Reopening of Mareo Case Requested In Petitions to House

Taranaki Daily News, 21 August 1942, Page 2

Reopening of Mareo Case Requested In Petitions to House

Press Assn.

Wellington, Last Night.

Appeals for a further mquiry mto the Mareo case were contained in two petitions which were presented in the House of Representatives to-day and were referred direct to the Statutes Revision Committee. ■ . , Eric Mareo, Auckland, was twice found guilty of murdering his wife, Thelma Mareo, and at the second trial m June, 1936, he was sentenced to death, the sentence subsequently being commuted to one of life imprisonment. The first petition presented by Mr. F. W. Schramm (Govt., Auckland East), was sigried by B. R. Perry, manager of MacDuffs Ltd., R. M. Algie and four others. It mentioned the fact that inquiries had been made in Englana-'to see if fresh Iight could be thrown on the evidence at the two trials and said a report had been received from- Sir William Willcox, a recognised specialist on veronal poisoning, expresSing the opinion that Mrs. Mareo did not die of veronal poisoning. The petitioners asked that further consideration be given to the case either by appointing a select committee of medical men to inquire into and report on the whole case or by extending the clemency of the Crown to the lmprisoned ""ihe second petition was presented by Mr. W. T. Anderton (Govt., Mt. Eden) and was signed by A. S. Patterson and T. Skinner, Auckland, president and secretary of the New Zealand Musicimis Union. They expressed the yiew that there was good reason to believe tne prisoner was innocent and asked for an mquiry into the whole matter.