OHIRO ROAD TRAGEDY

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 3, Issue 690, 16 November 1933, Page 5

OHIRO ROAD TRAGEDY

(Press Assn.-

TRIAL CONCLUDED JAMES FOUND GUILTY AND J. 'SENTENCED TO- ' .iL . DEATH '• ' r - COLLAPSES IN DOCK

-By Telegraph — Copyrlght).

Wellington, Wednesday The trial of George Edward James chai'ged with the murder of Mrs. Cecilia Smith in a flat on Ohiro Road, was eontinued to-day. The Crown Prosecutor cross-ex-amined James in the witness-hbx for ! over an hour this morning. James at times became very excitable and voluble. James said that from May 15 he had. only eamed 16s. On May 24 h'e sold ,a machine on Mrs. Smith's behalf for £4, and subseqUently borrowed £12 for furniture. Mrs. Smith received that money. After Mrs. Smith had read the letter from Mr. Jowett and found that there was nothing eoming to him, from his late wife's estate they agreed to carry on as they were. She did not tell him that she was going to part from him because he had deceived hex\ . Mr. Macassey proceeded to deal with events leading up to the tragedy. He asked James what started the argument with Mrs. Smith'. ^_James replied that she started about money. She said he had. led her to believe that he had money when he had not. She said she was going down to see Mr. Jowett again to see how they stood. Her idea was that Mr. Rouse was concealing the tnie position of the estate. He Did Not Remember "James disclaimed knowledge of what happened after they began to struggle. He repeated several times that he did not remember anything till he came to in the hospital. Mr. Macassey produced a letter found with James' coat and hat on the whax'f, and asked if he meant the jury to believe that he did not remember writing the letter. James said he did not recollect writing it. Before his Maker, James declared, he denied having made certain statements attributed to him in the record of an interview produced hy Detective-Sergeant Jarrold. Counsel's Address Addressing the jxu'y, Mr. Leieester subixxitted that the crime was not one of murder. The Crown had established nothing more than that Mrs. Smith had died as a result of a knif e wound inflicted by James. The Crown suggestion of the motive was only a guess and there was no evidence in support of it. "This case is not a difficult one," said the Crown Prosecutor, Mr. P. S. Macassey. "It is admitted that the ac- , cused inflicted the injuries. The test is whether the provocation was sufficient to deprive any reasonable man of his self -control. There is nothing in the circumstances of this case to justify accused using a knife on the woman. If it be true that James lost his head, would he not have stabbed Mrs. Smith in various parts of the body instead of directing all his blows on her thx'oat? James had said that he did not remember what happened afterwards, but all his actions surely were those of a man acting deliberate-* ly. They were not those of a dazed man." Judge Sums Up The Chief Justice, Sir Michael , Myers, summing-up said that the evidence was consistent with the theory of the Crown that the prisoner had decided to do away with the woman • and the boy and to commit suicidg himself. If the prisoner's intention was as suggested by the Crown, the fact that he had made an "attempt to do" away with himself would make the killing of the woman none the less murder. "Mr. Leieester has said," His Honcur eontinued, "that if you accept acexxsed's story at its face value, tlien you must find a verdict of manslaughter, but the statement is by no means sound or correct. Even if you accept the evidence as true you still have to consider the question of provocation and accordingly whether it is sufficient justification for reducing the charge from one of murder to one of manslaughter."

Found Gullty On its fourth return to the court fol'lowing the original retirement the jury returned a verdict of guilty-pf murder with a strong recommendatiori to mercy against George Edward James, an engine-driver, aged .57 years, who was charged with the. murder of Cecilia Smith, a widow, -in 9 flat at Ohiro Rbad on June 30. - " ' When the Chief Justice pronounced sentence of death, James collapsed and was carried from the dock. Hard To Agree His Honour concluded his summingup shortly after 4.30 p.m. and the jury -retired at 4.33. They returned at 5.45, as. a juryman required an answer to the question whether defending counsel had admitted - that* accused killed the woman. The Chief Justice said that it would have been idle for counsel to have said that the woman had not been killed by accused, At 8.33 p.m. and again at 9.18 p.m. the jury stated that it was unable to agree, but the Ghief Justice asked them to consider the matter further and at 10.23 p.m. the jury returned with its verdict, "I feel bound to say," His=Hono,ur said, "that I do not see how any other yerdict could have been ax'rived .at..i He discharged members of the* jury from further attendance and exqmpt-ed-them for a period of three years.