REPRIEVED MURDERER

Manawatu Herald, Volume LI, Issue 4500, 4 September 1930, Page 3

REPRIEVED MURDERER

MANLY EXPRESSES SURPRISE. LETTER OF THANKS TO POLICE. Herbert Frederick: Manly, whose sentence of death for the murder of Gladys Cromarty, has been commuted to imprisonment' for life, was the last person who anticipated that the death sentence would he commuted. He remarked after the trial that he was perfectly satisfied with the verdict and that it would be a happy day for him when lie stood on the gallows. Last week Manly wrote to the Wanganui police thanking them for all they had done for him while under arrest and stating that he had had a fair spin. He also gave instructions regarding the forwarding of personal effects to relatives in England.

REASON FOR COMMUTATION.

The reason why the death sentence imposed on 11. F. Manly, who was recently convicted of the murder of a young woman at Wanganui, had been commuted to imprisonment for life, was sought by Mr. R. A. Wright (Ref., Wellington Suburbs) in an urgent question addressed to the Minister of Justice, ITon. J. G. Cohfee, in the House of Representatives on Tuesday. , The Minister replied that, in recommending the Govern or-General to commute the sentence, the Executive ICouncil took into consideration the whole wf the surrounding circumstances of the case, the history of Manly’s life, and reports from mental experts regarding Manly’s mental condition. Although Manly could not properly have been regarded as insane from a legal standpoint, his mental condition and the antecedent circumstances were deemed to be mitigating factors which justified the commutation of the sentence.