T.-lB

16

Mr. Jellicoe : With this kind of juggling and shuffling, putting the paper first into one envelope, then into another ; taking the pieces from one pocket and putting them into another I ask, is there no possibility of Inspector Thomson having made a mistake ? The Chairman : He says, " This is the envelope in which the paper found in the gorse and on the road was in. I handed it to Mr. Tasker." Mr. Jellicoe : That is the new envelope, which you have here. Can honourable members be certain, having regard to their knowledge of human nature, that in the shuffling of these papers there has been no mistake at all? Inspector Thomson goes on to say, " I had directed Benjamin to wait at the morgue till he could get the result of the -post mortem. This was about 10 a.m. Some time after he came back to me, and. told me that Dr. Cahill had sent out a message to him that the deceased had been murdered with some sharp instrument." You will see that this bears out what I have already said was the fact. When Thomson went out at 1 o'clock the only information he had was that the man had been murdered with some sharp instrument, and I say that if his attention was directed to the stab-wound he would have no particular reason for thinking the paper found would have a material bearing on the case ; and I further say that, if he was not then directing his attention to evidence consistent with a shot-wound, his subsequent recollection in connection with the paper is not to be relied upon or trusted. It was long afterwards that it became important to recollect which particular pocket, and which particular envelope the various pieces of paper collected had been placed in. It is true he says, "My theory was that there had been a gunshot, but at that time there was nothing to support it." He was consequently not paying any particular attention to the paper evidence at this time. His theory was that there was a gunshot; but the information from the doctor was that it was a stab-wound. The Chairman: What time was it we are now referring to, when Inspector Thomson was at Mrs. Chemis's house ? Mr. Jellicoe : On the Saturday afternoon, Ist June. At that time he says he had no information that would support the theory of the gunshot-wound. From what he heard on the road, he thought there was a gunshot-wound. He previously understood it was a stab-wound. • The Chairman: Did not the doctor say on the same night that the man had been murdered with a sharp instrument ? Mr. Jellicoe : After Thomson had left Wellington to go out to Kaiwara the doctor intimated that there was also a gunshot-wound. Thompson did not know of it until he returned from Kaiwara. He did not get the doctor's information till very much later —some time in the evening. Benjamin brought the information that it was a stab-wound with some sharp instrument, and he had heard nothing about the gunshot. He (the Inspector) did not take the gun away that night. And I put it to honourable members, if the Inspector's theory was that the man had been murdered by a gunshot, and he found on Chemis's premises a gun which, according to the police evidence, appeared to have been recently discharged, how was it that he did. not bring the gun away ? The very weapon which fitted his theory he left behind. He says, " I did not take away the gun that night." I say that fact demonstrates that they had no idea that Hawkings had been killed by a gunshot-wound at all. Their attention was directed towards looking for a sharp instrument. They found a stiletto, and brought it away. They left behind the gun, which, according to Benjamin, had been recently discharged, and they left behind also a revolver. The Chairman: I think the next paragraph gives some information about that. Mr. Jellicoe : Yes; he says, " I did not look upon the gun as an important feature at that time." Then, why should they have paid particular attention to the paper they found ? I say that their recollection is not to be trusted regarding this paper. Next he says, " I was, I dare say, an hour and a half reading the evening newspaper. After reading the paper, I marked the envelopes. I marked the envelopes when the whole matter was fresh in my recollection " —that is, after he had been reading the evening newspaper for an hour and a half. "I did not notice what pieces of paper they were; I thought it would take more time than I could give to it." That shows that he never dreamt at that time that the paper was going to play an important part in the case. The Press had severely criticized the police for not having made an arrest, and, as a consequence, the suggestion is that the Press criticism induced them on the sth June to make an arrest, and to use all their efforts to prove the man they arrested guilty rather than to investigate the crime further. Lionel Benjamin's evidence : Be morgue, he was a long time thinking about it. The Chairman : Those were two of the principal witnesses. Mr. Jellicoe: One said, " Bowles, and Norman showed us the track." Benjamin said, " Bowles showed us the way." Not the way by the road, but the way across the hills. The Chairman : Are we now dealing with the Saturday ? Mr. Jellicoe : Yes. You see the paper which he says he found in the drawer was about the size of the palm of a hand. You will note this does not involve the large piece at present. You see he was arrested in his working-clothes. You see, gentlemen, that the police theory that he was murdered by gunshot is met with the damning fact that they left behind the revolver and the gun, and brought away the sharp instrument —the stiletto. Now, you see he says, first of all, he brought everything away, and now he admits he saw some caps there which he did. not bring away. That is the sheath of the stiletto. I call attention to the barrel of the gun, which might have been fired two or three days or even a week before. William Campbell's evidence : You see he carried the paper loose in his pocket. " I cannot say I saw Thompson put the paper into an envelope." It is just possible, and I do not put it higher than that, that he may have put pieces of paper in his pocket like the other constables. He was in their presence, and may have picked up the pieces of paper from the gorse. Ido not suppose he would stand idly by. He might have put pieces of paper in his pocket loosely and brought them in to Wellington. " I then picked up small pieces of paper." Now, you have the fact established that he did pick up pieces of paper. The Committee ; Did he place any in his pocket ?