Alexander Scott - Friend and Murderer

William Thompson of Oratia, which in 1892 was a small country town, died under suspicious circumstances.

It was known to many in the neighbourhood that his wife Alice & his best friend Alexander Scott, who had moved into the neighbourhood approximately 18 months earlier, were having an affair & being less than discreet about it.

Alice fell pregnant & as her time drew near moved into the city where she stayed for 6 weeks, as either she or the baby was considered to be too weak to return to the country.

William started to feel ill during this time & asked Alexander to stay with him, Alexander moved in & William's health seesawed. Bill Carter, one of William's friends who knew of the wife's affair, went so far as to suggest to him that it was possible that Alexander had been poisoning him. William, who considered Alexander to be his best friend, would not consider the notion.

On the 31st of October James Parker, a neighbour who had visited 3 weeks earlier, felt uncomfortable & resolved not to visit William alone, received a call from a Mrs Carter. She told him that William was looking bad & that she thought he might be dying. He arranged for a John Moorhead to join him & when arrived they discovered that he had died. James felt that it would be in their own interests to write up a list of the contents in the room apart from ordinary household furniture. Scott had also drawn sketches to alert doctors to the presence of a silver-topped vial, which he suggested Thompson may have been using to commit suicide by poison.

An autopsy was performed, proving that William died of strychnine poisoning. A number of witnesses then came forward saying that there was a relationship between Alexander & Alice & several letters were produced where the couple expressed their love for each other.

At an inquiry into the death of William Thompson, Alexander Scott was arrested on the grounds that he had been purchasing a number of poisons under an assumed name. He was found guilty, hanged on the 23rd of May 1893 & was buried at Waikumete Cemetery.

William was buried with his infant son at the Oratia Cemetery. His wife returned to England taking their 2 children.

Footnote:
I found it very interesting that at the end of the article in the last link supplied Alexander was asked what inscription he would like on his headstone.  It would have been very unusual for a person hanged for murder to have such a marked grave.

Sources:

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH18921102.2.59

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH18921111.2.67

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS18930523.2.31

Anglican Division A, Row 4, Plot 24: Alexander Scott (35) 1893 – unmarked

Compiled by Kath Kingswood - Discover Waikumete Cemetery

Teenage Murderer Hanged - Tahi Kaka

17 year old Tahi Kaka watched on as carpenters built a scaffold for his forthcoming execution. The

work was clearly visible from the teenager’s tiny cell at Mt Eden prison and the sight was too much for visiting clergy who complained to the prison management, without much success. The young man with the boyish appearance had been charged with the murder of John Freeman at Puhipuhi, Northland.

In the evidence he gave at his trial he described how he accompanied Freeman in pursuit of gum and noticed something bulging in Freeman’s hip pocket. When Freeman said he had £2O Kaka though he was joking and said “Give me the money or I’ll kill you.” Freeman, who had a spear in his hand and a spade at his side, said “Come on, kill me”. He dropped the spade and taking the spear in both hands threw it at Kaka. Then he threw the spade, striking Kaka on the shoulder. Freeman tried to grab Kaka but the young man ducked and Freeman fell on top of him, with both then falling to the ground. Kaka said he saw Freeman trying to get an axe out of his bag and so hit him three blows over the head with a stick. Kaka then ran away and when Freeman did not follow, returned to the still body. Although Freeman was just barely alive Kaka thought he was dead and cried over the body. Thinking he would be hanged for killing Freeman and, remembering the man said he had money, took the money out of Freeman’s pocket and fled.

Kaka was found guilty by the jury, after an hour's deliberation, but was recommended to mercy on account of his youth. He was sentenced to death by the judge.

Tahi Kaka's grave - Cross marker
supplied by Discover Waikumete &
Photo by Geri Eccles

According to the newspapers at the time, from the time of his sentence Tahi Kaka seemed resigned to his fate. He ate and slept well, putting on a stone in weight.  The resigned manner in which he took his sentence is attributed by the Rev. Hawking to his belief. He had made peace with his Maker and would be forgiven in the next world.

As he was taken from his cell to the scaffold on the 21st of June 1911 Rev. Hawkins read the first three sentences of the burial service in Maori. As Kaka ascended the thirteen steps to the scaffold his boyishness was painfully apparent but he took his stand on the drop without assistance or the slightest tremor. The Rev. Hawkins then recited the Lord's Prayer, which Kaka repeated in a steady voice. When asked by the sheriff if he had anything to say, he replied firmly: "I hope I am the last man to be hanged, anyhow." As the bolt was being drawn Kaka’s lips uttered a single word, “Aue” (Oh dear).

Death was instantaneous.


Public Burial A, Row 3, Plot 82


Sources: Papers Past

WAIRARAPA AGE, VOLUME XXXII, ISSUE 10252, 31 MAY 1911
SENTENCED TO DEATH WITH RECOMMENDATION TO MERCY.
THE MAORI KAKA https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WAG19110531.2.21.21

MANAWATU HERALD, VOLUME XXXIII, ISSUE 999, 1 JUNE 1911

THE AUCKLAND MURDER.

KAKA FOUND GUILTY https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/MH19110601.2.13

EVENING POST, VOLUME LXXXII, ISSUE 145, 21 JUNE 1911

TAHI KAKA EXECUTED

DEATH INSTANTANEOUS. CONDEMNED MAN'S LAST UTTERANCES. https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19110621.2.61

Compiled by Geri Eccles

Frederick Foster - The Milkbar Murder

When Frederick Foster wanted to come to New Zealand on an assisted passage in the early 50’s, he was refused because of his lack of qualifications but he was accepted by Australia.

Six months after he arrived in Australia he met a waitress and proposed to her the same day. Three weeks later they were married but separated after 5 months.

Frederick met Sharon Skiffington at her mother’s house where he was boarding. Sharon was living with her grandmother in the South Island and had come up for a holiday. When she went home she wrote to Frederick and told him she had fallen hook line and sinker for him. He also seemed besotted with her and she moved back up to Auckland. He seemed to be stalling whenever marriage was mentioned and her mother suspected he was already married. When these suspicions were confirmed and they discovered he was still married to his wife in Australia, Sharon broke off the relationship.He did not like her seeing anyone else, but he had promised marriage to several other girls he had slept with.

He followed her to a milk bar in Queen Street on the 28th of March 1955 and produced a gun. The gun was old and unreliable and as a result Sharon was shot in the face. She died later that day in hospital and he was arrested for her murder the same day.

When he was asked why he had the gun with him he replied that he had taken it into town to shoot rabbits. When he was told "but there are no rabbits in Auckland",  he  grinned and said "Well what do you know?".

At his trial he was defended by Dr A M Findlay (later the honourable Dr Martin Findlay QC, Attorney General and Minister of Justice). The trial lasted 5 days but the jury took just 77 minutes to find him guilty.

On the 20th May 1955 he was sentenced to death. At his sentencing Foster leaned forward and grasped the front of the dock with a grip that whitened his knuckles. It was then that he made his appeal to the press bench and said “Sharon was a very good girl".

Petitions were organised and money was raised to bring his mother Alice, out from England. She arrived the day after his appeal was dismissed. She came to plead with the government for her son’s life, she met with the Minister of Justice and the Prime Minister. Clemency was denied. Foster last saw his mother on the day before he died when he gave her a letter and thanked her for her comfort. From his cell Frederick also wrote that he “looked forward to the day Sharon and I are together again.” 

Photo: Cathy Currie -  All rights reserved

The Attorney General refused to show any executive mercy and the wound was still fresh as he was hanged on the 7th July 1955.

His last words on the gallows were "I am innocent, innocent".
He apparently refused to comply with the hangman’s instructions, as some say a prison guard poked two fingers into his eyes, forcing him to lift his head so a noose could be placed over it.

Ironically while in jail he was taken to Auckland Hospital where he underwent potentially lifesaving surgery to remove an inflamed appendix. The orderly who prepared him for surgery had no idea at the time who he was and while Foster was in surgery asked the guards with him what he was in jail for. He was told Foster was to be hanged for murder in the next few days.  According to the orderly's wife he was dreadfully upset when he got home.

He became the 82nd person to be legally hanged in New Zealand and was the 4th execution since the reintroduction of the death penalty in 1950. In 2013 author Karin Freeman said she believes the timing of Foster’s conviction was important, as a report into “moral delinquency in children and adolescents” had just been delivered amid moral panic about teen behaviour.

Frederick Foster was buried at Waikumete the day after he was hanged. His grave remained unmarked until 1998, when a regular visitor to the cemetery, but not connected to Foster or his victim, paid for his headstone.

Protestant Division A, Row 5, Plot 3: Frederick Foster – Labourer – Murderer

FREDERICK FOSTER

7.7.1955

aged 27

R.I.P.

Sources: https://www.truecrimelibrary.com/crimearticle/frederick-foster/
https://nzhistory.govt.nz/culture/the-1950s/1955

Compiled by Lynnette Beesley - Discover Waikumete

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”

Albert Lawrence (Paddy) Black - Jukebox Killer

18 year old Paddy Black (aka Paddy Donovan) was sent to New Zealand from Ireland in 1953, to seek a better life. He hadn’t seen much of the world up until that point as he was apparently fascinated by the shower on the boat bringing him to New Zealand, he had never seen one before. Friends at the time described him as a bit naïve and not very streetwise but could take a joke and loved playing pranks on others.

He was working as a labourer and caretaking a boarding house in Wellesley St in 1955 when he got into a fight with Johnny McBride (real name Alan Jacques) at a party at the boarding house.

Paddy had allowed McBride to stay a few nights (rent free), but McBride proved to be reluctant to leave.  This caused quite a bit of anxiety for Paddy who had never really taken to the guy who had proven not to be the ideal “boarder” and got violent when spoken to about leaving. Paddy had also got word that his landlady was coming back from holiday and she had told him that he was not to let rooms while she was away. The last altercation had McBride raising his fist, dropping it and walking out, leaving his gear behind.

Paddy decided to have a party to belatedly celebrate his 20th birthday, having had the flu (likely contracted from McBride) on the day. He went to Ye Old Barn Cafe in Queen St and invited a few friends who decided to make it a bit bigger do than Paddy anticipated. McBride was there at the time and Paddy said that he was not invited. When Paddy got back to the house the party was in full swing and McBride was once again there. When he told McBride again that he was not invited, McBride apparently laughed and told him that he was a boarder so therefore of course he was.

Things reached boiling point at the party when Paddy caught McBride kissing a 16 year old girl that Paddy intended sleeping with, despite already having a girlfriend. The two came to blows and McBride, the larger of the two, gave Paddy a good hiding. According to a close friend Paddy wasn’t a fighter, being of slight build and also recently ill with influenza.

The next day Paddy was back at Ye Old Barn Café waiting for his girlfriend, who he arranged to meet prior to the happenings of the night before. He went to the jukebox and selected a song, McBride leaned over him and changed the song. Paddy changed it back and so did McBride. McBride then hit Paddy in the eye and invited him outside. Paddy instead sat down at a table with friends and said “my eye”.  Shortly afterwards he jumped up, saying “I’ve had a guts full of this” and “I’m sick of getting a hiding all the time”. He then pulled out a kitchen knife from his pocket and stabbed McBride, who was waiting in the aisle with his back to Paddy, in the neck. McBride slid down a post bleeding heavily and some of the bystanders, trying to help him, rolled him over onto the floor, driving the knife in further.

At his trial Paddy told the jury his version of what took place, including the fact that he was drunk and disoriented at the time and afraid of McBride, who boasted he had never lost a fight.

To quote Paddy: “He (meaning McBride) was the kind of chap who’d kick you till your guts dropped out or your shoes caved in. I’d taken the knife out of my pocket just as I rose from my seat. I took it out of my pocket to defend myself when I got outside. I thought I’d need the knife because I didn’t have much show – I’d heard he carried a knife and I’d seen one. I didn’t stand a show against him. I got the knife out; I was just overcome or something. Maybe it was fright, or funk. I don’t know what it was. All I remember is making a lunge at him”.

Paddy then left Ye Olde Barn Café in a daze, wandered around for a while, then handed himself in at the police station, not realising that Johnny McBride was dead.

Paddy Black's grave
- photo by Geri Eccles

Given the extremely conservative time and Government of the 1950’s, Paddy was tried for murder, instead of the more likely manslaughter, with Justice Finlay opening the case by saying “In this case the offender is not of ours except by adoption and apparently comes from the type which we could have spared our country. It is a case of an apparently deliberate stabbing in a restaurant in Upper Queen St and there seems to be no opening of either provocation or self-defence, or any of the defences usually presented in a case of this kind”.

Another thing that may have influenced the trial was the evidence given by the young woman that Paddy and McBride fought over at the party. A pretty and confident party girl who loved being the centre of attention and was convinced that the animosity between the two men was solely because of her, the evidence that she gave may have painted Paddy in a worse light, as a promiscuous moral delinquent so feared by the older generation.

Paddy was sentenced to hang as an example to other wayward teenagers. An appeal was dismissed and he was hanged on the 5th of December 1955 at the age of just 20.

The Truth newspaper, sickened by Attorney-General Jack Marshall’s apparent inflexibility, sent a reporter to cover the hanging and instructed them to describe what they actually witnessed in the floodlit stone yard of Mt Eden.
“Black did not walk bravely or imperturbably or any other way to the scaffold. As they all do, he shuffled. He shuffled because the movement of his body was harnessed. His arms at the elbows were shackled to the body with broad leather straps, his crossed hands were strapped in front of him and his legs were pinioned above the knee,” Truth wrote.
“Death comes to men in many forms. Black met death at the top of the stairs in the shape of a chunky figure dressed as if for a fishing expedition on a stormy day. This was the hangman. He wore a felt hat pulled down low over his eyes. To hide his eyes he wore sunglasses … this garish figure waiting at the back of the platform looked ludicrously out of touch like an actor in some fifth-rate melodrama.
“Black looked down, wished everyone a happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year. The warders closed round him. They pinioned his ankles, drew the noose down over his neck and placed a white hood over his head. The sheriff raised his hand carrying the warrant of execution. Death in dark glasses performed his office. Black was no longer there. The white rope was taut. The rope oscillated like a leisurely pendulum.”

Four executions had gone ahead in 1955, but popular support for the death penalty appeared to be waning. A national abolitionist movement made its presence felt but it was the Truth article describing Paddy’s hanging that probably did the most that year to turn the tide. As it was, Paddy was the second to last person to be executed in New Zealand before hanging was officially abolished in October 1961, with hanging being retained for treason until 1989.


Compiled by Geri Eccles and Kath Kingswood

Source: NZ Herald 24/8/14 "Haunted by the Jukebox Killer"               
             https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11313442

Recommended reading: "This Mortal Boy" - by Fiona Kidman