AWAITING JURY'S VERDICT

NZ Truth, Issue 1197, 8 November 1928, Page 10

AWAITING JURY'S VERDICT

Notable Murder Trials Recalled By Hardie Case

(From "N.Z. Truth's" Special Dunedin, Representative.) " What will the verdict be?" Once again the cloisters of the Dunedin Supreme Court have echoed the high tension of conjecture when a human life hung on the final word from twelve good men and true . . . locked away In the jurors' room.

BUT never before has there been . manifest at the portals of Dunedin'a chambers of justice such a widespread interest m the verdict of a murder trial as was the case last week. "It reminds me of the great Minnie Dean trial at Invercargill m 1895," remarked a long-service police officer — one of a passageway group. 'the officer, ho doubt, was referring to the corresponding length and other superficial features of the proceedings, but whatever the notability of previous murder trials held m the southern p*art of the Dominion, the hearing of the case against William John Hardie on a charge, of having murdered Sho Leung Shum, the Chinese gold-digrger, for two oun6efc» of gold, must go down as one of the most impressive trials m the history of New Zealand. From the time, of his arrest, three and a-half months ago, to his rising from his seat m the dock to hear the fatal words from the lips of the jury foreman, Hardies demeanor, to say the least of it, had' been remarkable. Throughout the lower court proceedings, for the opening stages of which he was transported to . ' Naseby — the locality of his recent employment— he showed not the slightest sign of emotion of any kind. Unless it were that of mild , amusement! Awaiting his appearance before the higher tribunal, Hardie, it is said, amused himself with whatever games were placed at his dispbsal, such as deck-quoits— at which, it is understood, he became quite an expert. Many hours of hia confinement, it Js also reported, he idled away with pencil and ' paper,, sketching— a hobby, it seems, which he could not even resist m the second stage of his lower court appearance at Dunedln, when he called upon hjs escort to hand him pencil and

paper! During his four days' ordeal m the Supreme Court, when the " net of circumstantial evidence was bejrig woven slowly, but surely, before his eyes — though not, it transpired, to consummate the capital charge— Hardie maintained a mien of insen Bib ili .t'y which defied the most ardent student of human nature. : This feature alone is sufficient to place the Hardie trial m the category of extraordinary. ' As to the manner m which his trial resembles that of the notorious baby farmer, ■ Mi nn I c Dean, who met her doom on the scaffold at Invercargill gaol on August 12, 1896, ■ it v. is v. hardlypermissible to make comparisons. But m view of Hardies impregnable frontage to the most terrible test which can be imposed upon human control, it maj be interesting to rtV view the manner In which Dean and one or two other central figures m southern murder trials have borne themselveß through the abyss of wretchedness. Minnie Dean's trial lasted three and a-half 'days, which, together with the fact that she retained the same counsel as did Hardie, are certainly features to casual comparison. Minnie Dean lived m a small dwelling called "The Larches" at Winton, not far from Invercargill, where the

charge against her was subsequently heard. ' The crimes which sent her to the gallows at the age of 48, were established after the police had .found the bodies of three infants buried m the garden surrounding the house.

One skeleton, that of a child of about four years, was unearthed ,by the searchers, : but was m such an advanced state of decomposition that the bones had to be picked up one by one?

Two other infants' bodies, of more recent burial, Were, discovered about half a chain from the front door of "The Larches," buried m a hole about 18 inches deep, among the fruit-trees and flowers. The children's ages were estimated at one and twelve months respectively. .

In the woman's house •-were found bottles labelled "laudanum," "chlorodyne" and "Neill's Cholera."

Lawyer Hanlon, m this (his first) murder defence, made a long and Impressive address which caused the gallery to burst into applause as counsel, resumed -his' seat. . The outburst, of course, was quickly suppressed.

The jury j-etired only for 30 minute's to "bring m a verdict of "guilty," on hearing which Dean merely remarked: "I have only to thank Detective McGrath for the, kindness I have' received from him." She left the dock with firm treadj without Sigh of emotion.

Minnie Dean was another of the outwardly unmoved type,, betraying no lack of confidence m her alleged innocence. -„ ' ■'.■•■•■■ ; ■

• It was noticed, however, that during the lower court proceedings, when her husband, who was also arraigned, but later discharged, was beside her, she never ceased to grip his hand.

For seven weeks she awaited the fatal day. Her quarters were made comfortable and she proved of very courageous .character. ; She always kept flowers m her cell-room. ' ■-.'■■■■

Retiring at 11 p.m. oh the eve of her execution, she slept well until three the next morning, when she arose; and wrote a letter to "a friend" (the letter, it is presumed, was one to her counsel, an extract from Which appears later). She ate no : breakfast, being satisfied with but a few sips of tea, and' on medical instruction, the condemned woman was offered a stimulant. Whisky and water were brought to her, but she refused to drink and surprised the doctor by entreatinfl him to "Get it over quick, doctor, for goodness sake!" Dean's refusal to take the spirits was m keeping With her endeavor, throughout her terrible wait for the gallows, to dispel a suggestion during her trial that .she was addicted to I drink; however much the strain of her

dreadful situation drained her selfpossession, she steadfastly refused to accept the liquor. For a woman given up to death, Dean- seems to have played a brave finale to her shameful career. leaving the cell on her last short journey, she presented a striking figure. Head erect, dignified carriage— both characteristic of her attitude during her long days of trial — she walked with steady gait and a spirit that belied the awful stigma of her ghoulish crime. . Her thin, fine, iron-grey hair, parted and knotted at the back,, accentuated her stately death march, and, as"one who witnessed the execution remarked: "She ascended the scjj-ffojd as grac©fully as any woman I have seen entering a first-class hotel." Dean, when she reached the platform, took a full survey of her surroundings, as though m contemplation, and, after casting one look of loathing towards her executioner, stepped on to the centre of the trap — for all the world as if to facilitate his work. She protested her innocence from' the scaffold. Having taken a deep breath as the cap and rope were being adjusted, she was heard to exclaim beneath her shameful shroud: "Oh, God, let me not suffer!" Returning to the unfortunate woman's cell after the fulfilment of justice, the gaolauthorities found on her mantelpiece a lock of her hair, the untouched whisky, and a. vase of violets and snowdrops. In a letter which finally reached her counsel. Dean wrote: "Goodbye, may every success be yours; may you live to a ripe old age and may your end be peace, for long ere this time to-morrow I will be cold m death. God bless you." Incidental to the memory of Dean's execution, one is reminded of John

Keown, whose sen-, tence of death on a charge of murdering a bailiff named John Stewart, at Balfour, was subsequently commuted to imprisonment. . Keown, at the time he was awaiting trial, became an unfortunate pawn on the check-board of crime and justice. In fact, it is a question whether — m th'e last century, of British just i c c—anye — any civilian prisoner has experienced such a callous lack of consideration at the hands of the authorities as th i s man did. During- Keown's incarceration m the Invercargill gaol, awaiting his trial; the scaffold for Minnie Dean's execution was erected i n the prisoners' exercising yar d. "What would it portend for poor Keown? It took a jury two hoyrs and three - quarters t o return a true 'bill against Keown, with a recommendation to mercy. The accused shot the bailiff as the latter ■„ ro d c on horse-back up to Keown's farm homestead at Balfour, near Gore. He took his sentence well. The last murderer to be hanged at Dunedin gaol • was Charles Clements, whose foul slaying of his wife is one of, the most gruesome stoHes m the Dominion's crimebook. Aged 42 years, he lived with his 27---year-old wife, m a small dwelling off Lethaby's right-of-

way, off the east side of George Street. On November 15, 1898, a man named Ross, who was a br.other-in-law of Clements', on entering the house, discovered a dreadful scene. The woman was dead, with a terrible wound m her throat, and her husband was bleeding from a less serious wound of a similar nature. "Have you killed her?" feverishly demanded the visitor. To which Clements replied: "I have done it at last! I have had great provocation — I have had plenty of cause." The wretched wife-killer later told a constable how he had used a tomahawk to drive the knife into his wife's throat, at the same time expressing- regret that the length of the kilife had nut served the purpose for his own destruction— a sinister regret! Clements exhibited no emotion when the juryi .after 26 minutes, sealed his fate, but he remarked: "If she had not picked up the tomahawk, I should not have done It." On April 12, 1920, he paid the penalty at the hands of Hangman Long. The night before he died, Clements slept from 9.80 p.m. and was aroused at 5 a.m. by 1 a warder. Meeting his end fearlessly, he was heard to remark to the executioner at the last moment: "Don't let me drpp all at once." The last time the dread chant of "Guilty" to a murder charge issued us the finding of a Duriedin jury, was when John Sharp committed what hjs own counsel described as "the most brutal and dreadful crime eVer committed m the country." .Sharp battered his young daughter's head to pulp with a manuka stick at their home at Rongahere, about trie middle, of 1920.' -It took the jury 5% hours to agree, finally bringing In a verdict as stated, with a> recommendation to mercy. Sharp is now m a mental asylum. ■ In consigning the Hardie trial to the recesses of memory, one must place it m, the highest shelf of tribute to the Dunodin branch of the police force, .whose diligence, initiative, thoroughness of investigation and attention to detail assembling; the scattered shreds of evidence, have earned Dominionwide praise. "■■.:■

To Detective Ben. -Farqgharson, - m whose hands the full inquiries were placed, "N.Z. Truth" has no hesitation m offering congratulations. . Not since the. famous Thorne case have footprints figured In our criminal courts, and this, together with numerous other features of what appeared to be an extraordinarily strong texture of circumstantial evidence, has been one of the; chief factors m holding public interest m the case.