Waihao Murder Case.

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume III, Issue 115, 2 March 1901, Page 2

Waihao Murder Case.

ACCUSED BEFORE THE COUftT.

At the Magistrate's Court, Waimate, on Thursday, before Major Keddell, S.M. Jeremiah McCarthy was charged, that he did kill and slay Thomas Sullivan, at Waihao, on January 12oh, 1895. - The accused is now serving a terra of seven years imprisonment for incest. The courthouse, was crowde'd with witnesses (of which there are a largo number) and spectators. At the request of hiscounssl.aoo used, who suffers from lameness, was allowed a seat in the dock; ’ Mr Raymond,, aud with him Mr Hamilton, appeared for the accused. McWhite,Crown Prosecutor, conducted the case for the prosecution, Mr White said the facts were brought out fully at the last charge. The evidence then was purely circumstantial, but ha would now lead evidence to show that accused had inflicted the injuries that caused the death of Sullivan. Mr Raymond submitted that it was the duty of the Crown, or at least a practise, to tell the nature of the new evidence. The Magistrate said be knew, the past facts and evidence but he did not think Mr White could be compelled to divulge the new evidence. t Mr Raymond said he .wanted the new evidence so that ha might hayo something to go upon, and perhaps to shorten the case. Mr White said he did not . mind admitting the new evidence, which was from two of the accused’s daughters, who had, hot been called before. They saw accused beat the miu Sullivan about the head, when became to the house, and than take him to a wire fence and throw him over. Afterwards the children saw accused take the man .down the road in a barrow, -and on -a day soon afior McCarthy took the murdered man in a trap down the road to the 'plaon where the body was found. ; Mr White then , proceeded to call evidence: ,

Charles J. Henderson, residing afe Morven, said that on January 9ih, 1895, he was a groom at the.Glenooe Hotel, Glenavy. He gave evidence at the ■ inquest on, - the body, of Thomas Sullivan. He filled up a telegram for deceased at Glenavy, who asked for a man named Jack Andrews. Witness thought that he, himself, was the man he meant and asked what he wanted, Sullivan asked him for £!& The telegram was for Joe Downs, Oatnaru. He asked. Sullivan to. sign his name on the telegram, but the latter 'said he could not. and asked witness to sign it for him, saying his na)ne was Tom Sullivan, This,witness did, ;dnd ■ Sullivan, took.the-, wire away - towards the • telegraph ■. office. Deceased did

not walk lamely. Saw the body at the morgue, at the Hospital, it was Sullivan. -The photo (produced) was one of the deceased and very like him. Cecilia Seaman, a resident of Waibao, .was a witness at the inquest on the body of .'Sullivan. She /had ■ seen the man alive at the Wathao, now Morven, railway station ’ oq,,January 1 10th, 1895, between 2and, afternoon. Saw ihe body dfgbhCwa « i on the the .10tV;\Spyffiyau 3 -was , station. He . was .walking rather feebly a hnt not lamely. ~ , i ToMr,Raymond: He. walked",as if j His feet were sore. . , . til] 1 SI. , 4

/ Michael • Oroyre,- farmer,, living "at -Waihaoi'was^,witness.at toe iiiqueat bn the . body of Sullivan, on/January 15ih, 1895- -He first saw the man-on January ,iOfcb,.’about THe i ’ was in jan empty house. be!dp#ng.t(» ; John . Horka.; aud. leased by 'witness's i father. Hie was lying down and was = half" : He .was awjike. ~ Witness passed, thabouae.agun Mahout " ■ bun. .Sullivan, ; fived, ‘\Wilhesa < jflfiwna^ndar.,l'W(6abaoi“ i leased m %c%%»kfed»‘Wherr was McCarthy's :1 ’J

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tho man on January 10th. Ho was coming alongside the fence talking Homily to himself. Ho came right into •witness's house and asked if ii wis McCarthy’s. On being informed it was not, he said, “It’s McCarthy’s want.” Witness took the man outside and showed him whe>'e McCarthy lived. Sullivan then departed, going in the direction of McCarthy’s place, across the paddocks. He was walking •Atraightly and did not seem lame. Bose Davis, a daughter, of John Davis, of Morven, resided about a anile from McCarthy’s house. On .January 11th, 1895, her brother drove her to Glenavy, Saw a man lying on the side of the road about ten chains ;paso McCarthy’s house. Tho min was alive. Passed the man again '.when returning, about two hours later. Th > next day, about 5.90 p.m., witness drove to Glenavy with her father. -Saw a man lying at the cross roads about half a mile from where One had seen the man on the previous day. IP> was also that distance further away from McCarthy’s. 11,'turned ainiig that road about 7 p.m., and the man was still there. She thought, judging by his clothes, that it was the same man as she saw' the previous day. Her father called to the man, and no; getting a ly answer, got out of the trap and went to him. There was a water-race across the road between the places where she saw him on the two Jays. The race was about ■lit wide, and water was running both d iys. (\ plan of the locality was put h), which witness said was correct.) Ernest Davis, aged sevontesn, ;brother of the last witness, corroborated her evidence. Winn he saw ;the man on January Uth he was holding the left leg of his trousers with his right hand. Ho had o i light •moleskin trousers. The .mao was in a pine ' known as the *’ Hollow. W itnoss w r as on the road again in the afternoon of the 11th, and saw the mi an in the same place. Witness saw' tho accused coming out of his gal-,-about 2 p.m. with a dray, in which 'were some of Ids children. Witness walked behind tho dray. W lien the , dray got to where the man was lying, McCarthy gut out of the dray and gave t’ne man some ” tucker. Accused spoke first, asking the man what was the matter. The man replied that Ins tieg reus poisoned. McCarthy felt Uie left leg below' the knee. H-o' n McCarthy and he stayed about fifteen ■minutes. As they left the man .McCarthy •said to witness that the man out of bis mind and could not wa ! k. The man asked McCarthy to a>k wit-m-ss if ho could cure his leg. " sen -witness returned a short time ,aUei wards with McCarthy the man had .crossed to the other side of the road. When witness saw’ the man in the -morning he had uotn his boots oil', and -when lie saw him in the afternoon he .could not remember whether they Were on or not. He did not attempt •to gut up on his knees v/hen witness w as there. To Mr Raymond : Was eleven years ,o!n at the time. His memory now ■was rather slight and hazy. He could Ihir liv remember some of the thing-' mat occurred, bat remembered most . of ih.-m. Tae Court here adjourned tor an Hour. , , , On resuming, Mr White put in t..e ; d positions of accused, made at the • Coroner's intp.iest, Mr Raymond agiee-

:ing. John Davis, labourer, Waihao, id ‘posed to having lived there on January Uth. 1895. At 5.30 p.m . "when driving from tho beach, saw a iinsi i lying at the cross roads on the .north side on the grass, and four yarns ;from the truck. Did not stop, bu: -when returning at 7 called out to him lie did not answer. Witness, on ;getting out of the tr.'ip, found him to -b.-lying on his back, with ids amt' .above his head, quite dead. Rolled r.e body over. Some bread and a jp ece of rag were lying at me feet, and ,oae boot was off. The clothes wen.ail undone. Tho road would be used hardly once in a fortnignt. iucr--were no wheel tracks near die body. 'The place was in clear view of McCarthy’s house. Went straight to ;towa and r -ported the matter to

; Sergeant Gille %. Michael Brohain, farmer, H-innaton, •was on Thursday, January 10th, 18J5, jin the employ of Mr Crowe. Waiha-:. .Saw on that day a man, apparently .about 55 yenvs of age, carrying soiintiling in a towel or handkerchief. On :Saturday, January 12th, was driving iin a dray with : three other men ami ,-m-t accused, eldest daughter and ibis son, in a trap between twenty-five and thirty chains from the cross roads. ,B ,id “ Good mqrning,” and he replied. .Accused did not raise his head when die spoke, and said no more than

•‘■Good mornipg.” Witness turned ■imo the Red. Hut paddock. Remem Ibered the Grand Jury throwing out a ibili against McCarthy when he was .charged with the murder of this man. ’Witness met accused a fortnight after and said they ought to have heen told the man was Ijfing in that helpless (Condition and they would have brought him to the hospital, or, if ■ dead, report to . police. He said, ■“ Was it you I met, Mick ? and .seemed surprised qn being told that it was, and also that he “ expected that {it was to happen.” Catherine McCarthy, nineteen years of age: Accused ‘ was her father. jßemembered Thursday, January 10th, 1895. About 8 p.m. an old man came ito their house at Waihao, coming from ithe direction of Mr Kilworth’s. He (Came across the wire fence and round ito the front door, which he tried to iopen, and failing to do t iis, he started ito kick. Her sister Annie had locked the front door. He said nothing, and ithen went round to the back door, ■which was also locked, witness did not iknow by whom. He started to kick ■this also and asked to be let in. Heard inothin" else. Her father was at the •stable,°and he came across with her brothers Jeremiah and Michael. He asked the old man what he wanted, ; and he replied, 11 This is my place.” Her father told him to go away, but the said he would not. Then her father -,hit him several times with a stick like -an axe handle. The man fell down iand her father struck him again with 4he same stick. Could not say in ' •what place ho struck him. The old gnan cried out, but what, she could not •remember. He tried to get up, but 1 &U down again, crying out that lie was ‘

hurt. Her father lifted him up with, his hands and took him to a barbed and plain wire fence between the subband the house. Her father had hisleft arm under the man’s shoulder. When the blows were struck was looking out of the window near the back door from sis to eight feet away. Was at a different window ia the kitchen when the man was being carried away. The window looked out on the stable, When they reached the fence the old man could not get' over himself, and her father threw him over. This fence ran down to the. road. Her father then got the wheelbarrow' and took him as far as the gate. Tho man stopped there half an hour, during which time her brother Jeremiah and her mother went out to him. Her father then took him down the road through their property. Saw him go as far as tho gate opening on to the public road and down to a hollow in it. At this time witness had gone outside, and was standing by the side of the house. Did not then see what happened. It was a hrigh , night. Saw the man in the hollow . next afternoon. Heard someone out side calling out during the night. Slept well that night. H-uicd her father, Annie, and her mother up during the night. Three sisters Annie, Maggie and Ellen—slept with her in her roo a. Her father said at. breakfast that he heard someone roaring through the night. Her eldest brother was not present, having gone to Oamaru w'ith some horses for sale. Hoard her father tell her brother Michael to go and see to the sheep After lie came back he was sent by her father to take some tea and broad and butter to the old min. At two o'clock she went with her father, Annie, Mary and Ellen in a dray to the turnip paddock. They had to piss the h.dlow. Before getting there they met Ernest Davis, and he went with them. She s-uv the old min lying beside the road. Her father got out of the dray and asked the man what was the matter with him, and was answcr-.-d that his leg was poisoned, lie give the man some tea. .bread and scones. The turnip paddock was half a mile from the house. Witness had been with her father and the others to the turnip paddock before for the same purpose, hut sco tes and tea were not taken on previous occasions. It was four o’clock when they returned. The man was then on Ihe other side of the road. Her failin' did not pull up or speak to him. At eiglr o'clock next morning her father left for the Wabiao railway station with Annie and Michael to go to O imam. She did not know what tiicv went for. Tncy went in a trap. Witness was outside tho house and could see them. When they got to the place whore they had s.ien the old man on tinprevious afternoon they stopped, and her father got out, put the old man in the back of the trap and to ik him in the direction of the cross roads. Witness afterwards heard that he was l.nmd dead that night. Serg-am Gilbert and Constable Field came to her that night in her father’s iior.se .She heard her fattier tell Annie. Mich ;el and Jerry (To the Bench : Witness wis not sure if Jerry wn•« back) — .Mary, Eh.-n and herself to tell the police tii .t he did not hit ! lie old man. She did ’sot hear him tell th an again afterwards, but thought ha did. Cross-examined by Mr Raymond: Was 19 years of ag • on 17th January last. Wtieu the oid man cvmi to the bade door her tath -r was at the stable. Did not know what ha wai doing Jerry was with him. Tne stah.e Wi. ■ CiQUi fifty yards away. Jerry cam ■ w j her father. Did not know if her • i; ,-r had tho slick with him when he ■no from the stable. Had not seen 11! it stick before. Bho had seen slicks nka it. but was not sure of tho one. [t '. s|ke an axe handle, but hardly a-* ■an ci a. Was not watching her father ami J-rry p n-ficularly as they came from the siaole. 11--r father had tho stick when he came down. What she ha-,1 stated was all that, to her knowledge, passed between her father and tho old man before he hit him. bhe was perfectly Hear co that point. Jerry did not speak. Her father moved forward to hit the man, who was facing tiie door, and not her father, when the first blow was struck. He received two blows, turned round and fell down. The blows wire aim d at him every way. He was struck on the broad of the back. Ho did not put out his arms to ward off the blows. Saw him struck heavily on the arm in several places. Tiie others at the scullery window at the buck were her mother, Annie, Nellie, Maggie and Ted. The

beating took place a few minute, pit | eight. Her father got the wheelbarrow i from near the fence a few minu-es , later. Was at that time looking out [ of the kitchen window and saw him lift the man up. The others mentioned before were looking out too. Did not ; know what they were doing with him at their own gate dor.ng the half-hour they were with him. The old man called out something when lifted and thrown over the fence, Heard him from the kitchen window. Her father, mother and Annie only got up when they heard him crying out. On Saturday morning heard her father say they would take him to the cross-road?, it wss-o i Sunday morning, at 9-80, an hour alter breakfast, in the kitchen, he told her and the rest what to say to the police in case they came. No one of the police asked her any questions six years ago. Witness then said Constable Field asked her and she told him what she had been told by her father to say. It was about live weeks ago that she told a different story to Detective Fitzgerald, in Waimate, before her father s trial in the Supreme Court, and before the the Justices in Waimate, but a week after he was arrested. She was in the Courthouse, and alone with the detective. Was telling him about the, evidence in the other case, and she gave the evidence about this case* without being asked. Told no one else, i or that she bad made any disclosures. Had never tpld her mother and sisters. To Mr \yhite : The ground sloped downward from the door to the yard, and the man was standing higher than her father. Her sister Nellie was with Detective fitzgerald when he was enquiring about another case. She was present;. Ellen McCarthy, aged fifteen years of age, deposed that she n .dld not : remember ah old man the , . -a

house about six years ago. She did not remember her father coming from the stables to a man who was making a row at the door. She was in bed then. (The witness here broke down and cried for several minutes, bu(i then continued her evidence.) It was quite light when she went to bed. She had been 'living with her mother and sisters (all but Kate, the last witness) up till the present. Her sister Kate left homo on Saturday. Mr White here put a question : Did you make a statement to Detective Fitzgerald on January 10th last? Mr Raymond objected, on the ground that this was an irrelevant question. His Worship then put the question, and the witness admitted that she made a statement.

Mr White asked permission to treat the witness as a hostile one, and submitted that -from her demeanour under the circumstances her attitude was one of hostility to the prosecution. He would then, if the witness was still hostile in maimer, put in the itatement she had made to the detective, in accordance with Section 4 of the Criminal Law Procedure Act. He went on to quote authorities, holding not only that the Bench hid power to allow the witness to he treated as hostile, but no Court had power to review the Magistrate’s decision.

Mr Raymond submitted that there was no reason that she should bo treated as such.

Mr White bore (5.40 p.m ) ask'd that, as there was no proper .accommodation fur a long sentence prisoner in Waimate, tho Court might adjourn. This was agreed to till 10 a.up next day.

Second Day

On resuming at 10 o'clock on Friday morning the Court was again crowded.

Mr White’s application to treat the witness as a hostile one was allowed by the Magistrate, Mr Raymond objecting.

Ihe examination of the witness Elion McCarthy was continued, bhe unde a statement on January 10th, 1901, to Detective Fitzgerald, who rook it in writing, and she signed it. The statement was not true. Hu sister Kate h-ul put her up to it when hey were coming down the street to the Court.

Mr White read the statement, iu which witness said she remembered the old man coming and kicking at the door at Waihao. He would not go away. Her fuller hit him with a stick aud took him away in a wheelbarrow. Witness continuing, remembered going to Mr White’s office with her sister and Detective Fitzgerald tho night before her father’s trial in Timarti. Mr White did not speak to her of the statement.

Mr Raymond objected to tills

examination of witness by Mr White, and protested against the -suueiujnt living put in as evidence. Witness continued further: Mr White did not speak to her about the sc item mt, neither did De eciive Fi.zg-'r.ild. Tne qu-siions asked her were about another case that came oil it the Supreme Court. She did not '••■11 Mr White ihu when her father cum from the stables Jerry came with him. She did say that her father struck tile old mm with an axe-n uidie half ft dozen times aud took him away in a wheelbarrow, but her sister Kile told her to. Witness here begin to cry, and Mr White decided not to p oceed with the examination.

Henry Field, police constable : Accompanied Sergeant Gilbert to Wailmo on January l‘2 r .h, 1895, where th„y found the body of a man sup posed to he named Thomas Sullivan. I'li’.y were shown the body by John Davis. Witness hero pointed out on the plan of the locality the spot where th 3 body was found. There wore no marks of wheel traffic near the body. They brought the body to the morgue at the Waimate Hospital. The body was dressed in white moleskin trousers and brown tweed coat, and had no liat. The left foot was bare, but the right had a boot on. It was about 1 a.m. on the Sunday when they found the body. There were several articles near the body and some food io a piece of brown paper. The food was about a foot away, and appeared to have been put there carefully. Went to accused’s nouse and saw him. Accused accompanied them to where ills body was lying. Accused said he had seen the same man at his house on Thursday evening, and he made a. noise at the doors. Accused said he spoke to the man, who went away, and accused did not see him again til! next afternoon, when he was sitting on the road a few chains away from' his gate. On the afternoon of Sunday witness and Sergeant Gilbert went again to the place where the body was found. They saw no marks on the grass, either of footsteps or -a struggle. Witness went with Detective Livingstone to accused’s house. He pointed out the marks on the door where the deceased had bsen kicking. Accused accompanied them to the road and pointed out the places where he had seen deceased in the road on

Thursday and Friday. The grass was well beaten down at the place where accused saw deceased on the Friday. Accused also showed witness a place where ho saw deceased lying on ihe Saturday morning, but there were no marks on the grass as if anyone had been there. When going back to accused’s gate, McCarthy asked what would he do when men like deceased came round to his house. Detective Livingstone said, “Inform the police. 1 ”: Accused replied tkat he did not wi£h to give anyone trouble. Win. Gilbert, police sergeant, accompanied Constable Field to where the body was found. The body appeared to have been dead some hoars. Witness corroborated Constable Field’s evidence;

as to finding the body and its clothing. He recognised the clothes and. articles .prodadgpas those found with the mpy. Witness here described the action

of himself and Constable Field, which coincided with the evidence jgiven by the -last witness.

Accused made the same statements to witness as he did at the inquest. The body looked .as if it had been carried there... There were no mirks on the grass near the body.- The articles and food looked as if they had been placed there. ‘The left leg was very much swollen, filling the whole of the leg of the trousers. Did not think there were any drawers on rhe body. The trousers were dry. The photo produced was that of the man found. Between the places _ mentioned there Was a water-race. *

Cross-examined by Mr Eaymond : Witness only felt the swollen leg outside the trousers. He'believed accused told him thatdeceased had told accused that, he had a poisoned leg. Thus. Livingstone, defective, went to Wiiihao with Constable Field on January Uih, 18J5. While there licensed returned from Waimate and showed them the marks on (lie door made by deceased’s kicking. He saw a quantity of firewood, an axe and a sledge hammer near the door. Accused said to witness that he had done wrong by allowing tho man to lie on the road. Witness corroborated the evidence of Constable Field, with regard to McCarthy’s statements about where he saw the deceased and as to tho nature of the ground. Witness also gave tho exact measurements, as taken by himself and Detective O’Brien, of the distance between the various places noted. The waterrace was 4ft across at the dray track and 2ft on either side. It was one inch to one inch and a half deep in the centre and nine inches at,-the sides.

G. Fitzgerald, detective stationed at Timarti, deposed to laying the information. On January ,10th Nellie McCarl by made the statement read to him.

Mr Raymond objected to tho admission of this evidence, and asked that it l)-> inserted ia the witness’ depositions. Witness continuing, said the statement was made voluntarily. She was not prompted. She was questioned by Mr White and himself on Febrhary 4th at Mr White's odiee as to the statement, and made verbal additions. The interview lasted two hours. Heard the evidence of Kate McCarthy yesterday, in which she said her father threw the man over tlm fence. The fence was about high. Any person standing on the verandah in the front of tho house had a clear view of the private and public read and whore tho body was found.

Cross-examined by Air Raymond.: Ho examined the fence.-' on February 20th, accompanied by Kate McCirrhy, the Grown solicitor and Dr. Barclay. Air D ivis pointed out the place where the body was found on February 12th. On the -27 ch witness, with the others, visited the various spots.

Herb jet Clifford Barclay, medical praclioner, raiding at Vv annate, deposed that in siw tho body of a mm in tho morgue at the hospital on January 1-b 18J5. It was the body of the man mentioned in the evidence to-day and yesterday. He made an external examination that morning at 11 a.m. and a complete post-mortem in tho afternoon at 4 p.rn. The man was about 55 to GO years of ago. There was a swelling in the left leg accompanied by a fracture of the bones, a fracture'of the right collar bone, several scratches, and bruises in several parts and blisters near the fracture in (ha leg. The general conditions of the organs were healthy with the exception of the, kidneys, which were somewhat enlarged and fatty, and a small blood clot on the surface of the brain. He believed that the fractures of the collar bone and the leg, with the bruises on the other parts of the body, were inflicted while a' w : and hastened to death. He hnd no doubt as to these having hastened death. Exposure and want of food and treatment, besides some disorder of the, kidneys, might also have hastened death. He saw no sign of blood poisoning. The injuries detailed in the evidence of Kate McCarthy would account for the fractures and bruises. A man with those injuries might be able to take off his boots. He could only have moved a very short distance in a considerable time. It was impossible for him to have moved half a 'mile across a water race. It was of course .impossible for him to have taken the" articles found beside him that distance. This was all the evidence. Prisoner reserved his defence and, was committed- for trial at the Supreme Court sittings to be held about the beginning of June.