Norwegian seafarer, victim of injustice.
*
In 1908 two seafarers, Anders Andersen, a Norwegian national, and Olaf Hallinen, a Russian Finn, were charged with the murder of a man who had been kicked to death in Westport. They were found guilty on the lesser charge of manslaughter and sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment. The convictions were based largely on the testimony of a young man named William Connelly, who had initially also been charged with the murder; he was freed. The pair’s lawyer, W.G. McDonald, working without compensation, was convinced that his clients were innocent and that Connelly was a liar. He successfully pressed for him to be tried for perjury. Connelly was found guilty after a three-week trial, and sentenced to seven years. He also admitted to being the sole killer, and was sentenced to 10 years. Andersen and Hallinen were set free, but they were penniless men trapped in a country far from home.
“It was on a Friday,” said R.R. Whyte, Norway’s vice-consul in Westport, “that Hallinan and Andersen were discharged from the Hokitika Gaol. Knowing no one, they made their way to Westport and came to see me. I was walking down the main street of the town with Andersen on the Sunday when he fell down in a fit. I had him carried to an adjacent boarding house, where he lingered on until Wednesday, when he died in my arms.”
Whyte and the Norwegian government unsuccessfully sought compensation for Andersen’s impoverished parents in Norway. The citizens of Westport funded the erection of a tombstone for Andersen; at the time it was considered to be the finest monument in the Orowaiti Cemetery.
Contributor: Cosmo (49300889)
*
In 1908 two seafarers, Anders Andersen, a Norwegian national, and Olaf Hallinen, a Russian Finn, were charged with the murder of a man who had been kicked to death in Westport. They were found guilty on the lesser charge of manslaughter and sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment. The convictions were based largely on the testimony of a young man named William Connelly, who had initially also been charged with the murder; he was freed. The pair’s lawyer, W.G. McDonald, working without compensation, was convinced that his clients were innocent and that Connelly was a liar. He successfully pressed for him to be tried for perjury. Connelly was found guilty after a three-week trial, and sentenced to seven years. He also admitted to being the sole killer, and was sentenced to 10 years. Andersen and Hallinen were set free, but they were penniless men trapped in a country far from home.
“It was on a Friday,” said R.R. Whyte, Norway’s vice-consul in Westport, “that Hallinan and Andersen were discharged from the Hokitika Gaol. Knowing no one, they made their way to Westport and came to see me. I was walking down the main street of the town with Andersen on the Sunday when he fell down in a fit. I had him carried to an adjacent boarding house, where he lingered on until Wednesday, when he died in my arms.”
Whyte and the Norwegian government unsuccessfully sought compensation for Andersen’s impoverished parents in Norway. The citizens of Westport funded the erection of a tombstone for Andersen; at the time it was considered to be the finest monument in the Orowaiti Cemetery.
Contributor: Cosmo (49300889)
Norwegian seafarer, victim of injustice.
*
In 1908 two seafarers, Anders Andersen, a Norwegian national, and Olaf Hallinen, a Russian Finn, were charged with the murder of a man who had been kicked to death in Westport. They were found guilty on the lesser charge of manslaughter and sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment. The convictions were based largely on the testimony of a young man named William Connelly, who had initially also been charged with the murder; he was freed. The pair’s lawyer, W.G. McDonald, working without compensation, was convinced that his clients were innocent and that Connelly was a liar. He successfully pressed for him to be tried for perjury. Connelly was found guilty after a three-week trial, and sentenced to seven years. He also admitted to being the sole killer, and was sentenced to 10 years. Andersen and Hallinen were set free, but they were penniless men trapped in a country far from home.
“It was on a Friday,” said R.R. Whyte, Norway’s vice-consul in Westport, “that Hallinan and Andersen were discharged from the Hokitika Gaol. Knowing no one, they made their way to Westport and came to see me. I was walking down the main street of the town with Andersen on the Sunday when he fell down in a fit. I had him carried to an adjacent boarding house, where he lingered on until Wednesday, when he died in my arms.”
Whyte and the Norwegian government unsuccessfully sought compensation for Andersen’s impoverished parents in Norway. The citizens of Westport funded the erection of a tombstone for Andersen; at the time it was considered to be the finest monument in the Orowaiti Cemetery.
Contributor: Cosmo (49300889)
*
In 1908 two seafarers, Anders Andersen, a Norwegian national, and Olaf Hallinen, a Russian Finn, were charged with the murder of a man who had been kicked to death in Westport. They were found guilty on the lesser charge of manslaughter and sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment. The convictions were based largely on the testimony of a young man named William Connelly, who had initially also been charged with the murder; he was freed. The pair’s lawyer, W.G. McDonald, working without compensation, was convinced that his clients were innocent and that Connelly was a liar. He successfully pressed for him to be tried for perjury. Connelly was found guilty after a three-week trial, and sentenced to seven years. He also admitted to being the sole killer, and was sentenced to 10 years. Andersen and Hallinen were set free, but they were penniless men trapped in a country far from home.
“It was on a Friday,” said R.R. Whyte, Norway’s vice-consul in Westport, “that Hallinan and Andersen were discharged from the Hokitika Gaol. Knowing no one, they made their way to Westport and came to see me. I was walking down the main street of the town with Andersen on the Sunday when he fell down in a fit. I had him carried to an adjacent boarding house, where he lingered on until Wednesday, when he died in my arms.”
Whyte and the Norwegian government unsuccessfully sought compensation for Andersen’s impoverished parents in Norway. The citizens of Westport funded the erection of a tombstone for Andersen; at the time it was considered to be the finest monument in the Orowaiti Cemetery.
Contributor: Cosmo (49300889)
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