SUPERINTENDENT DEFENDS PROCEDURE

NZ Truth, Issue 1213, 28 February 1929, Page 8

SUPERINTENDENT DEFENDS PROCEDURE

Drive Over Route

Common Occurrence

ACIDITY THE CAUSE OF DIGESTIVE TROUBLES.

Own Initiative

HE remembered a statement from a man named McGuire. • It was similar to Mrs. Anderson's, and it established that the car . was left at Papatoetoe between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. "McGuire was not called?" asked Mr. Finlay. "No." . "A number were not called?"— " That is so." , "And some called were not on the brief?" — "That is so." The chief-deioctive would have from twenty to. twenty-six men under hi,ni at. the time of the gu I's disappearance, he told Mr. Allan Moody, , and it was the chief-detective's, duty to supervise and conduct all cases m the Police Court. He had to be guided by the reports from the men under him. He had not the slightest doubt that the chiefdetective had conferred with Mr. Hollis every mornincj. The police considered they were entitled to look for guidance from the medical men; they Avere not experts themselves and they would welcome any suggestions from the police surgeon. "Do you know," asked Mr. Moody, . "if the chief-detective submitted any of the clothing to Dr. Murray on the Sunday?"— "l believe some was." Dr. Murray's evidence was read: "I saw the under-gavment the girl had ! been wearing on the Sunday." He thought that •haying displayed the garment the chief-detective was

Strain On Staff

justified m leaving the matter for that day. Dr. Murray had been associated with all murder cases of the last few years, said the superintendent. There had been considerable trouble at the race course that Saturday, October 6, and it had been a strain on the detective staff. The detectives had had to do special duty and they expected further trouble on the Monday. In spite of that, he added, the enquiries were still pursued, and enquiries were made on Saturday-morn-ing after the body was found and on the Saturday afternoon. "I know," he continued, "a person important to the investigation was interviewed on Saturday morning, and another on Monday. I have reason to believe that enquiries were kept up constantly afterwards." Reference was made to a report sent to a constable at Waihi, dated October 6; time 10 p.m. He was one of the many the chiefdetective rang- up, said the superintendent. Mr. Currie interposed to ask whether this was from his own knowledge of facts or otherwise,' and he replied that he knew it from the file and from what he was told. "The young man, Pye, was not called; he was not at the inquest?" Mr. Moody enquired. "No, I don't think so." "John Pye's statement said that it would have been possible for the ,girl

Indigestion arid most digestive troubles are caused by excess acidity due to the fermentation of food which remains m the stomach longer than it should do owing to weakened stomach muscles. As this acidity increases it sets up further fermentation, and the sufferer endures intense pain, as ' the stomach is dilated by gases. To correct these digestive troubles quickly, easily and surely, take halC a teaspoonful of ' Bisurated ' Magnesia m a little water after eating or whenever pain is felt. This immediately stops the ferment action and neutralizes the excess acidity, enabling the process of digestion to be carried out m a natural: way. 'Bisurated' Magnesia heals the inflamed stomach lining and generally tones up the digestive . organs. % To avoid that unpleasant taste m the mouth on awakening m the morning, which is caused by acidity, take a dose of ' Bisurated ' Magnesia at night before retiring. Every/ chemist sells ' Bisuratod ' Magnesia m- both powder and tablets.* •

He Expresses View I That All Possible Was Done To Solve Dead Girl Mystery

m% A AhOm mkt^ Au mm Am JK A W mmM A mb •■■ «■•• »•■•■ y **r

to have crawled m and died?" asked counsel. "His evidence is on the file," was the answer. He could not say why he'was not called. It waa m the discretion of the Crown Solicitor. The proceedings were then adjourned until Monday morning. Mr. Page . intimated that he was leaving at 1 o'clock for : the Bay of Plenty and intended .to traverse the route and look at the house at Papamoa. The Commissioner went south by way of Paeroa and Tauranga taking careful note of the roads and distances. When he arrived at Papamoa he made a very thorough inspection of the house and grounds at the Bayly homestead, and was by arrangement met by Mr. Frank Bayly, . whom he questioned very thoroughly. He examined the several gateways and each room of the house; the place where the dogs were tied up, the car shed arid anything relative to the situation when the girl disappeared. Constable Jackson, of Te Puke, was seen by the Commissioner, who also questioned him as to various phases of the mystery.

•Mr. Page and the constable conversed for some time before the party left I'or the north again by way .of Rotorua and the Maniaku. • j ! Before returning to Auckland, Mr. Page had the car driven from Papatoetoe to the gateway at Panmure over which, it if! presumed, the dead girl passed. He called on Constable Mahoney on his way and had some conversation with that officer regarding the action taken after the abandonment of the car m his district. Promptly at 10 a.m. on Monday the enquiry was resumed. Before the examination of Superintendent Wohlmann was" resumed, Mr. Northcroft drew the attention of Mr. Page to an application he had to make on behalf of the relations of the deceased girl. He announced that he was, on their behalf, willing to give every assistance possible and was prepared, also on their behalf, to call one or more of them to give evidence. ' Mr. Page intimated that it would not be proper for private persons I to submit evidence. Any suggestion that might be relative to such a matter had better remain m abeyance for the tjme being, but if he had any further submission of ] that nature to make it could be placed before the Crown Solicitor. Mr. Northcroft repeated that, his clients were willing to assist the enquiry directly. He was urged to collaborate with the Crown m the mat-: ter; ■ . • . .

(Continued from page 70

zLJ 1 1 1 1 it 1 1 1 1 1 1 ri 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 um'.iiiinmiiiiiimiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiimiiiii!iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiNiiiimiiiiimitiiiiiiin| | The report of October 8, said the Superintendent, j 1 was meticulously accurate. 1 1 When he had replied to various other questions, | I which resolved themselves into matters of opinion more 1 I or less, Mr. Page interposed to ask if the witness was j 1 giving facts, or stating his own opinions as to the re- | | suits of the enquiries. I 1 The Superintendent replied: "I have every reason | I to believe that all enquiries were made. From perusal j I of files I believe all possible enquiries were made. " §

X VWN<i

To prove the medical reports Detec-tive-sergeant Kelly was then placed m the box for a few moments. He stated that he had perused the medical men's report, which was, at that time, m the custody of Chief-detective Hammond. It was then undated and unsigned. Mr. Pago: "I want to get these repo.ts m because m my mind there, is some confusion about them." That the report of the medical men was unsigned and undated was pointed out by Detective Bicicerdike, who followed Kelly into the box. I i He had, he said, not noticed this early m December or at the end of November. Inspector Hollis suggested that it should be signed by Doctors I Murray and Gilmer. As a consequence I of this he (the witness) and Detective Power called on the doctors by appointment. Bickerdike said the doctors were g-oing to date it December 6, but he had told them that they had better not do that. They should date it the day it was handed to the police. Then, as they did not recollect what date it was .handed to the police he advised them to leave it undated. It was at this interview that the medical men made an addition' to the report, and said that the cause of death

head,

was probabty due to a blow on the head. . At the request of the detective this was added to the first report, but on a separate piece of paper. Dr. Gihner wrote it and Dr. Murray signed it. Superintendent Wohlmann then resumed his place m the box and his examination was taken up by Mr. Leary. On the subject of Constable Collins's report he said the instructions that officers would receive would depend upon whether the circumstances -were suspicious cr not and what he reported. fie might receive special instructions, said Wohlmann, but as it happened, he (the constable) gave it as his opinion that the body was m the normal position of a person who had crawled mCo the bush rather than a body which had been thrown m or forced m. Mr. Leary suggested that public decency demanded the removal of the body, and with this suggestion the superintendent concurred, adding, "unless there were reasons to the contrary." He went en to say that the medical evidence for six weeks or so corroborated the opinion of the constable. "Did the medical men ever give any

An Interesting Story From Box Concerning System Employed By Investigators

reason for this vital change of j opinion?" asked Mr. Leary. I "I am not aware of any except the one given at the inquest — elimination," was the reply. : At that time, Wohlmann added, they had not heard of Mrs. Bayly's story of the bump on the girl's head caused by the billiard room window. The doctors had made no mention of finding such a bruise. ; When Mr. Finlay examined him it was to draw attention to the similarity of Dr. Gilmer's evidence on both occasions m the witness-box, and he quoted the words of the doctor: "No evidence of actual cause of death." "In his earlier evidence Dr. Gilmer gave it as his definite opinion that death was due to a blow on the head," observed Mr. Page. : In answer to his own counsel the superintendent said the object of the detectives was to have any investigations done as quickly as possible. The initial information' as it reached him about the car was that the girl was suspected of having stolen the car and she was described, as a servant girl. Mr. Wohlmann added that to his' own knowledge enquiries were made between October 3 and the finding of the body, and there were further enquiries

on the Thursday after the car was found. The theft of a car was a common occurrence, and the superin- ■ tendent explained that the theft had taken place a hundred and eighty miles from his district. In the face of the expressed view of the medical men, he continued, enquiries were set m operation. The police regarded all cases of unexplained death seriously. . .. Enquiries were still being carried on at the present time. \ - At the time-, of the' tragedy ..extraordinary circumstances had .arisen) and every available man was out ori the Ellerslie race course. Questioned by Mr. Currie, the superintendent said: "We did not make it a matter of any urgency to see Dr. Murray when we had; seen the analyst's report." • f " To a further question, he replied that he could not say that the files were ever brought to him for the purpose of a conference. Some Avere, but not all. of them. The sub-inspector had no control over the detectives, he added. There were no maps of each subdistrict, the reason being that the boundaries of sub-districts, were liable to change. ' .j ■ ■■ To have arbitrary boundaries was not considered good policy, and he did not think that the detectives . used maps. Asjced by Mr.. Currie to express an

iiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiia opinion, the superintendent said he thought the police were entitled to ask the medical men for gxiidance. „*.. Mr. Currie pointe.d out to Wohlmann that the fact that the girl's eyes were closed, was not mentioned m the medical report. The superintendent replied that he believed it was mentioned m Constable Collins's report, but he did" not know if the fact was brought to the notice of the Crown m any other way. ■ . "Did you instruct the Crown Solicitor that you had a personal interview with the doctors?" asked Mr. Currie. •,- T nes MP.I? r .'r | t?ndent.. paused for. a 'fime before he answered. "It was a Ifkely thing," he said, "but no reference has been made to the fact." Later, to Mr. Page, he said that such information as reached him came through his officers first. In the ordinary course of things he himself would not interfere further with their actions. At some length *the superintendent 'described Inspector / Hoilis's duties. | half of which, be explained, Avere taken [up with the uniform branch. . • • ' ! ,He described the'-. 'volume of work assigned to Hollis as extensive, and l-emarked: "If he gets his table cleared by tea time he is very lucky. It is a very busy office." ; '"Too busy?" asked Mr. Page. Mr. Wohlmann replied: "I think it is as much as , one -man can manage. There is no sub-inspector who can deal Avith the detectives, and the chiefdetective would direct the details of

such a case as this. He -would have to act largely on his own Initiative." The superintendent did not think th« Inspector had adequate time for deep consideration. Referring to the chief- detective, he said: VI am sure he has not got time' to deliberately review circumstances such as those of this case. It is very desirable that he should, have time." Questioned as to the investigations carried out m the case, he said it had received attention commensurate with its importance at the time. Mr. Currie then asked: "Assuming it to be a fact that, m the early stages of this, enquiry, a wide enough view was not taken and sufficiently early enquiries were not made, is that fact attributable to pressure of work?" Mr. Noel Johnson objected to the question, and Mr. Page consented to it being- put m a different form. - Mr. Currie complied. "Do you think these two officers are overworked?" he wanted to know. Mr. Wohlmann replied: "I think the chief- detective here is overworked, and the inspector has the maximum he can carry." A full .report of subsequent proceedings at . the inquiry will appear m our next week's issue. The Body's Delicate Mechanism. Stevens' Health Salt Keeps ft Fit. Suppose . 3'ou were to let down the tyres of your car, remove the oil from its "innards," jam the brakes on hard, and then want.it to run sweetly! Yet you'll find people who expect an infinitely more delicate piece of machinery— their system — to work perfectly unde:difficulties that, by comparison, are far greater. Day after' day, they literally force themselves through life — miserable, peevish, bad-tempered. Stevens' Health Salt is made to give such folk the bright eye and firm step of good health, arid gently reminds lazy organs that there's work to be done. Ask the active, feilows you admire — they'll tell you that a pre-breakfast glass oi. Stevens' Health Salt makes the whole world kin. 2/6 for a big bottle at all stores and chemists.*. 3