CHARGE OF MURDER.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 9059, 19 February 1908, Page 7

CHARGE OF MURDER.

ji MOTHER AND HER CHILD

By TELEGRAPH —PRESS ASSOCIATION AUCKLAND, February 17. The charge of murder preferred iagainst Florence Farndale, a young married woman, was commenced at the Supreme Court to-day. Throughout the proceedings the prisoner kept up a continual sobbing in the box. Mr Tole, K.C., said the charge was one of murder of an infant only a few weeks old. The prisoner was the wife of a medical man, who had been living in Fiji, but for the last few years had been absent in South Africa. Early in 1907 the prisoner came to New Zealand, and after living for a while in the Waikato with lisi" parents, came to Auckland. She tfok up her residence at a boardinghouse known as Sunnyside. She was expecting motherhoad at anytime, and on November 11th went into a maternity home kept by Nurse West. There she gave birth to a healthy child. There could be no doubt it was illegitimate. It would v appear that she dislpayed rone of that attachment which might be expected on the part ot a mother; inoreover.she seemed anxious to get rid of the child and have it put into :a home. On one occasion she got into -a cab and went to three different . but failed to have the cihld .tileen in. Later she went to Mrs McDonald, the police matron, and told her that the child belonged to a woman who was dead, and she (accused) was desirous of g(t';ing it into a home. This statement the evwjnce would prove to be untrue. Several nights afterwards accused left the boarding-house with the child. Late at night she 6 'returned. She remained at the house for some time, but the baby had disappeared. Her demeanour was the same as usual, though at all times there was a quiafc mysterious reserve about her. Accused was asked once how the baby was getting on, and sie replied, "Oh, it is getting on finely." The next development was on December 6th, when, a lad founi a dead baby at the high water mark at Ponsonby Evidence would be produced to show that its body was that of Mrs Farndale's baby. Mrs Farndale, indeed, admitted the fact, and had told the police that when she was travelling in a ferry boat the boat gave a lurch and the baby fell overbut she told no one about at the time.

VERDICT OF NOT GUILTY". AUCKLAND, February 18. ' The case against Florence Farndale, charged with the murder of her infant, was concluded to-day. His Honor , in summing up, said , that it did not necessarily follow that the return of a verdict of guilty would mean that the prisoner should be hanged. In this case, however, he did not think the jury would fee justified in bringing in a verdict* of manslaughter. It was either a case of murder or not murder. The story was a very simple one. Prisoner was a young married woman,and had given birth to an illegitimate child.. She sought to find a home in which to place the child, but failed. Three •/jays later the infant disappeared. :fhe prisoner gave false accounts of the child's whereabouts. The next development, His Honor said, was the finding of the body of a child in the harbour. The question next arose of identity. The prisoner admitted going for a blow on the harbour. However the child got into the water and it was sufficient for the. .jury to believe that it was drowned. The body found was .similar to the prisoner's baby. The question was could they believe the whole of her story. If what prisoner said was true, then she was blameless. If they did not believe that the baby fell from her arms, then they must return a verdict of guilty o: murder. She did not at the time call out and have the stopped. It was sought to show in the cross - examination of the medical witness that the woman was in such a condition as to be robbed of her powers of speech as a result of the shock. If she did lose that jower -of speech for a few minutes, ard \ if the jury believed that was reasonably possible, was it not also conceivable that under the circumstances she would decide to say nothing of the occuirenoe later on? If in the pluce of a juryman, he would say to himself, "This unhappy woman's story may be true, and if true, and if there is cause for reasonable doubt, then she must fce given the benefit of that doubt ard acquitted.." The jury, after twenty minutes retirement, brought in a verdict of "Not Guilty," the prisoner being accordingly discharged. She was led in a hysterical condition from the dock.