ONEWHERO TRAGEDY

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2474, 29 May 1915, Page 3

ONEWHERO TRAGEDY

KEALS ON TRIAL

A REMARKABLE LETTER (By. Taleeraoh.—Press Association.) Auckland, May 28. S. The young man Norman Edwin Keals j?aa arraigned at the Supreme Court this-morning before the Chief Justice and a jury of twelve, on the charges of having on or about February 8 last murdered his sister-in-law (Editli Emma Keals) and her infant child at West (Opuatia, near Onewhero. , Upon being called upon to plead, prisoner, who took his stand in the dock without any outward appearance of answered in a firm voice, ; "Kot guilty." The general demeanour of the accused was one rather of detached interest than of nerve tension tad suspense as the Crown Prosecutor (proceed to outline the circumstances .surrounding the murder. 1 The Hon. J.' A. Tole conducted the ioase for the Crown, the accused being defended by Mr. J. C. Martin and Mr. 'J. B. Johnstone.

In opening the case Mr. Tole intimated to the jury that there would be no attempt to deny acts, but that • they would be called upon to direct their olosest attention respecting the mental condition of the prisoner at the time of th-3 crime and to decide whether that condition was such as to make him responsible for his acts. i Robert William Kealsj a retired archi'tect and father of prisoner, was the first witness called. He explained that .some time ago he had spoken about an intention ■of dividing the Onewhero farm among his three sons, Leslie, George, and Norman. He ultimately : sold the farm, which was known as i "Glencaini," to Leslie, hut ' intended ito make it up to the prisoner for his share by giving him a dairy farm at Pa palm ra. He did not appear to take much interest in dairying, however, >o he was contemplating some other flan. i Cross-examined by Mr. Martin, the Tpitness said there was absolutely no jll-feeling so far as he knew between i&e prisoner and Mrs. Leslie Keals. (Witness remarked that his son Norman seemed to have a, craze respecting religious matters, and was always talking about going to Egypt as a mission*fcry, though he possessed no qualifica/tions for missionary work. The next thing prisoner did was .to start taking •lessons in singing and musio, although ■he had no idea of music whatever. 'After two or three lessons he gave it mp. Shortly after this a, friend who .was staying at witness's house at Otabuhu complained that one night the prisoner had entered her room and tried to smother her with a pillow. Later ;ott prisoner stole a horse and gig at 'Penrose, and on conviction was released on probation. Dr. Beattio, superintendent of the Avondale Mental Hospital, saw him about this time, and afterwards !sent him to the Great Barrier Island, hut his conduct continued to be unsatisfactory. For a theft of some firearms, the prisoner was sentenced to eighteen months' imprisonment, being released in 1910, and subsequently he went across to Sydney where he committed an offence, and served a term of imprisonment. Upon returnina to Auckland in May, 1914, he lived with witness at Papakura till February last, during which period his conduct was satisfactory till the time s>f the tragedy. At this stage tho fol- ' 'ring remarkable letter written by the - soner to his parents while serving a tence in Bathurst gaol, in Febru1' last year, was produced:— / 'Dear Mother and Father,—l have .me to the conclusion that it is time o say I will arise and go to my father,

end will say until him,' Father, I have * sinned against lieaven and in thy Bight. > and am 110 more worthy to be called thy son; make my bungalow for me at Gloncairn. Well, I have been having some dreams lately, and no mistake. The night before last I thought I saw sn angel, sitting on my window-sill, and, of course, being a little afraid of burglars, I up out of bed, and said: •'What do you want, old chap?' 'Oh,' Jie says, 'don't think I do things like you used to do; hut seeing you -fi&ve altered your course a few points, and seem inclined to steer clear of all dangerous obstacles in the future, and keeping a good look out, I just camo along to see if you would care to go back to New Zealand by first-class saloon aeroplane, or whether you would care to go back steerage by the Wimmera?' 'Well, thanks,' I said, 'I am , Hot particular, so long as I get there; but just by way of a change 1 wouldn't mind going by first-class saloon aeroplane.' •'V.'ell. another night 1 thought I saw nothing but fowls roosting on my hammock —a fine lot of crossbred kiwis, and the rooster was a purebred moa.

There were eggs everywhere, and I was saying to myself 'There's eggs for breakfast in the morning.' Anyway, I did really think of saying 'May the Lord make me truly thankful for what I am' about to receive' that morning. But, I can tell you, I was disappointed when I woko up. A few nights before that I thought I saw nothing but cows. Then I began thinking about those blessed cows. The first thing that flashed across my mind was, Did I set the alarm-clock for 4 a.m. I reallj thought I was at Papakura, and livas thinkiaff of the respectable hours we used to keep at Bathurst. Then I saw a trap driving along the Mangarere Road with "Old Luck" in the shafts and "Tumberumba" in the leaa. Well, I thought there was a bright Bide to dairying after all. So I woke up, and said I wish I was at Papakura. How long does it take to get to the factory in the aeroplane? I guess the milk gots a bit sky_ blue when you bump up against a rain cloud. I guess there are no • objections to sending that other half of tho return ticket. So now, my amiable and loving Ma and Pa, I must make my final bow-wow from Noo South. With love to all.—Your loving son, Norman E. Keals."

The reading of this letter seemed to afford prisoner some amusement, a broad smile coming into his face as various passages were reached by Mr. Martin.

Re-examined, witness stated that the fright received by an elderly lady at Otahuhu' had not been definitely traced to accused.

Leslie William Keals, husband of the murdered woman, stated that at no time had ho quarrelled with his brother.

Sophia Hunter, who was employed as ladyhelp by Mrs. Leslie Keals, stated that she went to bed about 9 o'clock on the Monday evening, .and heard nothing during the night. She rose about 6 o'clock in the morning, and on passing Mrs. Keals room heard heavy breathing. She knocked, but getting no answer went away, returning in a few minutes. She knockod again, and upon receiving no answer, entered the room, and discovered Mrs. Keals lying with blood on her face, while on the coverlet beside her was a piece of wood roughly fashioned into a club. She rushed out, and acquainted a young man employed on the {arm of what she had discovered, and he communicated tho news from the nearest telephone to the authorities. A number of witnesses followed m quick succession to connect the murders with prisoner, whose counsel assisted in facilitating the proceedings relating to facts by consenting to leading questions on behalf of the Crown, and m doing nothing in the way of cross-exam-ination.

Mr. Mattin, in opeuing tho case for the defence, said that there was no denial of the main facts of the case, as they had been put before the Court. The prosecution had been conducted in perfectly fair manner, and the police officers had also acted with absolute fairness, and the real questions that the jury had to consider was the state of accused's mind when he committed the offence. A number of witnesses were heard, including medical men. Dr. Parkes said that lie met accused at Orewa, and accused then appealed to be quite incapablo of looking after I himself. Dr. Tracy Inglis said that in 1 June, 1908, he attended accused at his father's request. Accused was ill. a nervous condition, and witness warned his father that he might possibly become insane, and that he needed care--1 ful treatment. He then appeared to l>e commencing insanity, and to have_a tendency to religious mania. Dr. K. M. Beattie, Superintendent of the Auckland Mental Hospital, said that he had seen accused on several occasions. Ho

i-st saw him nix or seven years ago, when he concluded that be was a mental defective, and that he was addicted to a certain habit, and had been so since he was fourteen years of age. He considered that he was so constituted as to' be a mnac to society. This mental derangement was likely to increase unless the habit referred to was discontinued, but not necessarily so otherwise. He conidered. that the case was a congenital one which might be improved by education. Witness then advised accused s father to have him committed to a mental hospital. Witness next saw accused on the wharf about eighteen months ago on his return from Sydney. He did not then examine him, but from a report that he received from his brother he concluded that he had not improved. Witness examined accused after thee Onewhero tragedy. Ho then found no reason to alter his previous opinion that accused was mentally deficient especially in a moral senso.

His Honour: If a man can plot and arrange things would you say that he knows that, he is doing wrong? Witness: 1 think this man did know that he was doing wrong, hut that he did not have the same appreciation of wrongdoing that a man m a normally mental state would have. Mr, Martin: Do you think that he

now appreciates the seriousness of his position? . Witness: I do not tliink he does. He seems to have 110 remorse whatever. _

His Honour: There are many criminals like that. Witness: Yes, your Honour. And in addition to that he does not seem to appreciate that he is liable to punishment.

His Honour: You put it this way that he has no moral sense, but that he has some intellectual ability? Witness: That is so, your Honour. Mr. Tole: Your deliberate opinion, I understUnd, is that the man is morally and mentally defective, but that he is legally sane, and that he understood the nature and quality of the act, and knew it was wrong? Witness: I believe that is so, although his appreciation of wrong is not nearly so aoute as that of a naturally sane man.

This concluded the evidence, and the trial was adjourned until this morning.