CLUE OF MISSING GLOVE

NZ Truth, Issue 1216, 21 March 1929, Page 3

CLUE OF MISSING GLOVE

Incdminating Evidence In " Wahine' ■ Mail Robbery Charge TWO GUILTY, TWO FOR TRIAL (From "N.Z.. Truth's" Special Wellington Representative).

During the early hours of the morning of February 10, while the Perry steamer, "Wahine," was ploughing her way through the seas towards Wellington, a man worked silently m the mail 'hatch aided by the soft glow of an electric light. Above his head a triple tarpaulin, battened and padlocked, hid him from view. He was robbing 1 the mail bags, and it was one of the most daring crimes of recent years.

w-rrITH the aid of a pen-knife and a W pair of flcisaora the man out the " strings round the necks of the mall bags, and then extracted, at his leisure, money and other valuables to a total of nearly £200. His work completed he awaited the coming of the morning, and then, with the assistance of confederates, who had slept on the boat, he was enabled to reach the deck m safety and leave the ship with the other passengers. It was only a few minutes after the berthing of the "Wahine" that the robbery was discovered," and Immediately the drag-net of the police was out, and into it were roped four men. The r.esult was that two men now await sentence for a crime selfconfessed, and two men await trial on a similar charge— that of robbing His Majesty's mails. It was a remarkable tale of criminal cunning and police efficiency that was told Mr. F. K. Hunt, S.M., m the Police Scores of Exhibits Court,' and during the three days.occupied m the trial 19 witnesses were heard and scores of exhibits littered the prosecutor's table. The accused men were Thomas Gordon, Arthur Henry William Bevan, Richard Ryan and George Wilfred Ryan, all of whom were represented by Mr. W. E. Leicester. Chief-detective Ward handled the case for the prosecution, and the Charge was that of robbing the mails on the high seas. - „ It was something like a week before the robbery occurred that the plan germinated In' the brain of one of the accused. 'It- .was -brought to light and discussed, it is alleged, among the four men, and with as little waste of time as possible it was put into effect. Several clues were left behind. They were not so tangible that the police could lay their hands on th© men at dn'ee. Instead the two detectives engaged on the inquiry spent a considerable time piecing I together the facts until" the trail narrowed and they were m a posi-' tion to make arrests. The first problem of the detectives was tracing the people who had lost money or valuables m the robbery. When' these were found the detectives branched out m another direction, and they found the shop from which a pair of- rubber gloves had beep purchased. The finger stalls i. of y one .glove were found m the: 'mails, k^d v so:'the inqiiiry advanced .another; step, y y •-■ - A £5 note identical'tb.one that was posted from Christchurch— the number ■ was taken by the clerk befbre posting — : was found In the ' possession of the •; licensee of the Family Hotel, Otaki. The' name of the person who cashed that .note was obtained and things began to look brighter. And so the inquiry proceeded until the police avr.esied the four accused. Lengthy evidence was given by witnesses from as far south as Dunedin concerning the posting of ■. money and . other valuables, and then came the mail carrier who •first noticed that the mails had been tampered with. He immediately informed the police and the mail superintendent, he said, and the mails were held for examination.' The superintendent of mails, Victor Samuel Harris, stated that after he had examined the malls he found that 55 bags had been tampered with, eleven of which were registered. . Upon examining the contents he found that (M registered packets had been opened and the contents extracted. A total of £171/676 m notes was found to be missing. The packets had been opened neatly and re -tied with an ordinary knot. A more personal touch was given the proceedings when Jean Maddox was called. She said she had known the accused Gordon for. some time. She ■v^as employed at the Family Hotel, Otaki. On the night of February 10, Gordon, she alleged, gave 'her a gold wristlet watch. Tlie folloAving day Gordon, It was also alleged, gave Frederick John Ed- . wards a gold-mounted fountain pen. . It had borne an engraving, but that had been filed off. On February 10, Gordon met Edward Thomas William Edgar, if was said, and gave him a gold ring. Edgar thought the ring, produced, was something like the one he,got from Gordon. Mr. Hunt, S.M.: Have a good look at it. You had it In your possession. Edgar said he had put the ring m his wallet and did not look at it much, although it looked like the one he got. Joseph Roper, licensee of the Family Hotel, Otaki, remembered cashing the £5 note (produced) for the accused Bevan. This would be on Sunday, Exhaustive Search -.-/■• ■■■:•■ February 17. He was quite certain that it was the only £5 note he had had m his possession for two days. The exhaustive search of the mail hatch of the "Wahine" following the discovery of the robbery was related by Detectivesergeant Tricklebank, who' was m charge of the investigation. He found a piece of rubber glove m the hold, and was present when the fingers of the glove were found In a mail bag. . On February 14 the detective went to the Thorndon railway station m search of the accused. Richard Ryan. He was not there, but the accused Gordon was sitting m his motor-cai*. He informed the detective that Ryan knew. he was wanted and had gone up to the detective office. Ryan was questioned concerning his movements on the night of February 8: He said he had gone to Christchurch with his brother George, Gordon and Bevari to attend the races at Addington. Ryan then made a statement m which he denied all knowledge of the mail robbery. . Gordon wa3 next apprehended and he ! also gave a statement denying any

connection with the robbery, as did Bevan and George Ryan. The detective said he visited the Family Hotel, Otaki, on February 19, and there obtained the £ 6 note cashed by Bevan.. At 6 a.m. the- following day he went to 19 Turnbull Street and found Gordon and Bevan ln bed. Before taking them away they were searched. . A sum of £16/5/- was found on Bevan and £10 m singles on Gordon. Upon arrival at the detective office Bevan was again questioned. Gordon was not present. .Bevan was told that he had cashed the £5 note and his previous statement was read to him. He finally agreed to tell the truth and made a second statement. "I make this statement of my own free will, and I am prepared to tell the truth," said Bevan m his statement. "About a week prior to the robbery taking place I knew it was going to be done. Gordon told me that he and the two Ryans were going to rob the mail on the 'Wahine' and asked me to go m with them. I was with Gordon m Ryan's car when he told me about the job. "He said it would be all right, and that it would be done on the boat. He did not explain at the time how lt was going to be done, but assured y me that it* would be all right and agreed to help. He said the two Ryans were to be m the Job, too. . "On Thursday, February • 7," the statement continued, 'I met the two Ryans and Gordon ln Willis Street m Richard Ryan's car. Dick . (he alleged) planned the robbery, and he arid Gordon made the arrangement's. Ryan told me that the job would be all right and that there was no show of being caught. "It was arranged that we should all buy tickets for the *Wahine' for Friday,

February 8. It was further decided that we should cpine back from Lyttelton on the Saturday and that Gordon would go down the hold and rob the mail bags. "When we, arrived m Christchurch," continued Bevan, "we filled m time by kicking about the town. We kept together all day and left about 6 p.m. for Lyttelton. We all had tickets except Gordon. "Once on board we walked to the mail hatch. The mail was being loaded at the time". We all kept watch until the sailors went aAvay, and then Gordon got into the hatch. The rest of us kept watch while he went down the ladder. Gordon was the only one who went into the hatch. "In the morning we all came on deck and waited until the hatch was opened. George Ryan, and I kept watch while Dick Ryan called to Gordon to come on deck. As soon as lie was out we separated, and later left the ship with the ordinary passengers. "Just before we got off," the statement, concluded, "Dick Ryan came to me (allegedly) and handed me some bank-notes and told me where to find Gordon. I did not count the money, but stuffed it m my pockets. We . all met later at 19 Turnbull Street and ail the money was put out and counted. "I don't know ho,w much there was, although it was equally divided and I got about £40. Gordon had a wristlet watch, a pen and a ring which he kept himself. I have never been m trouble before. The £16 found m- my possession is part of the proceeds of the robbery.'" Continuing his evidence, after the reading of the statement, Detective^ sergeant Tricklebank said that he saw Bevan again ,. the following morning when Bevan said heTiad purchased the rubber gloves for 1/5. Gordon was interviewed the .same morning and although he at .first denied all knowledge of the affair he stated^ when he had read Bevan's statement: "The mongrel to give It, all away like that." He then agreed to make another staterhent. In the; course of this he admitted taking part m the robbery and getting '£40. ..-. ;' ■'■.: ;:■- '• He said he had thrown the wristlet watch irito the. Otaki Gorge with the pen and the ring. „ "I have "' spent', all/the money/*

Gordon had stated, "and had a good time. with It. I also admit going down the mall hatch and cutting open the bags and taking about £160 In notes. I do not want to implicate anyone else m this. "The pen-knife found m the hold was mine. But *there was also a pair of scissors. I am surprised that the rubber' glove was found as I thought I had taken it home and burnt It with the clippings I took from some of the letters." In another * statement given later, Gordon admitted giving the y/atch to Miss Maddox and the pen and the ring to Edwards and Edgar respectively. On February 20, Detective-sergeant Tricklebank and Detective 'Jarr old went to the Woodville races. They there apprehended the Ryan brothers and took them to the caretaker's house. Theyyv/ere searched and Richard Ryan had £29/0/8 m his- possession, and George Ryan £12/18/8.

Found On Accused

Asked to account for the money both allegedly said they had won it -at the Petone trots the week before. George Ryan was also m possession of £15 worth of unplaced, horse tickets. The men were brought back to Wellington and they were told of the statements made by Bevan and Gordon. Richard" Ryan, it was alleged, said Bevan was a liar m some tilings but admitted that some of the statements were correct. Ho said the allegation that he and George. helped to plan the robbery was not true. It was correct to say that he -went to Ghristchurch, but he had nothing to do with sending Gordon down the hatch or with calling him m the morning. He did not get any money from Gordon .after they left the ship. He knew nothing of the £5 note found on the totalisator at Woodville. A similar denial was made by George Ryan, who supported his brother m every detail. Detective Tricklebank then produced a race book found m the home of Richard Ryan. In it were recorded, the day's Investments at the Petone races. According to that book Richard Ryan had won £13/1/6, not £22 as he had alleged In his statement. Even with the winnings and investments of Woodville and Petone races combined he had £15/5/5 more than he could account for. Cross-examined, the detective said it was not uncommon to see people near the - mail hatches on the ferry boats while they were being loaded. He was surprised to' know that Richard Ryan knew he was looking for him when he went to Thorndon station. Mr. Leicester: You were at the. rank sohie hours? Detective Tricklebank: Yes, from 3 p.m. until 7 p.m. '■ And the whole of that time there was only one man on the rank? — Only one man who knew I was looking for Ryan. Detective Jarrold corroborated his colleague's evidence, and added that it was he who had secured the '£s note — one of the missing notes- — from behind the totalisator at Woodville. The duties of' those m charge of the loading of mails on the ferry boats were expounded by Lawrence Glfford, A.8., on the "Wahine." He knew Richard Ryan and had seen him on. the boat on February 8. , •'''-. Ryan had been employed on the "Wahine" for a short period as a greaser some time ago. Witness saw Ryan <with some other men, but he did not know who they were. Ryan was then about three or four feet away from the mail hatch. He could quite easily have seen the mails being loaded from where he was. The mall hatch, said Gifford, was left unattended when the sailors went to attend to the mooring , lines. They would not be away for more than a few minutes. After loading was completed three tarpaulins were placed over the hatch and two iron bars across these were . padlocked. Leslie Gordon Clark, an ordinary seaman on the "Wahine," said it was his duty to assist m storing the. mail m the hold. He obtained the keys from the first mate and unlocked the padlock. It was his duty to lock it after the loading. He did this on the night following the robbery. With the closing of the ca.se for the prosecution, Mr. Leicester intimated that Gordon and Bevan would plead guilty, and the Ryan brothers not guilty. The magistrate therefore committed Gordon and- Bevan for sentence, and the Ryans for trial. The question of bail was raised by Mr.. Leicester. He pointed out that Bevan and Richard Ryan were already Question of Bail ■■. \ on bail, but that the other two had failed to obtain it. Chief -detective Ward said he did hot oppose bail for Richard Ryan or Bevan, but he did for Gordon and George Ryan. The magistrate granted bail In the case o"f Richard Ryan and Bevan, refused Gordon and said that George Ryan's application could be considered at a later date. ..' Charges of arson and breaking, entering and theft had previously been preferred against Gordon and the two Ryans. : The charges covered the theft, on January 11 last, of £90 worth. of clothing from the premises of Robert Young Shearer, Ltd., Lower Hutt, and the setting fire to the premises on the same nighty Upon the conclusion of the evidence, Gordon pleaded guilty to the charge of breaking, entering and theft,, but not guilty to arson. The Ryan brothers plea,ded not pruilty to both charges, and all three men were committed for trial. . A separate charge of receiving stolen property was preferred against Bevan, who pleaded not guilty and who was committed for trkil.