HIS PARAMOUR CHARGED

NZ Truth, Issue 1176, 14 June 1928, Page 4

HIS PARAMOUR CHARGED

Woman's Alleged Attack With Axe On Sleeping Man

(From "N.Z. Truth's" Special Dunedin Representative.) "When I saw the blood ccming I did not stop . . . But anyhow, he got what he deserved, "

IN these words, EJsie Clara Babich, a young married woman, is alleged to have described to a detective the incident which led to her appearance in the Dunedin Police Court on. a charge of assaulting Wilfred Charles Waldren so as to cause him bodily harm. When the assault occurred some three weeks ago, it caused more than a flutter of excitement in and around the city, as Waldren was until recently, a well-known taxi-proprietor and was known to be living with the accused; , After several remands, due to Waldren's incapacitation, the hearing of the case in the lower court was proceeded with last Friday. -..'■• „ Owing to unfavorable reports from the probation officers, the accused was remanded in custody from May 18. Chief -detective Don. Cameron conducted the prosecution'. The case f or : the Crown was that the accused had imbedded the weapon in Waldren's skull while he was asleep and then, thinking that, she had murdered him, fled from the house and gave herself up to the police. . The evidence, of Doctor Minn, ,wno has since left for England, was - taken the previous week.and was to the effect that Waldren was admitted to th<s casualty ward of the- Dunedin city hospital with one ear almost • severed. During a subsequent operation, chips of , metal were -taken from . the depth of the wound. . - Heavily . clad,., with ..his shoulders haunched and his. head to one side as though suffering from a stiff neck, Waldren bore evidence of the trouble

he had experienced during the last three weeks. His complexion was ashen arid completely color-

threats' and, Tie haa not " the faintest , idea vrhy she should attack himi r \ ... Under cross-ex-amination; Waldren ,'.

less, while sighs of """*" """ ' ' the operation were plainly visible. On account of his weakened condition, Waldren was permitted to give his evidence from a chair beside the. witness-box. He stated that he was a married man, living apart from his wife. He resided at 162 King Street, North Dunedln, in rooms over his garage and for the past three years had been living with the accused. He made his living as a motor mechanic. Things went fairly smoothly in the household, according to .Waldren, an occasional quarrel being the only disturbing element that he could recall. Questioned regarding an argument on the Tuesday or Wednesday before the assault, he said he. did not remember , what ., the quarrel was about, but he struck. her on the .face and blackened her eye. He was quite sober at the time, but Bablch may have had a few drink3. Waldren's version of the 'incidents leading up to the assault, were that he went out at 7.30 p.m. on Thursday arid did, not return until 3 o'clock in the mornijig. . ;■ I "I was 'q'tilte sbh;er when I returned," Waldren continued, "and. found accused lying partially clothed' on the bed reading a paper. "She asked me where I had 'been and passed remarks about it, but I didn't answer her. I. later fell asleep. "The : - next I ■ knew was when I woke up and found the bed.smothered in blood. ."'.'•• "I put my hand up to my head and found my ear had been gashed: across.. "Bablch was not In the room, so 1 crawled to the door and called out to my brother-in-law, who occupies rooms In the same building. "I am' a bit hazy as to, what took place after that, but I remember 'being taken to the hospital. Waldren recognized ' the ... tomahawk produced as one similar to that which he kept -in- his rooms. , He did not racolfaci being struck / and mu3t have been aslsap whsr. hit v/ith the axe. There had not been any previous

stated that the as- .„■ ....-.- ... ■ ■ ■' •.•; sault took place in the kitchen Trhlch was used as a /bedroom oh cold/nights as it had a, fireplace in it. .-.: ■ ; Counsel: Have you been living hap- 1 plly with this woman: for -the last twelve months V-^-Yes. .. ■ • Perfectly?— Yes. • •- -> ' •-•■.• But you have had a good few t rows? — Just small tiffs. • .' But was the Tuesday or Wednesday you speak of . the only occasion, on which you struck her?— Yes. * . Can you account^ for the fact that Dr. Jjlnden, when examining her a day or so after her arrest, found her to be covered; with bruises 'from head to foot?— No, I cannot. You -threw some -water over her when you blackened her eye? — Yes. - Did you call . her a — ~ on that occasion? — Absolutely no. Waldreh further, stated in answer. to counsel's questioning, that he did not remember Babich running across to the bootmaker's for help when he struck her. . . He. Was sure, he was, perfectly sober when, he returned homo in the morning, as he, had only two whiskies at a party at "Anderson's Bay. . • Questioned as to the conversation which took place when : he returned home, Waldren said: "She asked me where I had been and. I said I was at a party. She made several statements, but I ] took no notice of them as it, Would have made things worse. Counsel: Babich says that you came in and said:, "Hullo, you _ ; — ,' how many clients have you had to-night?" — That is not true. '■ . : .' ; ■:"...-,- Counsel: Have you ever, spoken to her (about going out with men?— l might have at times. Can you suggest why this woman should iattack you with an axe when, as you say, you* have had only a few trifling quarrels JrrNo, I cannot. Didn't you have some trouble in the early ihours of the morning about money i matters?— : We did not. The knock has made me hazy ito some ■of the happenings on that.: morning. , He denied having accused's purse and that he struck her and scratched her neck after pulling her out of bed. The bruises must have been somebody else's doing according to Wai r dren, who said accused was out every rday. -.'■•■ - .-■'•'• . :. .■ .'■ '.'■■.' .pid you chase her when she ran for help to ihe bootmaker, and say that y,ou would do for her arid would fls: her?— No. , .-. :'..; \-;' ''„'. : ;\ : " ; -. , Have you ever said that she I- would never leave the .'house, alive. ■ and tbjat ithe-pnly Way she would; ; ■leave the J place was '.iri; a box?— / That's rid i<;ul6ua. : ,. „..,- ,".

Grim Awakening?

Waldren s Dental

Counsel: Well, that Is what Bhe says and you scarcely suggest that a wo- ! man would imagine these things? i ■"' Re-examined by the chief-detective, , Waldren said he was not madly drunk i when he came home from the party. Babich went out nearly every day and always went into hotels. Chief -detective : Do you know if she has been mixed up in brawls in hotels . or In the streets? Magistrate: "I will not allow that Question on these proceedings." Phillip l/ouis Pbmeroy, a brother-in-law of Waldren's, who, with his wife, occupies rooms adjacent to Waldren'B, <was the next witness. He was called .to Waldren's bed-side at 4 o'clock in ; the morning and found his brother-in-law in . a dazed condition with (blood flowing freely from a wound on . the .skull. ' Waldren and Babich had a few quarrels to his knowledge, but he > had not heard them at it on the night of the assault. ' Cecil Joseph Rackley, a ybuth employed on the publishing staff of the "Otago Daily Times," said he waa on the way to (work at about 4 o'clock on the morning of May 18, when he was accosted by a woman who : stepped out , from a doorway in King Street. .The 1 woman was Babich and she made the startling announcement: "I have Just murdered somebody, and I'm not • sorry, either." She then asked . me to go upstairs and see if he was still alive. ; The accused (sharply); "That's. a lie. /That's a lie, young fellow." ' Witness: "She said he was upstairs and bleeding like. a stuck pig.'' ' , Rackley- .declined, to- be implicated In

the assault and refused to comply with the accused's request, but tie accompanied her to the Dunedin North

■'•-' «' ' : Police Station. "While on the way there," said witness, "she told me that she hit him on the head with an axe. . .. "She said he had come home and demanded money from her." An argument had ensued, Waldren explaining that his late arrival home was due to a breakdown. Accused assured witness, however, that Waldren's tale was a fabrication, for she was certain he had been out with "that woman." When they arrived at the police station, • she remarked to one of ,the constables^ "That Waldren! I've hit him on the head with a tomahawk." Accused was feeling faint, .but was revived .with a glass of water and in company with two policemen, she and witness returned to Waldren's rooms, when accused again remarked: "I wish I . had killed .him." ....... The arrival of the accused at the station and her dramatic announcement, at 4.30 o'clock ! in- the morning, that she had attacked a man with an axe, was recounted toy Constable Matheson. , t , • • -■ "I have done something to Wil- . fred Waldren. Arrest me or dp ;so met King wiih me," she said as • she entered trie watch-house. "I- hit him on the sLde of the head with a tomahawk, but I don't know, whether, l killed him or not." she add-, ed. She declared that Waldren had given her a black eye on the previous night. She was crying,' but soon calmed down and appeared to be quite sober. Witness was one of the party which accompanied accused back' to her home, and when she saw Waldren sitting on the 'bed she said: "I wish I had killed you." She showed witness the axe -with -which she committed the assault. Her only remark when the chargo was read to her at the watch house was: "I wish I had done it properly." Constables Watt and Smythe gave corroborative testimony concerning accused's admissions and conf essiona on the morning of the assault. Detective; Russell, who examined the

rooms where the assault 'took place, stated that the pillows in the bed where Waldren was sleeping -.were sat- I

. urated with blood, while there were pools oil blood about trie roprn.' , * ' There Avas a .bottle of 'beer about one-third full -standing, on ' the table and one and a-iial£ flasks of whisky at a. bedside. There was no disorder or sigm .of a '-struggle in th,e- i-borri; - Three days after the assault, accused asked ■to see ; \yitness, and he met her in the prison yard. After inquiring after Waldren's condition, she declared: "When I saw the blood coming I did not stop, ( _but anyhow he got what, he . deserved." "She told me they had t>een fighting," witness concluded. Babich reserved her defence and was committed to the 'August sittings of the Supreme Court in Dunedin for trial. .<n answer to counsel's application for bail Magistrate Bundle stated that if satisfactory arrangements could he mode' with the Salvation Army authorities, accused could be released from custody, but he would reserve the matter in the meantime.