MUNN’S FATE DECIDED

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1031, 23 July 1930, Page 1

MUNN’S FATE DECIDED

MEETING HELD THIS MORNING STATEMENT BY PRIME MINISTER COURT’S DECISION CONFIRMED AFTER EIGHT WEEKS Special to THE SUN WELLINGTON, Today. rE sentence of death on Munn for the murder of his wife at Auckland was upheld by the Executive Council at a meeting this morning. The Prime Minister, the Hon. G. W. Forbes, made the following statement: “The case of Arthur Thomas Munn, convicted of murder, was considered at a meeting of the Executive Council this morning, presided over by the Gover-nor-General, when it was decided that the sentence should be carried out.”

It is eight weeks yesterday since Mann was found guilty of the murder of his wife, Lillie May Munn, after yi trial which occupied a fortnight. An appeal regarding the admissibility of certain evidence heard during the trial was considered by the Full Court of Appeal at Wellington on June 25. Mr. E. H. Northoroft, for Munn, raised objection to the admissibility of the evidence of a son and two daughters of Munn by a former marriage. The evidence had been tendered with the object of showing a consistent course of cruelty and illwill toward his wife by Munn for a number of years. The Appeal Court

was unanimously of the opinion that the evidence in question had been properly admitted, the court’s reasons for its decision being given on July 1. The next move was the presentation of a petition to Parliament, but that did not alter the constitutional aspect of the case. In practice, the case of every murderer is considered at a meeting of the Executive Council, attended by the Governor-General and such Ministers" of the Crown as are available. If, as in the present case, the Executive Council decides not to interfere, notice to that effect is sent to the district Sheriff, who is required by the Act to carry out the execution within seven days of receiving the notice.