FOUND DEAD AT HUT

Evening Star, Issue 22456, 29 September 1936, Page 8

FOUND DEAD AT HUT

SEQUEL TO DRINKING PARTY EVIDENCE ON MANSLAUGHTER CHARGE CORRIGAN COMMITTED FOR TRIAL The Pdlice Court proceedings on the manslaughter charge against Richard Corrigan, a casual railway employee, were concluded this morning at Palmerston before Mr H. W. Bundle, S.M. Corrigan, who was represented by Mr J. G. Warrington, pleaded not guilty, and was committed to the Supreme Court for trial, bail being allowed. Evidence of drinking at accused’s house and of an argument, which ended in George Stuart Neish, _ the deceased, and Corrigan going outside, was given by a Moeraki fisherman, who said he had later found Noish under a hedge. He believed him to be drunk, and assisted Corrigan in placing him in accused’s car. On reaching Neish’s property, the fisherman fell down a bank, and half an hour later found deceased lying on the grass. As deceased did not wake, ho dragged him to the back door. Ho went to sleep, and after 1 a.m. awakened, and on investigating found Ncish with blood on_ his head, “ I suspected foul play,” said the witness, who described his consternation and his giving the alarm at the railway station. Six witnesses wero heard to-day, making a total of 10 for the prosecution. Chief-detective J. B. Young was m charge of the case, and the courthouse gallery was packed. Dr P. F. Howden said that at about 1.45 a.m. on August 26 he saw the body of deceased lying at the door of his hut, situated off Auskery street. Neish had been dead for about two hours; the period was guesswork. The examination he made was cursory, and was made with the aid of candlo light. Deceased had a contused wound over the left eye, and a wound on his scalp. Ho had known deceased for many years. To Mr Warrington: It was a very cold night. The temperature was near freezing point. Alexander Erholm, a fisherman, residing at Moeraki, said he first knew Neish in 1911 in Auckland, and had been friendly with him ever since. Neish recently occupied a two-roomed hut opposite the tennis courts in Palmerston. He sometimes stayed the week-end with deceased. He came to Palmerston on Friday, August 21. On August 26 Neish and he got two gallons of beer and a bottle of gin, from Macrae’s by mail bus. He paid for the liquor, which was taken to Neish’s hut. He had been to Moeraki that day, returning by the 5 p.m. train. Deceased met him. outside the station, and they went together to the hut, where each had two or three beers. Witness had some “ tucker’’—some soup—and stayed at the hut till 6.30 or 6.40, when Neish wanted to go and see Corrigan. They took the bottle of gin, from which only one drink had been taken. Witness had seen Corrigan a few times before, but he was not a friend. On arriving at Corrigan’s house Neish knocked at the kitchen door, said Erholm. Mrs 'Corrigan answered the door. Accused said, “ Hullo, Stuart,” and deceased went in. Accused called out, “ Come in, Alex., too.” They went into the kitchen, where Mrs Corrigan and two young children were. They were the only people he saw at the house during the whole time he was there. Witness placed the gin bottle on the kitchen table, and they had a drink out of small glasses provided by Mrs Corrigan, who did not have a drink. When a third round was offered he said he did not like gin, as he was afraid of getting drunk. Accused said to his wife: “You go and get the bottle of beer and give it to Alex.” He drank the bottle of beer while Neish and Corrigan drank gin. Mrs Corrigan, would not have a drink, so he told her to • take some gin out of the bottle and put it away. She filled a medicine bottle with gin. They had a drink of tea._ During the drinking they were having a “ sing song.” ARGUMENT ABOUT SINN FEINERS. Chief-detective Young: Who was the chief singer?—l always sing a song. What was the condition of you ail after drinking the beer?—Dick Corrigan and Neish were talking about Sinn Feiners. Was it a friendly discussion?—lt seemed to mo that it was none too friendly. Was there any bad language?—One word was used by both. And what happened then? They began to push each other. Mrs Corrigan became very excited. She went to grab the child in the pram. 1 was afraid she would drop one of the children, and I went to help her. The next thing I saw was the door opening and Neish and accused walking out, one after the other. 'Did they walk out quietly?—Yes. What was the time?—lt must have been about 8.15. I had no watch and took little notice of the time. Did you hear anything?—No. I heard, nothing from them, and I did not look outside. I was talking to Mrs Corrigan when Dick came in. I believe he might have been out about 10 minutes. Corrigan said: “You can stop here_ to-night, but that , Stuart Neish can’t.” I said: “ Where is Stuart? Is he not coming in.” Corrigan replied: “He’s not coming in either. I put him out for a while.” Corrigan and he sat on the sofa for a while, said Erholm. When Neish did not come in, witness went to look for him. • When he opened the kitchen door Corrigan walked in front of Mm and went a distance away from the house across the section. Corrigan went to his motor car by the hedge and witness saw Neish lying between the car and the fence. Witness said to accused: “He must have gone out very sudden.” He thought Neish, who was lying on. his back, was drunk. It was dark, but witness thought Neish had on a hat. Corrigan admitted that the car was his, and witness told him it was no good, letting a poor man lie there all night, and asked him to give him a hand to take Neish to his hut. They put Neish in the back seat. .Witness joined Corrigan in the driver s seat. He noticed no blood or injury at that time. LEFT ON BANK. Witness said Corrigan drove the car to the roadway outside deceased’s hut. Neish must have been on the floor or the car. He could not say whether Corrigan placed him on the seat. Accused stopped close to the bank, down which, witness fell when he stepped out of the car. He had then had more drink than he should have taken, "hen he got up Corrigan and the car had gone. Neish was lying on the bank, at the side of the path leading to the hut. . ~ “ I left him lying there for a while, said witness. “I was waiting f® r .“ in ? to get sober and to wake up. 1 .jpP’' singing out to him asking him if ho was getting cold, and he never answered. He was there about half an.

hour or so. When he did not answer I thought I would try to drag him inside the hut. I pulled his coat over his head and dragged him like that down the bank and up to the door. Deceased never spoke. I took no notice of his breathing, as I had seen Stuart Neish like that before.” , Chief-detective Young: Did you notice any blood or injury about him?— No. It was dark and overcast that night. Was deceased a heavy man? —Very. He weighed about 1G stone. “ FOUL PLAY SUSPECTED.” On reaching the door, Erholm said, he went inside and must have gone to sleep for a while. On awakening ho sang out to Neish, who did not answer. He lit a candle, and on going to the door saw blood in Neish - 's ear. His mouth was open, too. “ I thought there must have been some foul play. I got a terrible shock. I did not know which way to go, but I remember running up to the railway station, where I told a railway porter. With the porter, I went back to Neish’s. Chief-detective Young: When you saw deceased leave accused’s home was the former suffering from any injury? —No. Nothing had happened in the kitchen. Did Neish fall or was he knocked down?—No. What sort of footwear did you have on that night?—The same light shoes as I am now wearing. To Mr Warrington; Neish had one gin before going to Corrigan’s house. It was an average nip. The bottle of gin was finished when Neish and Corrigan left the kitchen. It was about 9 o’clock when he found Neish lying by the car. He did not hear him breathing then. He did not fall when assisting- to put Neish in the car. The bank down. which he had fallen was five or six feet deep. He stayed where he fell and did not assist in getting Neish out of the car. The path to the hut was mostly of fine sand and was between 20yds or SQyds in length. He was definite that he had no more beer on returning to the hut. ANGRY VOICE HEARD. Ronald William Grafton, a labourer, residing at Kirkwall .street, said h© was outside Mrs M‘Kegg’s house at about 9 p.m. .on August 26. The weather was clear and calm and there was moonlight. There appeared from the sounds to be a quarrel at Corrigan s house. He heard the words “ Get out. Get out. And don’t come back again. A terrible noise was going on at the time; it sounded as if there was a bit of a scuffle up against wood. He again, heard the words “ Get out. If you come back again I’ll knock your head off.” That was repeated two or three times. He could not identify the voice, the possessor of which appeared to be angry. The survey plan showed the distance from where he was standing to Corrigan’s house to be 207yds; he had estimated it at between 200 and 300 yards. He knew neither Neish nor Corrigan. Charles Dixon, a baker, said he was visiting a house 250yds distant from accused’s home that night. He left about 10 o’clock to return to his own home in Brough street. As he was going into his gate at about 10.15 Corrigan’s car passed and turned into the owner’s place. He heard the gears being changed down, Corrigan’s usual practice when backing under the, hedge. Corrigan’s car came from the direction of Neish’s hut. The night was fine and clear. i STATEMENTS BY ACCUSED. Constable Albert Joseph Kelly said he had known deceased for two years. On arriving at the hut about 1.30 a.m. he found Neish lying on his back outside the door. Marks indicated that deceased had been dragged for 32yds from the roadway. The door was open, and a candle was burning inside. A two-gallon jar on the floor contained a quantity of beer. He called Dr Hqwden and telephoned Chief-detective Voting in Dunedin, and he, Detectivesergeant Hall, and Detective Taylor arrived about 4.30 a.m. At, about 7he accompanied Detective-sergeant Hall to accused’s house. Mrs Corrigan answered the door, but Corrigan came out and said: “Who is it?”. He was told who they were. Corrigan said Neish had been at his house the previous night, and admitted that there had been trouble. , Corrigan denied that all were drinking gin. He later said the Finn had a bottle of gin, but he did not have any. Asked if he knew that Neish was injured, Corrigan replied: “No.” Accused accompanied them to the police station after putting on his working clothes. On September 15, at about 10.30 a.m., he was present when Detective-sergeant Hall called at the house and informed Corrigan that he had a-warrant for his arrest, and read it over to him. that is wrong, anyway,*’ remarked accused. Detective-sergeant T. Y. Hall gave corroborative evidence. As they were leaving to go to the police station accused indicated a broken stud near the kitchen door and said: “He fell against that.” Just before they reached the station witness told him that Neish was dead. Corrigan’s comment was: “Is ho?” ‘ Accused had abrasions on the back of the left hand and on the right wrist, and under the little finger of the right hand. There were smears of dried blood on the back of the right wrist and thumb. Accused said he was wearing his working boots, which were at his home, the previous night. Witness found the boots at the house. He examined the section. A motor car was standing under some trees in Brough street. A patch of freshly congealed blood was found 24in from the car’s running board. Three pieces of recently-broken board were found between the car and the shed, and were later handed to Dr D’Ath. No other weapon was found about the section. On the road outside deceased’s whare, a distinct mark of a motor tyre was found; it could have been made by accused’s car. Marks indicated that some one had been dragged alone the path. In company with Dr D’Ath, he inspected accused’s section. Blood specks were found on the tool box of the car and the right hand front window. No blood or other marks to indicate that the deceased had fallen against the walls of the shed at the back door of the house could be found. The broken point of the stud had cobwebs on it. “ There was nothing about the section to indicate that deceased had fallen at any other place than where the pool of blood was found,” said Detec-tive-sergeant Hall, who produced a statement made by Corrigan at the Detective Office. Mr Warrington: Did you examine Erholm’s clothing?—Yes, and his boots. They were light. Was there any blood on them —No. Was there any blood on Corrigan’s clothing —I have not had them examined for blood. Corrigan pleaded not guilty,, reserved his defence, and was committed for trial at Dunedin. Mr Warrington renewed an application for bail. Hail was granted in accused’s own recognisance of £2OO and one surety of £2OO, a condition being that he reports twice daily to the police at Palmerston. The inquest proceedings were adjourned sine die.