I.—IB.

W. G. WOHLMANN. j

193. Mr. Isitt.] You said that he was fairly coherent in giving his evidence. Was he at all incoherent? What do you mean by " fairly coherent " i—He repeated his expressions. He was obviously highly strung, almost on the point of breakdown —a nervy, overwrought man. That was his appearance in the box. 194. He did not make any such wandering statement as would lead you to think his mind was affected in any way?— No. He stuck to his point. He was closely cross-examined, and when he made a statement he stuck to it. 195. Mr. Robertson.] You stated that you could not remember Johnston's being at the inquest on the opening day?—No, I could not. 196. Could you remember his being there the second day?— There was an adjournment for a week. 197. I made a slight error in my first question. I said the inquest opened on the 20th. It opened on the 19th, and was continued on the 20th, and was adjourned on the 20th for a week? —I know there was an adjournment for a week. 198. Here is the Waihi Daily Telegraph of Wednesday, 20th November : " The inquest concerning the death of Frederick George Evans was continued yesterday afternoon. . . Thomas Henry Johnston deposed that he was with the procession," &c. Johnston, then, gave evidence at the inquest on the 20th November ( —Quite probably. 199. He therefore could not have been in the hospital three weeks, as he was shot on the 14th?—Then he was not so long there. I thought he was there two or three weeks. I know he made a very good recovery. 200. If he went to the hospital on the 14th he could not have been there more than six days? —That is so. Evidently his stay in the hospital could not have affected his physical health. 201. So if I say that I saw Johnston on the first day of the inquest at the Courthouse you would say it was not improbable?—No, I think it would probably be right. 202. Mr. Isitt.] A good deal of importance attaches to the police-report account of what Johnston said. It was not taken down at the time? —No. 203. Not taken down at all?— No. 204. You said it was not taken down verbatim. That would lead one to believe there was some taken down?— Sergeant Cooney took some of it down. 205. He did not take it all down? —No. 206. You said, as a justification for asking this man Johnston to give evidence when you were suspicious of his sanity, that he was insane on one point. Then in the report you say that he professed to be under the influence of hypnotism—an epileptic?— Yes. That was some year 6 before. He said that was when he went to his home in Australia and found that his mother was being courted by an adventurer. This adventurer, he said, hypnotized him and so prevented any obstruction to the marriage. He met his wife then, and he was under the influence of hypnotism for some period afterwards, and she brought him out of it. That was the reference to the hypnotism. That was before he came back to New Zealand. 207. About that report: is it a fact that it was not put into writing till the 4th March?— It is a fact that those details were not put into writing until the 4th March. 208. Mr. Payne.] How do you account for the discrepancy between your report and DetectiveSergeant Cooney's : his report gives only a meagre outline, whereas yours goes into a whole lot of matters regarding epilepsy and hypnotism, and so on? —Simply because the case was regarded as unimportant. The bare facts were stated, and it waß thought that that would be enough. 209. Johnston never had any chance of seeing your report or in any way verifying it, nor, I presume, did he see this other one? —Mental patients very rarely see correspondence. 210. Had you made any private notes at the time that you and Detective-Sergeant Cooney heard this story from Johnston? —No. 211. Your report was on the same story that you two had heard together? —Yes. 212. And you had nothing but memory to go on?--I heard his story two or three times over. 213. Between the 2nd December and your making your report —three months later—you heard a lot of rumours about the town, I suppose. It is said that the rumour was current — the talk about Johnston' having shot his wife, and all the rest of it?—l was not aware that it had got about town. We certainly did not divulge the matter. 214. Mr. Robertson.] The police knew it? —Thty knew it when he first told the story. 215. Mr. Payne.] I want to ask you whether in making your report you were guided not only by your own recollection, but by a confusion of ideas? Have you got in your report rumours that were spread about the town with regard to the man being epileptic and with regard to his saying he had been hypnotized? —Absolutely, No. I have the distinctest recollection of all he said. And not only have I, but a number of others to whom he repeated the story. 216. That was before you made the report?— Yes. 217. You knew he had repeated that to several people before you made the report?—l do. They were police officers. 218. The statements that you have down in your report were common report among the police officers ? —Johnston made that full statement —and I have put it down as fully as I could —to Detective-Sergeant Cooney and myself. He made it, in the presence of myself, again to Dr. Craig. 219. When was that?—On the day he was committed; and lam not sure if there is not one of the constables to whom he made a statement also. 220. Why did you not make your report until three months after the original report had been made? —The reason was that it was regarded as just an ordinary committal. There was nothing out of the way to cause me to make the report until Johnston esoaped.

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