The Alleged Murder of Hugh Hamilton.

Thames Star, Volume XIV, Issue 4373, 9 January 1883, Page 2

The Alleged Murder of Hugh Hamilton.

(Pee Pbess Association.)

Auckland, Yesterday. The Police Court was densely crowded this morning with-people anxious to hear the case against Thos. Priestley and Mrs Hamilton. They stood in rows sis or seven feet deep, and as the floor of the Court is level, those who were furthest from the front had {he greatest diffi^iiy in seeing what went on in the Court. A. considerable number of women were present among the audience, and like the men took the greatest interest in the proceedings.

At 11.30 o'clock, Mr H, Gr. Seth Smith, EM., took his seat on the Bench, anA after the usual number of drunks had been disposed of, Thomas Foley Colldn Priestley and Miriato Kobertson Hamilton were duly placed in the dock. / They were attired in the same dress as they wore on the occasion of: their last appearance, and their demeanor had not altered in any way. : s Messrs Cooper and Earl complained of the references to the case that had ap» peared in the Press, and the former gen*tleman applied that the Court should be cleared in order that the reporters might be prevented from taking down thei 1 Evidence for publication. This application was afterwards withdrawn.

Mr Hudson Williamson, in his opening address, said the case that would occupy his Worship's attention that morninf. was one of difficulty and intricacy. One difficulty which the prosecution had to contest against was the circumstance, that some week or a fortnight had elapsed after the death of Hamilton before any steps were taken to discover whether his death was caused by a murder or not. Another difficulty was that the principal witnesses were nearly all blood relations. It was a misfortune that rq much time had elapsed between the coroner's inquest and suspicion being aroused concerning the cause of death. The, following are the new points referred to by the Crown Prosecutor in his address : —There was evidence, too, to show that prisoner had made preparations for *an 5 attack upon her husband, if an attack bad really been made. One of, the- female witnesses, who had been on terms of intimate relationship with Mrs Hamilton,, who was frequently in her house, and"was fully acquainted with its .internal economy, would tell the Court that the infant slept with Mrs Hamilton in one room, and that the two elder children were accustomed to sleep in the same room as their father, viz., that in which he came by his death." On the evening in question, however, — that on which the man received the wound —the two older children were removed to their mother's room so that there should be no one in her husband's room when hey cCnießomier-;:o^boffrs^,'in a case of this kind, it was but natural to look for the existence of some ill-blood between the prisoners and their alleged victim.' And although he could not aow show conclusively that ill-blood had not existed between Mrs Hamilton and her husband and between Priestley and Hamilton—still, at a subsequent stage, of the inquiry, he would show that fact. At present he was not in a position to do so. They had abundance of evi> dence, however, to prove that instead of habitually ill-treating . his wife, as she alleged, his conduct towards her n was marked by the, greatest kindness. and tenderness, and that instead of being a; drunken man Ids habits were temperate aud steady. It would also be shown that Priestly did all in his power to create 4ia ? cord between wife and husband, and that he actually saggested to the friends of the; wife that a separation should be obtained j with whalrviow. w/mld^e, ap* parent when it waa shown that Iriimnaf intimacy existed between, tbe two. An ase_ had been taken charge of by the police, and submitted to Mr Pond, the provincial analyst, in order „tha£ he might ascertain if there were any stains of bloqd on it. He had examined tV©supposed blood marks, both with "the naked eye and with a microscope, and had;, found that there was no blood upon it. Therefore the axe would hare to.'fee dismissed from the case. He might also state that the bloodstained trousers and hat of the prisoner had beeu examined by Mr Pond, and with a similar result; Blood was .found upon, the trousers, and it might be stains of, blood of a macnmal, but it vras surrounded by soma fatty matter, as if;blood and grease had dropped upon it/ He thought it only fair that those,matters. should be stated, as the Press hadj^tached great importance to the discover^of the blood stains. As regards Priestly, it would be incumbent on the prosecution to ') sliow he had been, intimate with the Hamilton family; indeed, it would be shown that he was on very great terms of intimacy with them, and. that he was frequently discovered rathe house; sometimes on occasions when, if his actions had not been of a questionable character, he would not hare been there at all. It appeared that Mrs Hamik ton had been confined several months &ko, and Mrs Cooper, the nurse, would state that when attending her Priestly was not only very frequently in the house, but also in Mrs Hamilton's bedroom, sitting on the bed and conversing with her in a very freo and eas/manner. Indeed, so often was he there, and so long did he stay, that .she could not perform for his presence the daily duties which were entailed, upon her, A Mrs . Cullen will also say that just prior to Hamil. ton's death she-knocked at the door of the house, and getting no response went round to the back, and after knock* ing had entered the house, when Mrs Hamilton made her appearance,'looking flushed and surprised*and followed by Priestly, who managed to make good his escape from the house. It would also bY shown that Priestly was present in the bouse on the night prior to Hamilton's death,'on'the 27th'. On the 14th Decent. ber Detective Walker saw Mro Hamilton io the preseocf ofPfieikly, «4 «| th§

15th he was arrested, when amongst other things, some documents, such as letters, notes, etc., were found in his possession. These would be produced in due course, together with some sermons and reflections upon scriptural subjects. One paper—which evidently referred to Mrs Hamilton's statements at the inquest, contained the following note : " You were too long in coming with the light. There 13 too much time interven* ing between the time you heard the first fall; too much happened between when you heard the first fall until you brought the light, or kerosene lamp. You say that after he got the first fall you went out to see him; then you went for a light, during which time he got another, fall and got up again, and was walking through the passage when you met him. About the trousers: I said that his trousers were not quite off when he got the first fall. Walker asked me on the 14th of .December, if I knew how long it was since I slept with Hamilton. Alick,wants to know how it was that Strathearn did not ask for the little axe or the large axe on the night on which he searched Ihe house, which was on the sth of December.''

Mr' Cooper : These ere the prisoner's instructions to his counsel, Mr Tyler (and the police have actually confiscated them). JEiie, Grown Prosecutor went on to say that arfbther of; the documents was an acrostic,.tbe initial words of which formed an indecent question. This production was found, together with a letter from Mr Priestly, within a blotting pad. The evidence of Drs Goldsboro', Walker, Daw son, and Hooper was to the effect that the fracture of Hamilton's skull was never caused by a fall on the bedstead, but that the wounds corresponded with such as woqid be produced by the axe found in Hamilton's premises. The evidence of Detectives Stratheorn and Walker, and Joseph Oobine, were substantially tbe same as already published.