EXECUTION OF AH LEE.

Waikato Times, Volume XV, Issue 1305, 9 November 1880, Page 3

EXECUTION OF AH LEE.

Ah Lee was executed at Dunedin, at eight o'clock on Fiiday morning. He was visited during the night by Bishop Neville, the Revs. Byng and Torrance, and the gaol chaplain. He expressed his thankfulness at having religious consolation so frequently administered to him. On the scaffold, immediately before the white cap was put on him, the gaol chaplain asked him whether he wished to say anything, and if he killed Mrs Young. He answered firmly, " Me no killee Missee Young. " He was throughout exceedingly calm, and death was instantaneous.

All Lee's statement to the Bishop. In the course of his conversation with the Bishop, Ah Lee stated he did not know anything about the murder and could give no explanation about it. He had been entrapped into making a confession by the worry of Ah Tack who told him that all he had to do was to leave himself in (Ah Tack's) hands, and if he signed the paper Ah Tack would get him off. He did not find out the contents of the confession until some time after he signed, and when he found he had been accusing Lee Guy of the murder he was very sorry. He had been working for Robert and James Hoare, and Macnamara some weeks before the murder, but had not been working continuously. About seven weeks before the murder he had been cutting scrub and doing general work for one of the Hoares, who lives several miles from Naseby.

How the Blood Came on His Clothes. Whilst he was at Hoares he killed some sheep one evening by candle-light, and the blood that was found on his moleskin trousers got upon them. That was the only way he could account for the blood being there. About three weeks, before, the murderer lived with a party of Chinamen at Coal-pit Gully, and went sometimes to Naseby. On the Sunday previous to the murder, he went over to Naseby, and remained there during the greater part of the day, smoking with his countrymen. He returned to Coal-pit Gully in the evening. On the Monday he knocked about doing various jobs.

The Scratches on his Hands. On the following day, in making sides for a pair of bellows out of wood, and while doing so, he scratched his hand. On Tuesday, the day before the murder, he went to Naseby about 4 o'clock. in the afternoon, and had his supper there He remained at Naseby during the evening. It has been proved since the trial, that from the evidence of a Chinaman named Ah Wing, Ah Lee was in Naseby, at any rate up to 10 o'clock, on the Tuesday night. Ah Lee, however, stated that he saw Lee Guy four weeks before the murder, when he called at Lee Guy's hut to rest. He did not know Mrs Young, nor did he ever hear of her from any of his countrymen. He never heard from Lee Guy or anybody else that she was possessed of money.

The Pockethandkerchief. With reference to the pockethandkerchief he purchased from Pascoe, Ah Lee said Pascoe's statement was incorrect. He asserts that he bought two white handkerchiefs from Pascoe about the time mentioned by that witness. One of those handkerchiefs Ah Lee retained in his possession in Dunedin Gaol until yesterday, and he stated most emphatically that he never purchased the handkerchiefs produced at the trial from Pascoe. It was never in his possession at any time. The second handkerchief he purchased from Pascoe when cutting scrub at Hoares.

His Demeanour Since the Conviction. Ever since the conviction Ah Lee's demeanour has been perfectly calm and cool. When Pascoe's evidence was interpreted to prisoner, he said "Me no killee Mrs Young ; if I die Pascoe killee me." He could not follow the evidence given at the trial, because he did not understand the English language well enough.

The Analysis of the Blood. DrMaunsell, Dr Batchellor, Dr Hocken, Dr Alexander, and Dr Blair, Professor Parker and Professor Scott are all clearly of opinion that under the circumstances it was impossible that any medical or scientific man to swear that the blood which was found on the trousers of prisoner after his arrest was not the blood of a sheep. The following is a copy of their certificate :— "We the undersigned medical practitioners having read the evidence of Dr Whitton on the trial of Ah Lee for murder, are clearly of opinion that such evidence is altogether unreliable for the purpose of establishing the presence of human blood on the trousers of prisoner. "

A Singular Circumstance. In connection with the murder is the very singular circumstance, that Andrew Marshall, father of the boy Marshall who cave evidence at the trial, owned some land near Mrs Young's house, and on the morning his pitchfork was found stuck in the ground outside the door of Mrs Young's house Mr Marshall was one of the jury at the inquest, and he became insane shortly after the murder, and was received into the lunatic asylum at Dunedin.

Marshall's Hallucination. The hallucination under which Marshall suffers is peculiar. He says he committed the Kyeburn murder, and he thinks the police are after him.

An Eye-witness of the Execution. The final act of the Kyeburn murder took place Friday morning. Prior to 8 o'clock several hundred persons assembled on the street line outride the gaol walls, whilst others mounted on the roofs of buildings opposite, anxious to get a glimpse of the proceedings. Their curiosity was ungratified as the gaol authorities had made arrangements to completely shut the men from the outside. At 7 the condemned man was visited in his cell by Bishop Neville, Rev. Byng, and Torrance, chaplain, accompanied by Lea Kong and Loo Choo, Interpreter of Queenstown. Through the latter Ah Lee expressed his thankfulness for the spiritual consolation ("pray church," as he termed it) afforded him. He however remained a believer in Confucius. Shortly before eight the Bishop left.

His Last Words. After a short prayer administered by the gaol chaplain he asked, "Do you wish to say anything. Did you kill Mrs Young ?" Ah Lee replied in a firm voice "No. Me no killee Missee Young." So far he has been perfectly cool, but so soon as his legs were pinioned and the white cap adjusted, he trembled violently. The bolt was then removed, and death ensued instantaneously. Subsequent examination by two medical men showed that the neck was broken.