he had âdallied with a Delilah of the coloured barsâ. According to the not necessarily wholly reliable Marquez, when Leibglid boarded
The Mist
, Espada produced a glass stopper from a lemonade bottle, wrapped in a handkerchief, which he said was the pearl. Leibglid had asked, âWhy do you make a fool of me?â Espada had then hit him with a slingshot and when he fell in the water, calling for help, jumped in after him and tried to drown him. Hagen and Espada had then battered the unfortunate man, and Hagen had wiped his bloodied hand on his trousers. They tried to drag the body into deep water, but there was a crowd gathering on the beach, so had pulled the dinghy into the mangroves. On the night of the killing, Leibglidâs shop was looted.
The inquest opened on 5 September in Perth, and the coroner excluded the press unless they gave an undertaking not to publish the evidence until after the inquiry had finished. Fremantle detective Harry Mann was sent north and, on 18 September, the first of the trio to be pulled in was Marquez. Under questioning, he stood his ground for some hours but then told Mann that he had been on the boat merely as an interpreter for Espada. He said he had not had any part in killing Leibglid. Indeed, he had been so horrified he was quite prepared to give evidence against the pair, in return for an indemnity against prosecution, and, no, he did not want any reward money.
Although all the counsel for the defence were convinced that had their clients been tried separately there would not have been a case to go to the jury, Mr Justice Burnside ruled they should be tried together. Collectively, the evidence was fairly strong. As Marquez had told the detective, Hagen had blood on his trousers the morning after the murder, something he had explained as being paint. A publicanâs wife had heard Hagen and Marquez concocting an alibi. Hagen had also suddenly come into money, which he could not explain. Hagen maintainedhe had been drunk in a Chinese gambling saloon when Leibglid was killed. However, crucially, he was unable to give a satisfactory explanation of how the bloodstains came to be on his clothes. He claimed he had been lured into a trap by Marquez, who had turned against him when he, Hagen, had given some information to the police.
Marquez more or less stuck to the earlier statement he had made to the police. Espada admitted that he had struck Leibglid, but claimed that both Hagen and Marquez had done the same thing. He said Marquez had told him that he had lost £1000 at gambling and needed money for his wife. Espada said that Marquez had used the slingshot to kill Leibglid. He added that Marquez had told him he had sold to a Japanese man most of the gold that he had taken from Leibglid. He claimed Marquez had also told him, âI donât care. Iâve no relations in this country. Donât care if Iâm dead or not. I killed a man in Hong Kong before, and was not caught. Iâm not afraid of anyone in Broome.â
Despite the judge summing up in favour of Hagen, it is easy to see how a jury convicted them all on 21 November. A week later, Marquez made a statement that Hagen had had nothing to do with the murder and that it was another white man who had been involved. The appeals were the first to be heard by Western Australiaâs new Supreme Court, sitting in Perth, and were dismissed.
The executions on 14 December were a disaster. The official executioner, Burrowes, who had hanged the last five men to be executed, had died in late 1903. At the January 1904 execution of Ah Hook, a Chinese man convicted of killing a number of men in Carnarvon in a row over a Japanese prostitute, the new executioner had been visibly upset and declined to undertake any more work. Yet another executioner had to be found.
On the scaffold, Hagen, as the white man, was given the privilege of going first and he made a fifteen-minute speech professing his innocence. He
The Mist
, Espada produced a glass stopper from a lemonade bottle, wrapped in a handkerchief, which he said was the pearl. Leibglid had asked, âWhy do you make a fool of me?â Espada had then hit him with a slingshot and when he fell in the water, calling for help, jumped in after him and tried to drown him. Hagen and Espada had then battered the unfortunate man, and Hagen had wiped his bloodied hand on his trousers. They tried to drag the body into deep water, but there was a crowd gathering on the beach, so had pulled the dinghy into the mangroves. On the night of the killing, Leibglidâs shop was looted.
The inquest opened on 5 September in Perth, and the coroner excluded the press unless they gave an undertaking not to publish the evidence until after the inquiry had finished. Fremantle detective Harry Mann was sent north and, on 18 September, the first of the trio to be pulled in was Marquez. Under questioning, he stood his ground for some hours but then told Mann that he had been on the boat merely as an interpreter for Espada. He said he had not had any part in killing Leibglid. Indeed, he had been so horrified he was quite prepared to give evidence against the pair, in return for an indemnity against prosecution, and, no, he did not want any reward money.
Although all the counsel for the defence were convinced that had their clients been tried separately there would not have been a case to go to the jury, Mr Justice Burnside ruled they should be tried together. Collectively, the evidence was fairly strong. As Marquez had told the detective, Hagen had blood on his trousers the morning after the murder, something he had explained as being paint. A publicanâs wife had heard Hagen and Marquez concocting an alibi. Hagen had also suddenly come into money, which he could not explain. Hagen maintainedhe had been drunk in a Chinese gambling saloon when Leibglid was killed. However, crucially, he was unable to give a satisfactory explanation of how the bloodstains came to be on his clothes. He claimed he had been lured into a trap by Marquez, who had turned against him when he, Hagen, had given some information to the police.
Marquez more or less stuck to the earlier statement he had made to the police. Espada admitted that he had struck Leibglid, but claimed that both Hagen and Marquez had done the same thing. He said Marquez had told him that he had lost £1000 at gambling and needed money for his wife. Espada said that Marquez had used the slingshot to kill Leibglid. He added that Marquez had told him he had sold to a Japanese man most of the gold that he had taken from Leibglid. He claimed Marquez had also told him, âI donât care. Iâve no relations in this country. Donât care if Iâm dead or not. I killed a man in Hong Kong before, and was not caught. Iâm not afraid of anyone in Broome.â
Despite the judge summing up in favour of Hagen, it is easy to see how a jury convicted them all on 21 November. A week later, Marquez made a statement that Hagen had had nothing to do with the murder and that it was another white man who had been involved. The appeals were the first to be heard by Western Australiaâs new Supreme Court, sitting in Perth, and were dismissed.
The executions on 14 December were a disaster. The official executioner, Burrowes, who had hanged the last five men to be executed, had died in late 1903. At the January 1904 execution of Ah Hook, a Chinese man convicted of killing a number of men in Carnarvon in a row over a Japanese prostitute, the new executioner had been visibly upset and declined to undertake any more work. Yet another executioner had to be found.
On the scaffold, Hagen, as the white man, was given the privilege of going first and he made a fifteen-minute speech professing his innocence. He
Similar Books
