MURDER CHARGE

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20035, 6 September 1939, Page 8

MURDER CHARGE

CLAVERLY CASE ♦ INJURIES ON BODY WINDPIPE INDENTED MEDICAL EXPERT'S CALLED (Per I’reis Association.) CHRISTCHURCH, this day. The hearing of the charge of murdering his wife, Harriet Jane Patience, at Claverley, brought against Arthur John Patience, was continued in the Magistrate’s Court in Christchurch before Mr. E. C. Levvey, S.M., yesterday. The Crown prosecutor, Mr. A. T. Donnelly, with him Mr. W. Brown, is conducting the case for the police, while Mr. R. A. Young, with him Mr. T. A. Gresson, is appearing for Patience. Dr. R. L. Withers, of Kaikoura, said he examined the body of a woman on the beach at Taratuhi soon after it was found on July 20. The right foot and half a leg, the left foot and most of the tissue from the face were gone. Most of the scalp was also gone. He considered that the body had been just recently exposed. There was no sign of decomposition. In that country, if it had been exposed, it would have been attacked by hawks or gulls or vermin within a few hours. Injuries on Body Dr. A. B. Pearson, pathologist at the Christchurch Public Hospital, gave evidence of a post-morten eximination. He said that death appeared to have occurred some months before his examination, which began m July 22. Parts of the body were well preserved. The appearance of 't was consistent with its having been buried in clay for some months, then 'ming in the sea for some time and then dried out on the beach. There was a bruise in the pit of the stomach, the witness added, and the ribs bore signs of violence during ‘ife. Three ribs in front and six at the back were broken. The damage to the front ribs would be caused by heavy crushing. These injuries would not be fatal, but most probably they had occurred before death, certainly not long after. It was very unlikely that they could have been caused by rocks on the beach. There was a bruise on the left side of the neck, but it was not deep-seated. The windpipe showed an indentation which ran down the right side and towards the front. This injury to the windpipe could have been caused by pressure of a finger or thumb. If the woman was injured in this way by someone using the hand to do it, her head would have had to be thrown back. The indentation of the windpipe would not have been caused bv any enlargement of the gland or disease. There was no definite indication of ‘he cause of death. The ‘injuries to the ribs could have been produced by a pressure of the knee on the chest. Could Have Caused Death Mr. Donnelly: Wo.uld it have been possible to place a knee on the woman’s chest, one hand on her throat and the other hand over her ...outhV Dr. Pearson: Yes. Could such a combination produce death?—Yes. In a short space of time? —Yes. Dr. Pearson said that if breathing was stopped in this way, signs of it would have disappeared by the time he made his examination. The body showed signs of having been wrapped in something. There were signs of some sacking. Imprints were clearest on the arms and thighs. There were also some ligature marks on the arms and thighs and the back of the shoulder. He would infer that the body had been wrapped in sacking material and bound up, then buried. There was an indication also that the woman had been wearing a woollen singlet. There was no indication of sudden death from internal causes.

It appeared that some such article as broad tape or flax had been used in bind the arms and shoulders. The brain was completely disintegrated, and cerebral trouble was possible, but i:i cases of cerebral trouble it was usual to find a degeneration of the blood vessels, and there was no sign of that in this body. The indications were against suicidal death.

The body could not have wrapped itself up, as it apparently had been. Drowning could not be excluded as a possibility, but taking everything into consideration it could not have been suicidal drowning. Anatomist’s Evidence Professor' W. P. Gowland, professor of anatomy at the Otago Medical School, said he had .examined the body and considered that it was of a person of middle age. There had been no teeth in the jaws for 10, 15 or more years. Indentation of the windpipe could not have been a congenital abnormality. Mr. Donnelly :In your opinion could that injury to the windpipe have been produced by the use of a hand? Professor Gowland: Well there must have been some pressure, and there was most likely pressure of air inside too. He agreed with Dr. Pearson that the injuries to the ribs were just the sort of injuries produced by crushing. They could hav e been produced by a man kneeling on the chest. Dr. P. P. Lynch, consulting pathologist to the Wellington Hospital, gave corroborative evidence. The indications were that the 'body had been put in sacking, perhaps a sack, and then bound round a number of times with cords or ligatures of some sort, he said. The positions of the ligature marks on the arms were such that they could have been caused if the body had been bound with the arms at the sides. The fact that there was an imprint made by sacking on the sk>.r indicated that the covering of the sacking must have been pressed against the skin for a considerable time. Fractures of the ribs could have been caused by pressure of the knee, but it would rcciuire to' toe very considerable. In considering the injury to the windpipe, there must be observed a possibility of material having pressed heavily upon it, the witness continued, but the 'bruise on the side of the neck and the injury to the chest did add significance to the possibility of pressure or violence. From the condition of the body, he did not think it possible to say what was the cause of death. The court adjourned until 10 a.m. to-day.