WHO SHOT HER?

Taranaki Daily News, 16 February 1921, Page 5

WHO SHOT HER?

WIFE INJURED IN BED. CONFLICTING STORIES 'SOLD. ATTEMPTED MURDER CHARGE. By Telegraph.—Press Association. ' Christchurch, Last Night. At the Supreme Court, Frederick Malaquin, aged 23, was pharged with the attempted murder of his wife, Ruth Irene Malaquin, aged 21, at New Brighton on November 7 last. Mr. Justice Herdman was on the bepch, Mr. A. T. Donnelly prosecuted, and Mr. M. J. Gresson represented prisoner. Opening fur the Crown, Mr. Donnellv said the Malaquin® retired about midnight bn Nqvember 6, and during the night Mrk Malaquin woke up, feeling a pain in her fa'ce. Accused was out of bed at the time, and he explained that lie had heard a sound which frightened him, and he was about to investigate the cause. Mrs. Malaquin was kneeling on the bed with blood streaming down her face. Accused said: “What on earth have you been doing; have you been trying to shoot yourself ? There is a hole in your face.” There was a revolver lying on the -bed. Mrs. Malaquin was evidently under the impression that she had been shot by an intruder. Although accused had wanted to go for a doctor, his wife refused, to’ allow him to' do so, as she was afraid the intruder might return to do her further hurt. The wound, was in the vicinity of the temple. An extraordinary feature of the case was that both went back to bed., where they stayed until daylight. Accused appeared not to know how serious the injury was. In the early morning accused rose, breakfasted and Shaved, and he then proceeded for a doctor. To the doctor accused explained that his wife had shot herself, but later he made a statement to the police admitting that accidentally he had shot his wife, and stating subsequently that he became half silly with fear, and did not know really what he was doing. Counsel referred to accused’s relations with other women. Accused was nominally good to his wife, and yet he met other women, suggested matrimony, and. had intercourse with them. The main points for the jury to take into consideration were: Why did accused not admit having shot his wife immediately after the occurrence? Why did he not immediately call a doctor? Mrs. Malaquin gave evidence on the lines of counsel’s statement. She said thpy had been living together ever since, and she regarded the present proceedings as sheer nonsense.

Dr. Ackland described the course of the bullet, and its subsequent removal. Mr. Gresson explained, by the aid of a pistol and two law books representing twin pillows, how a revolver could be placed under the left pillow by Malaquin in such a way as to produce a wound similar to that inflicted on Mrs. Malaquin. Dr. Ackland admitted that counsel’s explanation was a feasible one. Accused, in the course of his evidence, said he heard a sound as of a match being struck, and he got up to investigate. He found nothing, and went back to bed, and as he was placing the revolver under, the pillow it exploded. His wife gave a shiver and a groan, and then she lay still. Witness thought he had killed her, and he jumped out of bed and lit a candle. His wife turned on her left side and raised herself in bed, and then witness helped her out of bed on his side. . He remembered, saying something about her being shot, and told her he would go for a doctor. His wife would not let him leave her. In the morning he thought it looked bad for him that he had not got a doctor. When his wife made the suggestion of sleep-walking he grasped and stuck to it. When he was told by the authorities that the wound could not have possibly been self-inflicted he was sick of the whole business, and. he came out with the true story.

Counsel addressed the court, and his Honor deferred his summing-up till tomorrow.