NURSE KERR’S TRIAL

Hokitika Guardian, 4 March 1933, Page 5

NURSE KERR’S TRIAL

LENGTHY EVIDENCE REFERENCE TO USE OF VERQNAL’ (Per Press Association — Copyr : ght.) AUCKLAND] March 3. The fifth day or uue trial or naspeth. Kerr, nurse, 45, on charges of administering poison with intent to endanger life, was continued before Mr Justice Herdman in the Supreme Court. Dr. Uilmour, a pathologist, who examined the body of accused’s husband after exhumation, said! that the cause of death was not cerebral haemorrhage, of which there was no sign. There was no evidence of any organic disease which could cause death.■, Witness also examined the exhumed body of Mrs Day, and there was no

evidence of a recent haemorrhage or the brain. Death was not due to a stroke caused by haemorrhage, bus there was a possibility that it was due to a stroke caused by softening. said that various fluids and organs.. were examined by. the Government Analysists. From . the organs of Mr Kerr, 16 5-8 grains of veronal were recovered. A medicinal dose of veronal was five to ten grains, and it was impossible for a constant taker of veronal to increase the dose without being harmed,

Doctor GUraour said gome authorities said the drug veronal was ; iiot cumulative, and others that it tended to accumulate. His own view was that continually repeated doses led to increasing damage of the central nervous system, which meant chiefly the brain. -This ; showed itself . by headaches, giddiness and. staggering, and difficulty in speaking. There were also mental changes that took the - form of nervousness—sometimes, delusions and sometimes alteration in,the moral character . It was more correct to s.ay the effectsof'the .drug 'were cumulative. He knew from evidence, that Mr : Kerr, prior •to his death, : was in a state of unconsciousness from Saturday forenoon until his death at" 3 p.m. on Sunday; Coupling that fact with the known recovery, of veronal from the internal organs, and from the coffin fluid, he was of the 1 opinion that the mode of death was consistent, with death from veronal poisoning, and that the amount recovered .indicated Kerr had a fatal dose. His 1 . view was that Ken* had must have taken, a very much larger dose thaii- 50 grains.’ 1 One ' grain was! recovered from a gallon of fluid, and there must, have been at least 20 gallons of that fluid. Even in the ■ liquid in the grave,, there werw traces of veronal. 1

In the case of Mrs Day, said witness, the amount recovered was much less, 51 grains. Another half grain was obtained from the, coffin and the grave liquid. ’Water would in the pro- -* cesg of time dissolve veronal, Tablets of seven grains of veronal taken 1 five u weeks before death would have entirely eliminated from the Even supposing another two such dos-/ ,* es had been taken on the nights 'prior to Mrs Day-falling into a coma, ibu would require a fatal dose to account for the final coma. He inferred fronYj all the facts that Mrs Day diad of) veronal poisoning. ■ ■ , . ! In the case or Betty Kerr, witness , said in the medical evidence that a sample of 4 ozs taken from the child on April 11 yielded 2| grains of veronal, forced him to the opinion, that her' comatose state on April 9 and id had been caused by veronal. The child must have had considerably more than a. therapeutic dose. Samples taken on April 18 and 19 yielded half a grain of veronal from 45 cubic centimetres. Thus, in witness’ opinion, veronal in r ; excess of a therapeutic dose must have been administered to - Betty Kerr on the Saturday afternoon when .an entertainment was held in the ward. In cross examination, witness agreed that compared with such poisons as arsenic or strychnine, there was comparatively little known about veronal. • It was not correct to say there were no specific references .to veronal in the medical literature dealing with, poisons. . Mr Singer (for accused) : "Has there been any previous - case of veronal being administered with intent?” Witness: “I have no knowledge of any.” The case was ad/journed until tomorrow. *