WOMAN PAID

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 132, 27 January 1932, Page 7

WOMAN PAID

CORONER CASTIGATES MAN IN DEATH PACT CASE. "PAILED IN CONTRACT." SYDNEY, Thursday. "In my ' opinion, this 'unfortunate woman, and this man named Powell, came to a death pact; the woman poisoned herself in Powell's presence; and then, when she had taken the 'strychnine, Powell was too cowardly to carry out his part of the contracts' An electrified court heard the City Coroner (Mr. A. E. May, S.M.), make these remarks at the inqu'est on Elsie Annie Hoad, a married woman, who Oommitted suicide at Maroubra on December 14." "Before bringing in my finding, I wish to say that Powell has come out very badly from this case," conti'nued the Coroner, "but I will tell him that he will not be charged with manslaughter." ' ' 55 "I am not gbing to say that Powell poisoned this wcman. "But I will say that he knew this woman had the poisOn; that" She had been talking about suicide for severai Weeks; and that he did not do all he c'oUld' when "he "knew that she had taken the poison. Powell's Story. Powell said he had been friendly with Mrs. Hoad for more than a year. About ,9 p.rii. ofi ihe day of the tragedy, she entered his garage, and he told her to go home. She took a powder, which she said was for a headachej and ab'out half an hour later put her hand to her mouth and swallowed something Which, he could not see. He asked if she had taken poison, but she shook her head. Severai minutes later she began to twitch, and it was evident that she had swallowed poison. The widower, George Richard Hoad, said he had been married for two years. He did not know that his wife had been friendly with Powell. The Coroner found that Mrs. Hoad died from poison wilfully self-admin-istered in the presence of William Powell. He further found that Powell knew that poison was in the gai'age, but that the • evidenee did not enable him to say ' whether Powell knew that Mrs. Hoad took poison when she did.