UNKNOWN

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XV, Issue 4450, 21 June 1893, Page 4

UNKNOWN

18 I b !• n \< * >8 I 1 t of, i, [• , it t ID V a ( '6 II V ( rn t is ( =a < I; r's ] ''" i lie i id 8- I ,1] :a lie ! oath they have taken and the Judge's , direotion, no jury could honestly] oopviot in this oqbr. They 1 i:ould be told that (ho Crown ' iust prove its cate. The Crown ' lust prove that the building was not ' nly. burnt down, but. burnt down : ilfnlly, »iid the nociiscl must be >»d innocent until piovod guilty. In > >r*t oases of tliia'kiricl there is a con- : hilifof : evidoncei In tliis enso it is Harkable that thoie lias been no Juliet of evidence at all; had there Hb 1 should have left it to the jury The oa»e for tho down thus:—'lucre is a liousp, in HKh the accused h«8 no interest and belonging to some \who reside at Home; time, also by a roundabout suggestion is made by the H|i tlnit this was dono for a reference to tho con- : after the fire, foots appears to me of innocent is reasonable to supconstructicn ia not see ' u> Kaiwurra and there The day was a public HRy, and a large number of Footbailers and others were about by whom he would be sotn. He gels out 'at Petone on a crowded platform where he miiat have been, and VMS, iroognised. Why do thisifdesirIS of hiding himself? lie goes off this house, and remains there for me time, which fact would not lmvo en known but for his own statoent. I can see nothing txtraordiIry about that, He was acting as lorney for tho owners, ond.negotiaIds were pending for tho leasing of

M pnperty. Ho walks back in a roundabout v?ay, nothing at nil unnatural or unusual for a man wanting to bill time, for an hour or so to do. / Besides, he had frequently gone by ' that particular way before, Hia explanation is a very simple one. He was expecting his fon by the Wai» i rarnpi train, and finding the train a bad been put back fori some time, he > WBlk^iipfflPetonflo'Ngahauranga. f . Ho TfJs mistaken I respect to the train, as "Mr Fitzherbert was also. Instead, however, of trying 1o keep out oi sight, he walks boldly into the hotel ' at Ngrthauranga, and thore has his tea after meal hours, thus fixing the circumßtanco in the mind of the hotel- I keeper and maid. From thence lie walks into Wellington to the Club Hotel, where he had stayed the previous night. • There can be no doubt one witness at any rate was mistaken with regard to his identity, namely the little girl. He made no secret of the overcoat ho carried, but had it on his arm and put it on on the platform. The next morning he goe3 to see the insurance agent Btsthunc, and asks Borne questions about the signing of the insurance papers, and payment of the monoy, the very lust thing he would have done had he been guilty. With regardto his bursting into tears at Mr Betbune'e office, it must be borne in mind that tho accused was

\ v Bpesking to one whom be regarded as ■ an old friend, and we have it in evi- ' : ,v deace that the accused isa man of a highly excitable disposition, and when <;: almost told by an old friend that he >:-:','', is almost su.speotod of arson there is I nothing extraordinary in his breaking is another aspect mtfcs It Beems to me very marked. Whut Wwf possible motive could the accused havo sK f to seb fire to this place ? He has n'o wff motive of revenge against the owners, |§F and does not gain a solitary ooppßr | by the occurrence. The mortgagee f gels the insurance monoy, or if not the Miesea Webb would got it. Which - • ' ever way one looks at it there is no • possible reason why he should burn • , it dowu. There is not the slightest ~ evidence of motive, but quite the contrary. It has also been shown that at this very time negotiations were pending for the letting of the place, and as he had not seen the agent (Bethuno) for some weeks previous, the. accused could not know but that the place was let or sold at that very time. After giving the wholo matter my best and most { careful' consideration I cannot set J that I. am in any way justified in v J-* pattinkthis man to the expanse and pain jVbeing ecnt up for trial. J cannoTsee that there is any case ai all against him-and the cat>e ii therefore dismissed."