DEATH AS HIS ONLY SOLUTION

NZ Truth, Issue 1262, 6 February 1930, Page 10

DEATH AS HIS ONLY SOLUTION

Beset by Worry, Davies Gave Up Hope And Ended His Life

FATE SPARED WOMAN IN THE TRAGEDY

(From "N.Z. Truth's'' Special Auckland Representative)

IN a state of nervous and physical prostration painful to witness, Mrs. Cu-' bitt was practically carried into the -Magistrate's Court at Auckland, when she appeared to answer a charge of having attempted to commit suicide . during the early hours of New rear's morning from the sea-wall near the; Akarana : Boat Shed,, near Mechanics! Bay.

John Llewellyn^ Davies, aged 44, a company- manager, tobk his life not long before dawn on the morning ot, January 1, and not long after daylight that same morning Mrs. Cubitt was found by a nian t lying m a state .ot exhaustion" on the tide deflector. But- for the fact that the tide had

not x'eached its full height when she x, was discovered she must inevitably have perished, , for she was partially immersed and suffering from hours oi' exposure, after having presumably jumped ' oft the seawall at the same time as Davies. The finding of various articles

belonging to the man and woman oarefully placed under Mra. Cubitt's raincoat was the first intimation that a tragedy had probably taken place They were found by an old age / pensioner, John Filmer, who, without loss of • time, reported the discovery to the

Parnell Police Station. I Perusal of certain letters left behind among the effects indicated that a salcide pact had been agreed upon. It was not until Janaury 6 that the body of Davies was found on thfe western 1 side of the tide deflector. Meanwhile Mrs; Cubitt had been under medical care m the Auckland Hospital. "She was >m a state of collapse, and it was some time before sb*> could make any statement to the police which was able to shed any Ugh. on the distressing tragedy. ' While the charge 'was read Mrs. Cubitt remained seated, trembling vio- • lently, her head bent, with attendant women on each; side of her. Mr. Q. P. Pinlay, who appeared for her, informe'l the Bench, that he would elect summary jurisdiction, and on behalf of the woman pleaded. .gruiltyl Chief -detectiy.e Hammofrrti, conduiting the case for the police, said that Mrs. Cubitt had been m x hospital ever since she was carried from the wate/-. front on January 1. To" spare the woman any unnecessary distress, the "proceedings were made as short as possible, 'and Mr. F. X.. Hunt, S.M., coroner, 'conyjicted the accused, Avho was ordered to come up for sente^ne when called upon. The" inquest on Davies was then commenced. In order that Mrs. Cubitt might be removed as soon as possible by her relations and friends, Mr. Finlay read the statement she had given to the police as to the circumstanca.s of the affair. * : -. Woman's Statement . It read as follows: ■....._ ...-.' "I am a nurse, "residing.", in. Auckland. J -■■' some three years ago following upon a deed^pf separation between my husband and; myaelf . "I became acquainted 4 ; with the de-, ceased, John Llewellyn' -Davies, some two years ago. I '"was with him on ■ New Year's Eve. I met him about tan p.m. at the house.of .a relative of mine. It might have been somewhat later, or even perhaps a little earlier, because I do not remember the time exactly. ![ had been at my 'relative's house all day and Davies came there by arrangement. ■ 'I--;/. ; ... : , "There had been no talk of suicide up to. then;.; We |eft my rela/ tive's house between half- past ten and eleven and went into, town. We walked up and down for. some time. Davies was m a mental \ condition that I .had: never seen him m before. He yvas terribly worried and melancholic and was talking wildly, X | . "We finally arrived • at an hotel m

the city, where Davies had a friend. "I was terribly worried myself ot this time — m fact, distracted. We went from the hotel to the waterfront after having written the letters of! farewell at the hotel. . "We had not agreed to commit suicide, but I knew if Davies committed suicide I could only do the same, ani I was worried about him and what he would, do. "I do not remember what happened on the waterfront nor da. I remember going into the water: My recollection Is a blank as to that."- -. ■..'-•■•■ Having read Mrsi "Cubitt!s statement Mr. Finlay announced; that ;that was all the woman could,-- say, and the paper was placed ■ before Mrs. ' Cubitt to sign. ■ ■ "■ •'•W ' ■ " ; 7>" ; •■'•.•'■"■ '• Her chair had to be' lifted near the table, and seeing thai she had some difficulty m signing her name to it, Mi-. Hunt said: "Tell her to make her mark — that will do." v. ■',..: However; a signature, nearly undecipherable, was attached; to , the statement by the tremblings woman, and she was supported, on both ".^sides'- from thp courtroom to a waiting motor-cat-. David Xi. Lewis; an assistant manager, was -then- called. ' ' ■ His statement, which was read to him by the Coroner, stated that he had. known Davies for the last "five years, and he first became aware of^

| Worried and distracted, they wandered aimlessly from place to place, finally arriv- | ing at an hotel. 1 There John Llewellyn Davies and Julia Hayes Cubitt wrote farewell letters and, hav- | ing done so, they proceeded to the waterfront, ' . 1 As the first flush of dawn on New Year's Day streaked the sky, Davies' body was I submerged m the Auckland Harbor, and Mrs. Cubitt, exhausted and half drowned, lay | on the tide deflector. . s 1 "'.. The last act of the tragedy was staged when Mrs. dubitt was convicted on a charge j of attempted suicide, and ordered to come up for sentence if called upon. | The inquest on the body of Davies closed with a verdict of suicide by drowning. llllltlllltllllllttlllllttlllltllllllUlttlllltltllltlllllliMllllllllllllltlllllllltllllttlllltlllllllllMlltlll JlllttlllfMllllllllllllllltlllllllllltlMllllllllllllllMtllltllltllllllllMltlMllll

the intrigue with .another woman about six months prior to-the tragedy. "On December 30 last," ran the statement, "he (Davies) called me into his office and told me he had made a mess of his life and that there was -another woman 'in the case, and that he had made up his .- mind to resign his position from the\firm and go away for six months. , ' . "At the end of that time he hoped his wife would tee m a different frame of mind .and would allow him -his freedom, so that he might marry the other woman. He told me the woman concerned was Mrs. Cubitt. v He also told me that his sister, Miss Davies, had" just arrived from Chriat--1 church, and m conjunction with his wife was endeavoring to bring the issue to a head. s • "I asked him if he ; cared for this woman sufficiently to do this, and he said: 'Candidly, I dp.' " Lewis m his statement went on to say that he asked Davies if he did not think there was 1 some other way, and the latter replied: "I think that is the only way." ' •■.'■■ Office Interview /While the two men were sation Miss Davies arrived ;at the office and waited until they were disengaged. Later Davies and his sister, walked downstairs together. They had just gone when Mrs. Cubitt arrived and asked for Davies. Learning 1 that he was out she declined to wait. "About ten minutes later," continued Lewis m his statement, "she asked me to 'phone his house and ascertain if 'he was there. I rang up the house and Davies replied. Mrs. Cubitt apoke to him and then left. ' "About 5 p.m. Mr. Davies and his sister* returned to the office. He called, me into his ofh'oe and asked me what had happened after he left me^at midday and I told him. I asked him what sort of a day he had had and he replied that he had had a bad afternoon as Mrs. Cubitt had rung him up on several occasions. He left with Miss . Davies." .' Davies, Lewis had stated, did not arrive at the office on December 31, but about 3 p.m; he rang up and informed Lewis that he would be at the office about ' 5 ,'p.m. He arrived on time. "I asked him -what sort of a day he had had and he said an awful day. Mrs. Cubitt had rung him on the 'phone on several occasions and after each occasion there had been ' a scene at home as a result. I asked him what he intended to do. He replied: 'I am definitely finished with. Mrs. Cubitt.' ' "I congratulated liim and we shook hands. I had been taking stock that day and Davies asked me to let him have the stock sheets 'and he would work on them that night and, the following day : to divert sils attention." The two men .arranged to meet at the office^ on January 2, and then at about 5.40 p.m. they went and had a drink, parting at 6 p.m. at the corner of Queen and Custom Streets, when Davies said he was returning to the office. ' The following morning- Lewis received a message from Mrs. Davies asking him to go to, her home urgently. On hlB arrival there he found Mrs. Davies worried because her . husband had not turned up the previous night. While they were still talking about the matter the polioe tele- < phoned with the fir»t intimation that a possible tragedy had taken place as the missing man's overcoat and hat had been found on the waterfront. y Later when Lewis opened the office he found evidence that Davies had re -

turned and had left several notes for him on business matters, and one to say that there was a letter for his wife m the safe. Three small bottles of stout and a bottle of port which had been m the office were missing. The stock sheets were later found at a private house where Davies had left them. The affairs of the company were m a satisfactory state. Questioned by Mr. Addieon, who represented the deceased's relatives, Lewis replied that for the last six months Davies had seemed rather "nervy" he had complained of noises m the head and earache, and not being able to sleep. He was a man who would woz-ry over trifles which would not upset the ordinary business man. ' "Worried to Deatti 1 ' \t..-. ; ._ , ! — i- — / i "We knew that he was m this, entanglement and it was worrying him to death," said. Lewis. "The woman., was , the cause of this entanglement,"* said Mr. Hunt, "we know that;'" V '.'There was an infatuation and that was the cause of the whole trouble, announced the Chief-detective, who added : "We have evidence that he intended to commit suicide." That she had met Mrs. Cubitt and

Davies m the lobby of an hotel on New Year's Eve was the evidence of Mrs. Cora Hintz. They 'had seen her passing the telephone box and had come out and bid her a "Happy New Year." j Mrs. Hintz had passed on into the lounge and a short while after Davies and Mrs. Cubitt had passed out through the lounge wishing her goodnight. ' She had first met Mrs. Cubitt m Mrs. Davies' home. Both the man and wo--man were quitfe sober and rational. She had known Davies since he was a boy. . . ' . Josepli Francis Stone, .taxi-driver, said Davies and Mrs. Cubitt had engaged him about 1.45 a.m. from the stand m Victoria Street East, on the morning of January 1. He had been told to drive to Luna Park, and on reaching there they told him to go on a bit further. When they had arrived near the vehicular ferry wharf the woman had told him to go a

bit further still, and finally he had been discharged with sixpence over his fare near the Akaroa boat sheds. "Davies • wished me a happy New Year as he left me,' was Stone's statement. c> Their condition appeared to him" to be perfectly sobev and rational. He had identified them as his passengers by photo gr a p*h s which he h a (I seen.

Evidence .as to the finding of the effects on the sea wall was given by John Filmer and F. W. Tyson, a carpenter, related how he had found the body floating- near the tide deflector on January 6. The body of the dead man was fully dressed and the only thing found on it was a pencil case, stated Constable Chalcraft, o£ the wharf police. One of the letters found among 1 the effects left on the seawall was handed up to the Coroner, who read it to himself, but did not make the contents public. If was a pencilled, hastily written document, and the time, was given as 12.45 p.m. (This must have been meant for a.m.) ' The letter was full of humian pathos, and indicated only too well the poignancy of the whole affair, and -the terrible mental, and even heart-break-ing strain, from which Davies was suffering on New Tear's morning. A verdict of suicide by drowning was entered by the Coroner.