THE OAMARU MURDER CASE.

Temuka Leader, Volume 1510, Issue 1510, 9 November 1886, Page 4

THE OAMARU MURDER CASE.

Oamabu, November 6. Agnei Sargemon was charged at theS.M, Court to’dey with haring murdered heir infant on or about the 20th September last. The body, itlmay be remembered, was found much mutilated in a hole in' the garden of the honae aoedied lived in. Accused wae pleaded " Not Guilty.*’ The evidence taken iho wed that the aconied wae female [child on the 18 th Angnit thndliild/Waiintealt.h whan it was born, blit for two^Vthree weeke after it looked rerj ill, end a neighjjotofjiold aoeUHd she should obtain medical advice,IhO aeeaeed’did eo, and thereafter the child appeteed'tO Improve. Thaacoriiedtolcl one of the witheeeM. that ehe- did 1 ‘not intend W regietsr tha birth of tbe child ; she ’would lawra thfit to thepereon (hat adopted it. One witoeie eaid the obild had been neglected ; that it wae dirty.,and wet; all<over. Fre>> vioue .to the disappearance of the child / the accoetd had wed a person to write a letter toa Mre Scottr, care of Mr Smith, Meadow, Bnah, Seat Taieri. Whenj,a»ked bj t|e neighbonre where the gone to, aficnied mid the penon written to bad called and taken it away (he previotte night, and (hat it would be bettor looked after where it had gone to than ehe could do for it. She told one,of the ssitneeeeithst shewee a widow that her hutbSnd had been a bttt . had; died in Condon lately.* Rome time after the, baby waa born, aooneed removed ts a two*' roomed cottage on the ontekirte of the town, and it waa from this place tbs accused eai; ■ been taken away." The landlord of the bouee eaid the aoeuaed bad borrowed a lepade and; tomahawk-from him and they were put through bia fence next morning. The next day, aconied told her landlord > ehe ■ tvaa ((ding •' fej “ Danedih that afternoon. The body of Mm child waa subeeqnently found in a hole in the garden along wih a quantity of nighteoil, and preeented a ahooking appearance, Jhe r legs, being out eff and the rchtilf f asf<||| hacked. The evidence given by’ Defective O’Brien Was'to the effect -that he law the aeouled in.D,unedin after the - left Oafearn :td)'ber» : He kftferwards enqariee ae to the woman who was eaid by the aeeneei to have taken the child awayfrom Oamaru, but could flnd no quo of that name at the addrau givfen, and dpyreturdr ing found that aoodsed had disappeared. ; Ha came back to Oamaru arid 7 'searched iri tha garden ot the cottage where iocuied lived and ; found buried in a hole,, in the rnaahpr already described,!, the body of a child much mutilated. On the. same ,day he left in eearoh of aconied and next Saw her in eharge of the police at Clinton. At the Dunedin railway etation a Mr* Home apoko to aeonied, and he heard aooneed aay, ‘‘Yee, it ia Tripp’i,’’ and alao, “ I am ready to die.” The oaae waa adjonrned till to-morrow. Nor. 6. The charge egainat Agnei Bargemen for the murder of her child waa resumed to-day. The evidence of the arreeting conetable was to the effect that accused had given the name of Mary Johnston f when arrested r at Clinton ; ehe stated that ehe had never been in Oamaru, and that aha had only, been ,in the colony three month*. Another witniie ■aid ehe had met the accused at the Dunedin, etation while being conveyed to Oamaru, and there ehe had stated, in reference to what bad appeared in the papire connected with the charge, that ehe had done it; although thia witness, in cross-examination) said she would not be poeitive that accused meant what the witneea supposed she meant. ' The matron of the gaol said the aconied' had 1 naked her if she pleaded guilty'Would they bang her or imprison her for life. She said ehe had not murdered the child, bat if she laid so they would not believe her. tribe wpreieed surprise at the body being chopped up, and aa.d it must have been done with the epade when burying it. The oaee wae adjourned till Monday.