Arthur Thomas Munn - Death penalty for Murder

Munn was hanged at Mt Eden Jail at 8 am on the 29 July 1930 and buried in an unmarked grave, he was aged 46. He had been found guilty of the murder of his second wife Lillie by poisoning her with strychnine. The couple had two children, both girls aged 5 and 9.

It was revealed at trial that Lillie had money when she married Munn on the 12 March 1920 (a second marriage for both) and it was her money which mostly paid for the villa in Northcote which was in her name - they moved into this shortly after their marriage. At the time of her death Lillie had only recently made a will, at Munn's insistence, leaving Munn everything – a strong motive, as Munn had struck up a relationship with another woman, a Mrs Georgina Stuck to whom he had mentioned marriage (this whilst his wife lay seriously ill).

Lillie became ill on the 11 February 1930, suffering convulsions, muscular cramps, high temperature and severe headaches and the Doctor was called to see her at her home.

The nature of Lillie’s illness raised the suspicions of Dr Dudding who did his best for her, to no avail. Lillie died later that day a painful death and Dr Dudding arranged for blood and fluid samples to be taken and analysis of these plus samples from a drinking cup from Lillie’s bedroom showed evidence of strychnine.

Munn had purchased the strychnine supposedly to poison a cat and Munn’s defence tried to persuade the court that Lillie had accidentally poisoned herself whilst trying to rid herself of another baby – she was said to have known about the poison.

At the trial, damning testimony was given by 3 of the adult children from Munn’s first marriage (the 4th had died an accidental death)  They told how cruel and abusive Munn was to their mother often striking her when she displeased him in some way. Both children had left home at the earliest opportunity and Munn left his wife for a period and she had the good sense to divorce him for desertion.

Witnesses at trial reported Munn as a nasty piece of work, in his manner of speaking to Lillie and although not proven, it was remarked that Lillie sometimes had marks on her which she explained away as accidental. Munn was said to be mean spirited - refusing small improvements to the villa – she was told she would have to scrub the floors rather than have the linoleum she wanted. Lillie was also said to have been afraid of her husband, locking herself in a room to get away from him.

The unmarked grave of Arthur Munn -
photo by Kath Kingswood.

A Jury was to find Munn guilty of murder and he was sentenced to death. He protested his innocence and appealed, spending 56 days in his cell whilst waiting the decision - the longer he was held in jail the more chance he felt that his sentence would be commuted.

During his time in prison he corresponded with Mrs Georgina Stuck who had been one of the Crown Witnesses at his trial – she had answered a newspaper advert placed by Munn who was apparently seeking some mental stimulation! Mrs Stuck had kept house for Munn after his wife died and looked after the children. It seems she was being lined up  to be  wife number 3.

Munn wrote 23 letters to Mrs Stuck, documenting his thoughts from the time of his conviction to the day after the Executive Council announced their decision to allow the death penalty to proceed. The letters were provided to the NZ Truth who incorporated them in a series of articles and gave rare insight into the mind of this arrogant individual. In one letter he wrote “If outside for a week I would sure get sufficient evidence to bush those fakers, and even it is 5 years or more I will make that the object of my remaining days”.

When Munn was advised that his appeal had been declined and that he would be put to  death by hanging, he wrote “I will face death with pleasure knowing that there are a number who will wish they had not made the statements they did “.

A rather full and grisly account of how Munn met his death was also fully documented.

Munn’s funeral was conducted by prison authorities as his relatives did not claim his body.

Public Burial Area A, Row 3, Plot 13B: Arthur Thomas Munn (46) 1930 – Wickerworker – unmarked

Sources: Papers Past, NZ Truth 19/6/1930 & 3/7/1930
                                  Bay of Plenty Times 23/7/1930
                                  NZ Herald 3/7/1930
                                  Press 25/7/1930


Presented by Susan Reid  “Discover Waikumete”