THE PUKEKAWA MURDER.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 9, Issue 575, 15 October 1920, Page 2

THE PUKEKAWA MURDER.

INQUIRY AT PUKEKOHE. STRONG MOTIVE SUGGESTED. The hearing of the charge against Samuel John Thome of murdering Sidney Seymour Eyre at his farm at l'ukekawa on the night of August 24, was commenced at the Premier, Hall, Pukekohe, yesterday. Mr. J. W. Poynton, S.M., occupied the bench, and Mr. It. F. Webster was sitting as coroner.

Mr. R. Singer appeared for the accused, associated with him beinL' Mr. 0. E. Stout.

Mr. R. P. Hunt, instructed by tlie Crown Prosecutor, conducted Ihe prosecution, and Mr. F. D. McLiver appeared on behalf of the deceased's wife and family. The accused appeared in Court in a composed state, and listened attentively to the proceedings. The witnesses in the case were ordered out of Court. Case Outlined.

Mr. Hunt, in outlining the case, briefly described the circumstances of the murder. He pointed out that there was no doubt that the deceased had been murdered. The deceased had left his home in 1917 to go abroad for his health, and had enlisted and seen service with the Canadian Forces. While he was absent the accused Thorne had been employed by Mrs. Eyre. He intended to show by the evidence that there was a strong motive for the accused to commit the crime. Accused had been on terms of improper intimacy with Mrs. Eyrtf. The motive then was resentment at his dismissal from Eyre's employ and the desire to be able to continue his intimate terms with deceased's wife. Mr. Hunt explained that the house where deceased had lived was a small house and in bad disrepair. There was no

paper on the walls, and it was quite possible that conversation in the room could be heard in the other room. Continuing Mr. Hunt said there was no doubt but that the shot which killed deceased could only have been fired from one place—outside the window. It would be shown that there were only two guns in the house and that neither of these guns had been lired for some time prior to the crime. It would also be shown that the accused had in his possession a gun which would fire a cartridge similar to the one which caused Eyre's death. The night itself was an ideal one for the perpetration of such a crime. The 24th of it would be shown was the only night upon which the accused could have committed the crime "without his absence being noticed. On this night nobody would have been conversant with the movements of the accused. It was suggested that the accused had used a horse belonging

to his employer. This horse had been shod in a peculiar manner, and as a result its hoofmarks could be identified in a most positive manner. Accused had also altered the girths of his saddle so that they were long enough to lit the horse of his employer, but would be too long for accused's hack. It would be shown further that the shot which killed deceased could more easily be lireil left-handedly, and evidence would be called to show that accused was lefthanded and also lireel from the left shoulder. He would submit that the evidence which was necessarily circumstantial pointed very strongly to the accused. The police had taken possession of a gun-case owned by accused. This case contained a number of special cartridges, and it woukLbe proved conclusively that a similar cartridge had caused tin.' death of Mr. Evre. Enquiries had been made for a radius of twenty miles, and only one person had in his possession a similar cartridge, and his possession of this could be accounted for. During their enquiries the police had examined ovei 1300 horses, and the accused's was the only one shod similarly to the marks discovered adjacent to the scene of the crime.

The first witness, Alex. David Newton, Government surveyor, deposed to having made plans of Eyre's property and house. The witness gave evidence regarding the height of the window from the ground, and the relative positions of the furniture in the room. He had also prepared various plans of the deceased's property and its position in the county. Thomas Kelly, police constable, of Auckland, said he had taken various photos of the house and also of the rooms of thchouse. The position of the bed in which deceased was found was also photographed. There was a clock in the room, but this had stopped at 11.9. Between the time when he first saw the body and the time he took the photograph the iiands of the deceased "had been moved. He had received a gun from Sergeant So wan on August 25 and this he had taken to Auckland and given to Col. \V. H. Hazard. The Willow's Evidence.

Millicent Eyre, widow of the deceased, stated that the property which she and her husband occupied was worth between £15,000 and 120,000. She was married at Tuakau in -January, 1904, her maiden name being Hallamore. From the time of her marriage to the time of the death of her husband she had lived continuously on the farm. She had five children. Early in 1917 her husband was not in good health and went for.a trip to California. He later went to Canada and enlisted there in the 50th Regiment, Canadian Expeditionary Forces, and went on active service. He returned to New Zealand on August 15, 1919. She and her husband had corresponded during his absence. While lie was away she and Mr. McLiver, her husband's solicitor, had acted as his attorneys. After her husband went away she had employed five farm hands at different times, the accused being the last and remaining with her until July, 1920. Thorne then went to work for Mr. Granville at Glen Murray. While working for her Tlionic occupied a hack bedroom. This room was also occupied by her two elder ■sons. Her husband was stili in poor health when lie returned. He used to sleep by the open window, preferring to sleep alone. Wittness occupied the same room as her husband, but she slept in a separate bed, Her husband had known the accused before he went away After her husband returned, he and the accused disagreed at times- I he accused had! i.i.l ten toM her that he disliked her > husband. On the night of the crime there was no one in the. house besides her own family Her husband was in unusually food, spirits when he went to bed, .Some time after she went In bed she \v:i.\ awakened by the barking of a d<>g which belonged to the accused but had stopped at the house, She called out to the doe. which slopped barking, and she went to i-iecp again. She was awak- j cntil agaiii later by the shot of a tun. Immediately' following she heard quick, heavy steps. The room was full of smoke. She got out of bed, and after calling to her husband struck a light and discovered that the top of his head had been blown away. She then sent her two eldest sons to communicate with the police and the doctor, who arrived at about 4 a.m. She touched nothing in the room b"* . hoi- own clothj^untiltho

the accused vvrs the or.ly one wlic knew the positions of the beds in her room. The accused had been in the room. She had known the accused since he was a boy. He is now married and has a family of seven. Some of the accused's pay she forwarded to the Magistrate's Court on account of a maintenance order. As far as she could remember the accused was the last visitor to tic farm, he having been there about H davs before the murder., While the

accused was staying with them he kept a gun, but he took this away with him. While accused was working for her he had told her that ht loved her, and asked witness to ieavi children and husband and go ti him.

Relations with Accused.

During her husband's absence Thorn had always been kind and attentive to her, and on New Vei'r's Day, 1919, had been on terms of intimacy with her and in the evening had held sexual intercourse with her. , This also occurred later whenever he got the opportunity. Site had on two occasions stopped with Thorn at a boardinghou.se and a hotel in Auckland. They had continued this intimacy after her husband came home. Sometimes her husband would be away and sometimes about the place. She allowed it to continue because Thorn had threatened to inform her husband of her conduct and get her divorced. The last occasion on which accused misconducted himself was when he was leaving to come to get his things. At that time her husband was on the farm planting wattles. Love and Brutality. At times after her husband had come back the accused was brutal to her on account of his being jealous of her husband. He objected to her paying any attention at all to her husband. Accused had told her that when he heard her husband having intercourse with her he felt like killing him. From the position .of her bed there was no danger of 'her being hit by the shot which killed her husband. The accused and her sons had got on well together. Thorn was left-handed when he was working. Her husband's will was in the house both when he was away and after he came back. The will was kept in a drawer and anyone could have seen it. Witness could not say definitely whose step she heard running round the house on the night . of the murder, but it resembled Thorn's. Accused had asked her, I "Don't you think you would be hap- ' pier if he were dead." At the same ; time he asked her if her husband ' slept in the same bed. This was on [ accused's last visit to her. Another time when she had driven into Tua- | kau he had got into the buggy and . refused to get out. After they had . <>one some way he told her to get . out and he struck her in the lace 'r and then forced her to be in- | timate with nim. Before accused t was arrested she saw him at Tua- . kau police station. He asked her what made her suspect him of mur- • dering her husband. She had answerI ed that the circumstances pointed to ' him. He said, "As true as I am here. " I never did «it." When he had read ! her statement he said, "You have put I me in a tight corner. 1 will have a I hard job to get out ol this." Husband and Advertisement. Cross-examined by Mr. Rogers, Mrs - Eyre said that two or three weeks ; after her husband returned from " Canada he was advertised for in the 1 "Star." She had shown the advertise--1 mcnt to her husband, but had not taken much notice of it. She had no • idea who the advertisement was - from. She did not know that her 1 husband went lo Auckland in conse- ' qucncc ol' it. She had never asked ' who was advertising and was not al ' all curious on that point. After this 1 ■he received letters from Canada and - England. He used to destroy these, - and she did not know from whom they came. She was not at all curious on this point, lie had a number > of photographs of women he had ' met in Canada.

The Court then adjourned until 10 a.m. this morning'.

Newspaper Reports. Mr. Singer, in opening, made lel'erence to the newspaper reports which had been published regarding Mr. Hunt's opening address. He pointed out that statements made by counsel still had to be proved, and he did not want the statements published to influence anyone in pre-judging the case. A Surprise Arrival. Continuing his cross-examination, Mrs. Eyre stated that she did not know of her husband's return from Canada until he arrived at the house. She had sent the boys out of the front door on the night of the murder because she had heard someone run up the back, and she thought it would be safer.

Re-examined by Mr. Hunt, the witness said she had seen photographs of her late husband's relatives in Canada and Ireland, both male and female. He also had photographs of nurses who had nursed him at the front. Medical Testimony. Charles Hereward Wake, medical practitioner, stated that he had been calied to Pukekawa in the early morning of August 24 last. He went with Sergeant Cowan to the house of the late Sidney Seymore Eyre. They entered the house by the back door, and after seeng Mrs. Eyre and one of the boys in the dining-room went to deceased's bedroom. He formed the opinion that Eyre had been murdered in his sleep. The hands were not in the same position in the photograph as when he saw them. The deceased's right eye was present, but the left eye and tlv whole of the upper part of the head had been shot away, leaving only pieces of torn scalp and brain matter. Examination of the body revealed no other marks .of violence. There was a stain in the region of the left crbit, and this he thought was caused by the firing of ;i gun at close quarters. The other bed in the room showed signs of some person having been upon it- Brain matter from the dc ceased had been scattered over the room, some being quite close to the head of the larger bed. ' IV. Wake also corroborated the previous evidence re gar din;: the position "1 the body. He considered that the shot had been fired from outside the house. The pun would have been pointing down and at such an angle that it must have missed anyone in the Jnrger bed. The police hail picked up the wad and shot from a cartridge- There was nothing other than the wound in the head that could ha\e caused deceased's death. Death had, in his opinion, taken place about four or live hours previously, and must have been instantaneous. He thought that the muzzle of til# gun would be somewhere about six inches from deceased's head. The pieces of ■ !, V U exhibited he had seen picked up by the police. In company with Sergeant Cowan be had followed recent horse tracks down the road leading from the house. Shot at Close Range. , Dr. Campbell-Smith, of Pukekohe, stated that he had had two years' service in the South African War and three years in the recent war. On the morning of August 26 he had gone to Pukekawa and performed a post-mortem examina 1 ion on Sidney

bora ted the evidence of J)r. Wake re garding the nature of the wound. H< had assisted the police to collect tinshot from on the floor and in tl skull. There may have been nume: cus other pellets embedded in t!r muscles of the skull. These pellet; were flattened as the result of contact with the bone. He had fount that death was due to a gunsho wound in the head. He was of th opinion that the shot had been firet from outside the window and fron the corner of the window further, from deceased's head. He was 6ft high in his boots, and standing 01 tipe-toe outside the window he wouk not have been able to fire such : shot as killed deceased. Had he put his foot on the ledge beneath the window and held on to the window he would have been able to fire tl"»>. shot. He was right-handed, ar.c found it difficult to get in. a gocci firing position. A left-handed mar, who was a fairly accurate shot woul: have a great advantage, and wouk be able to get the angle necessan to fire the shot. He did not thin! that the shot could not have beer fired from any other position, arcit would have been impossible for it to have been fired from inside.

Henry Brook, faim-hand, employee on a farm about half-c-mile fron Eyre's place was the next witness. H< stated that he had been wakened or the nisjht of August 24 by Mrs Eyre'; two bovs. This was a few minute; before midnight. He got dressed and then called his employer and got him to ring up. No answer was received, however, and he and the other tv/c boys went to the Pukekawa post of lice about a mile away. They callec 1 the postmistress and rang up the police. The time by the post office clock when they were in there wat about 12.30. They then returned t< Kyre's place, and he remained there until the doctor and police arrived. He had been awakened just before the hoy Eyre called by the barking of dogs. Eldest Son's Evidence. Philip Sidney Eyre, eldest son of the deceased, corroborated the evidence of his mother with respect to the various employees that had been on the farm. He identified the gunc.'im' and its contents produced and belonging to Thorn. He had been out shooting with Thorn. The latter was a very good shot and fired from the Ir 11 shoulder. While his mother was ill willi pneumonia lie had frequent I \ seen the accused in her bedroom. Thorn had shared his bedroom with him, and he had known him go out of the room after he had undressed anel gone to bed. He did not Know where Thorn went to, but he had beard him talking to his mother. On these occasions he generally stayed out of the room for about half-an-honr and then came back to bed. This happened about twice a week during his father's absence. His suspicions as to Thorn's conduct wore aroused, and he had suspect' d him of being in his mother's bed. Sometimes accused would send them to bed early, but would not go himself, but stopped in the dining-room with his mother. Ultimately so strong were his suspicions that one night he got out of bed and looked through a crack in the wall into the dining-room and saw Thorn in improper relationship with his mother. Accused used to call her by her Christian name. He had also seen hia mother and Thorn in the Ti i **-