WHO ISTHEMYSTER V KILLER ?

NZ Truth, Issue 1240, 5 September 1929, Page 2

WHO ISTHEMYSTER V KILLER ?

Unwelcome Visitor To House Who, Unseen, Struck Fatal Blow With Knife

MURDER CHARGE FOLLOWS TRAGEDY

.(Fro'niy/.N.Z; Truth's'; Social Auckland RejpresentativeJ.V The unusual step of making a request to the magistrate, that the evidence of George Cole, one of the principal vHtnesses m the .prosecution of George Caffery, forthe alleged murder of Thomas Leavy r be held over until he recovered from the effects of the liquor he admitted consuming before coming to Court, was taken by Mr. V. R. Meredith, Crown Prosecutor m the Auckland Magistrate's Court, a/a- .. . ";,; — ; ;: -y

IT was obvious from the contradictory replies given by .Cole' that his mind was far from clear, .arid the request was granted byA Mr. E. G.Cutten, S.M. ; A ?'■ :: - It will be remembered 'that on the evening 1 of August 2, Thomas Leavy was stabbed m the groin,,: and bled: to death while being removed, .to hospital. Later Caffcry was arrested 'knd charged \yith murder. Plans of the house and also bf the. locality wore put m by Reginald Wal« ter Riddle, a draughtsman .m the Public Woiks bepartment, who stated 'that the floor of the front room arid pf the verahdan sloped to the front corner. The distance from Cole's old lodgings' to the house where he liyednvith Lea,vy m Nelson Street was approximately 160 yards. . : - ' Details of cuts m the dead man's clothing were given by At)r. Walter Gilmour, who also described the: wounds fouhd on the body at the post! mortem. An X-ray examination of the wounds disclosed no foreign metallic substance m them and death was due to haemorrhage from the thigh wound. George Frederick Cple, the dead man'? hQiise-mate, said that, before going .to live with Leavy, he used' to reside m Nelson Street with a Mr.. and Mrs. Langton. . ; A According to Cole, he 'had known Caffery tor five or six years,. .and the latter called him by His Christian harne or else by 'his nickname, ''Cock" Cole.' He had "been visited at Langton's :hpuse ! by Caffery two or three times pHbryto leaving, b.wt the accused heyer ; called on him before August 20. .y^ A" That evening, he arrived hcjme about 5 p.m. and found Leavy already there arid preparing tea. After t,he meal, two. lady visitors, called whom he then knew as Lavinia and Betty. He now knew . , their surnames were Foster and Rushfdrd. The four of them sat rouiid the fire m the front right-hand room, which was not used by anyoneas a bedroom, though -It contained- a' bedstead and wire mattress. There were hajf 'a. dozen chairs. -YYY. •'♦>■';; Y/YY : Refreshments had .been prp6ured^ consisting of 9. "rigger" of beer and sixsmall bottles ;-pfy'y •,',';■• „^;";yyyy'Y"Y

stout. 4 It was alleged by Cole, and subsequently y by Foster and Rushford,, that Caffery . suddenly appeared, m the doorway of the room, though how he . got there none of them knew. So far , as r they could see,* he was unaccompanied. According to Cole, Caffery allegedly said to him: "Come her fi, George, I want you,'' to which he replied: "No, I'm not coming out.'* Caffery ;is then alleged to have repeated his demand, but Cole replied: "Take your hook, you are not ?wanted here." Cole then alleged that Caffery's final remark was: "All right, I'll

get you." Afie then left, but which way he went Cole did not know. He himself never left his seat, Later, said Cole, the third member of the household, Carmody, ••■came iii with a friend named Gallott. A knock came at the front door and Leavy said; "I'll see who A. that Is/ and went to the door. y-Ttywas alleged by Cole thatrhe heard Leavy say: l-'You'r© not cowing m here, ;g'et '. put." A voice' replied: 'l** 1 corii'ing m," and ALeavy retorted: "You're not." . . . Cole then alleged that he saw Caffery. arguing at the , door with Leavy and trying to push past him* He himself ifiadlgpne into the passage oh his way totfetch glasses, from the kitchen. . u,»He heard Leavy say: "Dave,, I'm stabbed," and rushed up the : .'."'Mr.- ! Meredith: It was Caffery who was^at the idoor- with Leavy? ; ...A, : '...•• , ■Colo: I'm not certain who It"was;-.y-Mr. Meredith: But, you told us ; just now you saw Caffery. struggling with 'Leavy. .'. ■<•'•' > \A ■ ■ ■■-, ■ Mr. J. F. W. Dickson,* counsel for Caffery: I want a note made of that answer, please. A, .■••■• , ! A Cole: I don't know who it was. Counsel: How much liquor, halve you ha:d this morning? Witness: Oh, about, two pints. Turning >to the ' Bench, . Mr. Meredith saidhe did not think Cole was m a fit state to continue his evidence arid asked that , he be .... stood down for a time to recover. a Mr. Cutten Replied that he waa , y agreeable, but ■ that 'some .one should keep ah" eye' on the man 'to Asee he did not get any more liquor. . WHtm the court orderly told Cole to leave the box for the Waiting-room, he replied cheerfully : . "Yes, certainly /■ and was escorted ■to the A prisoners' room to cool his heels and his head., The Grown Prbseoutoryfiwas ' then; asked by Mr. Dickson if he proposed to accept or reject Cole's. evidence so far as it had gone. :. „ •• ' ; "It is . hot a- question of . acceptance or rejection," . replied "A':Mr. Meredith"The man ib not .fit to proceed.", Mr." Dickson then; asked- that ..a note be made on the deposition to the effect that; at that stage of the proceedings the :witness had -been asked to stand down, as, said counsel, he might wish tp-V challenge ' the evidence ' m •'■;. the Supreme Court. .. / . ' A Mr. A Meredith replied that if that wereAdone by counsel for the defence he. w;ould at* once admit the fact, The next witness, Layirtia Foster, was then called/ A. V -yy-yY . v- ; ' ''■..■.■■.■•: y ' ' ... She stated she was a single A wpma^p i livififl m Wellington • Street, and knew Leavy,'; at whose' house she called with Mra. Flush • . ford on the. evening of August 2. Cole,: whom shey had-; met before, ■ v was also there,; V : -'-ly Thqy arrived before 6 p.m. and were admitted by LeayyV entering 1 the front room and sitting round \ ' theyflre; She sat with;, her back) to the, door. yA'A rhari, whom she said she . recognised by his dark eyes ■ and; complexion as ;Caffery,: ; called. She .detailed the alleged conversation between him and. "■' :; "; '" Y'- % y ; ;Av"'^:: ; .A: ; -A;- ' --y:y..^.y.

Cole. -When Caffery- left, Leavy show-* ed him out. , Carmody and, Gallott came m and a' little later a heavy bang oh the front id6or was heard. Leavy answered it and she said she heard', him • "aay : "This:my house, get out." Though she could see Leavy waving his arms as though "pushing someone back, she was unable to see who ; the other person was.,. ■ .». ,;'' ' '. •The next thing she heard was Leavy saying: "Dave, he's got a knife at triev" He then staggered into the roorii and gasped: ."I'm done," and fell backAojv the bed. She could see blood floAv'iijg from his leg. AyAyy;^ .She and ..her friend then left, as they were frightened. She saw nobody

day, morning' the milkman told her a tcikn had been stabbed and she at first thought; it was Cole. :, Similar evidence was given by James Langton, husband of the previous witness, who alleged that Caffery stated that Cole. owed him money and he was going to kill him. Caffery had called on Cole' on' a previous occasion.' . fcaiff ery's • sister-in-law, Delia O'Connor, stated . that . she called Aiajt: his house which was^behind a 3f boot shop m Wellington Street be|?tW,een 6.30 and 7 p.m. on August <Yf'l2 to .see her sister, Mrs. Caffery. : f yl'hose present when she called were ijPaffery,". Mrs. Caffery, a man. named 6'Bullion and another called Patrick Byrne. The latter was on a settee with his feet up. Caffery had a cut on his cheek which was bleeding' and whioh he attributed to "the wild Irishman,", meaning Byrne. According to O'Connor, Caffery did not want his wife to go o.ut, but finally the two women left together. As they got to the door, torches were flashed, on them by detectives. Bater during, trie hearing Cole was presumed to have sufficiently recovered, and was put back m the witnessbox. ." ■ ... Y:~'y' 'V;. .y ■'.'•''• '. Continuing his evidence, -Cole said that, after assisting to put Leavy on the bedstead, He went for a^octOr but was. unsuccessful. -He accompanied the ambulance to the hospital. In reply to Mr. Meredith, Cole said he only heard ithe scuffle, but did not see it. The next morning after attending the opening of the inquest.'he returned to the house and started to • clean but the front room with a broom and water. . ' While doing so, he found a knife on the floor by the skirting of the wall next the passage. He might have knocked it there with the broom or when he swished a bucketful of water, dn td the.; floor. Detective Knight ''said.. that m company with Detectives Snedden and Moon he went to Nelson Street m response to a 'phone call.. By the light:, of their torches, they could see blood oh the verandah and • ■ • : — — inside : the front

door leading to the front room. On the front door, about three inches from, the lock, was the print of a ; flat boot sole, as though someone ha*d given a- 'shove with A his boot against the door.-' - There were footprints leading from the front' door to the window of the front room, these being partially obliterated '"'' by those n returning to the door again. -'Later, a 'visit' was made to Caffery' s house, which had an approach from Nelson Street. When CaKery answered the door, said Knight, the latter told him. he •■was wanted, at the detective office, but th c. man ' backed into the a house

arid wanted to know why. , CaffeTy's boots', it wa-s alleged, were! blood-stained, but when he was searched, no weapon^ be,yond a broken^bladed pocket-knife was found' .on him. Leaving the accused at the, office Willi Detective Snedderi, Detective Knight said he returned .to the house and iuade a further search. Th 6 next morning 1 , after the inquest, he returned to Le^vy's house and found the knife produced' on the mantelpiece. Corroborative evidence up to < the" point of reaching the detective office was given by Detective Snedden. While they were there, he, told Caffery that Leavy was dead. Caffery allegedly said: "I'll tellyou all' about it. I know : what you want me for.'.' In the presence of Inspector Hollis and Chief-detective Hammond, Caffery allegedly remarked: "It > is a murder Charge this tirhe." ••''■..-■' A 'Both he and the inspector, said Snedden, warned Caffery that he need riot give a statement, but the. man volunteered one;-whidh he signed. : In it he allegedly stated he was a married "man with two" children. A Hehad been with Byrne most of the d&y arid they" Were drinking up to isix o'clock m an hotel: They went home about:6.3o p.m. and called, to see Cole. The door was opened by a atranger and there .vyere a few words. The '., stranger suddenly said: "Oh, look at the blood," and ;.' staggered back. Her— Caffery—-as-sisted the man on to a, bed and -then went home. He did not strike the man, nor had. he anything, to strllie him.: with.; ,' Byrne was with him, but he did hot see Byrne' hit the stranger. • Later, said the detective, he charged Caffery with the iflurder. He took possession of the' blood-spattered boots that Caffery was wearing and handed them to Mr. Armitage, the bacteriologist. ' , ',-.. i The last witness, called was Patrick Byrne, who stated that since leaving the s.s. "Wingatui" some six weeks be 7 fore, he lived with Caffery. He spent the afternoon m question drinking with Caffery, and they returned home about 6.20, taking eight "riggers"' of beer with them. They immediately started on the "riggers" without waiting for food and he gave a bit of a song and dance. He never left the houpe either with Caffery or alone, until he was arrested by the police. He went to sleep about 7 p.m. and was awakened by the advent of the detectives, y That concluded the evidence, but Mr. Dickson wanted a second pair of blood-stained boots m the possession of the police either piit m as evidence or else to be placed at the disposal of the defence.: A A . ; These boots, stated Mr. Meredith, were handed ..to the police by Mrs. Caffery, on the morning following the arrest and he did not propose to put them m as exhibits. Mr. Dickson could have access to them. Ay.-" His defence was reserved by Caffery, who was committed to the Supreme Court for trial, x