Waipori murder - the death of Richard Atkinson

Beside the road from Waipori to Lawrence is a recently-mounted plaque, the product of a recent reunion of descendants of those who lived in the town of Waipori, now drowned by the waters of Lake Mahinerangi.

John Jones was the second man hanged in New Zealand's South Island.


STABBING AT WAIPORI

A very serious case of stabbing occurred at Waipori on Saturday morning; an elderly man and a woman being the victims, and the news last received affording grounds for fear that the former has died of his injuries.

The only particulars yet received are as follow: — John Jones, a sailor, stopped on Friday night at the Hibernian Accommodation House, kept by a man named Dickson, with whom lived his wife Margaret, and her father, Richard Atkinson. Dickson left his store on Saturday morning, and soon afterwards Jones, who had been out for a short time, returned. Some dispute arose between Atkinson and Jones respecting payment by Jones; and while Atkinson was in the act of hanging up a piece of meat, Jones stabbed him in the abdomen, and then stabbed Mrs Dickson, who had run forward to help her father. Atkinson managed to seize a pistol, and Jones ran out of the place and escaped. Information was soon given to Constable Dunn, who sent word of the crime to the stations at Tuapeka, Wetherstones, &c. Intelligence was received in Dunedin yesterday forenoon; and the measures taken by the Commissioner, added to those promptly taken by Dunn and other officers in the neighborhood, have secured a thorough watching of the main and other roads, as well as the institution of a close search in the neighborhood of Waipori. The Commissioner also caused bills to be issued, offering a reward of L100 for the apprehension of Jones; and we hope very speedily to be able to announce that he is in custody.

Jones, as we have said, is a sailor. He is known by, or has used, the aliases of Pool and King. He came here about 18 months ago, having worked his passage out in the Star of Tasmania; he was subsequently employed in helping to discharge the Black Swan and then he worked as a butcher in Dunedin. Lately, be has been keeping a shanty on the Lammerlaw Ranges, where be has lived as a married man, and has been in the habit of taking lodgers. He is described as 5ft. 6in. high, of medium build, and 25 or 26 years old; dark complexion and hair, bushy whiskers, and no moustache; has a badly-tattooed anchor on one arm. He wore a Crimean shirt, striped red and white, moleskin trousers, and a felt hat. Jones usually stated that he came from Liverpool, but he is believed to be a Welshman.

The last account which reached town represented Atkinson as being in a most dangerous state, no hope of his recovery being entertained.  -Otago Daily Times, 25/12/1865.

Facsimile, put up as part of a recent Waipori reunion.

THE STABBING CASE AT WAIPORI.

John Jones, whom we mentioned on Monday as having stabbed a man named Atkinson, at the Hibernian Accommodation House, as well as his daughter, Mrs Dickson, was arrested by the police on the night of the 25th instant, in a hut on the Lammermoor Ranges. Atkinson is not likely to recover, and his dying deposition has been taken. He has identified the prisoner as the man who stabbed him. Jones has been taken to Tuapeka. It appears that the Accommodation House where the event took place, is about three miles from the Waipori Diggings, and when Atkinson was stabbed, Mrs Dickson ran out of the house to alarm some diggers who were in the neighborhood. The prisoner ran after her and she returned to the house, and succeeded, with the help of her father, in closing the door inside so as to prevent Jones gaining an entrance. Mrs Dickson then discharged the revolver, which attracted the attention of two men in the neighborhood, who ran to her assistance, but the prisoner was gone. The latest advices are up to Monday. Atkinson was still alive, but was not expected to recover.  -Otago Daily Times, 27/12/1865.

THE STABBING AT WAIPORI.

Richard Atkinson, who was stabbed at Waipori by John Jones, on Friday week, died on Friday last; and the charge against Jones must necessarily be one of murder.

After Jones was captured, a magisterial enquiry was held in the Hibernian Accommodation House, it being impossible to remove Atkinson. He was himself able to give evidence, and the other witnesses were his daughter-in-law, Margaret Dickson, and Messrs Campbell and Stewart, surgeons. It will be remembered that the accommodation house is kept by a man named Dickson, and that Atkinson lived with his son-in law and daughter. The prisoner stopped at the place on Friday, the 22nd ult. and left early in the morning. Mrs Dickson only knew him from his having once before taken a meal at the house; and Atkinson stated positively that up to the time he was stabbed he had never spoken to the prisoner. After the prisoner had gone away, Dickson left to go on business in the neighborhood. About eleven o'clock, prisoner returned, and found Atkinson and Mrs Dickson in the store. He remarked to Mrs Dickson that he supposed she did not expect him back so soon; he asked whether " Tom," (Dickson) had not gone out; and he spoke of the coming Boxing Day sports, which induced Mrs Dickson to give him a hand-bill in which they were announced. She then asked Atkinson to hang up a piece of corned beef; and it was while the old man was doing this, that the prisoner lunged across the counter and stabbed him in the abdomen. He fell to the ground; and when Mrs Dickson turned, crying, "What's that you've done to my da?" the prisoner stabbed her, inflicting a severe wound on the right hip. There does not appear to have been — as was at first rumored — any quarrel or angry feeling between the parties; and it is most probable that the prisoner wanted to rob the store, and cared not what might be the consequences of his attempt to disable its occupants. From the first, the medical men considered Atkinson to be in a critical state. He had suffered a very severe wound in the abdomen, through which the intestines protruded; but an inquest has not yet been held, so that the symptoms immediately preceding death are not on record. The medical men, at the first inquiry, stated minutely the nature of the injuries and of their treatment of the sufferer; and subsequently Atkinson's dying deposition was duly taken. An inquest will be at once held. Mrs Dickson is recovering from her wound.  -Otago Witness, 6/1/1866.

On Monday last, an inquest was held at Waipori, on the body of Richard Atkinson, whose death we recently recorded. Messrs Stewart and Campbell, surgeons, who had made a post mortem examination of the body, gave evidence that death resulted from the effects of the stab in the abdomen, which the prisoner John Jones is charged with having inflicted. Jones was present at the inquest, in custody. The jury returned a verdict of wilful murder against him, and he was committed for trial on the Coroner's warrant. The prisoner has also been, for a legal reason, committed by the Resident Magistrate on charges of wilful murder, and of attempting to murder the deceased and Mrs Dickson.  -Otago Witness, 6/1/1866.

The grave of Richard Atkinson, Waipori Cemetery.

SUPREME COURT — CRIMINAL SITTING.

Friday, 2nd March.

(Before his Honor, Mr Justice Richmond.) 

His Honor took his seat at ten o'clock. 

ARRAIGNMENTS.

John Lamer was arraigned and pleaded "guilty" to two charges of stealing drapery goods from the premises of his employers, Herbert, Haynes and Co. Sentence was deferred.

The Following prisoners put in pleas of "not guilty" — Maria Foilde, stabbing with intent to do grievous bodily harm; -James Spiers, forging and uttering; Daniel Goulden, stealing money; James Michael Cope, arson; John Jones alias Poole alias King, was arraigned on a charge of stabbing Margaret Dickson with intent to murder her, at Waipori. He pleaded "guilty" He also pleaded "guilty" to an indictment charging him with having murdered Richard Atkinson, at Waipori.

The Judge: Do you intend this plea of "guilty." I have already been applied to by your counsel to fix your trial for Monday, but if you plead guilty there is an end of the matter. I will allow you to withdraw this plea if you think proper. Are you serious in adhering to your plea? 

The prisoner: No, I did not understand what was meant.

The Judge: Then do I understand you to plead "not guilty" to the charge of murder?

The prisoner: Yes. 

The Judge: And am I to understand you to plead "guilty" to the other indictment, charging you with stabbing Margaret Dickson, with intent to murder her? 

The prisoner. No. 

The Judge: My man, this is a matter of life and death with you, and you should have all your wits about you now, if ever you had them. The prisoner's plea of "not guilty" was then recorded to both charges.  -Otago Daily Times, 3/3/1866.

SUPREME COURT. — CRIMINAL SITTING.

Monday, March 5th.

(Before his Honor Mr Justice Richmond.)

His Honor took his seat at ten o'clock.

THE WAIPORI MURDER

Sentence of Death.

John Jones, alias John Poole, alias John King, was charged with having murdered Richard Atkinson at Waipori, on the 23rd December last. Mr Kidston appeared for the prisoner.

John Mackay: I am a Justice, of the Peace for the colony, and gold receiver at Waitahuna. On the 26th December last, the prisoner was brought before me on a charge of stabbing Margaret Dickson and Richard Atkinson, with intent to murder. Richard Atkinson's deposition was taken by me at the Hibernian Accommodation House, in the prisoner's presence. He had the opportunity of cross-examining Richard Atkinson. I produce the deposition signed by Richard Atkinson, who, I believe, afterwards died. Constable Dunn was present at the examination. Richard Atkinson was the father of Margaret Dickson, who is the wife of Thomas Dickson. 

Cross-examined by Mr Kidston: The sheets, of the deposition were signed by me on the evening of the same day as it was made. All my signatures were made at one time. I did not sign any of the depositions until they were all taken, and I signed the sheets after going home to Tuapeka, twelve miles distant from the place where the depositions were taken. The sheets were pinned together and deposited in my safe and, after the Coroner's inquest, when they were sent to town. Atkinson's deposition was taken in the room where he was lying in bed. The persons present were Sergeant Thompson, Dr Niven, who wrote the depositions, the prisoner, and the witness who was being examined. 

By the Court: Atkinson's deposition was read over to him before he signed it. 

Thomas Dickson: I am a storekeeper living on the Weatherstones road, three miles from Waipori. I know the prisoner, and Mr Mackay, Justice of the Peace. On the 26th December last the prisoner was brought before Mr Mackay on a charge of stabbing Richard Atkinson, my father-in-law, who was then alive. He died on the 30th December. 

John Mackay, recalled: Richard Atkinson identified the prisoner as the man who stabbed him. 

The deposition of the deceased Richard Atkinson was put in and read as follows: — "I am a farmer and gardener, residing at Waipori. I know the prisoner and recollect his coming to the Hibernian Accommodation House about l am. on the 23rd December. He had a bed and slept until about 8 a.m. A short time afterwards he left, saying that he was going to Waipori. He returned about 11 a.m. when there were no person in the house except my daughter and myself, and he spoke to my daughter at the counter. Some time after he came in, at my daughter's request I proceeded to hang up a piece of meat, and in order to do so stood upon a chair and raised my hands up, and was in the act of placing it on the hook, when the prisoner, who was standing at my right side, stabbed me on the right side of the abdomen. He used the knife with his right hand. I fell on my back. My daughter Margaret called out, "What is that you have done to my da," and he made a dash at her. She called out, "He has killed me." I attempted twice to rise, but fell; the third time I succeeded in getting up and to the room where I found a pistol. On returning I met the prisoner without his hat, rushing towards me with a knife in his hand. I presented the pistol at him, when he rushed out at the front door, my daughter Margaret running out at the back door. She in a short time returned, and I then endeavored to hold in my bowels with my left hand, and barred the doors and windows with my right hand. I had no conversation whatever with the prisoner before he stabbed me. The trousers produced are those I then wore, and the cut pointed out to me was that caused by the prisoner stabbing me. Both the shirts produced were those worn by me at the time, and the cuts pointed out were caused by the stab. I next saw the prisoner on Monday, the 25th instant (December), in the custody of the police. I identified him when amongst three or four other men, and have no doubt whatever about the prisoner being the man who stabbed me."

Margaret Dickson: I am the wife of Thomas Dickson, who keeps the Hibernian Accommodation House, near Waipori. On the 23rd December. I was living at that house with my husband and father, the deceased Richard Atkinson. The Accommodation House is on the main road to Weatherstones, about three miles from Waipori. There are no stores nearer our house than Waipori, but there are some miner's tents; down a gully a good way from our house. I know the prisoner. Some time before the 23rd December, the prisoner came to our place and had dinner. He slept at the house on the night of the 22nd December. He came about two in the morning, when I was asleep. On the morning of the 23rd, I saw the prisoner in his bedroom, when I gave him water to wash. He came out, but did not have breakfast. I saw him leave the house, and he came back between ten and eleven o'clock. He then remarked to me that he had not stopped long away, and asked for a drink of porter. Before he got it, he asked where my husband had gone and when I expected him back. He asked me several times, and I said I expected him back about twelve o'clock. My father was then in the shop, along with me, helping me to do some work. The prisoner had another glass of porter, and then examined some flannel shirts, but declined to purchase them. I left from behind the counter and went to clean up the shop. I wanted to scrub, down the meat-stand, and I asked my father to hang up the meat while I did so. He placed a chair and stood on it to hang the meat on a hook. I reached him the first piece, and as he was in the act of hanging it up, with his arms extended, the prisoner stepped in front of him and stabbed him. The prisoner had been standing, leaning back with his arms on the counter, when he stepped right in front of my father to make a thrust at him, hitting him in the belly. I did not then see anything in the prisoner's hand. Father said "Why did you do that,", and fell on his back on the ground. Immediately after father fell I saw a knife in the prisoner's hand. When father fell I came forward between the prisoner and my father and said "why did you do that?" Without speaking a word the prisoner stabbed me with a knife.  He was then standing in the doorway. When I was stabbed father got up and ran into a bedroom for a pistol. I rushed into the, dining-room, and the prisoner was following me, when father cam out of the room with the pistol. When he saw, the pistol he ran out the front door. I ran out by the back door crying "Murder," and on looking down the road I saw the prisoner running towards Waipori. He looked back and then came towards me, when I went into the house again by the back door. We bolted the doors, and I afterwards fired a pistol out of one of the windows to alarm some men who were working a short way off. When they came up they went for the doctor. I never heard my father speak to the prisoner, there was.no quarrel between them or between him and me. The prisoner had been about half-an-hour in the house before he stabbed my father. I next saw the prisoner on the 25th December, when he was brought back by the constable. My father died on the 30th December.

Cross-examined by Mr Kidston: No diggers live convenient to our house. In a calm day the men who were working down the gully might hear a loud cry. They were out of sight of the road and of our house. I did not think it unusual for the prisoner to ask for my husband. Our store is built of iron, part of the floor being boarded. The place where father was standing on the chair was not boarded. The prisoner did not get breakfast at our house. In conversation with me, after be returned in the forenoon, he did not complain of not getting, his breakfast. I did not see the prisoner cutting cheese on a biscuit with a pocket-knife, while he was standing at the counter. If he had done so, I must have seen him. The chair my father was standing on was a strong wooden one. The knife the prisoner used seemed to me to be a long-bladed, sharp-pointed pocket-knife. When the prisoner stabbed me, I had a piece of meat in my hand. I threw it at him, and ran away. 

Thomas Dickson, recalled: The ground plan now shown me correctly represents the Hibernian Accommodation House. The bed-room occupied by Richard Atkinson is the centre one of three, and opens on the dining-room. On the 23rd December last, I saw the prisoner at my house. He had previously visited the house, and he slept there for a night. I did not know his name before the 23rd December. About two o'clock that morning I got up out of bed, and let the prisoner in. About eight o'clock the same morning, the prisoner came out of his bedroom, and I spoke to him. He went away without breakfast. I was going that day with a pack load towards Waitahuna, and the prisoner knew that, because he was standing close by when I told my wife where I was going, the road I intended to take, and when I expected to be back. I said I would go along the leading range towards Waitahuna for about six miles. When the prisoner was going away, I asked him if he would not have breakfast. He replied, "No, I think I will jog down to Waipori." I returned home about half-past one o'clock, and found my father-in-law lying in bed. He had been stabbed on the right side. My wife was also in bed; she had also been stabbed. I again saw the prisoner on the morning of the 25th at our place in custody of two troopers; I said to him, "If you intended to butcher us, why did you not knife me when I let you in at two o'clock in the morning?" He replied, I did not do it until I was insulted." 

Cross-examined by Mr Kidston: I never insulted the prisoner, or had any quarrel with him.

Constable John Dunn: I am stationed at Waipori. From information received on the 24th. December, I arrested the prisoner in Timber Gully, on the Lammerlaw Ranges, about eight miles from the Hibernian Accommodation House, at Waipori, by the track. The prisoner was in a tent with two other men, and when I arrested him at half-past eleven o'clock at night, I told him the charge. I searched him, but only found on him a sixpence. I remained with him all night, and in the morning took him to the station. Before going into the station, the prisoner asked me, "Is the old man very bad?" I said, "Yes, very bad." he said, "I did not do much to the old man." The same day I took the prisoner, along with four other men, before Richard Atkinson as he lay in bed. Atkinson at once identified him as the man who stabbed him.

Cross-examined by Mr Kidston: The prisoner did not express surprise at the charge when I arrested him. 

Charles Archibald Campbell: I am a doctor of medicine. My diploma is from the Glasgow University. I was called to see Richard Atkinson at Waipori on the 23rd December. He died in about eight days. I got to the accommodation house on the 23rd, at half-past twelve o'clock, and found that Atkinson had received a wound on the right side of the abdomen, about an inch and a half or two inches long, caused by a stab. Part of the bowels, about nine inches, was protruding in the shape of a loop. This part of the bowels was not wounded. There was no feculent matter on the surface of them, but there was inside. The patient was suffering no pain whatever. I first did all I could to return the protruding parts, but in order to do so j was obliged to enlarge the opening. I returned all that was protruding and sewed up the wound with three stitches, applied a bandage with a board, in order to keep the bowel in its place. From inquiries I made of Atkinson I found that he was of a very constipated habit — naturally so. Before giving him any medicine I returned to my house at Waipori and consulted "Dreuitt," the medical authority I go by. I returned about three o'clock in the afternoon and administered  to Atkinson an enema of castor oil and warm water, and shortly afterwards I gave him a dose of castor oil and between twenty-five and thirty drops of opium. His stomach would not retain it, and he vomited it in a few minutes. Immediately after sewing up the wound, I applied cold water bandages, which were continued for a few days, until there was no further occasion for them. Beef tea and gruel were given at intervals and I sent to Tuapeka for either Dr. Harvey or Dr. Stewart. The latter gentleman arrived about half-past eleven o'clock that night, and I had been up to that time with the patient. On consultation, we resolved to open the bowels and administered one ounce of Epsom mils, which he vomited shortly afterwards. I then administered an injection of turpentine, which caused copious evacuation about four o'clock on d the morning of the 24th. Dr. Stewart had gone home by that time. I then gave the deceased a drop of croton oil, which he also vomited. I then prescribed, as the result of the consultation with Dr Stewart, calomel and opium, to be taken every two hours. I applied mustard and a fly blister to the abdomen, and on the night of the 26th I gave the patient two drop-doses of prussic acid, which greatly abated the vomiting. I also administered turpentine injections, and give him croton oil, but I cannot not tell exactly how often. The deceased generally vomited the nourishment which was given him. I attended him up to the time of his death, and I made the post mortem examination. In the abdomen I found about a pint and a half of blood and serum. It was dark colored blood. The bowels were generally healthy, and there were no symptoms of inflammation of the peritonaeum. There was no injury done to the blood vessels. In my opinion death was caused by exhaustion, induced by excessive vomiting, caused by the blood lying in the abdomen. I believe this blood came from some minute blood vessel in the mesentery, which must have been wounded when the blow was struck. 

Cross examined by Mr Kidston: The vomiting commenced before the deceased got any medicine, while I was down at Waipori for the necessary medicines, before I made any enlargement of the wound. I did all I could to reduce the protruding part, without cutting, but I could not do so. I am certain there was no wound in the protruding parts when I returned them. In sewing up the wound, I used a common curved needle with sharp edges. There was no bad effect from the stitches. They only entered the skin of the abdomen. The deceased was too old a man to bleed in order to allay the vomiting. I knew before I went to see Atkinson that "Dreuitt" recommended bleeding for a case of this kind to allay the vomiting, but I differ from him on that point, and judged of the case for myself according to the man's age. The post mortem examination showed no inflammation of the bowels. I used croton oil, because I considered it the best for the purpose. In administering the croton oil after the turpentine injection had been successful, I was acting upon my own judgment and not on a result arrived at during the consultation. Dr Stewart was not then present, and I had to use my own judgement, because I thought it necessary to cause a second evacuation. I gave the calomel and opium for these purposes — the opium to allay the irritation of the stomach, and the calomel to act upon the blood, in order to be beforehand with any inflammation which might set in. The opium I expected also to prevent the calomel from acting as a purgative. I might have administered three or four doses of croton oil after the first one on the 24th. They were given at regular intervals. I forget whether I gave him a dose of jalap; and I also forget whether I told any person that I had given him jalap. I gave two doses of prussic acid, one drop each, which seemed for a time to allay the vomiting partially. It did not occur to me that the man was sinking owing to the treatment he was receiving. I did not think he was sinking until the day before his death, and, indeed, on one day I thought he was going to recover. I was sober when I was called to attend the patient, and I had only a glass of porter or ale before Dr Stewart came. I did not administer any further purgatives after the prussic acid on the 26th, except one turpentine injection. At the post-mortem examination I did not examine either the chest, lungs, brain, or heart. The deceased died of exhaustion. I found a pint and a half of blood in the abdomen, which I suppose would weigh two pounds. The loss of that amount of blood from any other part of the body might not have caused death; but the irritating action of this blood on the stomach, caused such an excessive vomiting as to bring on exhaustion. 

Alexander Stewart: I am a legally qualified medical practitioner, residing at Tuapeka. I went to the Hibernian Accommodation House, Waipori Road, on the 23rd, not as a medical man, but for the purpose of accompanying the Magistrate, who was going to take the dying deposition of Richard Atkinson. When I got there I examined Atkinson as a medical man, and found that he had received a wound about an inch and a half in length on the right side of the abdomen, which had been dressed. I had a consultation with Dr. Campbell on the case. The dressings were removed to allow me to see the wound. The result of the consultation then was that the patient's bowels should be opened, and when this was obtained, he was to receive calomel and opium. In order to open the bowels, an enema was to be given, and a dose of salts administered. If the salts did not bring about the desired result, he was to receive croton oil. This treatment was considered proper by me in consequence of Dr Campbell having told me that there was no wound of the bowels or any bleeding. I was present when the dose of salts was given, when I left. I saw him again, on the 26th, and he appeared to be in the same condition as formerly; the tongue moist and the pulse at 110. It was then agreed to give him drop-doses of prussic acid, and to discontinue the calomel and opium, and apply a mustard blister to the abdomen. The vomiting decreased. On the 29th I found that he was weaker and sinking with no particular symptoms except the vomiting, and the pulse weaker. My impression of the case was then much weaker than formerly. On the 24th, when I first saw Richard Atkinson, he was in danger of losing his life from the wound be had received. On the 26th he was still in that danger, which was not removed on the 29th. On the morning of the 30th he was dead. I assisted to make the post mortem examination, and found in the abdomen a quantity of blood, measuring over a pint and a half. There was no sign of inflammation, except slight local inflammation on the skin round the wound. The other organs were healthy. Assuming that the deceased was stabbed, and from what I saw when he was alive and after death, I am of the opinion that death was caused by the loss of blood, and it being retained in the abdomen, causing irritation, excessive vomiting, and exhaustion. I believe this blood had come from some mesenteric vessels which had been wounded when the blow was struck. I have now heard the detailed treatment which the patient received from Dr. Campbell in my absence. There is nothing there to alter my opinion as to the cause of death. On the 24th and 26th the deceased seemed to breathe freely, but on the 29th he was more embarrassed. The blood found in the abdomen was only very slightly coagulated.

Cross-examined by Mr Kidston: The results of the consultation were based upon the statement of Dr Campbell, that there was no internal bleeding. I had no reason to doubt his statement. It was agreed that after an evacuation was obtained, calomel and opium was to be commenced. It would have been necessary for me to have been present to have said whether I would have administered croton oil after the first evacuation. The patient was vomiting for several days. I do not agree with "Dreuitt," if he says that bleeding should be resorted to for vomiting. In a case of a similar nature "Arickson" recommends that purgatives should be abstained from; but in this case the deceased was of a constipated habit, and I considered it necessary to open the bowels. Dr Campbell was present at the Hibernian Accommodation House when I visited Atkinson. He was perfectly sober, and in my opinion he was at the time particularly abstemious. 

By the Court: He had not the slightest appearance of being in liquor.

Cross-examination continued: In this case I would on no condition have bled the patient. At the postmortem examination, I did not look at the brain, the heart, or the lungs.

Edward Hulme: I am Provincial Surgeon. I have heard the evidence of Drs. Campbell and Stewart as to the symptoms and the treatment which Richard Atkinson received. Assuming that he received that wound on the morning of the 23rd, that when examined on the same day there was no appearance of internal bleeding, and that the blood was found in the abdomen; that for several days he was vomiting — I should say that the loose blood was the cause of the vomiting. But I should look upon a wound like that described, and a pint and a half of blood extravasated in the intestines, as a fatal wound, independent of any treatment.

Cross-examined by Mr Kidston: Vomiting might also be caused by irritation, induced by inflammation. A quantity of loose blood in the abdomen would cause that irritation which would induce vomiting. The presence of vomiting would cause me to look for inflammation, and in such a case I would administer opium and calomel. Purgatives given at the same time would counteract the effects of calomel and opium, and tend to exhaust the patient. A small wound in the mesentery might be overlooked. If the man was bleeding internally from the effects of a wound, in my opinion no skill could save him. 

This closed the case for the Crown. 

Mr Kidston addressed the jury for the prisoner, and asked them to consider, first, what motive could induce the prisoner to commit the enormous crimes laid to his charge. They were said to have been committed about eleven o'clock in the forenoon, in an open store, the front door of which stood wide open to the main road, with diggers working in a gully close bye. The witnesses said there was no quarrel or dispute of any kind between the prisoner and his victims, and it had been said that he deliberately committed this murder, and attempted to commit another, which was not to be considered by them. The motive could not he theft, for surely the most ignorant man would not think the safe road to theft was by committing two murders. If it were possible to account for this deed in any other way, surely they would grasp it rather than believe that the prisoner committed the crime without any possible motive. The evidence would not bear out the statement of Dickson, that the prisoner committed the crime because he was insulted, and on this point the statement of the prisoner was that when he was asked by Dickson why he did not knife him rather than his wife and father-in-law, he said, "I did not want to stab anybody." With reference to the stab itself, he was instructed by the prisoner that the explanation was that he was standing at the counter, cutting bits of cheese with his knife, when Atkinson stood up on a rickety chair on the uneven earth floor. He was reaching up to hang the meat on a hook, when the chair moved, and he made a movement as if he he were about to fall. The prisoner, with the knife in his hand, suddenly reached forward to keep him from falling, when he found that be had unfortunately wounded Atkinson. They were bound to impute to the prisoner the least guilty motive, and to inquire if the wound was the cause of death. He thought that from the evidence they must have formed the opinion that the medical treatment in this case was far from right. If they formed the opinion that the medical treatment was the cause of death, the prisoner was entitled to an acquittal on the charge of murder. He commented strongly upon the treatment which the deceased had received, and argued that he had been killed by the continual application of strong purgatives. 

The Judge summed up: In this case the evidence had, he thought, put before the jury every matter of fact, in the clearest possible light. There was a single question upon which it would be his duty to direct them, and to lay down the leading principles upon which they must go. When that had been done, he thought he would not be going too far when he said that the guilt of the prisoner would be made as clear as the sun at noonday. Where a man wilfully inflicted on another a wound dangerous to life, and he neglected that wound, or allowed nature to take its course, and gangrene or fever ensued, it was murder on the part of the person who struck the blow. Suppose a wound dangerous to life to be given, probably a mortal wound, but while the man lay languishing with his wound, some other person came and struck him a blow which killed him, the murder lay not with the man who struck the first, but with him who struck the second blow. These two cases were very clear, but there was a third class of cases, as to which there was some difficulty, namely — where a wound has been given and improperly treated — and it was alleged for the prisoner in this case that the improper treatment was the actual cause of death, but that the man was killed, not by the prisoner at the bar, but by the doctors. He would tell them that, in this case if the treatment was the best which could possibly be obtained under the circumstances; it was no answer to say that if more skilful treatment had been obtained, the man would have recovered. Supposing a number of men were passing over one of the mountain ranges of this country, and one struck another and wounded him, and he had to be left there, where it was not possible to do more than to bind up his wounds with the garments of the bystanders, and it was afterwards to be advanced that the man died; not of the wound but of exposure, there was no law to bear out such an answer as that. If a man is wounded at a place where the best surgical aid and appliances were not available, the person who struck the blow is not to answer that, if the victim had been at another place, and had other appliances, his life might have been saved. Even if it were shown that the treatment was grossly improper, it still ought to be made distinctly to appear that the treatment and not the wound was the cause of death. It was therefore very material for them to inquire whether the wound in itself was an adequate cause of death. If the wound was a certain cause of death, they should be very cautious; not to consider that anything else might have killed the man. Now, Dr Hulme's opinion was of great value, because he was the highest medical authority examined in the case. In his (Dr Hulme's) opinion the wound described in this case, if it produced an effusion of blood to the extent of a pint and a half, must have resulted in death. They were also to bear in mind that Dr. Campbell states that the vomiting was not first occasioned by his use of croton oil, but he said that it began before he gave the deceased anything else than an enema of castor oil and water; and when he administered his first dose of opium the man vomited it. So that the vomiting brought on exhaustion, and exhaustion brought on death; and it appeared that death was not caused by the medicine but by the wound. There was a case in a Scotch law-book, in which a man was tried for murder because he struck a lad over the shoulder and dislocated his arm. But it appeared that the boy bad been operated upon by an ignorant, bone-setter, whose manipulation caused a white swelling to set in, and the prisoner was acquitted, under the direction of the Judge. There was also a more recent case, in which a person was indicted for murder by shooting in a duel. It appeared that after the man was wounded, the surgeons performed an operation, under which the man died, and it was argued that as the operation was unnecessary, it was the cause of death. But it was held that the party who gave the wound was responsible for the death. If the jury were of opinion that the deceased received such gross illtreatment, that it killed him — that he was killed by the croton oil, and not by the wound — it would be their duty to acquit the prisoner. 

The jury retired at twenty minutes to eight o'clock. At a quarter past nine o'clock they returned into, Court with a verdict finding the prisoner "Guilty," but strongly recommending him to mercy on account of the treatment which the deceased received at the hands of his medical attendants.

The prisoner, on being challenged, said his age was 25 years, and on being asked if he had anything to say why sentence of death should not be passed upon him, simply replied "No." 

The Judge put on the black cap and said: Prisoner at the bar. In discharging the duty which now devolves upon me, I have very few words to say to you. The act by which you have incurred a heavy doom, is one which places you on a level with the most ferocious beasts of prey, which man everywhere destroys as his enemies wherever he can find them. Your act is one of senseless ferocity — not so much one of devilish malignity as of senseless ferocity. Whatever sympathy might be felt for a man in your position must vanish when one looks at the unoffending victims of your unprovoked attack. I am thankful to say that your ultimate fate does not rest in my hands. You have heard the recommendation of the jury that has tried you, and it shall be transmitted to His Excellency the Governor, who can alone give effect to it. It is my clear duty to pronounce on you the extreme sentence of the law. His Honor concluded by passing sentence of death in the usual form.  -Otago Daily Times, 6/2/1866.

EXECUTION OF JONES.

A second criminal has been hanged in Otago. John Jones, alias Poole, alias King, was so put to death at eleven o'clock yesterday forenoon, within the Dunedin Gaol, for the murder of Richard Atkinson, at Waipori, on the 23rd December. 

The convict maintained during his last night of existence the same calm bearing which he showed from the time of his conviction. His conduct was throughout composed. He listened attentively to the exhortations of the Rev. Mr Smith, chaplain of the Gaol, and the Rev. R. Connebee, whom he desired to see as soon as he was told that he was to be executed. He declared himself to be, and he appeared to be, most sorry for his crime. He denied that he had any intention of killing poor Richard Atkinson. He had drunk to great excess, he said, on the day previous to, and on the morning of, the murder; he was in a state of delirium tremens; and he did not know what he had done, until he was told of it next day, when taken into custody.

The convict went to bed at eleven o'clock on Thursday night, and slept soundly until seven yesterday morning. The Rev. Messrs Connebee and Smith were with him almost uninterruptedly from that time until the end. He wept as he listened to their exhortations and their prayers: and he repeated, in substance, that when he stabbed Atkinson he was mad from the effects of drink, and that he did not know until the day after, what he had done.

A few minutes before eleven o'clock, the Sheriff went to the cell, and demanded "the body of John Jones, for execution." The convict walked out into the day-room, and the hangman walked in. Disguised in a much-worn dirty prison jacket or smock frock, his face hidden by a black calico mask and a tattered old gray felt hat, the minister of the law looked simply repulsive. But he did his work handily. The convict, when he came into the room, saw one of the warders, to whom he turned with something like a flush of welcome and thankfulness, and advancing, grasped the warder's hand. He did not speak. He stood passively, but quite firmly, while being pinioned. And during that time, he was addressed by Mr Connebee. He was evidently a man of very sluggish intellect and stolid temperament — to be affected, but only by the most simple and direct earnestness. Said the reverend gentleman, "There is a beautiful hymn, from which many have got comfort. If you wish, I will repeat to you a verse of it." And he said the verse beginning, "Jesus, lover of my soul, let me to Thy bosom fly." "Oh! Receive my soul, at last!" repeated the minister, "that is a most fitting prayer for you, now!" The pinioning had, meanwhile, been completed, and the dress of death completed by the putting on of the linen cap, and the removal of the neckerchief and collar: the hangman being still an expert workman.

The Rev. R. Connebee commenced the burial service; and while the little Gaol bell clanked, the short procession started for the gallows. It is but a brief walk in Dunedin Gaol! The convict walked steadily, and placed himself on the drop. What remained to be done was soon done; and the bolt was drawn. The officers of the Gaol were on the scaffold with the ministers; and there was, perhaps, a score of spectators in the yard. There were but slight evidences of muscular spasm, as the body hung; but more than an ordinary time passed before the Provincial Surgeon was satisfied that pulsation had ceased.

If is inexpressibly horrible to see a man go to a violent and an infamous death, as John Jones went. There he is, a strong stoutly built man, who has probably never known, as a man, what illness means. He is not "dying game," as it is called in the slang of thieves and ruffians. There is not a trace of bravado about him. He is probably as sorry that he has killed a fellow being, as is consistent with his nature that he should be sorry for anything. But there are no evidences that he realises either the guilt of a murderer, or the infamy of the punishment to which man's law has doomed him. He has to die: and in the narrowest acceptation of that phrase he "realises his position." Nothing more. Try to think of what he is thinking. Before you can begin, almost, there he dangles in a hole, dead, with the hangman tugging at his thong-bound legs, and his face twisted round and upturned as far as the cord will allow it to turn, presenting a hideous mask to the sun-light. How hideous that linen mask is — how terribly worse than the sight of the naked face of one who has died the most agonising death — those only know who have stood upon a scaffold, and have thought of the poor hanged wretch apart from the crime for which he has been executed.

The following declaration, as required by the Execution of Criminals Ordinance, was signed: —

We hereby testify and declare that we have this day been present when the extreme penalty of the law was carried into execution on the body of John Jones, convicted at the Criminal Session of the Supreme Court, held at Dunedin, on the 5th day of March last, and sentenced to death; and that the said John Jones was, in pursuance of the said sentence, hanged by the neck until his body was dead. A Chetham Strode, Sheriff,

J. Stoddart, Gaoler. 

James Caldwell, Chief Warder. 

Robert Chapman, J.P. 

E. Fox, "Daily Times." 

W. J. Henningman, Ed. "Evening Star." 

Robert Howlison. 

W. B. Thomson, Detective Officer. 

Godfrey Jacobs. 

John Curle. 

Patrick McDonald. 

Touissant la Grif. 

John Hughes.

At half-past three o'clock, an inquest was held in the Gaol, by Mr T. M. Hocken, coroner; and after the jury had viewed the body, the following evidence was given: —

Alfred Chetham Strode: I am Sheriff of the District and Province of Otago. On Tuesday the 3rd April, at eleven o'clock in the morning, I received the document I produce, signed "G. Grey, Governor of New Zealand," and countersigned, "E. W. Stafford" intimating to me that the Governor saw "no reason to interfere to prevent the law from taking its course," in respect of one John Jones, convicted on the the 5th March last, of the crime of murder, at the Criminal Sitting of the Supreme Court, Otago and Southland District, held before C. W. Richmond, Esq. a Judge of the Supreme Court. I this day saw the warrant carried into effect, in conformity with an Act of the General Assembly, providing that sentence shall be executed within three days of the Sheriff's receipt of intimation that his Excellency will not interfere. I was present to-day, at eleven o'clock, and saw the sentence of death carried into effect, within this Gaol. — [The warrant was read.] 

Edward Hulme, Provincial Surgeon and medical officer to the Gaol: I knew the deceased. I was present in one of the yards of the Gaol this morning, at eleven o'clock, and I saw John Jones, the deceased, hanged by the neck until he was dead. I have since seen the dead body, and I recognise it as that of John Jones.

A verdict was returned, that the deceased had been hanged by the neck until dead, in due course of law.

John Jones came to Otago, from England, as a seaman on board the Star of Tasmania, about eighteen months ago. He is believed to have been born in Liverpool. He had shipped only for the voyage out; and, as soon as he was discharged, he went up to the Tuapeka district, where he worked, as a digger, generally as what is known as a "fossicker." For a time, he lived with a woman called "Gummy" Jackson, who kept a shanty on the Lammerlaw Ranges; but he had left her for some weeks prior to the 23rd December, the day of the murder. He had been "hard up" for a while and when apprehended, he had but 6d. The memorial which was sent to the Governor, praying for a commutation of the sentence of death, contained, as we understand, the statement that when Jones committed the murder he was suffering from delirium tremems. As we have already said, Jones several times repeated that statement to the ministers of religion who saw him after his conviction; and he adhered to it until just before his death. Yet, in justice, it must be published, that all the evidence that could be procured by the most inquiry, goes to prove the falseness of that statement. There was, we believe, an official search for evidence, because of what appeared in the memorial. The results shown were these: — Jones was not in the habit of drinking spirits; he very rarely tasted them. He was sober on the 21st December. At midnight on the 22nd December, a man who had given him a lift towards Atkinson's accommodation house, parted with him, and he is convinced that Jones was then sober. That he was sober on the morning of the 23rd, was the evidence at the trial, as it was also that at Atkinson's house he had no spirits, and only three or four glasses of beer, during the night of the 22nd and up to the committal of the murder on the 23rd. That he "did not know what he had done" — in the sense of being ignorant that he had fatally wounded Atkinson — until he was told of it when arrested, is inferrible from the evidence at the trial; and that he meant to disable Atkinson, so as to be able to rob the store, and not to kill him, may be true, without lessening the convict's just liability to the doom of the murderer, which he has now suffered.   -Otago Witness, 7/4/1866

John Jones was buried in the yard of the Dunedin police station.  When the station was demolished to make way for the current courthouse, his and the other remains of hanged men were disinterred and buried in Dunedin's Northern Cemetery.

Of the later life of Thomas and Margaret Dickson I can report this  — in 1868, Thomas was granted a publican's licence at the Digger's Rest Hotel and General Store  — the Hibernian has been renamed.  He died in 1873 of hypothermia after falling off his horse into the Waipori River.

Margaret remarried in 1875, to a Mr Robert Cotton.  She was 18 at the time of the murder  — she died in 1926 at the age of 78.