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He has exercised meticulous care in preventing any inadmissible evidence from seeping through. There were times when he got close to the border- line and one must admire the way in which he stopped the witness, who, not appreciating, or, I should say, not understanding the rules of evidence, attempted to get in little extras. Sergeant Magnay possesses a well developed legal mind, but above and beyond that is the fact that he is a man of honour and could not stoop to take a mean advantage of even the meanest accused. Police magistrates, no less than judges, have unpleasant tasks to perform, but we take oath to administer justice without fear, favour or ill-will, and we do it unflinchingly—no, not unflinchingly, for that means without wincing— rather I should say unhesitatingly. Immediately preceding this inquiry we witnessed a most de- ploring exhibition of rage by the accused. None of us can fully realise what must be the mental and nervous strain and the anxiety of a man in the dock charged with a capital offence. I called two medical practitioners, Doctors Fitzhill and Cameron, to examine Moss to testify regarding his sanity. Doctor Fitzhill has had the good for- tune of seeing and conversing with Moss on several occasions, and he told us he could certify him insane. Dr. Cameron, who has seen Moss on two occasions, is satisfied that the insanity is feigned. Fortified by these opinions, I ordered the inquiry to proceed. When Moss was pre’ viously before me on the 2nd of June, I dis coursed at some length on the law relating to circumstantial evidence and the meaning of prima facie, and as no good purpose can be served in repeating what I said then, I pass to a considera- tion of the facts as disclosed by the evidence in this case. “Who could have imagined from such a small beginning such an extraordinary story could have been woven? A story which is almost grotesque and certainly gruesome. Many factors have played their part in the compilation of the story to which we have listened during the four days, and chief among them are, (1) the perspicacity and tenacity of purpose of the police officers engaged in the case; and (2) the application of science in the discovery of crime. It was in- vidious, perhaps, to select any particular indi- vidual of the police force on whom to shower congratulations—all have done the job allotted to them uncomplainingly and with the thorough- ness for which our force is becoming famed—but I cannot continue without, however inadequately, expressing my admiration of the work done by Detective-Sergeants Sherringham, Frankish and Calman. From them came the inspirations, and theirs were the brains that conducted the opera- tions leading to this inguiry—an inquiry which must be regarded as unique in the history of crime in this State of New South Wales. Few people realise what wonderful work is being done by the Scientific Investigation Bureau of the Criminal Investigation Branch. Seldom does the opportunity arise in the country towns for the utilisation of the services of the officers attached hereto, and what Sergeant Rogers—no, Con- stable Rogers—he ought to be a sergeant, though, has told and shown to the court came as a revela- tion. “Leaving out the matter of the confession, not that I consider it poor evidence—on the con- trary, it is good direct evidence as opposed to circumstantial—but leaving it out, I say, what is the proper inference to draw from the dis- appearance of O'Shea, from the remains of what must have been a huge fire on Mack’s Reserve where O’Shea was last seen, from the human teeth found therein, and the portions of human vertebrae found nearby, and from the possession of the accused of O’Shea’s belongings? It seems to me that the only reasonable conclusion is that Timothy O'Shea met with his death by violence and that his body was burned. I fing that a prima facie case has been established” Once again we see that the absence of a corpse had little to do with the findings of the magistrate. Pure logic and the circum. stantial evidence proved sufficiently strong to establish a case against the accused. We must also conclude that the presiding magis trate was a logician of the first order and had the gift of putting facts together in their proper relation. On the 31st of July, Moss once again appeared before the Dubbo Police Court magistrate and charged with the murder of William Bartley. He was committed to stand trial for this murder also. Before going on with the magistrate’s comments on this case, let us compare the Australian method with our own. 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