third illegitimate child, was born on October) 27', and the accused aud h'ereVsistei!.-*snd\A.a_qkspn' left the house at Rona Bay until November 15., Ori November 16 the owner of thd house foii'rtd tho body. Certain •statements. made by the accused to the police were important- She had, told, Chief; Detectiv6';Brobe'fg that .'sho'had tieyii bid a ; child before. And she'had also niade another, statement to Detective Rawle.' if. death was accidental why did not tho accused give some explanation ? Why was the child brought up'to Wellington arid to Rona Bay? All that the woman had said was that she gave the child to a .Mrs. Smith. Now this case had beeu reported all over NeW Zealand and' the polico had searched high "and low for this Mrs., Smith,.but had been unable to find her. The only possible conclusion..to bo drawn was that tho child had been deliberately murdered.

Mary Myall, keeper of the licensed houso in which the child was left, gave evidence oft lilies indicated in the Crown Solicitor's opening. At ,the morgue in' Wellington witness had recognised certain clothing as having been made'for and worn by the child. She also gave otlier. evidence relating to the identification of the body. TO Mr. Wilford: Seymour had visited the child pretty often and appeared to ToVoit to a certain extent. Sho did not know that the child Was diseased, bub she. had no special knowledge of disease in children. She did not know tho disease known as ricketts, but it was a fact that, the child was very tottery oh its legs. Witness was further Questioned by counsel as to the;child's natural physical condition. The Mcdloal Evidence. Dr. Kington Fyffo, who had examined the body, said that it was in a mummified condition when ho first saw it. No external marks of violence were to be found except a mark (which, however, might liavo boon a birth mark),on the right of the small of "tho back. ' The condition known as ricketts was present. The child Lad been extremclv well nourished, and from tho way it was dressed it must have been well cared for. Tho time that had elapsed since death and identification was something less' than three, or four, .'months. If: it had died" from' natural causes, then the cause must have been a Jvery acute one. Considering tho decomposed 'state -of - the body, ; however, it'was quite impossible for him to say what waslreally tlie cause of death. It would, however, have' been quite possiblo for 'the child to have been strangled. Ricketts could causo sudden (loath in children by. sudden constriction of-the vocal chords, this complaint being popularly known as croup. Attacks of this -kind were not rare in children, but it was exceedingly rare for such attacks to 'cause death. Possible Gausps of Death. Mr. Wilford cross-examined by reference to medical authorities with a.view to showing that sudden death could Occur in children from several causes. ■ Dr. Fyffo stated-that there was no evidence on which he could base a positive oath that the child did not die of syncope. ' Children with ricketts frequently kept very fat, but the;blood did riot contain a sufficiency of calcium salts, and tho bones became soft so that they bent. He dissented entirely from tho view of one authority quoted, that ricketts was simply tho expression of congenital syphilis. He could not say that the cbild had not died of moiiingial haemorrhage, which occurred occasionally in children at the period of dentition. To His Honour: It was very unlikely •that a child which had had six or seven teeth without trouble would later develop, this condition. .Mr. Wilford: It is unlikely, but will you soy it is impossible? Dr. Fyffo: Oh; I won't say it is impossible. Mr, Wilford went on to cross-examine as to other natural causes of sudden death in young children, aiidthen asked : "Yoii. can't swear that this child did not die from natural' causes?" Witness: If it died a natural death, it must have died from an acute disease. Mr. Wilford: And you know this .child was Buffering from ricketts.

Witness: Vcs. | His.Honour: But not acute ricketts? —"No, chronic rickotts." - - • ■ Re-examined by Mr. Maeassey: From tlio appearance of the* body it was a reasonable conclusion {hat the child liad had befoi;o death an abrasion of the throat. Evidence on Details. Constable M'Kelvio identified the clothes found on the body, of the cliilu. William Adani. Olachanj the owner of the housp at Ronn Bay below which the body was found, said the people occupying arid Ethel Seymour—ha(l given tlie names to him of Mr... .and Mrs. Seymour. He detailed .the circumstances under which ho liad found the body under the house on the day.after Jackson arid Ethel. Seymour, with tho prisoner Seymour, had vacated it. Winifred Hamilton Winter, daughter of the witness Myall, corroborated the evidence of hoi' mother. Edward James Seymour, of .Sydenham, Christchurch, said that the accused, his daughter, was 25 years of age. Slid liad' stayed at his tiouso in Christchurch for six months prior to tile'day on which she left'.for Wellington by the Wahihe., He knew' the accused was going.to Wellington, but he did not know the reason. He had been aware of the fact that the accused had a child >staying with Mrs. .Myall, but she did net bring tho child to his house that' day; Accused had with her two dressing-cases, and no other luggage when sho left his house. Mary Annie Seymour, mother bi the. accused; gave similar evidence. She had heard her daughter speak a great deal of Mrs; Smith, but witness did not know hor. Witness, however, had understood ~ that sho lived in Armagh Street," Christchurch; Jennie Dixon, stewardess on tho s.s. Wahine, gave evidence of the accused having travelled to Wellington by the steamer oji September 30. To Mr. Wilford: It. would not have been easily possible, for anyone in the cabin occupied by Seymour to. have thrown anything overboard unobserved. That Heavy Package Leonard Jackson, plumber, said that, under the name of Richard, Seymour, he lived with a woman named Ethel Soy? mour at Rona Bay froni September 27 to November 15.' He described meeting accused at Wellington, arid at first stated that he could not, remember having made any remark about the, packages, but, when confronted with his depositions in the Court below, he admitted that ho remembered having said something about' the basket being "a bit heavy.", After tho birth of accused's child, he had noticed tho bundle. under tho house, and he touched it with a shovel. It had struck him as'"rather uncanny in a way.".

Mr. Wilford was asked to go on with his i.cross-exatnination, but replied that the examination had brought out tain new matter'about, which, he would like to consult his client. He suggosttd that the adjournment be.tuken then, (at 6.5 p.m.)

',-iTh'e hearing was adjourned according, ly, and tlie jury was locked lip.