WHANGAREI MURDER

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2247, 5 September 1914, Page 9

WHANGAREI MURDER

HAMMON SENTENCED TO DEATH,

, '(By . TeleßrdpK^P&s !^S^i£tid^ Auokland, September 4. I?' Probably owing to uncertainty as to the date upfin which the charge would be heard, no'great amount of public interest was shown in the trial ■of Daniel Hammon, of Whangarei, charged with wife-murder, when .the.cas.e opened in the Auckland Supreme Court to-day, before Mr. Justice Cooper. The attendance of the . public was considerably smaller than' is usually the case at criminal sittings. Hammon, . who is a medium-sized, middle-aged man, with iron grey hair and side, whiskers, pleaded not guilty when the capital charge was read cut to him. _ Mr. Hall Skelton, who . defended him, challenged very few jurors. The Crown Prosecutor (the Hon. J, A. Tole), in opening the case, briefly outlined the story of the tragedy, the main features of which will still be fresh in the memory of those interested in the case. _ He described how accused and his wife, Mary Hammon, aged 34, frequently quarrelled on account of the man not Working, and how their disagreements termiuated in a frenzied attack upon the woman with an axe in the kitbhen, of a boardinghouse in the early hours of Tuosday, July 21. When the accused' was found by the police on top of a timber slack, he declared that he ,had committed the, crime for . his children's sake. Evidence for the prosecution was heard at length. Mr. Hall-Skelton then opened . his defence, which raised the question of the sanity of the prisoner. He pointed oat that prior to coming to Whanyarei Hammon suffered a series of misfortunes. - following upon his long and dangerous illness, first his stock . and' then his farm had to be sold, and since that he had been unable to work. This had preyed on his mind. Counsel enumerated the relatives of.'the accused who had been mentally defective. Evidence was given for the defence, and the- jury, having retired for about two hours, brought in a verdict of guilty, with a strong recommendation to mercy. His Honour said he would forward the reoommendation to the proper quarter, and then passed the death sentence. The case lasted until late in the evening- ; , ■■ ■ •