MURDER IN FLAT

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 3, Issue 643, 22 September 1933, Page 5

MURDER IN FLAT

(Press Assn

a strange case

TRIAL OF JAMES OPENS IN WELLINGTON COURT ; evidence for first day

. — By Telc gra ph — C' 'pyrlght) .

Wellington, Thursday. George Edward Janies (57), engine driver, who was rescued from drowning at Thorndon on June 30, the day on which' Mrs, Cecilia Smith and her seven-year-old son were found dead under tragic circumstances appeared before Mr. Page, S..M., today charged with murdering Mrs. Smith. The hearing of the evidence will probably take two days. Accused, who is very deaf, was allowed to leave the dock and sit close to the witness-box. Senior-Sergeant Dinnie produced a number of photographs of the flat at Ohir0 Road, referred to as James' flat, ''and of Mrs. Smith' and her son. Among the exhihits was a photograph of a bloodstain on a piece of newspaper aiid a. lantern slide shoWiilg a rubher heel which it was stated was coincident with the bloodstain. Plans of the flat shoWiiig bloodstains wei*e pi'odticed by PH'ilij) Rex Rose, .and plans of the disti'ict by Harold William Falkner, chief surveyor, Wellington City Council, who gave details of the distanees by various routes from the flat to a fisherman's hut on the beach at Shelly Ray Road, ;a.nd from there to Shed 45 i at Thorndon. Rent of Flat Eileen Je^tn McKenzSe, who had authority to let the flat, said accused called on her On the eveiiin^of June 6. She understood him to say that he had been m,arried on Moriday aiid wanted his wife to see the flat. The reiit was 15s 6d a week. Accused moved in the following day and p&id a week in advance. On June 8 she met a woman going up the staiirs with r. littie boy. She addressed her as Mrs. James, and asked how she liked the flat. The woman said she was not Mrs. James, aiid witngss had, siiiee learned that she was Mrs. Smith. About a week later witness saw the woman again. The lYomaii said shfe was not Mfs. James btit was goiii® to get married on the Mohday. She said that James had had a lot of worry and had a court case, and they were not going to get marfied until it was fixed. Teleford Richard Williams, who -cccupied one of the fiats, said he kiiew the couple as Mr. and Mrs. JamOs, and thought the boy Was theit son. On the morning of June 30 he was awakened by a scfeam froni the woman. The boy gaVe a shout, scream or cry, and the woman gave another scream. There was no cry for help ih any shape or form; therefore he took no notice. He went down to the bathroom and as he closed the door he heard the woman say "Oh! George, go for a doctor. I am done." He heard no more after that. He was sure it was Mrs. Smith who said that; He did not hear accused speak at all, nor the boy. It Was at 7.30 a.m. witness Iieafd the scream. At 8.30 or 8.45 he saw accused and the boy going up the steps towards the Ohiro Road.- Accused was holding the boy by the hand. , Witness went on to tell of hoW he communicated with the police at 6 p.m. and the finding of the woiiian dead. A blood-stained table-kiiife Was found near a chaii* in the foom. Later he identified the body of the boy, Noel, at the morghe. Man aiid' Bdy See Richard Jairies Brown, studeiit> Of Wellington College, who lived next door to the flat, said he left home at 8.30 that morriing. He sdw a small boy come out of a gate aiid a fnan caine after wheeling a bicycle. As witness passed, the boy said, "Are- we going for a ride ort the bike, daddy?" The man replied in the affirmative. He saW them later in Willis Street. On September 18 he picked out accused in an identification parade. Rescue of James Ralph Dry deseribed rescuing James from the harbour. James was later pulled oiit by means of a rope after he had been clinging to one of the piles underneath the wharf. James' coat and hat had been found on the wharf together with a letter. This letter was read to the court and was as follows: — "Mrs. Rouse-Nancy: You will See what you have brought me to noW. If you had only gave me aiid Badge a Iittle sum of money to set us up in married life the same hs me aiid your man did when yoU Was iharlied. It would have gave rrie a chance, but no ! You want the lot — home and every(thing and turn me out into the street. You had everything you wanted when we took you into our life as a baby and gave you everything. I love Badge and her boy and I am sorfy to have come to an eiid like this, but it is all through your selfish ways. It did not ihatter aboUt me, once your father, so these well be the last words from me. Your broken hearted father, G. James." The case was adjourned until tomorroW.