MAN DROWNED ON ROAD.
(By Telegraph. — Press Association.) DUNEDIN, this day.
Henry Alexander Yorston, aged 35, a single man, was found drowned this morning in a water table on the Taieri Road. Apparently his body had been in the water all night. -Auckland Star, 21/6/1929.
LABOURER’S DEATH
FOUND LYING IN WATER TABLE
The adjourned inquest into the circumstances surrounding the death of Henry Alexander Yorston, the labourer who was found dead in a water table on the North Taieri road on June 21, was resumed this morning before Mr H. W. Bundle, S.M.
Sergeant Isbister represented the police.
Thomas Green, a driver, residing at 8 Farley street, said that he knew the deceased and travelled on the Stuart street car with him as far as the terminus on June 20. They both got off at the terminus at about 3p.m., and walked up as far as Farley street. The deceased then left witness and walked towards his home. That was the last witness saw of him. The place where the body was found would be three-quarters of a mile from where the deceased left him. When he left the deceased it was raining very heavily, and the visibility was bad.
Constable Williamson stated that when he arrived on the scene the deceased was lying at full length in the ditch with his face downwards, and his head bent slightly under him. The body appeared as if it had been in the water for hours. The deceased’s clothing was full of silt and grass, which had been washed over him by the water. He was not marked in any way, and his clothing was intact. The water running in the ditch would be about 9in deep. The ditch was about 2ft wide and 18in deep.
The Coroner stated that, although there was up doubt in his mind as to the cause of death, -he thought it would be advisable to have formal evidence by Dr Evans.
The inquest was then adjourned until this afternoon. -Evening Star, 1/7/1929.
BODY EXHUMED.
DOUBT AS TO CAUSE OF DEATH.
(Per Press Association.) DUNEDIN. January 10.
On June 21 of last year Henry Alexander Yorston, aged 35 years, was found lying dead in a drain containing a few inches of water in the Kaikorai Valley, and at the inquest the Coroner returned a verdict that he died from exhaustion. The parents of deceased, however, evidently considered that some other agencies had caused the death of their son, and engaged an inquiry agent to go into the matter. The agent finally obtained permission from the Minister for Health (the Hon. A. J. Stallworthy) to have the body, which had been buried at Anderson's Bay, exhumed.
The exhumation took place on Wednesday, and the body was removed to the morgue. There it was examined by Dr. Dath, who found, however, that owing to the decomposed state of the remains it was practically impossible to come to any conclusion in the matter. Dr. Dath removed the contents of the stomach, and these may be analysed if it is considered necessary. During the post-mortem examination at the morgue four other doctors were present, and also representatives of the police. The body was afterwards reinterred at the Anderson's Bay cemetery. -Ashburton Guardian, 17/1/1930.
Information based on undoubted authority now makes it appear that the reasons which prompted the exhumation of the body of Henry Alexander Yorston six months after his death are rather peculiar, states a Dunedin correspondent. Apparently the position is that a close relative of deceased had consulted a person who claimed to have a knowledge of things not revealed to ordinary mortals. This woman stated that deceased had not met his death in the circumstances disclosed by the evidence at the inquest. This evidence went to show that the cause of death was exhaustion, but, nevertheless, so much credence was placed on what the person consulted by the relative said that authority was obtained from the Minister for the exhumation of the body. -Poverty Bay Herald, 20/1/1930.
SENSATIONAL EXHUMATION STARTLES DUNEDIN
ACTION FOLLOWS SUGGESTION OF FOUL PLAY
But Evidence Collected by Inquiry Agent Really Amounts To Mere Surmise and Leads Nowhere
FACTS SHOW YORSTON'S DEATH WAS ACCIDENTAL
(From "N.Z. Truth's" Special Dunedin Representative)
The exhumation last week of the body of Henry Alexander Yorston, who was found in June last lying dead in a water drain on the Halfway Bush road, has created a sensation in Dunedin, but it appears that startling stories to the effect that Yorston was cruelly murdered on his way home are unfounded and disproved by the available evidence. Action was taken on the representation of a private inquiry agent, acting on behalf of Mrs. Margaret Yorston, the dead man's mother, but the evidence collected by him as bearing out the theory of foul play is of the flimsiest description imaginable, and there seems no reason whatever for doubting that Yorston's death followed an accident. "N.Z. Truth" asks Minister of Health Stallworthy whether, before granting the order for exhumation, the coroner, Dunedin police, and the police surgeon who examined Yorston's body were communicated with for their opinion of the matter. If this course were adopted, it is incredible that they should have supported an application that was obviously bolstered up by nothing but mere surmise and irrelevant facts. And if they were not consulted, some explanation is most certainly due as to the reason for the omission.
YORSTON, who was employed by the Reserves Department of the City Corporation, lived with his mother and sister in a neat little house on the Halfway Bush Road, about three miles out of the city. Thirty-five years of age, he was a quiet, inoffensive man, and he apparently had no enemies of any kind.
On the morning: of June 21 last he left home for work as usual. He was carrying an attache case containing his lunch and some tea in a small thermos flask. According to his mother, he could not have had more than a few shillings in his pocket.
It was a wet and windy day, and Yorston did not go to work. In the evening he was on a cable car in company with Mr. Thomas Green, presumably homeward bound.
The two men alighted at the car terminus at Nairn Street and proceeded a short distance up the Taieri Road, which was the route Yorston followed to reach his home. The pair called in at A. J. Foster's boot shop, remaining there for a few minutes round about a quarter, past six.
In his evidence at the inquest, Green stated that Yorston was under the influence of liquor, but that he had told witness that he could walk the three-quarters of a mile home without assistance. The two friends then parted near the corner of Farley Street.
But Yorston never reached his home, and next morning his dead body was found lying in a shallow roadside drain, 300 yards on the city side of his home.
LIFE WAS EXTINCT
The discovery was made between seven and eight o'clock. The body was lying on the left-hand side of the road going from the city, and the head was pointing towards town. Constable Williamson, of Roslyn, was summoned to the scene, and on arrival found that life was extinct and the body quite cold. Apparently, Yorston had been dead for some time.
Describing the position of Yorston's body, the constable, in his evidence at the inquest, declared that it was lying full length and face downwards in the drain. The body was cold and wet, and the head was bent slightly under it.
The dead man's clothes, m which grass and leaves had gathered, was intact, but the heavy overcoat was turned up from the back over the head. The water running in the drain at the time was about eight inches deep.
According to the constable, his examination of the body failed to reveal any marks of violence, and there were no signs of a struggle on the ground or road in the vicinity.
Constable Williamson added that he had often seen Yorston under the influence of drink, but not actually drunk, a statement that was supported by the evidence of Richard James Vickers.
In Yorston's pocket was found a quantity of small change, thus disposing of the suggestion that he had been the victim of a thief.
Dr. W. Evans, police surgeon, gave evidence, and Mr. H. W. Bundle, S.M., returned a verdict in accordance with the medical testimony, of "death by shock, due to exposure to cold following immersion m the water table where deceased was found."
In returning his verdict, the coroner observed that there was nothing in the evidence to show how Yorston got into the drain, but probably he had tripped and was unable to get up. As it was definitely proved that on the night of Yorston's death the weather was thick and boisterous, with heavy rain falling, this explanation appeared more than probable.
On June 23, Yorston's remains were interred in the Andersons Bay cemetery, and apparently at that time there was no suggestion that Yorston had met with foul play. Everything, indeed, pointed to the coroner's verdict being correct, and it was not challenged.
But late in September Mrs. Margaret Yorston called at "Truth's" office, and, suggesting foul play, requested that the circumstances of her son's death should be investigated.
An inquiry was immediately put m hand, and every possible avenue of information was tapped, but without success. Indeed, not a tittle of evidence was unearthed to support the theory of foul play, and eventually this paper concluded that Mrs. Yorston's suspicions were unfounded and that there was no element of mystery surrounding Yorston's death.
There was an entire lack of evidence of any possible motive, and the position of the body, the fact that there was no indication of any struggle having occurred, the absence of marks of violence, and the presence of silver in Yorston's pocket constituted strong proof that his death had not been wilfully caused, but had been the result of an accident.
Moreover, it was significant that no suggestion of foul play was advanced at the time of the inquest, and when Mrs. Yorston called on this paper she was asked for an explanation as to how such a long time had elapsed before she made known her suspicions.
Mrs. Yorston replied that she had been so distracted that she had hardly known what was happening at the time.
MERELY SURMISE
She admitted to "Truth" that shortly after her son's death she had visited a lady fortune-teller, and it is possible that it was as the result of the suggestions of this woman that the suggestions of foul play first arose.
But whatever may be the true explanation, the fact remains that eventually a private inquiry agent was communicated with, and he set about the job of investigating Yorston's death.
It was not long before the agent had got together a- large and weighty file on the matter, and, in the course of several interviews with "N.Z. Truth" the contents of this file were made available to this paper.
But this evidence amounts for the most part to mere surmise and suspicion, and, in this paper's opinion, the facts collected by the inquiry agent do not warrant the suggestion of foul play being entertained for one minute. Indeed, this evidence is so unsatisfactory and incomplete, so indefinite, that it did not warrant the permit for the exhumation of Yorston's body, and, in this paper's opinion, that permit should never have been granted.
Apparently, however, it was the evidence collected by the inquiry agent that was placed before Minister for Health, A. J. Stallworthy, and on which the necessary permit for exhumation was granted.
In the first place, it was contended that the fact of Yorston's cheek being "pinkish" when his body was found did not indicate death by drowning or exposure, as implied by the verdict. Furthermore, there was evidence that. Yorston had always enjoyed good health, and had only once been attended by a doctor. That was some years ago, when he was suffering from bronchitis.
It was also pointed out, according to the evidence of Green, that deceased was quite able to walk home unassisted, and that therefore this proved that he was not in a staggering condition.
IT PROVES NOTHING
The fact that Yorston's hat was found 40 feet away from his. body, and in the direction in which he was presumably going, was stressed as a very suspicious circumstance, the inquiry agent rejecting the suggestion that the hat had been blown there by the wind.
According to his information, the wind that night was blowing in the opposite direction, that is, down the hill, but the police version is different. Such being the case, this evidence can be dismissed, in any case, it proves nothing.
The fresh evidence collected by the inquiry agent came from four sources.
Firstly, from a man, who at about 10.15. on the .night of Yorston's death, picked up the attache case. According to the agent's file, this man found the case "sitting" on its edge. It had no mud on it, and it contained an unopened bottle of beer. Incidentally, the finding of the attache case was not reported to the police.
To this man's statement, the agent appended the following queries: —
(a) How could he have seen the attache case on a pitch dark night without seeing also the hat?
(b) Why was the case beyond the body in the direction Yorston presumably was walking?
(c) Why did he not return the case? ,
(d) Why was he not called as a witness, as his evidence would at once have almost clearly shown that Yorston did not drink any liquor on his way home?
Secondly, from the occupier of a small shop situated adjacent to the spot where the body was found. This man stated that Yorston usually called at the shop for a drink on his way home, and had he been just outside the shop on the night in question, he would not have failed to notice him.
Thirdly, from a man who claimed having passed Yorston near Bunting's store, which is about 23 chains from where Yorston's dead body was found. This man stated that the time was between 6 and 7 o'clock, and that deceased was then walking quite all right. The informant added that he spoke to Yorston, who answered quite audibly and clearly.
Fourthly, a youth employed as a milkman, who stated that passing along the road on the night of Yorston's death, he heard moans. To this information, the agent has added that so far as he has been able to ascertain from medical opinion, drowning persons do not moan, thus eliminating the suggestion of death by drowning.
In a summary of the evidence at the inquest and the information collected by himself, the agent presents the following salient features: —
Vickers did not see deceased drunk on the night of his death, although his evidence showed he had sometimes seen him under the influence. Green stated that he was quite capable of going home without assistance.
Deceased walked nearly a mile of his way home in wind and rain, which showed he could not have been drunk. He drank no liquor on his way home.
"On the evidence submitted at the inquest," he remarks on one sheet in his file, "there was no other verdict possible. But we find that if other witnesses had been called, their evidence might have materially changed the complexion of the case."
In a general summary of his case to the Minister, the agent tabulated as follows: —
(1) If the deceased died of shock why was his hat lying 40 feet away in a homeward direction, and no mud on it?
(2) Why was the man who heard moaning not called at the inquest?
(3) Why did the police not trace and call at the inquest Mr. ___, the last man who was supposed to have seen deceased alive?
(4) Why did the police not trace and find the man who found the attache case?
(5) How did the attache case come to be lying on its edge without any mud on it?
(6) How could the man have found the attache case, whose evidence is enclosed, have seen it on a foggy, rainy night?
Attached to this rigmarole for the Minister's perusal was a certificate from Dr. C. E. de Letour, which read: "Having read the evidence in the case of the inquest on Henry Alexander Yorston, and having had the opportunity of studying certain facts brought to my attention, I am not satisfied that the cause of death was necessarily as stated at the inquest. I would advise that a post-mortem examination of the body should be made at the earliest opportunity."
TESTS THAT COUNT
Doubtless the inquiry agent and his clients are perfectly genuine m their belief that there is ground for thinking that Yorston was murdered, but the evidence in support of the contention can only be regarded as a miscellaneous concoction of theories, valueless clues, and doubtful criticism of established facts.
It is, indeed, evidence that leads nowhere, and the various facts most certainly do not withstand even the most ordinary tests.
For instance, the inquiry agent's point as to whether or not a certain person would be able to see the hat on a pitch dark night is immediately disposed of by the fact that right at the spot where the hat and attache case were supposed to have been found is an electric street-lamp, which is not extinguished until one o'clock in the morning. ,\
Moreover, "Truth" believes that the point was raised that James Yorston, the deceased's father, died about two years ago, under peculiar circumstances. But this is not borne out by the facts, for James Yorston, at the age of 76, was admitted to the Dunedin Hospital on August 2, 1927, and on his death eight days later a certificate was issued that if was due to haemorrhage of the brain. Certainly Yorston, senior, had been discovered hanging over a wire fence on the day he was admitted to hospital, but it was obvious that he had had a seizure of some sort, and that he had toppled over on to the fence.
FOUL PLAY THEORY
So far as the death of Henry Yorston is concerned, it seems clear that he was the victim of an accident, and the evidence collected by the inquiry agent is not inconsistent with this theory. In fact, it does not advance the theory of foul play, and the discovery of the attache case some distance from Yorston's' body fits in just as well with the theory of an accident as with any other theory.
Is it not possible that Yorston suddenly decided to call on the storekeeper, as was apparently his custom? In that case, he might, have set down the case where it was discovered, and, retracing his steps, walked towards the store. Possibly he slipped or tripped, and, falling backwards, toppled headlong into the drain. The shock of the sudden fall may have temporarily stunned him, or at any rate rendered him more or less helpless, thus causing his death.
The flimsy nature of .the evidence collected by the inquiry agent as compared with the strength of the evidence pointing to Yorston's death being accidental make it necessary for the various departments responsible to explain the circumstances under which the permit" for exhumation was granted.
LEGAL PROCEDURE
A relative is entitled to apply for a permit, and the usual practice is for it to go before the Director-General of Health, who communicates with the police and medical men concerned in the matter.
After their opinion in the matter has been obtained, the file goes before the Minister of Health, who grants or refuses the permit, as the circumstances warrant.
In this case, "Truth" asks if the coroner, Dr. Evans, and the Dunedin police were consulted in the matter? If not, why not? And was the evidence given at the inquest perused and dissected before the exhumation permit was granted?
It certainly seems that these steps should have been taken, and if they were not taken an explanation is most certainly essential as to how/ these formalities were disregarded.
The evidence of Yorston's death being accidental appears so plain and conclusive that it is impossible to see how the permit for exhumation would have been granted had the police and coroner been asked for their opinions concerning the matter.
DUE TO ACCIDENT
Yorston's body was exhumed on January 15, Drs. de Letour, Greenslade, Marshall, Macdonald, and G. Barnett (acting-police surgeon), and representatives of the police department being present. The remains were removed to the morgue, where an examination was conducted by Dr. D'Ath. The body was so decomposed that it was impossible to state whether any external injuries had been present, but there was no fracture of the skull, and the examination does not support the theory of foul play, unless, of course, the analysis of certain parts of the body should reveal the presence of poison — a far-fetched and unlikely possibility.
Everything points to Yorston's death being due to an accident, and there appears no sound foundation for the sensational stories that he was cruelly murdered. -NZ Truth, 23/1/1930.
IN MEMORIAM.
YORSTON. — In loving memory of our friend, Henry Alexander Yorston, who died June 20th, 1929.
His cheery Smile and loving ways Are pleasant to recall;
He had a kindly word for each — He died esteemed by all.
— Inserted by his friend, J.R.
YORSTON. — In loving memory of Henry Alexander Yorston, who died at Halfway Bush, June 20th, 1929.
This day brings back my memory fresh, Of one now called to rest;
And those who think of him to-day, Are those who love him best.
Dearer to memory than words can tell, Are thoughts of my son I loved so well,
And those who loved him only know, How much 1 lost one year ago.
— Inserted by his loving sister and mother. -Evening Star, 20/6/1930.
IN MEMORIAM.
YORSTON. — In memory of Henry Alexander Yorston, who died June 20th, 1929, at Halfway Bush.
In lonely hours of thinking, Thoughts of you are always dear;
We who loved you sadly miss you, As it dawns another year.
— Inserted by his mother and sister. -Evening Star, 20/6/1931.
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