Supreme Court Sittings

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 7732, 7 February 1905, Page 2

Supreme Court Sittings

Trial of Ellis for Tc /.walte Mard«r.

JURY YiSIT THE SCESE.

) (Per Pros* Association.) I WEIJJNGTON, Feb. 6. I The triul of Jatm» William lUHk alius Jack McKunzie, charged with the murder of Ixu>nard Hoove Collinson, at Te Awaite, on February 2<lth, 1904, opened to-day before Jlr Justice Dennision and a jury. ! Mr Myers, Crown Prosecutor, in opening the case, said Hie Crown rolled on circumstantial evidence to connect prizoncr with the crime, for which there was strong evidence of motive. After reviewing the cow the. Crown Prosecutor proceeded to call evidence. Tho first witness was Hcginald P. Gruvillc, who produced a plan of the locality which had been prepared from data supplied to him. His evidence in detail was interrupted by a discussion on the question of the expediency of the Jury viewing tiio locality. Hi* Honour, in putting the matter to the Jury, said it .was entirely a question for themselves. All arrangements had been made, and if they thought it necessary to view the scone of the inurHer every) facility would be given them for doing so, and every arrangement made for their convenience. The jury, after consulting, announced that they preferred to visit ,the locality. They left by this afternoon's Walrarapa train, accompanied by the Registrar of , the Supreme Court and two constables and Mr Greville, surveyor. Messrs W'llford and Myers and Detective Bro,bcrg were also of the party. The .trial has in the meantime been adjourned until 2 p.m. on Wednesday.

THE AD- _ DRESS. ""' ~"

The Crown Prosecutor detailed the ircumstanccs connected with the 'murder and said that the stag-shoot-ing season had not commenced on February 20th, and no one hod any license from the manager of Te Awaite to go one the station and shoot. No one but scrub-cuUers or people about the station had any right or any lawful business to bo on the station, nnd certainly no one had say right to bo shooting on the station. He mentioned this in view of soma .visionary theory that might be raised that someone was shooting about the station. There was not any game to bo found within a quarter of a mile of the scene of the murder, and even if there were poachers about it was clear that in thiscaa* there was nothing to shoot at, unless the game was two-legged. Th» circumstances were such that they must como to the conclusion that Collinson was shot at, by a man with intont to deliberate and wilful murdor. The Crown case would depend on what was generally called circumstantial evidence. Nine out of ton cases before the courts, and nine-ty-nine out of one hundred cases ' ; wore end must be decided on such evidence .alqno. They sometimes heard a man say that he could not convictij anyone of murder unless someone could come and say "I saw him do it."l He assured the Jury that that was a very wrong attitude. Murders wore not committed in too presence of a number of people. A murderer did not call peop'e to come and see him do it. if ho did there was a good deal in I tipport of a plea of insanity." A murderer generally went about his work secretly, quietly, and cautiously, taking good caro that he should not be seen. Some judges preferred , circumstantial evidence, and a Jury never refused to convict merely because the evidence was such. Circumstantial evidence was to depose ,to 2 plus 2. It was for the Jury to themselves make four out of this instead of the witness writing the figures on the blackboard. He instanced the Bosher case as an illustration.- As to the motive, Collin- ' son had, or accused thought he had, got accused dismissed from Te Awajto station. In addition Collinson had said some unpleasant things about some previous episode in connection with prisoner, and what Collinson had said had been repeated to the prisoner. | Mr Myers explained to the Jury that tho fact that accused might have hud nn. unpleasant episode in his life was not anything against ,him at all. Hut if accused had such aaj episode, and may be was trying , to live it down, it would be vory annoying to him. to soy the least of it, if ho found another referring to that episode, it might be to do him harm. it wou ld be shown | that it angered accused, and that he uttered serious threats against Colilinson, which would form an important feature of the case. | Counsel proceeded to put a suppositious;) cat* . u>t the Jury.Hhe | aid, imagine tho following matter* Concerning two men, A. and 1». If hoy found A. uttering serious throats against 11., saying he would "do for" 11. and so on—saying ]) wanted "a bullet through his skull"' U L th< 2' found ft ">"tfve for this In the effect on A.'s mind of actions which he believed 11. to gave done to injure him; if after uttering such threats his actions were consistent .with nn intention to jcarry them Cut ; if shortly after 11. was suddenly shot through the heart; if, prior to this A. had been eooa hovering round the locality of IVs work but keeping carefully out of view in a lonely tJosert tract; Jf A, was seen a few hours before tho murder within a few hundred yards of the scene ; if they, found that no one else was in the locality ; if immediately after the murder A. cleared out and lived the life of an outlaw (or nine months or more, stealing his means pf subsistence, except, possiblv, the meat which ho shot ; if the found that A. was armed when arrested With a loaded rifle and a revolver loaded in all its six chambers, this revolver slung just inside his coat, with its holster undone (the revolver being of no uso to anyone In the bush except for purposes of self-de-fence) ; if they found that A. obit nined his riflo more or less surreptitiously vor y shortiv before the murder ; if they found that tho rifle ,wa» capable of inflicting the injury ,that caused tho death; if thev found .cartridges on A. that lilted the riflo and that were similar to cartridges With which the wound must have been Inflicted, to what conclusion as reasonable men, could they come t What case could be stronger ■) TM» suppositious case was tho one tnoy •bad to try. *•