THE ALLEGED MURDER OF HUGH HAMILTON AT AUCKLAND.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume X, Issue 1248, 16 January 1883, Page 2

THE ALLEGED MURDER OF HUGH HAMILTON AT AUCKLAND.

*. The f oilowing is the address of the Crowi 1 Prosecutar when opening the case against Mrs Hamilton and Priest ly:— Mr Hudson Williamson, in opening the ca se for the prosecution, said that it wai 1 one of considerable intricacy and d ifficulty. The chief difficulty was tl ie circumstance that some week or a fortnight had elapsed before action was taken in the direction of discovering whether Hugh Hamilton was ki lied or not. In the meantime clothe s were destroyed, and all marks and ot her evidence of that character were effectually effaced Another difficullty was the fact that the principal w itnesees against the prisoners were r elatives, who would be careful to pre- rent themselves saying anything which would at all tend to criminate the prisoners. It might be a misfortune tl lat so much time should have elapse- 1 between the coroner’s inquest and th e first suspicions of foul play. Coinin' snt had already been made on the ine ffieieney of coroner’s inquests, and it certainly appeared to him that if a lit tie more time was given proceedin' ;s would have followed immediately upon it, and given the prisoners an opp ortunity of replying at once to what 1< .eked suspicious against them. The principal actors in the scene were Hugh . ktkin Hamilton, aged3l or 32, J for son ic time past in the employ of Messrs Archibald Clark and Sons, merchants. He resided in East street,

Newton, with his wife” (one of the aeeused) and three children, Mrs Hamilton was a Miss Neilson, sister of Messrs Bohert and Alexander Neilson. Mrs Hamilton's mother, Mrs Neilson, and a maiden sister of accused lived next door to the Hamiltons. Mr Bobert Neilson, Mrs Hamilton’s brother, only arrived in Auckland on the day of the death of the Hamilton, but his wife was living next door to Hamiltons. Alexander Neil, son, brother of Mrs Hamilton, resided at Mount Eden. Priestly was living with the Neilsons, next door to Hamiltons, and was pursuing his studies under the Bev. P. Mason, a gentleman who prepared young men for examinations, which they thought proper to pass, for the purpose of bettering themselves in lire. Priestly was thoroughly acquainted with the Hamtons ; in fact, he was looked upon as one of the family. There was also a man named Alexander Macdonald, a lodger at Neilson’s house, adjoining Hamiltons; and a Mrs Cullen, a neighbor, living on the other side of the house. This completed the list of those immediately connected with the case. Dr Philson, coroner, held an inquest into the circumstances surrounding the death of Hugh Ham ilton, and Dr Philson would produce the notes taken at the inquest. The verdict did not give exclusive satisfaction to the friends of deceased, and it was ascertained that contradictory statements of a more or leas grave nature were made by Mrs Ha milton and Priestley. The police then conducted the enquiry with more vigour. The doctors who made the post mortem examination would state that the wound on the head could not possibly have been caused in the manner in which Mrs Hamilton had described— Viz., accidentally falling against sin iron bedstead. Mr. Williamson thru referred to the contradictory stater cents of Mrs Hamilton and Priestley r and to Mrs Hamilton’s persistency in describing to her friends how the accident happened. He would prove that Priestley had suggested that Mrs Hamilton should get a separaition order; and he would, he thou ght, show that there had been an improper intimacy between Priestley and Mrs Hamilton. He would prove that Hamilton was not drunk on the night of the occurrence, for he wound up a clock, wound up a watch, and undressed himself. Three respectable wit . nesses would state that at 12.10 a.m an (hour before he reached home, ac • corning to Mrs Hamilton), Hamiltor i Was in their company, and was the n perfectly sober. Mrs Hamilton ha d taken particular care to hide an Am erican axe, and this axe was found it i a very unusual place, and it was wet as if it had been washed. The axe ’ vas first picked up by Mr Robert Neils on, but after looking at it he put it do wn, and said no more about it then, be the noticed that it was wet. Later in th» day, Lizzie Hamilton, while min ding the baby for Mrs Hamilton, noticed her take the axe and the broom , and go into the yard and deposit th e axe in an out of the way place, and cover it over with rank and luxuriant i reeds. He might state, however, th:it Mr Pond, analyst, had failed to detect human blood on Priestley’s trousers and hat which ha d been sent to him for examinatio n. One of Priestley's papers, which <evidently referred to Mrs Hamilton’s statements at the inquest, contained the following notes :— *' You were too lonf; in com- i ing with the light. There is too much i time intervening between tho time you ! heard the first fall. Too much hap- j pened between you when you heard ■ the first fall until you br ought the \ light or kerosene lamp. You say that i after he got the first fall you went out ) to see him. Then you went for a light. ■ during which time he got another fall I and got up again and was walking | through the passage when you met | him. About the trousers, 1 said that i his trousers were not quit e off when | he got the first fall. Walker asked j me on the 14th of December, if I knew | how long it was since I slept with I Hamilton. Alick wants Ito know how j it was that Strathern did not ask for I the little axe or the large axe on the I night on which he searched the house, I which was on the sth of December.” ' Mr Cooper said it was a document I prepared by Priestley for Mr Tyler— | instructions from a client; to his solicitor—and it was most unfair of the police to confiscate it. Mr Williamson said the following acrostic in Priestley’s handwriting had been found in a blotting pad, with a I vignette of Mrs Hamilton : When wind and storm are past and gone, | Shall gentle Games (calms ?) succeed— I know to ease the troubled mind, Sleep is the rest it needs. With these few lines I tell my mind, You may in them a question find. My meaning’s p(l)aue, to find it out— is a torment when in doubt. He made out the acrostic to be “ When shall I sleep with you, my love.” In conclusion, he might state that the evidence was not so much like links of a chain as a bundle of faggots, which taken singly could be easily broken, 1 but all together they could hardly be j broken. If Priestly could show an j alibi, it was open for him to do so, but at the time he had an opportunity, ; and he could have done so then. The theory of the prosecution as to how Hamilton came by his death was that i he was lying in bed, and was struck there. The doctors would state that he could not possibly have risen after receiving the wound on the head, but , muscular action raised him slightly, and then he fell back, causing the bruise on the back of the head.