VEIL OF MYSTERY

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 559, 11 January 1929, Page 1

VEIL OF MYSTERY

Grim Legal Search Continues CLOSE EXAMINATION OF WITNESSES * • rE drama of the mystery of the death of Elsie Walker, whose body was found near a deserted quarry at Tamaki on October 6, was carried on another stage this morning when the inquest, adjourned from yesterday, was continued before Mr. F. K. Hunt, S.M., coroner. Out of the 25 witnesses who will give evidence, five were heard yesterday, namely, Dr. D. N. W. Murray, Dr. Gilmour, Mr. F. L. Armitage, Mr. Frank Bayly, and Godfrey N. L. Bayly. To-day the replies of the witnesses are being followed with tense interest. Legal questions which appeared to have no actual bearing on the case led from one point to another until a solid block of evidence was gathered to substantiate some essential point in the mass of facts which are being built up ir the attempt to clear the mystery.

The principals in the drama now before the public are: MR. F. K. HUNT, S.M., Coroner. MR. V. R. MEREDITH, Crown Prosecutor. MR. E. H. NORTHCROFT, who appeared for the Bayly family. MR. DOUGLAS MOWBRAY, who appeared for Mr. De Renzy Walker, father of the dead girl. DR. D. N. W. MURRAY, police surgeon. DR. GILMOUR, pathologist, Auckland Hospital. MR. F. W. ARMITAGE, bacteriologist at the Auckland Hospital. MR. DE RENZY WALKER, father of the dead girl. FRANK BAYLY, farmer. Papamoa, at whose house Elsie Walker was staying at the time of her WILLIAM BAYLY, aged 22, son of the former Bayly. Evidence was given yesterday to the effect that the clothing of the dead girl, Elsie Walker, showed signs of having been interfered with. The coroner remarked that the removal of the dead body of the girl, before it had been examined by the doctor, was a distinct breach of the regulations. That Elsie Walker had been staying £.t his house for about 11 months was disclosed in evidence yesterday by Frank Bayly, farmer, uncle of the dead girl. The path out of the house passed beside the window, he said, but he could not say if the blinds were down. During the evening nothing led him to believe the Whippet car was being touched, nor did he hear any unusual noises. He could not say if the dogs barked. If they did it was not loud enough to attract his attention. A MORNING DISCOVERY Mr. Hunt: Did no one else inquire after Elsie Walker? Witness: No. Sometimes she did not come in at all, but sat in her bedroom sewing. Mr. Meredith: When did you first bear of the ear being taken? Witness: At 6.30 next morning. Mr. Meredith: Who told you? Witness: My son told me the car was gone. Continuing, he said he had got up and looked at the car tracks. Though his son had noticed the car had gone the night before he did not tell his Parents, though he woke and informed his brother, Godfrey. Witness said they had called Elsie hut there was no reply, and then they discovered she was missing. Mr. Meredith: Do you know that Elsie was wearing a coat belonging to one of the boys when she was found?

Witness: Yes, it belonged to Tom, one of the boys, aged about 11 years. To Mr. Meredith: It was usually hung up in the back passage. A rubbish tin which was usually near the wash-house was found in the garage in the morning. He advised the police about 12 o’clock next day. EVERYTHING GONE Mr. Hunt: Girl gone, car gone, everything gone, and yet you only told the local constable. You didn’t wire to any relatives or anything. Witness: No. To Mr. Meredith: Witness said theer was £3 15s hanging up in his clothes in the wardrobe. He discovered next morning it was missing. Mr. Meredith: You son Bill had one key of the car and Mrs. Bayly had another. Is that so? Witness: Yes. To Mr. Meredith: When Bill went away the key was put in the chest of drawers of Mrs. Bayly. It was an old habit for Mrs. Bayly to do so. Mrs. Bayly’s key had disappeared. Mr. Meredith: Had Elsie Walker ever been in Auckland? Witness: Not to my knowledge, any time in her life. She had been to Rotorua once as far as witness knew. She had never been past there. Mr. Meredith: Of your sons, Bill could drive the car, Trevor could almost drive it, Godfrey could and Mrs. Bayly could, but as far as you know Elsie Walker could not drive? —That is correct. To Mr. Meredith: My son Bill went away on August 22, and tlren came back till the middle of September, after which he left because of a domestic quarrel arising through his getting married without telling us. He was married on August 29. Ten pounds was the last sum of money he received from me on August 22. I had been paying Bill 30s per week and Bill had had no other source of income. POLiCE INFORMED Witness added that he had heard his car was found on the Wednesday. The car was found at 9 o’clock and he had caught the train about 10 o'clock and had arrived in Auckland shortly after 11 o’clock. Fie went straight to the police station, but all the detectives were b one and he saw the police. He was told that the police had recovered the car-key, which belonged to Bill. Witness went out to Flenderson to see his son Bill, who was staying there with his wife. He paid a visit for about 15 or 20 minutes. He did not see Bill’s wife, though he saw and spoke to Bill. “I asked Bill if he had seen the trouble we had about Elsie,” said witness, “and Bill said he did not know a word about it.” Witness had asked Bill what he had done with his car key, and in reply the son said he had left it behind at home. Mr. Meredith: When you paid a

visit to Bill to tell him of the trouble and saw him did you not ask him where he had been on the Monday night?—He told me he had gone out to Henderson and then returned to have lunch with his wife. TOOK SON TO PAPAMOA Witness got his car from Papatoetoe garage and took Bill back with him to Papamoa. Bill came back to Henderson the next day. Questioned by Mr. Meredith as to why the son Trevor had not said something about the car being missing the night the incident had occurred, instead of leaving it until next morning, as he had done, witness said probably Trevor had thought it was Mrs. Bayly using the car. Mr. Northcroft:‘ Did you not telegraph Elsie Walker’s father as soon as you knew the girl was missing?— Yes. The coroner has rebuked you for not telegraphing her relatives in Auckland. Did you think she was on intimate terms with her relatives in Auckland?—Not that I know of. Then you considered that having telegraphed her father, and told the police you had done everything in your power?—Yes. Mr. Northcroft: When you paid a visit to your boy at Henderson, did not a Mr. Lusk accompany you as a friend and not as a legal adviser. Witness: Just as a friend. We were footballers together in Taranaki many years ago. The Coroner: Did you seriously think that Elsie had gone off in the car by herself? Witness: I did. The Coroner: Has the breach between Bill and yourself been healed? Witness: Yes, he apologised to me and wrote to his mother. SAW CAR HAD GONE Godfrey Norton Lyali Bayly, giving evidence, said he passed through the wash-house of his home at 7.30 p.m. Though he did not remember seeing Elsie Walker, he thought she was in the kitchen. Fie later walked to the porch where she usually slept, but site was not there. He went to bed, but later in the night his brother Trevor woke him and asked him if anybody had gone out in the car. Witness said he did not think so. Mr. Meredith: Did he mention anyone who might have gone out?—No. Nothing more wag said about the car until 6.30 next morning when he saw from his bedroom that the car was not there. He at once told his father. What did your father say when you told him. I don’t suppose he said “Flooray ?”—Silence. Mr. Hunt: Did he say, “Bill’s taken it?” Witness: No. I don’t remember. Mr. Meredith: As far as you know could Elsie drive? —No. She never suggested she would like to drive or she could drive?—Mot as far as I can remember. When you looked in Elsie's bedroom on the night in question, how was it? —The bed wasn’t made. The blankets were tossed on it. Mr. Meredith: It wasn’t a bed that had just been slept in for an hour or so before the person got up?—No. The court adjourned at 4.45 p.m. until 10 o’clock to-day. WENT TO A SOCIAL Frank Trevor Bayly, aged 19, was the first witness called this morning. He remembered the night Elsie Walker left home. That night he w r as at a social at Te Puke, leaving home at 7.15 in the evening in a car belonging to a friend named Reg Lees. He could not remember if there were others with him. Mr. Meredith: What kind of a car was it? Witness: A five-seater. Fie did not remember where abouts in the car he sat, or if any others were in the car. Fie met his friend about half a mile down the road in the direction of Tauranga. Mr. Meredith: Flow far past the Papamoa siding? Witness: About 200 yards. Did you meet anybody on the road?. —Not that I remember. What time had you arranged to meet? —About 7.30. So you were really before time? — Yes.