THE POKENO FATALITY.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 9, Issue 495, 9 January 1920, Page 3

THE POKENO FATALITY.

Case of Drowned Child.

Mother Appears In Court.

~ v. Temporary Insanity l Suggested. Accused Committed For Trial.

(Staff Reporter) The sequel to the drowning of the child Norma Leah Holts, aged 15 months, in Mill Creek at Pokeno on > Deoember 20th, 1919, was enacted \st Mercer Magistrate's Court on Tuesday, when the mother of the deceased, Mrs Constance Elizabeth Parsonage, appeared before Mr F K, Hunt S.M, to answer a charge N of murder. The adjourned inquest concerning the child's death also t<ok place before the Coroner, Mr Dynes Fulton, JP, and the following jury of six : Messrs Malcolm Brown (Foreman), Fred Billings, Arch. McGill, Alex. Ohas. Lowe, James Pirret and Alonzo William Larsen Chief Deteotive McMahon conducted the case on behalf r.f the police, while Mr H H Ostler appeared for the accused. THE EVIDENCE The evidence on the charge of murder and the inquest were takon together. Dr. Wake (Pukekohe) said on December 20th about 8 30 am., he was called to Pokeno by the Police. On his arriyal at Mr Leathen's house he found the body of a female child lying on (he dining room table, life being eztinot, for how many hours he could not say, but it had recently expired. He subsequently examined tho accused in an adjoining room in the same hou-e She was in bed and had dry clothing on—having been changed. He had a conversation with her and asked her if she was comfoi table aud she replied " Tee." She appeared rather reticent. He also ashed one or two questions in reference to her general well-being:, also as to why she did it. To the former she replied "Yes" or "No," but anything further than that he wa« unable to get answers from her. He did not see any clothing taken from her, nor did she appear as if the ha i been in the water. She was in a mentally dazed condition She showed signs of perturbation, and was moving her hands under tLo bed clothes He examined her chest to see if there was any signs of nctivedisease abou k , her, an«subsequently she was able to dresft and go iu a car to Mercer with him She showed no signs of ■'alive disease Her heart and lungs were in a healthy condition. As to her condition mentally she appeared; to be dazed, and gave him the im Eression that she had suffered some ind of mental shock, which brought about that cot dition. He did not have any conversation with her on the way to Mercer. Ho did not notice any alteration in her condition on the journey. He could m t give any idea as to ter state of mind

. some boars before be saw her. It was possible she was iu a low mental state before the act was committed, and tbat the shock brought about her condition, but it wm« improbable, it was quite possible (.bat when the little one was put into the water accused was not sane. He had no previous acquaintance ' with the accused- On December 21st he performed a post mortem examination ou tho body of the deceased and found the child very well developed, giving the appearance of being somewhat older than what it was stated to be, the age beiig about 15 months, according to a birth certificate. There were no visible eigDS of injury, and the child gave the appearance of being very well cared for. On opening tho chest the lungs were uniformly pale, and on the section showed no fluid The windpipe was •lso free from fluid. The right side of the heart was empty ; the left side contained a little blood only. The abdominal organs were healthy, with some engorge. ent of veins Brain : Beyond some engorgement of veins, otherwise healthy In the absence of Water in the stomach and in the lungs, death was not due to drowning, but it left the situation not perfectly clear as to whether death was caused by deprivation of air, or suffocation, or shock caused by syncope. Either of these conditions would meet the case. In asphyxia the position would be that death had been due, not to entry of water into the lungs, but to the exclusion of air. This might be caused either by pressure on the chest, or a closure of the mouth. If shock, followed by syncope, was the cause of death, long immersion in cold water, with the head above water, would be the cause. Death was not due to natural causes It was quite possible death was caused by the child being carried into the water and held there without allowing water to go into the mouth. He understood the child was in the water about half an-hour, end this, in cold water, would be suflfi ient to do it. The lungs were given the ordinary test by being placed in the water. There, were no bruises of any kind. To Mr Ostler: From the time he saw accused until she was in Mercer, was about three quarters of.an hour, and during all that time she appeared mentally dazed, and he came to the conclusion at the time that the act was done while in s state of temporary insanity, and that was still his opinion. It wan quite possible and probable, when, he asked her why sue did it, she did not know j*he had done it. It was quite probable she was suffering from mental confusion. Dr Murray (Auckland) said he visited the accused at Mt. Nn prison on January 3id, and hail a conversation with her. Her mental condition then was not normal lit knew ihe history of the case arH suoull say, on December 2()'h her on that date was one of in ■uiity Mental depression was morn in the morning, especially after sleepless nights. He had seeu a good many of such cases at the front and at the prison. To Mr Ostler* When he spoke to her on January 3rd she know nothing about the deed at nil. Tic wis satisfied that tint was gcuiiin.fi 51,.. did not know the nature and quality of the act, and did not even know what act the bad committed.

William Thomas Leo Holts, a labourer residing at Pokeno, and father of the child, said he knew her from infancy. Bhe was about 39 years of age He correct name was Parsonage, having married a man named William Henry Parsonage, about 17 years ago. For some 13 years they had nt been together. Witness had lived with her for about three years, during which time there was one child, he being the father of the child, which was about 16 months old. About nine weeks ago, they went to reside in a four-roomed house, owned by Mr John Deane, of Pokeno. On December 14th at 10.30 p m. the house was burned down, and practically all the clothes and furniture burned. The accused, deceased, and witness were in the house when the fire occurred. Before the fire there was nothing irregular about her mental condition. Since the fire he noticed marked change in her condition. On two different occasions she exhibited eoosidcrtthlp signs of worry, and acted strangely. See talked strangely - not at all sensibly. They were talking about the fire and accused suggested going down to the creek and finishit g it all up Witness atked her what she meant, and the replied that she meant nothing, but* was merely joking One morning since the fire, she asked him to go for a walk They did so, and came- to a little bridge. Bhe gazed at the water for a while, and said " take me away. I don't like the look of it " It was the same creek ir which the baby was put in The bridge about 20 yards from the willow where the baby was put in. On Friday, 19th December, he went to bed at 10.30 The accused was then in bed in a room in Mrs Hoe's boarding house at Pokeno When in bed accused appeared quite calm. The baby was asleep He gave accused a little brandy diluted with water After which accused went to sleep. She awoke about 4.30 a.m. on December 20th and appeared bright and cheerful, and had the little one with her She got up about 6 a.m. and dressed the baby. Witness arose about 6 50, and accused was then in the room She went to the kitchen and got him a cup of tea. He had breakfast \bout 710 am. and left the accused and baby in the room. At 7 30 he went to the bedroom, but the accused and baby were not there. It was uaial fur the accused to have her breakfast in the ki'chon. As they were not in the bedroom he came to the conclusion that they were in the kitchen, ard went cff for the morning paper. At about 7 45 he returned, and became a*are the accused had cot had her breakfast. He lookod into the bedroom, but the accused and deceased were missing, also a push cart. He made iuvesti ga'ion and f mid wheel marks , which Iml in the direction of Mercer, along the Grrat South Koad. He fallowed the marks and was overtaken by a cart which gave him a lift along the bridge. Upon arrival he noticed the pram in a paddock on the left hand fide of the road. The pram would have to be taken through a barbed wire fence to get where he saw it It was about six feet away from the edge of the creek. He immediately went to the edge of the bank and saw the accused in the water struggling, and had ahold of the grass on the edge of the bank, as if trying to pull herself out Accused was fully dressed, excepting her hat and overcoat, which were in the push cart The do' eased b« by was lying on the edge of the creek, 'ace upwards. Be got the lit tie one, pulled her out, and placed her on the edge of the bank. He got hold of accused and endeavoured to pull her out. The water wai above accused's waist. He got the assistance of Mr McGill, a surveyor, and they got her out of the water Just then the Leatoen family arrived, and imoiediaMy endeavoured to restore the baby's animation, but wore v.v successful When the accused was taken out tf the water wi'uess sat down ahmgsidr of her and asked her what she had done. She did not reply, but looked at him. He then rubbed her hands, and while doing so she turned her head and said: " I walked into the creek." Bhe added: "Do not let them wake th*» baby till I am able to look after it." Witness replied that he would not The accused was removed to Mr Leathen's house about four or five chains away. It was im possible for the accused and the deceased to get into the creek at the bridge and go down to where he found them After the accused was at Leathens, blw-.-st-nt for witness He at one* went to see her. He had a conversation with her. - r Accused said: " I have been bad and cruel to you, and I do not know what I am doing." " Where is the baby? Is she alright ?" Witness replied. •' I think the baby is alright" He asked her if she had thrown the baby into the creek. She replied •' No. We just walked in" Dr Wake and Constable Taylor then arrived and the constable asked her how she felt, but she did not reply Upon repeating the question, she replied " Quite noli, thank you." After the doctor had examined her, she said: " I have put the. baby on the biuk " Witness did not reply. It wai «ll the conversation he had with b*r. The accused was a ternperat« woman ami never indulged in drinking »lcohol, Ttny had lived on goo ■. terms both were i'oud ct the b toy, und tho accused devoted a great deal of time with her. The little one always enjoyed the best of health. To Mr Ostler: Her husband treat"d hnr s • h«dly iha' she had to leave bun Witness and accused were perfect h ppy, anl H^rMM*ditto b a- id, b it h*r h mhnuil would mrf t ke he nec»-H«irv nihiito re n-- li>-r ecu ed w •(• inrfii-ii I*»ly x> -i ■■. c ■ ''>- r,i:t t'i t Wlt'l- i >ll ».- t 111 find She «a ■ ji.mih i i, 11 ~ ~, Mrs i It- mi i i • i ' i- ii rais d i ' j • " ■ . >■ In on h r i,.i v •, >. it tho d*y in •• ilih ti • li. \m w lfuliy li' I'v iin til 'i i j thought, w i* 'h>- roii r ~( i, ~ i,, | b«ing hffrt-i by tin- rod i| . • n.m \ftet ilih fir- >'i mi >l • »ii I aff-cted. >'h wa- u Ir to slhuji »t nigh Nti'l h il * .1.1 i. v lit- administTrt i hrtndv to ui >k>- linr nl-ep On a little Hit ii. ar th« f.lg.. of the creek he tin'i'-id ih»t;-ii«s w:im rne,s«prl liow'i us if t>>u\vi\-wu it smueonti had laid there, or wit. down. I I' would hive been p n-le for th« biiby to roll into th i ci-k after-

wards. The baby coujd walk. Accused thought the deceased was alive when they < endeavoured to restate the animation of the baby. He had several later conversations with accused since she was taken to custody. Up to December 29th she did not mention anything about the baby. 'Recently she made a statement to him that she was sitting on the bank thinking and the baby rolled into the creek, and that she went in to bring the baby out, but could not get out herself. She said: "I put the baby on the bank " She loved her own child, and always cared tenderly for it. To Detective McMahon: The fire was first lit about 9pm, and he heard a strange row. He had not long gone to bed. She was in bed when he heard the row. He asked the accused what the row was but she put her iiands over his ears. When pressed abo .t it, she said she bad lit a fire in the back room. He then got up and found what she had said was true. He put the fire out as he thought, and went back to bed again. Some time after, the ss me night he woke up and the house was full of smoke He immediately got up and knocked the frame out of thefront window in order to get some things out She told witness that she wanted to get rid of some papers. He knew what papers they were They were papers in connexion with a divorce between she and her husband She did not tell him then who did it, nor did she ever refer to the fire at all. The furniture in the house was not in sured, and he also lost a sum of money In reference to the fatality sue said: ''We walked in " To the Magistrate: She had never been cruel to him. To the Coroner: The body in the creek was covered with water Tho perambulator and child's clothing were produce I. Vincent Blake, licensed surveyor, Remuera, produced a plan of the locality There was a willow across the stream, and it would have been impossible for the child, if it had fallen from the bridge, to h*ve got to where it was found. From the edge of the bank it was hardly probable the child would roll into the water. To Mr Ostler: If it had been placed on the terrace nearest the edge of the creek it could easily have rolled in. (There were two banks one higher than the otherV CORONIAL VERDICT. At the conclusion of the evidence, the coroner briefly addressed the jury who retired. After about two minutes the jury returned, and gave a verdict that the child Norma Leah Holts met her death on December iJOth 1919, from shock, caused by immersion in water, there I being no evidence to show how the deceased got into the water. The accused, who had nothing to say, reserved her defence, aud pleaded not guilty. She was committed for tri 1 at the next sitting of the Supreme Court.