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6 corrections, most recently by C.Scheikowski - Show corrections

THE EVIDENCE.

MR. MAWBEY EXAMINED.    

John Thomas Mawbey, sworn, said he was a farmer living at Breelong, 36 miles east of Dubbo. He was a married man, and had nine children. In July last Miss Kerz and Miss Clark (his wife's sister) were living in his house. Miss Kerz used to teach a school. Near the house witness had his old house. He was often in the habit of being away from home. He used to go to the old   house sometimes at night. On the night of the murders he was sleeping at the old house. In his new house he left his family. His eldest son in   the new house was 14 years old. Witness knew the accused Jimmy Governor, and had known him since April last. He was camping about three miles away with his brother Joe, Jacky Underwood, and Porter, and other blacks. Porter was an old

man. There was also Ethel Governor, accused's   wife. Witness had given a fencing contract to accused. He had not finished the work, and stood a little in debt to witness. Witness left the new house   on the morning of July 20, and then his wife and household were all well. At 11 p.m. Jimmy   Governor, and another man whose face he could not     fully see, went down to the old house where witness was, and ordered a bag of flour. He called out from   the door, "Is anyone in?" Witness replied, "Hullo who is there? What do you want ? " Accused asked       for the flour to be sent to his camp, and witness said he would do so. Witness asked, "Where have you been?" and accused said, " Oh, we've been out     'possuming'. " Witness asked him in to warm him- self at the fire, but he declined, saying he wanted to get home. They then went away.

The Judge : Was there a light by which you saw

his face?  

Witness, continuing, said he knew accused by his voice. The next he heard was a message by his little   boy Bertie, whereupon he called out to the others in the place to bring rifles and follow him. He   went direct to the new house. There was a track   thither and a creek to cross. On the way his boy called out, and running in that direction he found his daughter Grace lying down and groaning. He picked her up and took her into the house. There was a cut right across her forehead. He then went to help   Miss Kerz who was lying on the other side of the track   to where his daughter had lain. Miss Kerz was dead. He did not notice how she was dressed. Witness then searched for his little daughter Hilda, and found her in half an hour in the creek, 100 yards further on. Hilda was between 11 and 12 years of   age. In the house he found his wife and son Percy, both lying on the floor. He thought they were dead. Here was Miss Clark too. She was in her bed, in- jured. Witness sent word to the police station, and himself alarmed the neighbours. He found his two little boys at the back of the house, in the mother's room. One was aged four and one seven years.

Their names were Garnet and Cecil George . He went to the camp and saw it deserted. He did not see accused again until last Wednesday.

Mr. Wade: Had you seen him in possession of a

tomahawk.  

Witness: Yes, in last May.

Mr Wade: Did you handle it? I did.

A tomahawk was handed to witness  

Witness : That is exactly the same kind of blade,   but I do not think the handle is the same. I know the blade because it is a little wide in one part.

Mr. Wade: Did you follow with the police at all ?

Yes.

Cross-examined by Mr. Boyce : I was on friendly relations with accused. Jimmy used to play cricket     with my boys. He was not at all quarrelsome, and I   thought him a smart man. It never troubled me when he overdrew his account. He generally got  

his stores from me.

When he went to the old house did you have a gun ? No, I did not. If he had wanted to murder me he could have done it easily. He was a keen 'possum   hunter, and often neglected his work in order to

hunt.

Did your wife ever speak to you about the blacks   being near? Yes, she did.  

Did you ever hear her refer to them as the "nasty     rubbish ?" No, I did not. I believe she used the words when she was dying.  

Harry Louis Tresider, medical practitioner and Gov- ernment medical officer, described the injuries which he found on the body of Miss Kerz. Some of the head bones were crushed and the brain could be seen;   the jaw was fractured and the hands were scratched.  

The cause of death was a blow over the right temple region forcing the bone on the brain.

Mr. Wade : Could that injury be caused by a blunt

instrument ? Yes.

Witness was shown two native wooden imple-

ments. He said that such could have caused the injuries. There must hava been at least two blows dealt to Miss Kerz. He had examined three other     of the dead persons. All had died from blows, some of which, were with sharp and others with blunt   instruments. The sharp instruments were mostly used exclusively for one body and the blunt for

another.

TWO BOYS' ACCOUNTS

George Mawbey, a boy aged 13, said he was the son of Mr. George Mawbey, and nephew of Mr. John   Mawbey. He was living at Breelong for about five   months up to the time of the murders. He went to school there. He knew Jimmy Governor all the   time he (witness) was at Breelong. He first saw him when he went to his (witness) uncle's place for   tucker. Witness and other boys and Jimmy Gover- nor used to play cricket together.

Mr. Wade: Do you remember the night when   these things happened ?

Witness: Yes, I went to bed about 8 o'clock in the room with my cousin Percy. I did not go to sleep. I heard my aunt call out, "There are the blacks,   they've hit me on the head with a brick. " She ran into the girls' room. Percy screamed and ran into     the next room. I heard Jimmy say, " Go on, Jacky: take no notice of them: knock out their brains. " His voice seemed to come from the front corner of the house. The house is built of wood, and there are six rooms without the kitchen. I then got up and ran into the girls' room, where I saw Percy. I saw something at the door.

What do you mean by " something ? "- It was something "crumbled" up by the door. I heard       a voice say something. Then Grace Mawbey   said, " Don't be frightened of your life :

fight for it. " Then I heard hits, and screams, and then someone in the room said, "There's     another about somewhere. " I do not know whose voice it was further than that it was a man's voice. I heard Percy say, '"Tell me what you want, or I'll      

shoot you. " I then heard him crying, and after that I heard no more. Previously I had heard a sound like tomahawks hitting together. All this time I was  

under the bed, where I had crawled when the voice

said "There's someone else."      

Do you remember your uncle coming ? - Yes. Be- fore that I heard Jimmy say, " Come on, Jacky,  

come on! "  

Cross-examined by Mr. Boyce : All this happened    

about 11 o'clock. Mrs. Mawbey had gone to bed. The first thing I heard was a scream.

Did you not hear anything previously ?- Yes. I heard Miss Kerz say, "Oh! let him in." Then

came the scream.

Albert Mawbey, aged 9, was next called. He said he was a son of Mr. John Mawbey. He used to go to school at Breelong, and lived with his father and mother. He remembered one night when some- thing happened in the house. He was in bed in the same room as his brother Percy. He was asleep, and was awakened by a blackfellow stamping his foot and calling out, " I will blow your brains out." Witness got up and saw him standing in the dining-room. Witness thought it was Jimmy Governor. Witness saw Percy lying on the floor. The blackfellow was hitting him with something. That was in the dining-room. Witness went down and told his father. He went out by the front door, which was partly open.

Mr. Wade: Did you hear your mother at all ?

Witness: She was screaming, and Percy called   out, " Don't kill me, don't kill me ," that was while the blackfellow was hitting him.

Cross-examined by Mr. Boyce: I did not see any other of the blacks at the house that night. I do not know whether it was Jimmy or Joe Governor at the house. It might have been either.

OTHER WITNESSES.

Arthur Francis Garland,a justice of the peace, said   he was a storekeeper at Gilgandra. He was summoned to Breelong the day following the murders. He saw a number of dying people in the house. Outside of it he found a stick. It was about 20ft. from the front door in the direction of Mawbey's old house. The stick produced was the one he found. There was blood upon it at the time, and blood on the, tracks round the gate. The tracks were in the soft earth, and seemed to show there had been a struggle at the gate.

Samuel Ellis, a van driver, living at Mudgee, said he knew the accused. He had seen him at Bree-

long. About April or May last accused was camped on the Breelong estate, and bought a tomahawk from witness. The tomahawk produced was similar

to the one witness sold to accused.

Denis Keogh, a constable of police, stationed at Dubbo, said he went out to Mawbey's place on the afternoon of July 21. He found outside the build- ing on the front verandah of the house a straw hat.   It was immediately under a bedroom window.

Mr. Boyce: I do not know whose hat it is.  

William Davis, sleeper-cutter, living near Breelong, said he knew accused by sight. He heard of the murder the day after it was committed. He saw

accused on Sunday, September 12.There were two     other blacks with him. They were sitting down near a creek. Witness fired at them. They ran away. Witness was about 200 yards away when witness fired. Witness picked up on the spot where they had been sitting a nullah-nullah, tomahawk, over- coat, cap, pipe, and tobacco. The nullah-nullah and   tomahawk were those produced. There were dark stains upon the nullah-nullah. There was a blood stain and two or three hairs on the handle of the     tomahawk.

William M. Hamlet, the Government Analyst, said the tomahawk was handed to him on September 13. He found stains on the blade and the handle, and submitted them to a microscopical examination   and analysis. He found them to be mammalian blood stains. The handle was made of wood simi- lar to that class of wood used by the aboriginals in making their weapons. The birrul (the stick pro- duced) was blood-stained, as was also the nullah-

nullah.

Cross-examined by Mr. Boyce : He did not know the name of the wood used.

Archibald Campbell Barry, a police constable, stationed at Gilgandra, said he went to Breelong about 3 a.m. on the 21st July. He went to the

blacks' camp, Mawbey going with him. He picked up the tracks of two plain boots and one nailed boot apparently of men, a small plain boot track, a large barefoot track, and a small barefoot track. He followed them between four and five   miles to a creek, across the creek into a run of hills, where he lost them. The same afternoon he picked the same tracks up further on, there being then the two plain boot tracks and the nailed boot track. He traced them about three miles. On Sunday he   further followed the tracks. A peculiarity of one of the tracks was that the heel dragged as if the foot was set firmly down by the heel. A month later he saw an exactly similar track. After his arrival at Breelong he fitted the blade of the tomahawk into the wounds on Percy Mawbey and Grace Mawbey. Grace Maw- bey was wearing a skirt but no bodice, Hilda Maw-   bey had a skirt and jacket on, Percy Mawbey was in his shirt, Mrs Mawbey had a skirt and blouse. Wit- ness saw Jacky Porter on the Saturday afternoon, and Ethel Governor on the following Monday.

MRS GOVERNOR'S EVIDENCE  

Ethel Governor said she was the wife of accused, to whom she was married nearly two years ago. Continuing, she said: I was living     with him in Breelong until July last. I knew Mr. and Mrs. Mawbey and the family. In the camp there were myself, my husband, his brother, and Jacky Underwood. There was also a boy named Peter Governor, a nephew of the       accused. I left the camp on the Saturday morning.   I remember the evening before that. Accused, Joe, and Jacky Underwood were at home at tea time.   Jimmy and I had some conversation at tea time.

Mr. Boyce objected to the conversation being given.

Witness further, answering Mr. Wade, said:

We had tea and my husband and Underwood   made their beds as if they were going to bed, but   they went away. That was about 10 o'clock. I       saw Jacky Underwood with a rifle and a blanket.     It was my husband's rifle. My husband had a toma-    

hawk. He went to Jacky Porter's camp and got a stick. I know the tomahawk. That is the   tomahawk produced. The two sticks are those my husband had. He got both of them at Porter's. It was after I saw them with the things I have named they went away towards Mawbey's place.

They came back to Porter's camp that night in about   an hour . While they were away Joe Governor and I went to Jacky Porter's camp. My husband was the first to come back, and Jacky Underwood came about half an hour later. I had a conversation with accused when he came back. Accused and Jacky  

Porter had a conversation    

Mr. Wade: What was it ?

Mr. Boyce objected to the conversation being

given.

Mr. Wade : Do you remember Jacky Underwood coming back about this time ?- Yes, he told me  

something.  

Mr. Wade : What did he say ?

Mr. Boyce : This woman need not give evidence unless she likes.

The Judge : Of course not.

Mr Wade: You knew that before ?

Witness : Yes I was told at the Coronor's Court. Mr. Boyce : Do you object to give evidence ?

The Judge: It is not for counsel to object, it is     for the witness. She seems to understand the position clearly.

Witness : I am not well enough educated to

understand.

The Judge : Do you understand that being a married woman you are not obliged to give evidence against your husband.

Witness : Yes I do. Continuing, she said:

Jacky Underwood said he had killed three people   with a tomahawk. He said they were Mrs. Maw- bey, Percy Mawbey, and one of the girls. Then accused said something. We left the camp as soon as Underwood returned. We all left together, mov- ing towards sunrise. When daylight came I left them, taking my baby with me. I did not see them again alter that. The straw hat produced belonged

to Jacky Underwood. He wore it when he went towards Mawbey's house. When we left our camp we left the provisions behind. When I parted from the others I was going to Dubbo, but the civilians overtook me before I got there.

Cross-examined by Mr Boyce: I was living in     Gulgong with my mother before I married Jimmy. He was very fond of me. He was particularly

"touchy " about his colour. He did not like to   be called a blackfellow. It is true that I had to put   up with a great many taunts because of my marriage. Some people said I ought to be shot for marrying a blackfellow. Mrs. Mawbey and Miss Kerz never said anything to me about Jimmy. They said it was   a wonder a nice looking girl like me would throw myself away on a blackfellow. They only said that once to me. That did not make me unhappy, nor did   I grow unhappy at Breelong because of the taunts.   It made no difference between me and my husband.

Mr. Boyce: I do not mean that. I mean did it make a difference to your own private happiness.

Witness : Yes it did. Once in the camp I went down on my knees and prayed, "O Lord ! take me   away from here; I cannot stand what these people   are saying about me. "On the night of the murder   the tea and sugar were short, and there were words about it. It was not arranged that we should go to     Mawbey's that night for provisions, and it is not   true that Jimmy, Joe, Jackey, and I went to Maw- bey's that night. The arrangement was that we should go next day.

THE ARREST OF ACCUSED.

John William McPherson, a farmer living near the   head of navigation of the Manning River, and about 180 miles from Sydney, said he took part in the arrest of the accused on the 27th October. It happened on Wallace's selection in the bush. In the afternoon Wallace's rations were stolen. A party of eight all armed went to the selcction.

The first witness saw of the accused was when he was starting to run from the fire. Two of the party   were very close to him. He had a rifle with him. Several shots were fired at him. He ran about 200 yards and fell. Witness then got up with him and found him exhausted. One of the party took the gun from him and then examined him. A mark was found on his face and another on his lip. Wit- ness went away to report to the police and send the doctor. The rifle produced is the one accused had. It was loaded with three cartridges when first taken

from accused.

THE POLICE EVIDENCE.

Thomas Stone, a constable of police stationsd 22 miles from Wingham said he received accused in custody at Doucett, 10 miles from Wingham, on the day of his capture. Witness had a conversation with accused. He said, "Are you Jimmy Governor ? " He answered, " Yes, I am Jimmy Governor." Wit-   ness asked to see his mouth. Accused showed his mouth, and said a bullet had knocked out some of his teeth. The bullet was fired at him when he was near the Hostings. He said after going in at his mouth it passed out through his cheek. He also showed his hip, where he said he was shot at the same time. Witness asked him, "Who killed the Mawbeys ?" He said, " Me and Jacky Underwood." Witness said, " Who   killed Miss Kelly ?" He said, " I did." Witness     said, "Why did you kill the Mawbeys ?" He said, "Oh, Mrs Mawbey, she be saying nasty things   about us; she said white woman was no good, marry  

a blackfelllow." Witness said, " Why did you kill     Miss Kerz ?" He said, " She was out in the buggy     one day with the Mawbeys, and she giggled at us when passing." Witness asked him questions about   the other Governor, but he said he left him 0n the Hastings, and knew nothing of him. He said he

was tired of life, and had been thinking of giving   himself up. He said he would often have given him himself up, but Joe would not let him.

Mr. Wade : What did he say about Joe.

Witness : I asked him who killed Mr. M'Kay and Mrs. O'Brien. He said Joe shot Mr. M'Kay because be had a good rifle, and he (Joe) wanted it. I asked him did not Joe help him kill the Mawbeys. He said no, that Jos was not with him. Only Jacky Under- wood was with him. Accused was in a very weak

state and almost naked.

Cross-exammed by Mr. Boyce : I told him I was   a constable of police. I did not warn him that any thing he said would be used in evidence against him. I asked him the questions before I took him into custody because I was doubtful whether he really

was Jimmy Governor.

John Saunders, a sub-inspector of police in 'charge at Orange, said he was at Wingham on the morning when accused was brought there. On Monday, October 20, witness saw him in the lockup, and   said to him, " Jimmy, can you tell me where Joe is likely to have gone ?" He said, " I think   he was making for the Macleay, that is where we intended to go." Witness said, " Do you think     it at all likely he will go back towards Wollar ?" He said, "No, I don't think he will go there, they are too hot on us there." Witness said : "Did Joe have anything to do with the murder of the Mawbeys ?" He said, " No, Joe was at the camp; it was Jacky Underwood and me who killed them. I see by the papers Jacky Underwood told the police that I killed most of them. That is not true, he killed most of them. I killed the schoolteacher and Mrs. Mawbey. I was run into this by Joe and Jacky and my 'missus.' Jacky and Joe were   always talking about bushranging. Jacky said ' Jimmy you are no good as a bushranger. You are not game, and you could not follow me through the scrub.' That was right against me, so I thought I would show them that I was game and could lead them. My missus was alwavs telling me that Mrs. Mawbey used to get on to her for marrying a black. She said that Mrs. Mawbey said that any white woman   who married a blackfellow was not fit to live, and that made me very wild, so we went and killed them. The schoolteacher and the Mawbeys were always poking fun at us and laughing at us. I was never a loafer like some blackfellows ; I always worked and paid for what I got. I reckon I'm as good as a white man, I was run into it."

That closed the case for the Crown, and at the re- quest of counsel the Court adjourned , the jury, in accordance with the rules, being locked up over night. The Court re-assembles at 10 a.m. this day.    

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