BLATCH OR LILLY WHITE?

Greymouth Evening Star, Volume XXXI, 20 March 1901, Page 4

BLATCH OR LILLY WHITE?

A Question of Identity. Summary of an Interesting Casa.

The question of whether the man styling himself Charles Lilly white is oris not Arthur Blatch, who is “wanted for the murder of Alfred Welch at Colchester, England, over seven years ago, is to be decided at Home, whither the accused is now on his way in custody of Sergt. Frost, for nearly twenty years a member of the Colchester Police f orce. For the past five or sis years Lillywhitc had been living in Wellington, gaining his living as a painter, and taking a prominent part in matters affecting his trade, and his arrest as the supposed murderer Blatch came as quite a shock to many of his friends and acquaintances, among whom he was held in high esteem. The question of his identity was argued before the Court on very many occasions, and the full reports published in the newspapers enabled the public to gain a very good idea of what th 9 evidence was on both sides. Lillywhite ha? now, however, left the colony, his case will be tried many thousands of miles away, and the interests of justice will not be affected by a general sum-ming-up of the case as regards the identity of the prisoner with the man suspected of what was a terribly cold-blooded murder.

Ths Case for the Crown. The person to whom the arrest of Lillywhite was primarily duo was a woman named Margaret Archer, who was an old acquaintance of Blatch at Colchester, and subsequently emigrated to New Zealand. Some time ago this woman informed the police that Blatch, whose presence in New Zealand had been suspected for years, was in Wellington, and she promised to point him out to them. This, however, she failed to do, and then, at the end of May, 1899, she returned to England. There she again communicated with the pohco, and informed them, so it is understood, thatwhon she left New Zealand Blatch was in the Wellington Hospital suffering from injuries to’both his ankles caused in an accident at the Parliament Buildings, where he had been working as a painter. Singular to relate, at that moment the only man in the Wellington Hospital suffering from such injuries caused in that manner was tho man Charles Lillywhitc, and the inference of course was that ho and Blatch were one and tho same person. A watch was kept upon him by the Wellington police, and after he had been sent to Rotorua for the benefit of his health ho was arrested in November last as Arthur Blatch, tho suspected murderer of Alfred Welch at Colchester on Bth December, 1893,

lie made very little fuss about it at the time,' and when brought before the Court took more trouble to complain of his quarters and food at the gaol than to insist that a wrong had been done him in supposing that he was Blatch. The Crown, however, set to work to prove that ho was Blatch, and called a former resident of Colchester, named George Drawbridge, who swore that he was the man—that ho knew him and met him on many occasions when ho was caretaker of the recreation ground at Colchester. Other witnesses were called to prove the same thing, but not all were so certain ns Mr Drawbridge, who never swerved from his original statement. Au attempt was alsj made to prove that Lillywhito knew Margaret Archer while she was in New Zealand, and a Mrs Bailey, of Otaki, was called and stated that during the Easter holidays in 1899, just prior to Archer leaving for England, ho stayed with Archer at Mrs Bailey’s house. Further, a m an named H opkins gave evidence that he was a patient at the Wellington Hospital while Lillywhito was there, and that ho had several conversations with him, which went to show that Lillywhito was in London at or about the time of the murder, and that ho gave an account of himself which did not tally with the life history which Lillywhito subsequently gave to the Court. At length Sergt. Frost and John Marsh, Town Hall keeper at Colchester, arrived from England, and it was felt that the question of accused’s identity would soon be answered one way or another. But the answer was not so direct as was anticipated. Sergt. Frost’s first impression was that Lillywhito was not the man, but as his opportunities of scrutinising his appearance and manner increased he became more and more certain that the man was Blatch, and at length he went so far as to say that he thought he was Blatch, but he would not swear to him positively. Later in his examination he said, “the more I see of him the more I think he is Blatch” Mr John Marsh also failed to identify Lillywhito at first, bdt when examined in Court said he had “arrived at conclusion" that ho was Blatch.

During the time that Lillywhite had been in custody ho had grown a beard, and it was felt that that might in seine measure have prevented the English witnesses recognising him so readily as thej' might otherwise have done, as Blatch when at homo was clean shaven. The Crown, apparently, has no power in such cases to compel a prisoner to be shaved, but l illywhite volunteered to have his beard taken off, and after an interval he appeared in Court without it. Sergt. Frost was then recalled, and at once stated positively that he was Blatch. He would not swear absolutely, he said, but to tho best of his belief the man in the dock was Blatch. Marsh was also of tho same opinion. He was sure— almost positive.

The Case for the Accused. And now we will sec what there is to be said in favour of Lillywhite being really Lillywhite, and not Blatch. To begin with, Lillywhite was generally known in Wellington as a sober, respectable man, a fairly good painter and graincr, a nonsmoker, seldom, if ever, taking any liquor, and not by any means given to female society. He was also staled to be a good player on the aeeordcon, although he was not called upon to prove his ability in that direction. Blatch, on the other hand, was, as far as. the witnesses knew, never seen with a paint brush in his hand, and none of them appear to have suspected him of any knowledge of the painter’s trade. He was also an inveterate smoker, always had a pipe in his month, and had worn a groove in ids teeth where the pipe was wont to rest. Nor did anyone know that lie played the accordcon. Then, again, the man who stayed at Mrs Bailey’s house at Otaki with the woman Archer was not at all a respectable individual like Lillywhite. He [drank too much and used such bad language that Airs Bailey bad to turn him out of the house. Further, evidence was called to,'prove that at the time Lillywhite was said to have been staying with Archer at Otaki ho was spending the day quietly at Ida home, with a mate, and the affair was, in its last stages, still further complicated by a man named Charles Nicholson stating that ha himself spent the Easter holidays of 1899 at Otaki with Margaret Archer, and that they, singularly enough, stayed at the house of a Mrs Bailey. He added that since Archer had reached England she had written him a letter, winch he had lost. The letter, however, was picked up in the street by some person, and witness swore that it was his. Another singular feature about tho Otaki affair was that M’Mahon was taken there and shown the Mrs Bailey who had sworn that Lillywhite and Archer stayed at her house during Easter 1899. That was not tho Mrs Bailey that ho and Archer stayed with, he declared, it was another Mrs Baioly. There was, wo may men-

tion another Mrs Bailey in Otaki, but she had no one staying with her at the time mentioned, so it looked as u some one was making a mistake.

Finally, accused gave evidence in his own behalf, and, it must be admitted, j made out a very good case that ho was , really Lilly white and not Elatch. He i Went fully into the details of his life, from his birth in London in 1859 or 1860 to tbs moment of his arrest. Tic described his wanderings in England in search of work as a painter, produced two discharges showing that ho had been as sea, where he worked at his trade, and stated that ho left the Old Country for America in 1885. He visited many places in America, always working as a painter, and he gave details of his life at Los Angelos and at Tacoma. Ho produced a Government grant of land in Ivinsctt County, dated 18th December, ISOJ (just after the murder), and stated that he had to live sixteen months on the land before he was entitled to (he giant. He also produced papers showing that he was a naturalised citizen of the United States. He left Tacoma in July, 1894, and came to New Zealand via Sydney, in company with a man named Selkirk. This man Selkirk k new Lilly white’s great friend Clark in Tacoma, and while Lillywhite was in gaol here he wrote to him (not knowing he was under arrest) giving details of Clark’s family and referring to his section of land in Kinsctt County. Lillywhite also produced very many letters addressed (o him in various places as Charles Lillywhite, from friends and relations in various parts of England and America, and gave an account of who the writers were. Further, he denied all knowledge of Margaret Archer, said bo had never stayed at Otaki with her at Mrs Bailey’s, and characterised Hopkin’s evidence as to the conversation in the Hospital as “the finest piece of lying ever I heard.”

Since then letters have reached the prisoner's counsel (MrSkerrot) from Tacoma which go to show that accused is Lillywhite, but the decision of the Courts has been given that he shall he sent Home, and, as wo have stated, he is now on his way thither. The foregoing brief summary of the case ns it lias eomo before us in Wellington will, however, show that it is by no moans an easy matter to decide as to whether the prisoner is Lillywhitc or Blatch. It scarcely seems possible that he can be both, but if he is —if, being Blatch, he has assumed the name and history of Lillywhitc—then ho has accomplished his design with a completeness and attention to infinite detail that proves him to bo a remarkably clever man. At any rate, the question of his identity should be easily set at rest in England. There arc many people in Colchester who knew Blatch for years before the murder —no one appears to have seen him in England since a day or two after that event. Margaret Archer is, we understand, available, and Blatch's wife and a young women with whom ho is alleged to have lived with for some time prior to the murder, should be easily found, and will probably bo able to say whether Lillywhite is the man. On the other hand, Lillywhitc states that ho has relations in various parts of England, and they should it his story is true, be able to prove that ho is not Blatch, but an entirely different individual. The settlement of the question will bo awaited in New Zealand with very great interest.