STRYCHNINE FOUND

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26617, 13 November 1947, Page 8

STRYCHNINE FOUND

Body of Mrs Morrison EVIDENCE IN OAMARU CASE Special Reporter OAMARU, Nov. 12. Public interest was again evident in the Oamaru Courts house to-day when 16 Crown witnesses gave evidence in the murder charge against Phyllis Freeman, who is alleged to have murdered Joyce Maysie Morrison at Enfield on October 3, 1942. It was stated that the accused had been supplied with a quantity of strychnine from an Oamaru chemist’s shop and also that strychnine had been discovered in the body of Mrs Morrison after it had been exhumed from the Oamaru cemetery on July 29 of this year. Evidence was also given by the doctor who had examined Mrs Morrison on the day she died. The court finished its two-day sitting at 4.15 p.m., after the evidence ef 19 witnesses had been heard. The Crown Prosecutor, Mr F. B. Adams, intimated that other witnesses would have to be called at Dunedin, and the magistrate, Mr J. D. Willis, accordingly adjourned the proceedings by consent to Dunedin until Monday. The accused was remanded in custody. The evidence to be heard at Dunedin includes that of the. Government pathologist, Dr P. P. Lynch, of Wellington, Dr E. F. D’Ath, professor of pathology at the Otago Medical School, and Mr F. J. T. Grigg, assistant director of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. A second charge of the attempted murder of Ina May Pearce, at Enfield, on May 23, 1947, laid against Phyllis Freeman, has been , adjourned to Dunedin on Monday morning. The accused is represented by Mr J. E. Farrell.

Cyril John Byrne, manager of the U.F.S. Dispensary in Oamaru, said that prior to August, 1942, the accused had been a' customer for a number of years. Witness said he was obliged to keep a “sale of poisons book” as required by Statute for the sale of certain poisons. The poisons book was produced as an exhibit. “On August 27, 1942, the book recorded a sale of one ounce of strychnine, with Miss Freeman, of Enfield, as purchaser. The purpose given was for the destruction of rabbits,” witness said. Witness described the procedure for the sale of strychnine. “If it is someone we know, the sale is authorised to take place,” he said. “Small quantities are never sold—only original ounce bottles. If the strychnine was for some other person, that name would have been recorded in the book and the strychnine would have been supplied. If Freeman, therefore, had asked for strychnine in the name of Mrs Morrison, the name of Mrs Morrison would have been recorded.” “There would have been no difficulty for Miss Freeman to obtain strychnine without mentioning the name of Mrs Morrison,” witness said, “ because Miss Freeman was well known to us.” Witness said they did not have strychnine in stock in August, 1942, but they would not have undertaken to post strychnine to Mrs Morrison. If any had been sent, no entry would have been made in the book until the strychnine had been despatched. If the strychnine was to be posted, a signature would not have been taken at the time. “From the entry in the book I would say we supplied the strychnine to the accused on that date." witness affirmed. The bottle produced was the same type of bottle as that used for supplying strychnine. The natural colour of the poison was white and it was one of the bitterest substances known. Evidence was given by Carlyon Middleton Rickman, secretary of the Oamaru Cemetery Trustees, concerning the plot of ground in which Mrs Morrison was buried. John William Stringer, the _ undertaker who buried Mrs Morrison on October 5, 1942, said that on July 25, 1947, he was told by the police that a licence had been issued by the Minister of Health for the exhumation of the body. He was present oh July 29 when the body was exhumed at about 11.30 a.m., and later taken to the morgue at the Oamaru Public Hospital, where police officers were present. Some hours later the body was reinterred in the same plot. Question of Letters Alexander Cluney McFherson, a postal official at Oamaru,paid Mr Morrison’s address was 15 Cormacks rural delivery. William John Freeman’s address was 18 Deborah rural delivery. “It would be extremely unlikely for letters addressed to Hector Morrison to be placed in William John Freeman’s box, owing to the system of delivery,” witness asserted. He had never heard of such a case. Gordon William Lawrence, a farmer, of Reidston, said he had been a driver with Railway Road Services on the Deborah rural delivery. He thought it was “very nearly impossible” to deliver one of Hector Morrison’s letters to Freeman’s, or vice versa. Corroborative evidence was given by William James Gray a retired rural delivery driver. ... Dr R. S. J. Fitzgerald described how on October 3, 1942. he was called urgently to Hector Morrison’s home. “I met the accused, who told me that Mrs Morrison had taken ill suddenly and then collapsed and died,” witness said. “ The accused told me that Mrs Morrison had complained of a severe headache in the afternoon before her collapse.” Witness was under the impression that the accused had been in the house all afternoon while Morrison was away with the Home Guard. “ I examined Mrs Morrison and considered she had been dead for some time,” the doctor continued. On October 5, 1940, he had operated on her for acute appendicitis and had discovered gall stones. Witness did not consider it safe to operate. “I saw her again on February 18 and February 25. 1941. I had not attended her from that time until her death,” witness said. “On October 3. 1942, I communicated with the coroner and told him the facts about Mrs Morrison’s death,” witness continued. “I told him that it might have been due to a cerebral haemorrhage. or an aneurism at the base of the brain. It was considered that an inquest was not necessary. “ My diagnosis was based on the severe headache which Miss Freeman had spoken of early in the afternoon, culminating in Mrs Mbrrison’s collapse and death. From what was described to me, the symptoms were not those of strychnine poisoning, but cerebral haemorrhage or a ruptured brain.” the doctor said. “If she died of strychnine poisoning I would say I was not given a correct description of the Stoms. I cannot remember any ion of giddiness. Doctor’s Next Visit On May 23, 1947, witness had again been called to Morrison’s home. The •accused was there and a Miss Pearce was in bed. “Mr Morrison told me that Miss Pearce had taken ill suddenly, but- apparently had recovered from the attacks. I then met the ac-

cused, who said that Miss Pearce had suddenly taken acutely ill, collapsed on the floor and that she had vomited.” witness said. “ When I found Miss Pearce her face was bluish, and her pulse, heart and respiration, were normal. I wondered at first if she had had an epilepitic fit but could not quite understand the blueness of her face. She was taken to hospital. “The accused made no suggestion that she herself felt ill,” witness cpntinued, “ and did not say anything about any lollies having been consumed by Miss Pearce or herself.” Witness did not see Miss Pearce in hospital, but she called on him on June 5 to pay an account. “ I am familiar with strychnine poisoning symptoms,” Dr Fitzgerald went on. On his examination of Miss Pearce, he could observe no signs of strychnine poisoning. That could be accounted for by the fact that she had vomited and recovered. There was nothing inconsistent with strychnine poisoning, however. Dr Fitzgerald said the accused had subsequently visited his surgery. She was very nervy and upset. "She asked me for a certificate on what I considered the cause of Miss Pearce’s illness,” the doctor said. “ I am not sure whether sweets were mentioned, but I think I remember the accused saying that she had eaten sweets out of the same bag as Miss Pearce. The accused saw me about three or four times in the month following the incident. ' Witness said he was present when the body of Mrs Morrison was exhumed on July 29, 1947, and at the examination afterwards. There was no evidence found of a haemorrhage or a rupture of the brain. It was apparent, therefore, that death had not been due to either of those causes. Strychnine Found in Body Oswald Hilton Keys, Government analyst at- Dunedin, said he had taken samples from the body of Mrs Morrison after the exhumation. • In a report prepared for the Commissioner of Police witness stated that allowing’ for the fact that the body had been buried for five years and for the difficulty in extracting quantitatively small amounts of the poison in such cases it was clear that a still larger amount of strychnine was present in the organs when death occurred. Witness added that it was impossible from the . analyses to calculate the'amount of strychnine in the body at the time of death. “I have formed the considered opinion that at the time of death there must have been an amount of the order of one grain or so in the body,” witness stated. Cake Received by Mail Mrs Catherine Jane Pearce, of'Tuatapere, in Southland, said her daughter was living at home in 1946, when she received a parcel containing a piece of cake. On some paper were the words, “From an old friend, writing soon.” A crumb of the icing fell on to the table and its taste was bitter. Witness said that her daughter did not have any of the cake that day. “I think I destroyed the cake after that,” she said. The postmark of the parcel containing the cake had been Oamaru.

Mrs Lucy Allan, of Corriedale, near Oamaru, said she knew someone named Rose Hill, whom she met in August last year. “ I knew that Rose Hill was related to Morrison,” witness stated, “and when I met the accused in Oamaru one day in September 1 told her that I intended to take Rose Hill to visit Morrison. When we did visit the house Miss Hill said something about her plans for Easter. Morrison was thinking about going for a holiday if he could get somebody to look after the farm. Constable H. W. P. Armstrong said the accused came into the Police Station at Oamaru on April ■3, 1947, giving the name of Miss Rose Hill. The accused requested the police to broadcast a message asking Mrs Richards and Mr and Mrs Pearce to return home.' Herman Hille Stedmari, manager of the Oamaru branch of J. R. McKenzies, Ltd., said that in May, 1947, there were jubes and paper lollies in stock. At no time had he received any complaints about persons being ill after eating these sweets. Graham Allen, manager of Woolworths in Oamaru. gave similar evidence. Evidence was given by Elinor Rozelle Hill, who said she came to live in Oamaru in August, 1946, after which she stayed at Ngapara. Witness was a cousin of Miss Ina Pearce. “Some time in October, I received a parcel by post,” witness explained. “Inside the parcel was a piece of cardboard with this message—“ Piece of birthday cake from your cousin. Travelling north. May be seeing you comng back.” In the parcel was a piece of light fruit cake. «I did not eat the cake straight away, but a* few days later when I was in bed. I ate some of the cake,” Miss Hill said. “Immediately I had eaten the cake I did not feel very well. “Sometimes I would feel stiff, and then limp, mainly in my legs and arms. I had difficulty in gettng out of bed and had to lean on the walls of the passage” rT /Witness said she first met Hector Morrison in February, 1947, at' his home. She met the accused on that day for the first time. Witness left Oamaru by train on April 3. The accused had no authority from witness to give a message to the police. Constable J. D. Farquhar described, pumping operations carried out near the dam on Morison’s farm at Enfield on July 1, 1947. Witness had found a tin on the side of a bank, which he did not think had been, in the water for any great length of time. That concluded the evidence to be heard at Oamaru.