7
16. According to the defendant,
the flat. He neither knew
contact him.
never contacted him after he left
address nor did he know how to
Is it likely the jury thought
existed ?
17. The jury were instructed to return a verdict of guilty of murder if they
were satisfied
(a) that
never existed and found that the defendant alone
killed both women
OT
(b) if they concluded
killed both victims but was aided
and abetted by the defendant who shared a common intention with
to do them grievous bodily harm in the commission of
the robbery.
By their verdict they did not express which view they took of those
alternatives, however I am convinced that they regarded
as a
figment of the defendant's imagination. There were many reasons for
them forming that opinion which I do not think I need detail.
Conclusions
18. The facts showed that most probably the defendant was let into the flat
while his aunt was still out shopping. She returned soon after his arrival.
Either before or after her return he killed the amah, she having first
resisted his attack upon her. She was overpowered, tied up on the bed
(but not her legs) and then killed by a fatal blow to her neck with the
chopper. The two superficial injuries to her neck were most probably
inflicted in a skirmish to overpower her. Thereafter the defendant,
who may already by then have also tied up his aunt, shaved her pubic hair after
which, using the same chopper, he dealt his aunt a savage blow to her neck