Confronting Murderous Men, page 9
Detective Sergeant Henry Manning gave an account of his part in the investigation and the search for and discovery of the dead men’s bicycles about half a mile from the treatment plant. Their crib, waterbag and billy can remained on the bicycles, indicating they knew they would not be staying long. His evidence was part-heard as the inquest adjourned for the day. That night Coulter, Treffene and Clarke were formally charged with the murder of John Joseph Walsh.
Naturally, news of this caused a stir in the town and the court. Coulter and Treffene sat under police guard and Clarke with his solicitor. Manning continued his evidence and told of going with Detective Sergeant Purdue, Constable Hughes and Evan Clarke to a road leading off Burt Street, Boulder, to the racecourse and finding two small mounds of earth about seven paces apart. Haynes interrupted and asked if Clarke had, in fact, shown it to him. Manning said, ‘I found it and was not shown it.’ He continued by telling of examining the soil, which differed from that locally and was easily discerned. It contained small pieces of shrub that were foreign to that locality. Some stones with what appeared to be bloodstains were found in the earth. Further along the road they found more earth that appeared to contain blood. About 300 yards further long the road he found two discarded petrol tins, in one of which was some matted substance.
Cross-examining Manning, Haynes asked: ‘On June 12, you, Purdue and Clarke went along this road?
Manning replied: ‘Yes.’
Haynes: ‘There was a reason for taking him and not the other accused?’
Manning: ‘There may be.’
Haynes: ‘There must have been.’
Manning: ‘We took him for a purpose.’
Haynes: ‘To show you where these things were.’
Manning: ‘No. I found both lots myself.’
Haynes: ‘Did Clarke indicate where they were?’
Manning: ‘Yes.’
This question and its answer caused both Coulter and Treffene to turn and look at Clarke, who kept his gaze fixed straight ahead.
Haynes continued: ‘He was responsible for going out and finding the articles?’
Manning: ‘That particular day, yes.’
Haynes: ‘You were told beforehand by Clarke that these things were there?’
Manning: ‘Quite right.’
Haynes: ‘When did he tell you?’
Manning: ‘When we took him out there.’
Haynes: ‘He must have told you before going out?’
Manning: ‘We had certain information of our own.’
Haynes: ‘He promised before going out to show you certain things?’
Manning: ‘Yes,’
Haynes: ‘Be frank. Did you go elsewhere with Clarke?’
Manning: ‘Yes, and with Mr Cook, his solicitor, right round the show on Sunday morning.’
Manning seemed to be playing with Haynes, but Coulter and Treffene again looked at Clarke and still he looked straight ahead.
Haynes: ‘At whose request was this done?’
Manning: ‘At Mr Cook’s.’
Haynes: ‘What did Clarke point out?’
Manning: ‘You will have to get that from Mr Cook.’
What the show was is not clear, but colloquially it probably referred to the whole show, being the plant site and Millers Find.
The interaction between police witnesses and Haynes is fascinating to today’s reader for its vitriol and parrying that is foreign to modern day courts.
Another important witness was George Emerson Brockway, Assistant Divisional Officer of the Forests Department at Kalgoorlie. He had examined the heaps of soil near the racecourse with Manning and an assistant and found some saltbush in one of them and leaves of tan wattle and a calyx of a honeysuckle plant flower. From the other heap he got a twig of broom bush. The items from the first heap were totally foreign to the locality of the heap and the honeysuckles nearby were nowhere as advanced in development as the sample found. On another trip he took the samples he had obtained and compared them with others near the treatment plant. He found them greatly similar to those indigenous to that area.
The inquest ran for ten days, with much time wasted by Haynes. Florris Clarke gave her evidence and so did her husband. It accorded with their statements. Coulter and Treffene were called and took the stand, but both refused to give evidence. Haynes either did not know of coronial procedure or was testing the limits of the coroner’s patience, which seemed endless. He was denied his desire to address the jury, as there was no provision for it. The coroner addressed the jury to inform them of his duty as coroner and the requirements of the inquiry. ‘You now have to ascertain when and where and in what manner, these two persons met their deaths.’ He restated some of the relevant facts and the jury retired. They returned 45 minutes later and were asked if they had been able to reach a verdict. The foreman answered, ‘Yes. We find that the human remains found in Miller’s shaft, about 6 miles west of Kalgoorlie on May 12, were those of John Joseph Walsh and Alexander Henry Pitman and that they came to their deaths on April 28 last at a spot 17 miles south-west of Boulder, and that they were wilfully murdered by William Coulter and Philip John Treffene, and that Evan Clarke was an accessory after the fact.
Coulter and Treffene were committed to the next sittings of the Quarter Sessions at Kalgoorlie on 15 September 1926 to answer a charge of murder. Evan Clarke was committed to stand his trial as an accessory after the fact. The Chief Justice changed the venue to the more appropriate Supreme Court in Perth, presumably to avoid a partisan jury.
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The trial dealt only with the murder of John Joseph Walsh and commenced at Perth Supreme Court on 16 August 1926. As with the inquest, there was great public interest and seating was at a premium. Mr Justice Draper presided. A jury was empanelled and Hubert Parker again prosecuted, with the assistance of Albert Wolff. Formal pleas of ‘not guilty’ were made by Coulter and Treffene, again represented by Haynes, who did not take long to raise objection to the address being made by Parker. He objected to the introduction of memoranda of the deceased being mentioned. The judge ruled that the proper time to object was when the evidence was introduced. Haynes said, ‘The proper time is now; the soaking process is about to begin.’
The judge ruled that Parker was entitled to open his case with reference to the duties of the police officers. Parker continued despite some badgering by Haynes. He outlined the facts as they were known and the evidence that would be called. Witnesses were called and in the main told the same story they had to police and at the inquest. Evan Clarke withstood three days in the witness box. He told of agreeing to go with Coulter, who wanted to dispose of the bodies, but stayed in the car while Coulter worked at whatever he was doing for five or six hours. He provided a knife and handsaw to Coulter before leaving the hotel, obviously aware of what was to occur. It is also why he stayed in the car as claimed.
Coulter dismembered the bodies of both men, removing their heads and limbs, and tried to burn them in the small furnaces. The skulls were destroyed but the torsos and heavier limbs would not burn. Coulter bagged them and firebricks and other paraphernalia from the plant, with the intention of disposing of them elsewhere. They included sheets of iron and the furnaces, dolly pots and crucibles. Clarke assisted in lifting the heavier bags and claimed not to have lifted the bodies, probably thinking his denials might distance himself as an accessory after the fact to murder, but it was too late for that. His only escape was by turning on his business partners and he did it without compunction, knowing it was his only chance of survival.
When it came time for the defence case to be presented, the assertions were so outlandish and so fanciful that, taken with Haynes’ advocacy, they presented as almost a mockery of the legal process. Haynes was assertive, rude, brash and at times seemed to lose control of his temper. He was rattled and the patient Judge Draper called him to order. The jurymen could not have been impressed. But the story of the events leading to the killing of Walsh and Pitman took their breath away and some very questionable witnesses were called to attempt to support it.
Treffene claimed he had gone to the plant with Clarke to dolly-up the roasted ore and Clarke was to return later in the day to collect him and the gold. He claimed Clarke and he always went to the plant and Coulter never did, the latter’s role being to onsell the gold.
On 28 April, as he was processing the gold, Walsh and Pitman came upon him. He was startled and grabbed the doubled-barrelled shotgun and the ingot of gold and ran off chased by the two detectives. He ran with the shotgun over his shoulder and the gold bar in his left hand. His reason, he told the jury, was to try to escape with the gold. As he ran he stumbled and the gun fired behind him, hitting both Pitman and Walsh, who fell. Pitman was dead and Walsh was bleeding from a wound to his face and neck. He asked for water. Treffene first tried to stem the bleeding and then took him water, which Walsh thanked him for. Walsh asked to be taken to Kalgoorlie but died within minutes. Treffene said he had accidentally shot both men.
He retrieved the gold, collected his belongings and walked to Celebration Road and waited for Clarke. When Clarke arrived, he told him what had happened and suggested they tell the police. Clarke said, ‘Good God, you can’t do that. It’ll drag me into it and they won’t believe it was an accident. They might charge me with having murdered them.’ Treffene said ‘It’s the best thing to do.’ Clarke said, ‘Think of me and my wife and child. Anyway, wait till we go and see the bodies and I’ll consider what is the best thing to do.’ They got into Clarke’s car and drove to the plant. On the way Clarke asked Treffene what he had done with the gold and Treffene told him he had dropped it. At the plant they had a look and Treffene said, ‘Don’t touch anything as I mean to tell the police about it.’ ‘He pleaded with me not to get the police and I finally agreed,’ Treffene added. Clarke said, ‘Leave it to me. I’ll fix everything.’
Back in Boulder, Coulter was contacted and came to meet them at the Cornwall Hotel where they told him what had happened. Clarke asked Coulter to help him dispose of the body but he refused. Coulter said he wanted nothing to do with it but purchased the gold bar for £100. Clarke told him the next day that he had cleaned up the site and tried to get rid of the bodies by dismembering and burning them. This had proved unsuccessful, so he threw them down a mine shaft. As this evidence was being given Treffene complained that Clarke was sitting in the back of the court and laughing and jeering at him. He could easily have been laughing at the reason Treffene claimed he had run with a shotgun over his shoulder. The witnesses were called and the amazing defence case was closed.
Parker briefly addressed issues the jury should consider, including inconsistencies Coulter and others had made between the statements they made to the police and later gave to the court.
The judge summed up and explained the law so far as it concerned the case before them. He highlighted certain parts of the evidence but was careful not to labour them. The jury retired; in their absence, Haynes asked the judge to direct the jury that there was no evidence to support Clarke’s testimony. Justice Draper replied there were dozens of points on which it was supported. Haynes then asked that the jury be told there was no evidence to connect Coulter with the crime. His Honour decided it was not necessary, giving short shrift to Haynes. Apparently, he had wasted enough of the court’s time over the past month.
The jury had retired at 12.30 pm and returned to the court at 4.40 pm with a finding of guilt against both Coulter and Treffene. They offered the rider that they very much deplored the fact that Evan Clarke was not also in the dock. The judge asked each prisoner if they had anything to say as to why he should not pass sentence on them and Coulter replied, ‘I was never at the plant, and I am not guilty.’ Treffene said, ‘I am innocent of any charge of wilful murder. It was simply an accident.’ They were both sentenced to death.
Appeals against their sentence were dismissed or refused and the penalties were confirmed. As they waited in Fremantle Gaol in adjoining condemned cells their only hope was for the Governor to grant a reprieve, which would need to be on advice from the Executive Council.
Treffene made a statement to the Reverend James Marshall on 21 October 1926, and was said to be in a very agitated state. It read:
This is a true statement written by me about the awful murders, and is true in every detail. Clarke and I were partners in the business, and he used to go out and leave me to put the stuff in the fire, and then I would go back with him, and then perhaps go out again the next day with Coulter, or Coulter and me would go out and put it in the fire, and then go out the next day and dolly it up.
Coulter nearly always went with me to put the stuff in the fire, but always went to help me to do it. He had no interest with Clarke or me, but got all the gold and the sands.
On the 27th April Coulter and I went out about 1 o’clock. Clarke drove down to the racecourse and met Coulter and I rode my bicycle out to the cemetery, where they picked me up. Clarke got out and I went with Coulter and Clarke rode my bike back. We went out to the plant and put in the ore after lighting the furnace, and then came home, getting there about 5 o’clock. The next morning Coulter and I went out to the plant, leaving the hotel about 5 o’clock in the morning. We arrived at the plant and worked till dinner time. We were sitting down dollying, when Pitman and Walsh came on us. Coulter was always saying that if they came they would have to go. I saw them first and said to Coulter, ‘Here’s Pitman.’ The gun was leaning on a bit of scrub near the plant. Coulter said, ‘Get the gun’ and in the excitement I picked up the gun and Pitman sang out, ‘Don’t shoot, Phil.’ Pitman put up his hand and I fired at his hand. Mr Walsh was further away to the right.
I dropped the gun as Pitman was trying to get his revolver out of his pouch with his left hand. I did not mean or intend to kill either man. If I had I could have done so, as the gun was loaded in both barrels. Pitman came towards me, and I ran away towards the road. I had not gone far when I heard another shot, and I kept on running till I got to the road.
Coulter ran down and asked me where the cartridges were, and I said, in the car.’ I saw Pitman walking about, but did not see Mr Walsh. I went further away in the bush, and then I heard another two or three shots, then all was quiet. I went over to the car and could see Mr Walsh sitting down near some scrub, and Pitman lying on the ground.
Coulter was up at the plant. I went up to him and he said Pitman was dead and Mr Walsh was still alive. He took a revolver out of his pocket and went away. Presently I heard three more shots and he told me he had settled Walsh. He wanted me to help him to burn the bodies, but I refused. He said he would have to come out and cut them up and burn them. I again refused and said I would not take no part in it. He then cleaned up the blood where Pitman was shot, which was not at the plant, and Mr Walsh was shot about 150 yards away.
We then came home and told Clarke what happened and got Clarke to go out with him. Clarke went away and took my pants and shoes with him, and I never seen him again till the next morning when he told me that they tried to burn them (the bodies) and what they did not burn they dumped down a shaft.
Clarke said that Coulter cut them up. I did not see the saw or knife till the inquest and therefore I can’t say where they came from.
As God Almighty is my Judge, although I shot Pitman in the arm I had no intention of taking his life, but Coulter was always urging me on. I would tell him Pitman was about a lot and he would always say that they would have to ‘go’ if they came, but I never took it serious.
Two years ago he wanted me to get a knife, and saw and axe, and have them ready so he could chop them up, but I took no notice of him. My son Harry used to go out with us, and help us sometimes, and he has heard Coulter say that they would have to be shot, and that he would burn them so no trace of them would ever be found, but I never took any notice of him.
The evidence I gave at the trial was not true.
Coulter was always at me to take the blame. He said he had plenty of money, and he would look after my little children, and promised me anything, so I consented. He made up the story about it being an accident and of course for the sake of my dear children I allowed myself to be made a tool of by him.
I would have told Mr Purdue the truth when he showed me the pants, but I promised Clarke and Coulter I would not say a word about it.
Coulter kept on saying all through the trial that we would get out of it, but whatever I did not to bring him in, or make a confession. I told my son Jack, either the Wednesday night or Thursday morning that I did not do it, but that Coulter did.
I also told an old mate of mine who drove my son Frankie home as he went in there to spend the day. It was the Sunday after the bodies were found he came out with my little boy. I was in bed and he stayed talking to me for a few minutes, and we talked about the bodies being found. I said, ‘I did not do it, but I know who did.’ He can tell you the same, and he lives in Kalgoorlie, in Rhodes Street. His name is James Peart. I have not seen him since.
I did not shoot at Pitman with the slightest intention of taking his life, but in the excitement I picked up the gun, and shot him in the arm. I really did not know what I was doing. Pitman chased me about 40 yards and then stopped and Coulter shot the two men.
My God I have suffered for my folly for keeping quiet, but I done it for the sake of my little ones, whom Coulter promised to keep.
This is a true and correct statement. Philip John Treffene.
Treffene was a single parent, his wife having died in February 1925. He had five children and the three youngest had gone to Victoria to be cared for by his sister. He is said to have sent money to them when he could. His older son, who was about 22, remained in Boulder, but had gone to gaol for fraud.
The statement was concise and was probably substantially true, but there remained inconsistencies. He said Pitman was endeavouring to get his revolver out of its holster. Then he saw him walking around. Then he said he was chased by him for about 40 yards before stopping. It would be reasonable to assume that had Pitman taken his pistol in his left hand he would have used it to some effect, but it is more likely he had been shot dead by Treffene and the ‘seeing him walking around’ was a lame attempt to support his claim of only wounding him.
