RAMARAMA TRAGEDY

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2632, 30 November 1915, Page 8

RAMARAMA TRAGEDY

MRS. PERRY IN COURT By Association, Auckland,' November 29, The trial commencedsto-day ot Amelia Perry, charged, with; the. murder of .her husband, J obn; Thomas Perry, at Ramarama, on September 25. Mr. Prendergasfc defended, ' Mr. Singer watching the proceedings on behalf o! (ioixlon M'Dowell, a witness for tho Grown. ■ • The case, for the prosecution was outlined at length by the Crown Prosecutor, the Hon. J. A-' Tole. He told th« Court how the deceased and his wife bad a dairy at-Ramarama. Ho.BanJ there was no evidence to stow any domestic' unhappiness' until about 1 tw«i years ago, when the aocused became aoi quaint-ed with a-man named M'Dowell. The aocused visited this man frequently, and counsel said accused was. unfaithful to her husband. The question had been raised as to wlietner the second youngest child was that of her hußbbnd, or of M'Dowell, and thus occasioned trouble in tho household. Early in the present year Perry was suddenly taken ill in consequence of something had eaten, and M 3 to be treated at the' hospital. "While ill he made a will and was," with difficulty, _ dissuaded- from omitting from its provisions his wife and the child whoso paternity was m dispute. Accused was given a life interest in"his estate, which was to.pass to the children after her death. She afterwards told M'Dowell about this. Coming to circumstances more directly connected with tho murdeiy the Crown Prosecutor stated that tpn or twelve days before it occurred accused went to a neighbour and borrowed-' a doublebarrelled gun, which her husband had had on loan before at various times. On September 24 deceased and two of the ohildren went to town, returning in the_ evening. Deceased was the last to retire to bed, but before doing so he looked the front door, the back.door was also fastened', and all the windows in the house closed, but the blind of Mr. and Mrs. Perry's bedroom window was not pulled down. Apparently everything was quiet for about three hours. Then accused stated she was awakened by a gunshot in the room, but saw nothing to explain it. The boy, Tom, was also awakened, and looking through a crack in the wall saw his mother bending over his- father. He called out to her and she replied: "He looks as if he's been shot." He also noticed that the bottom of the window was open. Accused and the boy then went to the house of a neighbour, who afterwards came to the farm and found that the top ot deceased's head had been blow off, and his brains scattered over the -wall and ooiling. The accused remarked at the time that her husband had been shot through the window. Dr. Brookfield and the police officers who examined tho house would bo called, and their, testimony would b'e to the effect that a gun could not have been fired through the window, but that tbo muzzle must have been held close to deoeased's head. This view would also be borne out by Dr. "Wilson who had made a post mortem, and Colonel Hazard, an expert in fire, arms. Colonel Hazard would also testify that a shot-gun found at the rear of the house must bave been fired from 12 to 18 hours before lie inspected it; namely, about the time deceased was shot.

The hearing of the evidenco for the Crown tlien commenced on the linos of Mr. Tote's opening. '

. Tom Perry, aged fourteen, son of deceased, told his story, and was closely cross-examined by His Honour as to the accused's movements after tlie discovery of the murder. At- one stage witness broke down and sobbed loudly. A great deal of ovidenco was taken and ..the Court adjovrned.