Tuesday, June 4.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VI, Issue 506, 8 June 1850, Page 3

Tuesday, June 4.

R. S. Chessman, solicitor, deposed that at the last sittings of the Supreme Court the prisoner Good, in answer to a charge of

*ei'ng a convict and illegally at large, said he liad been convicted of a. military offence in India but bad served his time, as the Conrt would see on reference to the Gazette. James Firth, publican, Aurora Tavern — I know all the prisoneis ; I saw Jones and M'AusUnd on Monday 18th March ; they were drinking more than usual ; on Monday and Tuesday they spent between £3 and £5. Cross-examined — The money consisted of crowns, half-crowns, and half a sovereign. By M'Ausland — I saw no sovereigns paid by you ; on the Friday before, M'Ausland asked for credit. .Kenneth Bethune, merchant, of the firm of Bethune and Hunter, agents for the General IWwen; about September last John Ellis was appointed shipkeeper by the Captain for his general good character ; I went on board the 26th (March last to see what was going on ; the next morning the mutdered body of John Ellis was found on board the vessel, the body ■was that of Ellis ; a set of signals had been previously agreed upon which had been regularly hoisted to the 26th ; the General Palmer was out of the way of vessels ; there were muskets and pistols on board ; Ellis generally wore ai loose blue shirt, or a pilot coat according, to the weather ; I never saw him wear a jacket more than once ; be did not generally wear a waistcoat. Cross-examined — I went on board in consequence of a' remark made by a friend of Ellis 1 ; I saw on board a man named Thompson, 1 asked for Ellis ; he replied Ellis had not been on board for some days, he had gone into the country and he was keeping the ship for him ; I remarked it was very extraordinary as Ellis was not in the habit of leaving he ship ; Thompson said Ellis had sent him on board the Monday week ; he afterwards said he had made a mistake, it was that day (Tuesday) week ; Ellis came to receive his pay once a week, he came on shore occasionally but never stopped long until latterly, when he got into company with the prisoners ; I suppose Ellis had a little money as he was a saving young man ; be might have had £10; he received that sum from the Captain when the cargo was discharged in September ; there was a number of pistols thrown promiscuously, hr the steward's cabin ; Ellis was 21 years of age. By M'Ausland — I never authorised any person but Ellis to go on board the vessel. Re-examined — I observed a quantity of old ~ sails, rope, and other lumber piled up in the steward's pantry as if purposely. Solomon Hook re-examined by M'Ausland — The waistcoat belonged to Ellis ; I believe the comb was Ellis's ; I have seen Ellis with a knife similar to the one produced ; I cannot identify any of the other articles ; when Good came alongside the Twins with Ellis he had a coat on like that now produced. Edward Roe, warehouseman- 1 went on board the General P * aimer on 26th March with Mr. Bethune to look for Ellis ; we found Thompson on' board the vessel ; we searched the cabin but did notfindany thing at that time'; I noticed a lot of lumber in the first cabin going in ; we returned on shore ; the following morning I went on board between 9 and 10 to see the two meu whe were placed in charge ; pne of the men told me he had noticed a smell, and I begap to clear the pantry and discovered the body in a cask ; some doors were upon the cask ; the other two men helped me to clear the cabib ; Iwent on board in the evening and saw the body, it was the body of John Ellis ; I saw some spots of blood on the panel of the cabin where the body was found ; the letter produced was found on board the vessel ; I brought it on shore ,and gave it to Mr. Bethune ; the body was stowed in a small beef cask with the heels sticking up, there were two othericasks in the pantry ; the doors were placed on the casks and the lumber piled on the doors ; I was not present when the body was taken out of the cask. In his cross-examination the witness corroborated Mr. Bethunes evidence as to Thompson's first statement ; the deceased called regularly every week to ba paid his wages, generally on the Monday; the last time he called to be paid was early in March ; witness bad not seen him alive' since. G. D. Monteith, surgeon — I examined a body on board the General Palmer, which I was informed was that of John Ellis, seaman ; the body was lying, on deck, and was carried from the deck to the cuddy for the purpose of examination ; the -first wound I examined was immediately under the left ear, a deep incised wound dividing the deep-seated vessels and arteries of the throat ; that wound would produce death ; the wound must have been made by some sharp instrument. - The next wound was a contused wound under the right jaw, with fracture of the bone ; on the forehead were two contused wounds, one over the right eye, the other in front on the forehead, in' both instances the skull was extensively fractured; either of those wounds would be -fatal; the next wound I examined was on the lower and back part of the head, which was also a mortal wound.; I compared the hammer now: in

Court with the three wounds last described, and it exactly corresponded and would have produced similar appearances ; the next wound was immediately anterior to the left ear ; it appeared to be a shot wound ; it passed immediately beneath the orbit of the eye, and made its exit at the bridge of the nose ; in its passage it broke the jaw and bone of the nose ; this wound might have caused death, but not immediately ; I observed a great extravasation of blood on the temple immediately above the last wound, there was no wound of the skin but there was an extensive fracture of the skull ; the injury might have been caused by the butt end of a pistol ; the shot wound would have been caused by a shot such as that produced ; I have no doubt that death was caused by the wounds I hare described ; one pocket was turned inside out, in the other a purse was found containing a sovereign and some silver. Cross-examined — The shot wound must have been caused by some one standing behind the deceased ; I think the contused wound on the jaw was given while deceased was lying on the deck ; I should' think the wound in the neck was given when deceased was down ; any of the wounds, except that on the jaw, must have caused the deceased to fall ; it is impossible to say with certainty which wound was produced first. Re-examined — The botly was very much decomposed ; the brain was so decomposed I could not examine it ; as far as I can judge, the body might have been there eleven days, but the testimony does not admit of certainly. This concluded the case for the prosecution. Mr. King, for the defence, examined the following witnesses :—: — A. E. M'Donogh, who deposed that Good told him he had been transported by the sentence of a general court martial in India, and was illegally at large; the brig Sisters arrived on the 19th March. Basil Brown — I saw Thompson at Firth's jetty the Friday after Ellis was missing ; it was just after dark ; I noticed a pilot cloth jacket under his arm ; I asked him if he had heard of Ellis ; he said he had not. J.E. Smith, clerk to the magistrates, proved the statements made by Thompson at the police-office, whichwere read over to him, and signed by him. Nicholas Oxenham, examined by M'Ausland in his defence. — You said to Good on our return, if you have murdered the hoy, why don't you own to it, and clear us; Good said that's my business ; M'Ausland said it was a pity I had not searched him ; he thought there was something on Good there was no business there ; and I searched them again ; the waistcoat was taken from Good at the gaol. I used to handcuff Good and Jones together, and on one occasion on getting out of bed I found them outside the house. Charles Brown, a Dane examined by Jones — You came to my house on a Wednesday morning the prisoners had some words together Peter said I don't want Jones with me ; I want Good for fear of afterclaps. The Attorney General, in addressing the Jury, said it was clear by the evidence which had been brought before them, that a most foul murder had been committed on the person of John Ellis, and he should assume that the time of the murder was the 16th March, since no one had seen Ellis alive after that time. The question was who com- , mitted the murder ? Whether all the prisoners were guilty of the crime, or whether the evidence leaned more to one than the other ? Incommenting on the evidence of Hook and Matthew, he showed that they fully corroborated each other, since they agreed in all the main facts, and the discrepancy as to the^ time at which the observation was made about the cabin in which the body was found was such as might be expected where there was no previous concert. Thompson's statement remained unimpeached. It was true his first statement before the Resident Magistrate differed materially from that which he now made, but it was very natural that he should make that statement, since at that time Ellis's body was not found, and he had a right to believe what Good had told him, and could have no suspicion that Ellis had been murdered. It was his (the Attorney General's) duty to seek out the truth, to endeavour that the truth should be elicited without any desire to secure the conviction of the prisoners unless from the evidence they should prove to be guilty. The whole weight of the evidence pointed to Good. He lived with the deceased, was last in his company, was on board on the Sunday morning under suspicious circumstances which do not apply to the other prisoners, the answers he gave in accounting for Ellis's absence, his remarkable expression when taxed with the murder, " that's my business," produced on his mind a strong conviction against Good. It was also to be remarked 1 that Good never slept on board the General Valmer after the Saturday, and that the property found belonging to the deceased

weighed more positively against Good than against *be other prisoners. It would be for them to consider well the evidence, and he should leave the case in their hands satisfied that they would conscientiously discharge their duty. Mr. King, for the prisoner Good, hoped the Jury would banish all prejudice from their minds. He complained of the number of witnesses brought into Court who bad* not been examined at the Police Office, and whose evidence had not previously been taken in the presence of the prisoners. He then entered into a lengthened examination of the evidence, and contended for Good's innocence, and that the murder was probably committed by the two other prisoners, and by a reference to a number of cases of circumstantial evidence endeavoured to show the extreme difficulty of pronouncing a decison where the case rested on circumstantial evidence only. M'Ausland and Jones severally entered 1 into a long account of their conduct from the Monday after the murder to the time they were taken into custody. His Honor, in charging the Jury observed, that if from a careful consideration of the evidence they should be satisfied of the guilt of the prisoners, in the discharge of their duty to the public they would find them guilty regardless of any consequences ; but if, on the other hand, a reasonable doubt should exist in their minds, their duty to the prisoners would oblige them to give the prisoners the benefit of that doubt. The learned Judge then explained that under the Indictment it was utterly unimportant which of the prisoners struck the blow, if the others were present aiding and abetting when the murder was committed, and said from the nature of the crime, which was committed in secret, the evidence was almost invariably of a circumstantial nature. He then entered into an elaborate review of the evidence, into which we reget our limits do not permit us to follow, pointing out its bearing against each of the prisoners, and shewing that the evidence bore with most force ag'ainstGood, and in a less degree against the other two prisoners. The Jury then retired, and after an absence of thirty five minutes, returned a verdict of Guilty against Good, and not Guilty against M'Ausland and Jones. His Honor then briefly and impressively passed the awful sentence of Death upon the prisoner Good, directing that his body after execution should be buried within the precincts of the Gaol. Throughout the whole of the trial theprisoner Good exhibited the utmost firmness and self possession, and heard the sentence without betraying any emotion. The remainder of the proceedings of the Supreme Court will be published in our next number.