MAREO CASE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 20 July 1942, Page 4

MAREO CASE

MURDER TRIALS OF 1936 RECALLED. REPORT OF TOXICOLOGIST. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) AUCKLAND, July 19. In the considered opinion of Sir William Willcox, world-famous English toxicologist, who has since died, the late Mrs Thelma Mareo died of a drug, self-administered. Her husband, Eric Mareo, a well-known musician, was twice tried for the murder of his wife and was found guilty and sentenced to death. The sentence was afterward commuted to life imprisonment. The first trial began on February 17, 1936. Sir William Willcox’s report is believed to be in the hands of the Attorney-General, Mr Mason. A copy was made available for publication by Mr Paul Verschaffelt, former Public Service Commissioner for New Zealand.

The report states: “In my opinion the psycho-neurotic state and mental breakdown from which Thelma Mareo suffered during the last few weeks of her life led to the taking of barbitone to relieve her symptoms and the mental unbalance resulting from this was associated with her taking a large fatal dose which caused her death. If she had access to veronal the drug was, in my opinion, self-administered as so commonly is the case in fatal cases of veronal poisoning.” After an exhaustive review of the full record of the first trial and als<s some information about the second, the opinion of Sir William Willcox was that Thelma Mareo died from veronal pneumonia. He stated: “This is the usual course of symptoms following a large fatal dose of veronal in which no medical treatment has been given.”