HOW THE POLICE WORKED

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 630, 5 April 1929, Page 16

HOW THE POLICE WORKED

Methods in Elsie Walker Case

“DUTIES WERE FAITHFULLY CARRIED OUT”

(From Our Resident Reporter) ' WELLINGTON, Tuesday. IN a document of some 6,000 words, Mr. E. Page, S.M., minutely traverses the details surrounding the police investigation of the death of Elsie Walkor. I lie repot t indicates that at no point was there any neglect of duty oi failure to arrive at reasonable judgments. “Reviewing the whole of the evidence adduced before the Commission,” says Mr. Page, “the conclusion formed in my mind is that the police steps and inquiries, though they have failed to establish the manner of the girl’s journey from Papamoa to Panmure, or the actual cause of her death, were prompt, thorough, and exhaustive. Details of their actions throughout the night of October 5, and the early morning and day of the 6th disclose the spirit in which the problem was tackled. In my opinion the steps and inquiries were well and capably directed throughout, and methodically and faithfully carried out. The existing rules and instructions are in my opinion adequate.”

17ROM October 6 until November 5, 1 says the report, exhaustive inquiries were conducted by the police at Papamoa, in various country districts, and in Auckland, 24 police stations having received instructions to make various investigations. In these inquiries, Detective-Sergeant Kelly played an important part, and he had frequent consultations with the chief detective, who in turn often conferred with the inspector. After summarising the evidence, the report proceeds:— The police regulations provide that where a dead body is found it should, as a rule, be removed to the nearest morgue, and that in suspicious cases every circumstance in connection with the appearance of the body and the position in which it is found should be carefully noted. The practice, where foul play is indicated or suspected, is to call in the detectives, who in turn, where the circumstances warrant it, call in medical aid before the body or the surroundings are touched. In this connection, it is obvious that police officers should err on the side of caution, and if the circumstances, though indicating a probability of death by suicide or by natural causes, are also consistent with death by foul play, the latter possibility-should dominate the steps and the care taken. FINDING THE BODY Constable Collins took a careful survey of the posture in which the body was found. This commission has

closely examined all the evidence as to this posture, both by the statements of all the witnesses that saw the body prior to its removal, and by physical demonstrations on the spot given by each of them, but the result was inconclusive. It may be that a close examination by expert eyes of the body itself as it lay there might have given some indication as to whether the girl had crept In there or had been placed there. Constable Collins took the precaution of twice ringing the detective office before removing -the body, and his opinion, expressed to that office, that there appeared to be no suspicious circumstances, was an honest and a painstaking exercise of his judgment. In the circumstances, as they then appeared, and with the knowledge then available, that opinion was a natural one to come to. The regulations provide that where a body has been removed or taken charge of by the police for an inquest, it should be carefully searched and examined with the view of ascertaining whether there are any marks of. external violence. In this case an unidentified body was brought to the morgue, and it was in accordance with the regulations and with the usual practice for the clothing to be removed, so that the body could be examined for marks of violence or other evidence. In the circumstances existing here, this procedure was. a proper one. EXAMINATION OF GARMENTS The civilian was the one who had directed the constable to the spot where the body was foujid. He had assisted the constable to remove it, and bring it to Auckland, and was

waiting to be taken back to Panmure after the constable’s duties at the morgue should be concluded. I do not think that exception can be taken to his remaining at the morgue until the constable should finish. There seems to have been some delay in having the garments, which were known to have some stains on them, sent to the bacteriologist for examination. It was not until the 23rd that it was decided to send them. Dr. Murray is of opinion that the result of that examination did not assist him in determining the cause of death, and I do not think that the delay affected the course of the inquiries, nor the result of them. THAT TELEPHONE MESSAGE At the inquest and at the commission, some emphasis was laid on the fact that a witness whose name was mentioned in a telephone message received from Te Puke on the afternoon of Saturday, October 6, was not interviewed until the morning of Monday, the Bth. Constable Jackson, who sent the message, states in his evidence that for reasons which he outlined in the message the witness should be interviewed on that day (Saturday). Before telephoning his message, Constable Jackson wrote it out. His writing has been produced, and it contains no reference to the desirability of having the witness interviewed on that day, nor any other indication of urgency. He telephoned it to Hamilton, where it was received by Detective White, who wrote it down as he received it. His original record of it has also been produced, and it also contains no reference to the above matters. Defective White received it at 3.30 p.m., and he telephoned it to Auckland, where it was received at 3.40 p.m. The Auckland message, therefore, being a copy of that received at Hamilton, contains no reference to any suggestion that the witness should be interviewed that day or urgently. Constable Jackson says that he is clear that he mentioned this matter, and Detective White is clear that he did not receive any such suggestion Both these witnesses impressed me as keen and reliable officers, and I am satisfied that each is stating what he believes to be a correct account. Detective White’s written note of the message is very full, and contains many details. If the message as sent had contained a reference to the desirability of having the witness interviewed that day or urgently, there seems to be little doubt that Detective White would have recorded it. Detective-Sergeant Kelly, of Auckland, to whom the message from Hamilton was delivered, had at that stage little material on which to interview the witness (the body had only been discovered the night before), and I think that he acted reasonably in having the witness sent in to the detective office on the Monday morning, and interviewing him at length there. The commissioner then summarises his conclusions, and adds: “I think that the Crown should bear the reasonable costs incurred by the police officers incidental to the commission.”