LIVERPOOL MURDER

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 252, 16 June 1932, Page 5

LIVERPOOL MURDER

. (Press Assn.-

MOXLEY CHAF?GED PROTESTS HIS INNOCENCE IN EMOTIONAL SPEECH SEN S ATIONAL CRIME

— By Telegraph — Copyrlght.)

Rec. June 15, 9.45 p.m. SYDNEY, Wednesday. ; The trial is proceeding in the Criminal Court of William Moxley, who, was charged with the murder > of Frank Wilkinson and Dorpthy i Denzel, at Liverpool ne'af Sydniey, on April 11. Moxley in a Iorig emotional speech, declared his innocence. He said he had no occasi'ori to kill aiiyone. He was not in need . of moixey. Siitce he had been shot in the head, he had been changed and was not responsible for his actions on the iiight of the tragedy. _ , , _ , "I know hothing aboiit the shooting of theSe young people and I don't think anybody does," he said. Thie hearing was a'djourned. Moxley was arrested at French's Forest, near Manly, on April 20 after one of the most intensive man hunts ever carried out in New South Wales. Two hundred police were engaged on the crime, which is regarded as onje of tH'e mbst revplting i'n the crime annals of the State. Miss Denzel and Wilkinson left their respective homes for a motor dfive arid when they failed to return; an intensive search was cpnducted. The liiystefy was unsolved for sohie days until the horrifying discovery of a human hand protruding from a patch of sandy soil, led to the unearthing of the body of Wilkinson. He had been shot through the back of the head and his hands were tied behind him. Miss Denzel's body was not found until the following day when two soldiers passing along a road had their attention drawn by the shying of one of their horses, and found the' girl buried in a shallow drain. A State-wide man hunt then commenced, and although several men were interrogated, the police were for some time definitely in quest of Moxley who was suspected of the crime. He eluded capture for some days, but was finally arrested in a patch of bush eight miles north of Sydney. The hunted man ran when sighted by the searchers, but was brought down by a police driver who leaped off a rock on to his shoulders. • The crime attracted exceptional interest in Sydney, not only from its brutal character, but owing to the fact that both Wilkinson and Miss Denzel were popular figures, with a very large number of friends. Miss Denzel was the winner of a Sydney beauty competition. A reward of £200 was offered for Moxley's apprehension.