RESIDENT MAGISTRATE'S COURT. April 24th, 1850.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VI, Issue 494, 27 April 1850, Page 2

RESIDENT MAGISTRATE'S COURT. April 24th, 1850.

William Good, Peter M'Auslan, and J. Jones were brought before H. St. Hill, Esq., Resident Magistrate, charged with the murder of John Ellis, on board the General Palmer, on or about the 16th March. Owing to the great and painful interest .excited by the circumstances connected with the murder, ihe Court was crowded in every part. Mr« Bethune and a few other witnesses were examined this day to prove the discovery of the body of Ellis on board the General Palmer, when the prisoners were remanded until the following day. On Thursday the 25 th the three prisoners and J. Thompson, who had been previously remanded on the same charge, were again brought before H. St. Hill, Esq., when the following witnesses were examined. R. Barry, gaoler, deposed that the three first named prisoners were committed to his custody the previous day charged with the murder of Ellis ; he searched the prisoners and found on Good a purse, and several half crowns and other pieces of money sown up in his trousers. Nicholas Oxcnham, Armed Police, deposed — On the 29th March last I received instructions from the Sub-Inspector of Police to proceed in search of three men suspected of the murdfer commiUed oiTboard the" General Palmer ; on the night of the 7th ult. I apprehended one of the prisoners (Jones) at Mr. Alexander's station about 70 miles beyond' Castle point on the East Coast ; after apprehending Jones I received information that another of the prisoners was at Mr. Tiffen's station about 14 miles further inland, I proceeded on and between 6 and 7 o'clock on the morning of the Bth I apprehended Good ; I was also informed the other man had gout on to Ahuriri ; there were three natives with me, I left Jones in charge with one of the natives while I went with the other two in par* suit of Good ; after apprehending Jones I requested a natiTe chief naimd Morena with Waka another native to proceed io pursuit of M'Auslan ; on the 12th instant Morena and Waka brought back M'Auslan prisoner to Mr. Alexander's station where 1 had remained with the two other prisoners ; on the 13th I searched M'Auslan and Jones, and on the 16th 1 searched Good and the other two prisoners ; on Jones I found a knife and check shirt; I inquired at the several stations if the prisoners had left anything, and found a pair of boots at Mr. Gmhris's, Cattlt Point, and

a white shirt at Mr. Tiffen's ; I forgot to state that on Good I found a watch, a waistcoat, « black silk handkerchief, a towel and blue cloth cap, on the towel were maiks of blood ; I armed in Wellington with the prisoners on the 23rd ; ML'Auslan told me that Bill (Good) said the boots were not all right ; on taking the prisoners into custody I cautioned them as to any communications they might make to me. Cross-examined by Good — When I first searched you, I observed blood on the towel ; I did not take the towel out of your posses - sion ; I shared and wiped myself with the towel before and after searching you ; Ido not tecollect any of the party being cut in shaving himself; the towel has not been washed since it came into my possession. By M'Auslan — It was on the 19th of this month that you spoke to me about the boots ; it was after we passed Castle Point on our return. Dr. Monteith's evidence, taken at a previous examination, March 30, detailing the j post mprteni examination of the body, and which in substance is the same as that given at the inquest, was read over to the prisoners, who declined asking him any questions. J. P. Collins, shoemaker, deposed — Thelast time he saw Ellis was on the 16th March, when deceased came to his shop between 3 and 4 o'clock in the afternoon for a pair of boots wituess had been making for him ; he took the boots away and about two hours afterwards called and paid for them ; he took his purse out of his pocket and laid it on the counter ; witness noticed the purse, which was an old one, either brown and blue or brown and green; deceased paid for the boots in crown pieces, of wh'ch the purse appeared to be full ; the hoots now produced are those which Ellis paid for ; the purse now produce), to the best of witness' belief, is the same which Eliis had ; it was tied at one end by a piece of yarn and had two rings ; Ellis frequently visited the house of witness, sometimes alone, sometimes accompanied by other persons ; the last time deceased cavie to his house be was in company with M'Auslan ; prisoner -stood with his hack to witness ; they left his house and walked up the street together ; witness has seen Jones in company with Ellis, but they were never at his house together ; does not know Good. Cross-examined by M'Auslan — It was an hour or an hour and a-half before da. k that I saw you and Ellis at my house on 16th March ; you have slept on^nighLatrny housejmd paid me for your night's lodging ; you were in my ' house with Ellis two or three days before the 16th March ; after Ellis and you left my house on the 16th March I never saw either of you since, until I saw you yesterday coming from the gaol ; you and Ellis came together to the steps of my door, you remained at the door, and Ellis came in and paid for the boots. Mary Ann Jackson — I know the furthest prisoner (Good), I do not know his name, I never heard him called any thing but William ; I lived at that time at Egans house in Willisstreet at which William was a frequent visitor ; I visited him on board the General Palmer ; the last time that I was on board that vessel was on the Sunday week before the 30th March the day I was last examined ; When he came to Egans he was always ac- . companied by the sailor boy ; I did not know the latter by any other name ; I have heard him say he belonged to the General Palmer ; when I went on board the General Palmer on the Sunday I saw no other person thin William ; 1 did not see the sailor boy ; I was on board an hour and a-half ; there were ten of us wenton board General Palmer, on the Saturday before we went on board, the sailor boy came to our house and invited us, William was . with him ; as I did not see the sailor boy when I was on board I asked William where he was, he said he was on shore ; I never saw the sailor boy afterwards; I saw William again on the Mon- -- day. and Tuesday following, he came to'Egan!s. house ; I did not see him again until yesterday. Cross-examined by Good — Now you speak of it I remember being on board one evening before with my mother ; the sailor boy asked ns to stop on board;' yon stopped at Egans house on the Monday night after the Sunday, bnt not on Tuesday night ; yon did not stop there on the Sunday night. ,By the Court — I understood' from William that he lived on board the General Palmer; we went on board the General Palmer on the Sunday in tht boat belonging to that vessel ; it was the same boat I went on board in on a former occasion, when the sailor boy told me it was the General Palmer's boat ; on the Sunday William was the party who took us on board ; I was in the cuddy tht greater part of the time on the Sunday ; I observed nothing singular. Margaret Dockery — Deposed to Good's having frequently visited her house in company with Ellis, whose clothes she washed ; the shirt produced was not Ellis's, his shirts were all blue coloured ones John Johnson, tinman — Deposed to having seen Good and Ellis walking together on

the jetty nearly opposite his house on the afternoon of Saturday, March 16 ; saw them get into the boat, shore off, and go on to the Tessel ; there was a third person sitting in tht item sheets ; witness nerer taw Ellis afterwards. Basil Brown, lodging-hoase keeper — Deposed to having known Ellis, he belonged to the General Palmer ; saw him last on the Saturday, neai Mr. Loxley's store, in company with the prisoners Good and M'Auslan, to whom he spoke ; has seen Jones once or twice in company with Good, but frequently with M'Auslan, with whom he appeared very intimate; remembers seeing Good, M'Auslan, and Jones, go off in the General Palmer's boat to the vessel ; saw them go up the vessel's side ; this was on the Monday forenoon ; knew it to be the General Palmer's boat as Ellis always used it when he came to and from the vessel ; never saw Ellis after the time spoken of; witness remembers seeing j Peter (M'Auslan) and Jones at Pitnble's about one o'clock the same day he saw them gooff to the vessel; saw them again- on, Tuesday at Firth's ; Jones and M'Auslan are in bis (witness') debt. Cross-examined — Peter (M'Auslan) came into my bouse on Sunday, after dinner, he asked me how much be owed me ; be pulled out of his pccket several crown pieces, half-crowns, and a sovereign, and said, " I will not pay you now, I will pay you all in a lump;" be then said, "you will hear of something before long, they tell me not to let you know anything about it, I have a bag of gold in the flax ;" he said "if you will go to the head of the lane I will then pay you ;" I asked him what be meant by saying I should bear of something before long, he replied "Never mind, they tell me not to tell you anything about it, -but I am not afraid of you Brown." James Caldon, deposed — I knew John Ellis intimately ; he lived on board the General Palmer; I know the prisoner Good ; I knew him by the name of William ; I remember going on board the General Palmer the 17th March ; I went to invite John Ellis to my wedding, which was to take place the following day ; I went in the General Palmer's boat, which Good managed ; there were several persons in it ; I did not see Ellis and asked Good if Ellis was on board, he said "no, he went ashore that morning ;" there was ud person on board when we went there; I observed Ellis's cabin door open, and asked Good the reason, and he said, " when Ellis went on shore he always trusted him with the key ;" I saw Good the follov/ing Monday about 12 o'clock, he came to our house: I inquired if he had delivered my message to Ellis ; he said "no, the boy had gone on shore in the morning ;" I saw Good again the next day in Willis- street ; 1 went with him to Andersons store ; he purchased a bottle of pickles, and pulled out a £5 note to pay for it ; he left me shortly afterwards, and said, he intended going out of town for a few days ; Ellis generally wore a blue cloth cap ; I cannot say the cap now produced belonged to Ellis, it is so much disfigured ; Ellis did not have much money about him, not more than one pound ; sometimes be had his money in a purse ; the purse now produced 1 can swear belonged to Ellis, it used to have brass rings upon it. Ann Whebby, daughter of Thomas Whebby, deposed, that she saw the prisoners Good, Jones, and M'Auslan, land from a boat opposite her father's house in Oriental Bay about 8 o'clock in the morning of the 19th or 20th March ; they came in a direction from the General Palmer in a sailing boat ; there were four men in the boat ; the three men when they left the boat went towards the town. Thomas Duncan, one of the Armed Police, deposed to having taken Thomson into custody on board the General Palmer. _ _ Christopher Egan.— The evidence of this witness corroborated that of Mary Ann Jackson. The prisoners were then asked by the Resident Magistrate if they wished to make any f tatement. /.Good declined to say anything ; M'Auslan said he could bring several persons for whom he had worked to account satisfactorily for the monty in his possession. The prisoner Jones made the following statement : — On the 18th March I met Good between Luxford'a and Lyon's ; he bad a small paper parcel in his hand ; he told me | that he and little Jack were going to a wedding ; Good said he must be on board before 10 o'clock to hoist a flag on board the General Palmer, that the agents should not know they were on shore ; I went on board with him ; when we went on board the table was covered with dishes ; he said he and his mate had had a party on board the day before ; he then dressed himself and put on a cloth cap ; we then went on shore and landed At Flyger's wharf ; I met Thompson, and he and I went to the Porirua-road seeking for work ; we afterwards met Good who said that he and his mate were not going on board, and that if we

went od board we should be paid for it ; I went on board, and came on shore the following morning at 8 o'clock, when we met Good; we went on board together ; Good put on a clean shirt and said he could eat no breakfast, and wished to go ashore again ; ht said he and little Jack would be down by and bye and pay us for our trouble ; we stopped about the wharf all day and saw nothing more of Good till night ; he then tsked me to go on board again and I inquired for little Jack, be said he bad gone with a Maori woman on the terrace ; he asked M'Auslan and myself to go on board ; M'Auslan refused, I asked Thompson to go ; we put off, but after pulling two hours could not make the vessel it was blowing so hard ; we j hauled up the boat as far as we could, and remained by her all night for fear of her being stove ; a little after daylight Good came to us, and asked what brought us there, 1 told him what had happened, we tried to get the boat off and M'Auslan carae down .shortly afterwards and assisted, and we all went on board and prepared for breakfast ; Good said the Sisters had come in from Hobart Town, and asked me to go up the coast with him ; he said the yearly returns had come down and he would be sent back to Hobart Town ; I told him my boots were bad, he said he had a new pair ; I tried one on and it fitted me, be also j gave me a cotton shirt and I consented to go with him to Wairarapa to see if there was any work there ; after breakfast we went on shore, and Thompson returned with the boat to the ship ; I left them to get my blankets; M'Auslan, Good and I crossed over at the pilot's station to the opposite side of the harbour, and went to Mr. Riddiford'a. station that night ; we stopped the next night at apa at the foot of the lake, and from thence went to Mr. Russell's and to Mr. Campbells; when we reached the latter station I wished to exchange my boots for a stronger pair ; at Guthrie's station Mrs Guthrie exchanged a pair of boots with me for mine and gave me a shirt and handkerchief in addition ; I then went on to Mr. Alexander's where I stopped to work ; Good went to a station further inland and I saw no more of him till I saw him in custody. The following statement was made by Thompson. On the 19th or 20th March I went on board the General Palmer, accompanied by William Good, Peter M'Auslan and J. Jones ; when I got on board we had some breakfast, while we were on board Good was in one cabin and Jones in another, and they passed from one cabin to another several times ; during this time M'Auslan remained at the table eating, after this the three were whispering together, they spoke so low I could not hear them ; after this Good called out Jones and M'Auslan to the quarter deck separately ; I don't know what passed between them; Good afterwards called me on the quarter deck, he told me be expected the Sisters had got bis description from Hobart Town as he was a bolter ; be asked me to stop on board the ship and hoist the flag at 10 o'clock and haul it down at 1 1 o'clock in the morning ;he said -the police knew he was on board the General Calmer and it would not do for him to stop there ; that Ellis was gone into the country with some friends, and that when he returned in two or three days, he would satisfy me for my trouble ; he said he had a friend who would see if his descriptions had come and he- would see Ellis before he left town and tell him there was some one on board ; I then consented to remain on board ; we returned on board, he got a clothes brush and asked me to brush his coat ; I observed some spots of blood with dirt on one sleeve and asked him the reason of it ; he snatched the brush from me and said, he had been leaning on the table ; there was also blood on his trousers, but having no suspicion at the time I looked no further ; he shortly afterwards got into the boat to go on shore ; I observed a pair oJf boots and asked Jones if they did not belong to Ellis, he said they did but Ellis had given them to him because they did not fit him ; when I discovered the boots I suspected they had been stealing something from the ship, I asked them if they bad as they would get me into trouble, they declared they had not and we parted ; they went on shore and I remained in the ship, where I continued until I was taken into custody. I The prisoners were committed to take their trial at the next sittings of the Supreme Court, and the witnesses severally entered into recognizances to attend and give their evidence.