ALLEGED MURDER

Evening Post, Volume CXIV, Issue 125, 23 November 1932, Page 8

ALLEGED MURDER

DEATH OF JAMES FLOOD

NEPHEWS' TESTIMONY

DOCTORS ON INJURIES

. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) BLENHEIM, This Day. The trial of Edward Tarrant, charged with the murder at Pietou of James Flood, was continued to : day. James Flood, a nephew of the de.ceased, gave evidence regarding the deceased's investments and mode of living; The beneficiaries under the will were himself, his two brothers, two sisters, and three cousins.

Under cross-examination, the witness denied that he borrowed money in anticipation of a legacy under his uncle's will.

The witness was questioned closely concerning his whereabouts at the time of the murder. He denied that he did not get on with his uncle. On the night of the alleged murder he was on the foreshore till about 8 o'clock, when he returned home with a friend. Two other nephews deposed as to the reluctance of the deceased to lend money. Dr. E. W.. Smyth gave in ■minute detail the results of his examinations of the body of the deceased, including injuries and two neck wounds, which could only have been caused by a heavy sharp instrument used with considerable force. He concluded that the deceased was struck a violent blow on the back of the head from behind by a left-handed man. The axe produced could have caused the injuries. Cross-examined, the witness said that if the deceased turned as the blow was struck in a right-handed manner it was possible the injuries could have been received.

Dr. Philip Lynch, pathologist, explained that one of his specialties was deducing the cause and means of death by post-mortem examination. He detailed at length the results of his conclusions after an examination on the deceased's body. The back of an axe would produce the wounds in the head, and the neck wounds would result from a blow from an axe.

The trial is proceeding.