Amazing Story of Bank Shooting

Manawatu Times, Volume 62, Issue 24, 29 January 1937, Page 7

Amazing Story of Bank Shooting

17-year-old Youth Committed For Trial on Murder Charge

Case Against Others Dismissed

Beer Bottles and Gin Flasks

Per Press Association.

INVERCARGILL, Last Night. A charge of murder against the 17-year-old bank clerk, Oswald Cameron Cowie, was heard in the Magistrate’s Court to-day concurrently with the inquest on the death of Michael Fletcher, a storeman, who was fatally shot on the premises of the Bank of New Zealand at Inaercargill on December 27. Cowie through his counsel, Mr. Eustace Russell, pleaded not guilty and he took the stand on his own behalf, giving evidence for more than an hour. There were nine other witnesses and the hearing occupied the full day. Cowie was committed for trial at the next sitting of the Supreme Court at Invercargill next month. The charges against three of Fletcher’s companions who visited the bank of being unlawfully on the premises were dismissed by Mr. Freeman, S.M., after evidence had been heard.

A formal verdict that Fletcher’s death was the result of an abdominal haemorrhage caused by a bullet wound from a revolver fired by Cowie was returned in the inquest. The charge brought against Cowie was “that on December 27, 1936, he did kill one Michael Fletcher, a human being. ’ ’ At the beginning of the proceedings to-day Mr. H. J. Macalister, who appeared for the Crown, asked permission to amend the charge to murder and this was agreed to. Mr. Eustace Russell appeared for Cowie and in that section of the evidence which affected the inquest Mr. Mahoney appeared for the relatives of Fletcher. Mr. Cruickshank appeared for the three companions of Fletcher, William Thomas McQuarrie, Tangi Kitson and William Martin Robertson.

The three young men, Robertson, Kitson and McQuarrie, pleaded uol guilty to the charge. Mr Horace Macalister, for the Crown, said that tho charges were laid under section oi of the Police Offences Act. The facts were that early on the morning of December 27 the three defendants and another young .-nan cafled at the bank, having seen a light. They rang Ihe hell at the back doer. They had no particular reason for being there. They said, that they thought there wa sa party and that they wanted to be in it. One of the clerks opened the door, and as a result of what was said the four went upstairs and apparently spent some time there. There was some conflict as to what actually happened at the door. Edward Allan Wyatt, aged 50, bank clerk employed by the bank, said that on the night of December 26 he was in tho sleeping quarters of the bank. Oswald Cowie was with him. Early on the morning of December 27 there was a ring, at the back door bell. went down, opened the door and saw four men, none of whom he knew They advanced over the threshold, one one of them said he knew a man whe used to be in the bank. After a shell conversation they all went upstairs, bub he did not remember under whal circumstances. Ho had not invited them there and had not seen them before. Did Not Invite Them. To Mr Cruichshank: They said tUey knew Les Nicol. Ho did not remember inviting them, and lie did not remember any or the rest of the conversation They were upstairs for about three hours. He did not try to obstruct thtJlu in going upstairs. He did not remember them asking if there was a party on. lie did not ask them to come along to the building. Ho went pustairs with the men. _ Oswald Cameron Cowie, aged 17, bank clerk, said be was in the sleeping premises of the bank on December -G. fhe back door bclL was rung about two o’clock on the morning of the 27th. Ho went half-way down and heard a voice. He heard the name Nicol. Witness thought there would be mischief and went back upstairs and took a revolver from his bedroom, put it in his pocket and went down to the basement. The men were talking to Wyatt, ami witness took the revolver from his pocket, held it in his hand so that the tnen could see it, and asked them to leave. Wyatt asked hih for the revolver He being senior to witness, witness handed it over. They all went apstairs, and then men were there for about three hours. There was some liquor there, and the men helped themselves to it. Men Were Asked to Leave. The men were asked to leave several times, but they took no notice. They finally walked on to the landing nt *1.15. Wyatt an<l McQuarrie went alocg the corridor. The other three walked to the woor, where witness was, and they went on to the landing. Wyatt and McQuarrie came back and Wyatt asked witness for the second revolver. Wyatt turned serious and asked the men to leave. Witness liad never seen the men before and had not invited them along. To Mr Cruickshank: He though by tho jabber of voices that mischief was weant. He got uneasy and went up-

itairs of the revolver. As soon as witness asked the men to leave Wyatt asked him for the revolver, and he handed it over. They tried to get the men to leave on several occasions, but they took no notice. It was useless to do anything. They could not force them out. The liquor was put on a table and, the men could help themselves. The men did not go until about 10 minutes to five. They used the story of the nightwatchman coming at four as an excuse to get them to leave. McQuarrier and Wyatt were doing most of the talking. Detectiv.e-Sergeant Thompson said he interviewed McQuarrie on th© morn ing of December 27. He read McQuarrie’s statement to the Court, and in it McQuarrie detailed his movements on the night of December 26. To the Magistrate: He found the revolver where it was stated to have been thrown. He examined the room at the bank and found empty liquor bottles there. Detective T .Smith produced statements made independently by Robertson and Kitson. This concluded the evidence. The Magistrate said it was clearly evident what had happened. The young chaps had gone along thinking there was a party on. The charges against them would be dismissed. Charge Against Cowie. The case against Cowie was then proceeded with. Evidence was given by Robertson, Kitson, and McQuarrie, who admitted having had liquor during the evening and later going to the bank, where further drink was taken. Referring to the events leading up to the shooting of Fletcher, McQuarrie said that when Cowie produced the revolver Fletcher told him to put it away. “I went back,” said witness “and told Fletcher to come down. Wyatt stood in the way, and I gave him a push. He fell on the stairs and immediately grabbed me by the legs. Cowie was holding the revolver in a position I did not like not very far off my face. “1 hit Wyatt with my fist,” said witness, “and then turned and rolled downstairs. I was just outside the door when I heard three shots. We all started to run along Wood street, and found Fletcher missing. We went back and

found him lying bleeding. Wyatt gave details of his movements early in the evening and what transpired. He said he did not remember what happened on the stairs but recollected afterwards that shots were fired. To Mr Russell, witness said he was struck on the top of the head and both lips were cut. At this stage the Court adjourned until the afternoon, Mr Macalister stating that there were three more witnesses. Mr Russell, the accused’s counsel, intimated that liis client would go into the witness box. “I went out into the passage and unloaded one of the bank revolvers and went into the room with it with the idea of inducing the t men to leave,” said Edward Alan Wyatt, bank clerk. “McQuarrie finally got possession of the revolver. Ido not remember handing it around. I cannot remember the circumstances in which the men eventually left tho building.” Mr Mac Alister: Do you remember what happened on the stairs! —No. Do you remember shots being fired?— No. But I knew afterwards that shots had been fired. Did you fire shots?—No. Mr Russell: It is admitted that accused fired the shots. There will be no contest on that. Witness said that he had taken off his coat because it was hot and a little whilo later one of the men—-ho thought it was Fletcher —struck him on the jaw. Did you get any other blow?—I don’t remember. To Mr Mahoney: He had been in the bank’s service about three years and this was not his first experience of residence in a bank. He had slept at the banks at various week-ends. Did you have the authority of the bank to bo in residence on this occasion?—Yes. Did Cowie also have authority?—Yes. You were the senior officer of the two? —Yes. Is it usual for residential officers to have firearms?—Yes. Do they have training in the use of firearms?—No. Did you have any training in the firearm you bad on the night of December | 26?—No. I Do you know if Cowio did?—l don’t know. I What instructions do you get from the bank in the use of firearms?—l had not had any definite instructions. The matter was left to our discretion as to when to use them.

Constable Summers said in the early hours on the morning of December 27 he was in the watchhouse at the Central Station in company with Constable Parks when accused ran into the station. He was very excited and out of breath. In his right hand he carried

a revolver. Witness immediately took the revolver from him. ‘ ‘ Accused said that he had shot one of four men who had been drinking in the bank,” continued witness, “and that there was another revolver in the possession of those men. I immediately cycled to the bank. As I approached the intersec*

tion of Dee and Tay streets I saw the witness Robertson running diagonally across Clyde street towards the monument. I accosted him and saw that he had been drinking, although he was not drunk. I accompanied Robertson to the gardens where I found McQuarrie and Kitson endeavouring to staunch tlTe flow of blood from Fletcher’s left arm. Fletcher was at that time lying cm the ground. X then sent Robertson on my bicycle to the police station to ring for an ambulance and to remain at the station until further orders. ” “I removed Fletcher’s coat and found that he had been shot through the upper left arm,” witness said. "Ting did not account for his condition and on further examination X saw that a bullet was lying underneath the skin ou the right side of tho abdomen. While waiting for the ambulance I saw a shadow of what appeared to be a man’s head and shoulders through the first floor window of the bank. Ou the arrival of the ambulance I was told bv the driver that Fletcher was dying. He died as wo lifted him on to the I stretcher. ’‘l then, ran to the back door of the |bank, ‘'continued witness,” and found Wyatt lying on the ground at the back door of the bank in a huddled condition. He was conscious but in a verv bad way. He handed me the keys of the bank with which I opened the rear door which was shut and locked. I sent Wilson and McQuarrie to the police station and took Fletcher’s body and Wyatt to tho hospital. "Later in the day with Senior-Ser-geant Kelly, Constable Brydone and Me* Qnarrie I searched No. 1 gardens. Me. Quarrie pointed out a shrub from which I recovered a revolver.” Mr Mahoney: Did Wyatt know of the shootiog on the morning of Sunday! —I cannot say yes or no, but I can give Wyatt’s remarks to me while in the ambulance. He said 'don’t let Ossie lose his job. I did it.’ This he said repeatedly. Accused In the Witness Box. “Everything looked quite quiet and they began to walk down the firat few steps of the stairs, ” said accused iu evidence. “Wyatt was about two yards behind them and I was about two yards behind him. They went as far as tho first landing and suddenly in a flask I saw Wyatt falling back with two of them attacking him. I jumped at the nearest man to me and caught him. by the shoulders. With that I received a blow at the back of the right ear. It dazed me. I crawled back to the top of the stairs and sat there for a short time.

“I wondered what the men were doing and what had happened to Wyatt. X rushed down as quickly as I could and stumbled on one or two steps. After turning at the landing where the conflict had taken place I noticed Wyatt’s revolver lying at the edge of tho stairs. I picked it up and ran downstairs. Just before X reached the bottom I saw Wyatt just opposite me standing outside the strongroom door bending over and holding his head in his hands. Partly due to glancing at Wyatt and the semi-darkness of the building I stumbled on the bottom step and fell against the gate of tho lift. X looked round and saw a shadow moving about and a thought flashed through my mind that Wyatt was injured.

‘X did not know where the other three men were, and as there were passages and doors in all directions, it was quite easy for them ,to be hiding somewhere. Under the impulse of great fear and iu the fraction of a second I pulled the trigger. 1 don’t know how many shots I fired. X only saw the flash of shots.

Just then the shadow I had seen rau past me along the passage for a few yards. He was holding his left arm and he turned round and ran back to the door, opened it and left. A few seconds later 1 opened the back door and feeling faint fell to my knees ou the grass. Wyatt followed me out of the door. He was holding his head. He took the revolver from me and ran ont the back door. I struggled to iny feet and followed him into Wood and Clyde streets. “I saw a man lying on the footpath with Wyatt kneeling beside him ana si ill holding the revolver in his hand. 1 tool* it from him and ran as fast as X could to the police station. There l reported the accident.” lo Mr. Russell: I had never fired a revolver before.* Detective-Sergeant Robert Thompson, who saw accused at the police station ou the morning of tho fatality, said that he was in an excited condition but quite sober. He visited the bank and lound empty beer bottles and a gin flask, also a partly emptied gin flask. He also found two broken beer bottles on the back door of the bank. He found a bullet hole about four feet from the ground. He took possession of two revolvers and in the larger revolver he found three shells which had been recently discharged and also two live shells which had been struck by the striker but had not exploded. One of the shells had since been accidentallv discharged. When he saw Wyatt ol the hospital Wyatt was drunk.