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APPARENTLY OPERATED IN THE DARK
Detectives found that the
electric light cord in Miss
Annie Wiseman's room had, ap
parently, been torn out. It seemed
that the murderer had preferred to oper
ate in the dark and might quite easily
have reached up and torn the cord loose.
Other evidence that he must have
worked in the dark was the fact that
burnt matches were found in both bed
rooms and in the bathroom.
On the floor of the bathroom detectives
also found the contents of Miss Wise
man's shopping bag.
Evidence would be given that she had
withdrawn 30/ from the bank on the
Saturdav morning. Her custom was to
put a £1 note in the collection plate at
church each week. No £1 note was
found in the house on Sunday. Under
Miss Wiseman's body was a 3d. piece and
a halfpenny, upon which apparently she
had been lying, was adhering to her
wrist. There were a few shillings in the
shopping bag.
The Crown suggested that the mur
derer left behind in Miss Wiseman's
room a most important clue that had led
to the arrest of Green. This was the
most important in a series of very telling
circumstances that pointed to Green as
the man who committed the crime.
Beside the body of the elder woman
detectives had found a piece of paper —
portion of a milk bill given by a milk
man to a Mrs Thomas, in Coburg. On
the back of it, in her writing, appeared.
("Mrs Hewitt, 118 Collins Street, Thorn-,
bury." |
Mrs Thomas had explained that on
November 7, Green had called at her
house. She told him that a chimney of
a house she had just left in Thornbury
was dirty, and gave Green the address,
so that he might call there.
This docket, said Mr Book, apparently
was dropped by the man who commit-;
ted the crime. All indications were that
this man was struggling with Miss Wise
man, and dropped it.
No witnesses would be called to show
that Green was in Glenroy that night.
but the Crown relied on a number of
circumstances which pointed in that
direction only.
Green, Mr Book said, had admitted
to the police that he had swept chimneys
at Glenroy. He lived at Heidelberg.
A Mrs Brannlgan would say that, six
months before the crime when he was
cleaning her chimneys, Green spoke to
her of Miss Wiseman. He had told her;
that she was a very good woman. She
had read the Bible to him when he
was sweeping her chimneys, and always
gave him a little more than the proper
charge.
On Saturday. November 12. Green
spent part of the afternoon at the Sir
Henry Barkly Hotel at Heidelberg, said
Mr Book. He told the hotel keeper that
he was broke, and he gave him 2/.
Later on in the afternoon Green won 8/,
but lost 2/ on the next race. He bought
two bottles of beer, and repaid the 2/
to the publican. He would then have
only 1/ left.
The hotelkeeper had said that he had
not seen Green after 4.30 p.m., but Green
had told the police that he had stayed
at the hotel until 6 p.m.
Between 7 p.m. and 7.30 p.m. he was
seen by two men in Bell Street at Dare-
bin Bridge, wheeling a bicycle in the
direction of Glenroy. He had told one
of these two men that he was a chim-
ney sweep, and was going, to Glenroy
to get tools which he had left there, Mr
Book declared. Further along the road
he was seen by a Mrs Gleeson about
eight miles from Glenroy, still travel
ling in that direction.
After 1 o'clock next morning, Mr Book
continued, Green returned to the house
where he was living at Heidelberg. He
said to Mrs Aitken in the house, al
legedly that the pump on his bike had
been stolen. He stayed in bed on Sun
day and Monday, saying that he was not
well. On either the Sunday or the Mon
day he gave her 6/ or 8/.
"Green's actions on the evening of No
vember 12." said Mr Book, "are consis
tent with his having been identical with
a man who was seen going into Mrs
Wiseman's gate about 10.20 p.m. that
night. If the murder was committed be
tween 10 and 11 o'clock that evening it
would allow him time to get back to
Heidelberg shortly after 1 o'clock."
ALLEGED FINDING OF BLOODSTAINS
ON Thursday, November 17,
Green was questioned by
the police, Mr Book said. His
clothing was taken from him and
examined by the Government analyst
who found three white hairs on the coat
and trousers which corresponded with
Miss Wiseman's hair. Similar hairs were,
found embedded in the carpet in her
room and on her dressing gown.
Spots of blood were found on his
underclothing.
When Green told the police of districts
in which he had been cleaning chimj
neys during the previous three weeks,
Detective Inspector Carey had asked him
if any person had ever given him a
note to go to another place. He had
hesitated, and then said: "Yes; a woman
gave me a note to go to Collins Street.
Thornbury." A detective had shown him
the piece of paper, and asked "Is this
the note?" He had hesitated and said
"Yes."
Sometime afterward, he told detec
tives, he gave that note to two chimney
sweeps in Merlynstone. He did not know
who they were, and could not describe
them, except that one was tall and the
other short. He said they had told him
they were broke, and had asked him for
money.
With the detectives. Green went to
Glenroy. where he pointed out houses in
which he had swept chimneys. He did
not point out Miss Wiseman's house.
When he was asked whether he had
ever cleaned a chimney there, he had re-
plied: "No, but I canvassed it."
OUTLINED MOVEMENTS
At the detective office later Green had
outlined his movements on the Satur
day of the crime, said Mr Book. He said
that he had stayed at the hotel until
closing time, and was then ''pretty full,"
He went to a vacant paddock— he did not
.know where it was— and had a sfeep. He
woke up about 1 o'clock and went home.
Questioned about the money he gave to
Mrs Aitken, he had said, "I had that
money in my pocket."
Detectives had told Green that he had
no money on the Saturday, but had ac
quired some by the Sunday. They sug
gested to him that he had gone to Miss
Wiseman's home to commit a robbery;
had then assaulted the girl, murdered
her, and afterward murdered her aunt
to cover his tracks. Green replied that
he had not been in Glenroy.
Later, he was picked out at police
line-ups by two witnesses, one of whom
was a man who said Green had told
him that he was "going out to Glen
roy,"
Toward the end of November, a nickel
bicycle pump was found on the railway
line at Glenroy at a point from which
the windows of Miss Wiseman's home
were visible.
Green had said previously that he
had lost his pump at an hotel on the
Saturday afternoon. When examined,
the pump discovered on the railway line
was found to contain a hair which evi
dently had come from a chestnut horse.
There was a chestnut horse owned by
people with whom Green had been asso
ciated. When the Government Analyst
had compared the hair in the pump with
a specimen hair from the horse, he had
found them similar in color, thickness and
texture.
From the inside of the connection, the
analyst had removed a quantity of dust
containing soot, sand and mineral par
ticles. Its composition was the same
as that of some dirt removed from
Green's singlet.
Black trackers had found imprints of
a bicycle tyre on the railway line near
where the pump was found, and also at
various other points in the neighborhood
of Miss Wiseman's home. Along the west
side of the house were bicycle tracks.
There was also a footprint which corre
sponded with the print of Green's boot.
Henry Nicholas Shea, of Beech Street.
East Malvern, licensed surveyor, told
Mr Book that the approximate distance
from the Sir Henry Barkly Hotel to
Miss Wiseman's home was 10 miles.
The hearing is not finished.
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