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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1971-03-25, Page 1:53"47r.Tro""7"Kirr yn :matkiz • Ninety-sixth Year EXETER, ONTARIO, MARCH 25, 1971 Price Per Copy 15 Cents Jury gives not guilty verdict in trial on Crediton murder PUC -outline year's plans. One shoe of the accused also showed an indication of blood, but it wasn't certain if this was human blood, Nowhere on Blyde's clothes was there semen and no type "0" blood group was found, said Mr. Gemmingen, The scientist testified that strands of hair taken from Blyde's clothing were similar to those found on a hair net of Miss Fahner, but he told defence lawyer Donnelly that he could not state with scientific certainty that the hair was that of Miss Fahner The November 21 murder and rape of an elderly Crediton spinster remains unsolved. Clarence George Blyde, RR 2 Crediton, who was charged with non-capital murder in the death of Miss Pearl Fahner, was found not guilty by an all-male jury in Goderich, Friday. The jury deliberated for about 90 minutes before returning the verdict which freed Blyde, 112 days after he had been charged with the offense. "You are a fortunate man," Mr. Justice G. A. Addy of the Ontario Supreme Court said. "You are free to go." "Thank you," replied Blyde, his voice barely audible in the courtroom, Heads jury An Exeter man, Lloyd Lovell was foreman of the jury. The only other area jurors were Graham Work, Hay; David Turner, Stanley; and Gordon Heard, Tuckersmith. Others serving on the jury were: Howard Squire, Goderich; William Phillips, Ashfield; Beverly Wallace, Howick; Lawrence Ryan, McKillop; Charles Orr, Goderich; James Golly, Morris; and Everett Spading, Goderich. The l xeter Public Utilities Cotnmision is planning to con- tinue its program of replacing older sections of the hydro and water distribution systems. R. E. (Ted) Pooley, the Chairman, said that approval would be forthcoming from Ontario Hydro for a capital ex- penditure for the hydro depart- ment of $29,927.00 The chairman stated that all proposed expenditures would be financed out of revenue, and the sale of debentures would not be required, Mr. Pooley advised that the Utility has had a 6.8 percent increase in the cost of power purchased from Ontario Hydro. However, it was expected that for 1971 the local Utility would make every effort to absorb this increase rather than increase rates to its customers. Proposed in the 1971 budget are further extensions to the street light system on Churchill Drive, Kingscourt Crescent and Riverside Drive. Wellington Street lighting, west of Main Street will also be improved, Replacement of secondary and primary conductors on William Street, Albert Street, Carling Street, Anne Street and Sanders Street, east and west are plan- ned. Several other improvements are also proposed. Commenting on the program, Mr. Pooley said that these im- provements to the system would allow the Commission to provide still more efficient service, The Chairman advised that improvements by the water department are also being planned. New 6 inch cast iron mains are planned for Carling Street, Thomas Street, William Street, Alexander Street and Edward Street, These installations will replace existing undersized galvanized iron pipes and will provide better pressure as well as better fire protection, The proposed capital ex- penditure for this work, as well as some other minor installation, is $18,478.00, which will be financed from revenue, and no debenture debt will be incurred for these projects. The Chairman also advised that the water department surplus was adequate for the year 1970, and no increase in water rates is contemplated for 1971. complained this would have been a successful, seduction if he had not been interrupted by another Crediton youth who arrived at the house where the girl and Blyde had been alone. Later in the questioning, the inspector testified that Blyde told him "I must have done it (beaten and raped Miss Fahner) but I don't remember it, However, Constable Lamont said that when they were taking Blyde to a police cruiser, the youth burst out: "I didn't do it," Not positive In his testimony, Mr. Gem- mingen said Miss Fahner had a blood grouping of "0" while a saliva test from the accused showed he had a rare "AB" blood grouping. He testified two bed sheets were stained with "0" group blood and male semen of either "A" or "B" blood groups. There were two small blood flecks on a shirt worn by Blyde, but the amounts were insufficient to determine their blood group, The shirt had been washed by his sister-in-law the day after the wedding. Lamont met Blyde at the Mohawk Raceway, Carrinbellville and later took him to the nearby Milton ()Pp office where he was questioned. In answer to a question from defence lawyer James Donnelly, Inspector Lyle admitted the police did not have enough evidence to arrest or lay a charge against Blyde prior to meeting the accused at the race track. The policeman who headed the investigation said he confronted Blyde with evidence that his shirt, suitcoat and trousers were speckled with human blood, "Was it your purpose to show him you could incriminate him," asked Mr. Donnelly, "Yes sir," the inspector replied. The inspector testified he sought to incriminate Blyde by asking if he had made an un- successful attempt to seduce a girl who had attended his brother's wedding and then went to a house party with the accused after the wedding reception in Dashwood. The inspector said he told Blyde that he knew that Blyde When the jury's verdict was announced, there was hand- clapping and his mother burst into tears. Mr. Justice Addy, in his charge to the jury, said there was no direct evidence to connect Blyde with the murder. "No one can say that he went into that house," he said "But you are entitled to convict on cir- cumstantial evidence. Main witnesses at the final two days of the trial were OPP Inspector Lloyd G, Lyle and Dieter von Gemmingen, an analyst with the Forensic Science Centre in Toronto. Inspector Lyle related how he and Exeter OPP Constable Dale Charge is dismissed, ownership not proven CUT-UP AT WORK — CFPL's Bill Brady, known for his sense of humor, was literally cutting up Saturday night when several invited guests were given a preview of the Darling's Apartments in Exeter. Brady was on hand to serve the bountiful smorgasbord, which featured this roast pig. Owner Fred Darling, right, exchanges quips with the radio personality. The apartments will be on view to the public this weekend. T-A photo a The Hodge vehicle was parked on the side of the road, being partly on the travelled portion because the snowbanks would not permit a vehicle to be completely off the road. Judge Hays agreed with Crown Attorney W. G. Cochrane's contention that some inattention on the part of Pfaff was evident. The Judge also noted the Pfaff headlights should have lit up the parked car. He said failure to keep a proper lookout seemed very pronounced in the case. A Huron Park man was fined $125 when he was found guilty of failing to remain at the scene of an accident in Exeter on January 22. Jack Cutting appeared before Judge Glenn Hays in answer to the charge, Tuesday, in Exeter court. The accident occurred near the Exeter post office when Cutting side-swiped a parked vehicle. The owner of the parked vehicle was just alighting from his car, but was not injured. Cutting told the court he did not think he had hit the other vehicle, but Judge Hays discounted this when he was advised damage in the accident was estimated at $200. The Judge told the accused this was one of the more serious charges under the Highway Traffic Act and a jail term could be imposed, A fine of $100 was levied against Russell Earl Pfaff, Crediton, who was found guiltyof careless driving following an accident in Crediton on December 18. He pleaded not guilty. He was involved in a collision with a vehicle owned by Lorne Hodge, also of Crediton, and damage in the mishap was listed at almost $3,000. Pfaff sustained a serious injury this head, requiring 60 stitches. He told the court he was going west on the main street in Crediton and came upon the second vehicle before he realized there was one there so close. He attempted to turn out to avoid a collision, but did not succeed. GB approves sewer survey, OWRC will finance project Dismiss charge Although he said a very un- desirable and disturbing situation was indicated from the evidence, Judge Hays dismissed a charge of failing to dispose of dead animals laid against Len Veri, Exeter. An inspector from the Humane Society said he visited a Stephen farm on October 19 and saw two dead horses, badly decomposed, in a field. Several live animals were also in the field and he said he did not think conditions merited any charge be laid with regard to the live animals. He told the court the dead animals could not be seen from the road. — Please turn to page 3 lerjected at this point, "I think they just stole away with their tents." Timko added that septic tanks in any built-up area with little extra land are bound to fail. After a survey and plans are presented to council within the next eight months, any objectors would have an opportunity to make their feelings known at a public hearing arranged by the Ontario Municipal Board, The OMB would decide if the system was feasible and if the village can afford it. When asked if a system would be forced on Grand Bend, Timko said, "No way can we allow you to pollute. The ball is in your Please turn to page 3 Seeks okay for mobiles GRAND BEND APPOINTMENTS — At a recent meeting Grand Bend village council ratified the appointment of two new officials. Cam Chapman becomes a member of the Grand Bend Public Utilities Commission while Harry Hamilton is the new fire chief. Both are replacements for Lawrence Mason, who passed away recently. Winter conditions still plague drivers District students on visit to Rome After lengthy discussions with representatives of the Ontario Water Resources Commission Monday night, Grand Bend village council decided to have a survey prepared on the in- stallation of a sewage system for the municipality, John Timko of the OWRC office in Toronto told council his department would undertake the survey at no initial cost to Grand Bend, He said it would take from six to eight months to prepare plans and come up with proposed costs of a sewage disposal and treat- ment system. Timko told council "A sewage system is inevitable. Grand Bend is about the last small municipality that hasn't started a program on sewage disposal. I could count them on one hand." Timko and John Bray of the London OWRC office showed council results of recent pollution tests in Grand Bend that showed enormous amounts of pollution. The OWRC officials said they presented a similar report to council a year ago and allowed the village sufficient time to have the problems cured on an in- dividual basis. They said the Lambton County Health Unit reported that septic tanks couldn't be corrected on an individual basis. Councillor Murray Des Jardiris asked why individual owners couldn't be policed and have the problems corrected. To this Timko said, "I think the Health Unit tried this and failed." Councillor Dave Jackson in- Twenty-eight students from South Huron District High School, two chaperones and four other adults booked a tour to Rome with Ship's School Association, Toronto, and flew to Italy last Thursday. Chaperoning the students are Mrs. Cecil Wilson and Mrs. Barbara Golding. Others who took advantage of the sight seeing trip, during the school winter break, are Dr. & Mrs. Donald Ecker, Mrs. Phyllis Shaw, Marion Jones and Sharon Passmore. They will return home Sunday. Despite the fact spring of- ficially arrived this week, area drivers still had to battle winter conditions which were respon- sible for several crashes. Most serious occurred on Saturday at 3:45 p.m. on the Kirkton Road, about two miles east of Highway 4, involving vehicles driven by Floyd Cooper, RR 3 Exeter, and Ruth Ellen Miller, RR 3 Kippen. The two cars were meeting on the slush-covered road when they collided. Mrs. Miller sustained facial HP youngster bitten by dog HEAVILY DAMAGED — An Elimville home was extensively damaged by fire Friday before being brought under control by Exeter firemen. The large kitchen was gutted. T-A photo Fire guts Elimville home Construction on the first stage of a mobile home park at the north-east edge of the town of Exeter is expected to start as soon as permission is received from council. Len Veri, owner of 33 acres in the area north , of the Exeter curling rink said Wednesday that he is ready to proceed with ex- cavation immediately upon receipt of approval. Veri said preliminary drawings will be completed within the next day or two and the application will probably be dealt with by council at their next meeting, April 5. The plan has already been presented to the local planning board. In the first stage of con- struction, 45 sites will be included in 61,12 acres of land. The lot sizes will be 40 to 90 feet. Entrances and exits will be placed on Alexander and George streets. A recreational area of 15,000 square feet will be completely land- scaped with plans of a swimming pool for the near future. Each phase of construction to include up to 45 mobile homes will have a 15-foot wide buffer zone with hedges and land- scaping, A service building and office will also be built. At the same time Veri said, he plans on developing a town house area along Riverside Drive. A total of ten units will - comprise each town hous with a basement, first and second floor in each unit. Speaker gains provincial final Kathy Simmons moved into the provincial finals of the Royal Canadian Legion public speaking contest when she won the junior secondary schools division at Richmond Hill, Sunday. The contest now moves to Elliott Lake where she will compete for the provincial honors during Easter weekend, The topic of Kathy's speech is 'Vanishing Wildlife.' District teachers resign positions Four more teachers have resigned in Huron. County schools it was learned at Monday evening's board of education meeting in Clinton. They are Mrs. Elizabeth Batten, Usborne PS; Mrs, Linda Linfield, SHDHS; Mrs. Lorna Laurence, SHDHS; and Mrs. Margaret Mundell, Wingham PS. A seven-year-old Huron Park girl required several stitches to close wounds on her face after being bitten by a dog, Thursday. Sandy Somerville, daughter of Mr, and Mrs. Tom Somerville, was walking from her home towards the home of a neighbor when the dog attacked her. She had to have five stitches to close a cut below her eye and another two or three on her lip. Police and neighbors joined in an extensive search for the animal, but at press time it had still not been located and the youngster may have to undergo anti-rabies shots. The dog was described as being part -German Shepherd and part collie, of Larry Cowie was completely gutted and the remainder of the home also suffered some damage, The family was not at home A fire caused extensive damage to a home in Elimville Friday night, the third major fire in the area in 10 days. The large kitchen in the home when the fire was spotted shortly after 7:00 p.m. George Kellet said he was passing the house on his way to the Elimville United Church when he spotted fire in the house. Residents in the community said they had smelled smoke in the air for some time before the blaze was noticed. Members of the Exeter fire brigade answered the call and had the fire under control in less than an hour. Flames were shooting out the chimney when they arrived and after dousing the interior of the kitchen, the firemen chopped holes through the roof to get at the blaze. An ample supply of water was available from the creek running through the hamlet behind the Cowie home, An inspector from the Ontario fire inarShal's office, D. Camp- bell, was called in to the in- vestigate the tatiSe of the blaze, Which appeared to be centred in the area near an oil space heater. He is continuing his in- vestigation with OPP Constable Hob Whiteford, Damage- in the Elimville blaze was estimated at around $3,000 by firemen, injuries, while her husband, John F. Miller had a bruised forehead and chest and their three-year- old son, Scott, had a back injury. Alvin Cooper, a passenger in the other vehicle, sustained a bruised forehead as well. Total damage in the crash was estimated at $3,500 by Constable Bill Lewis. At 12:15 a.m., Sunday, a car driven by Robert Campbell, RR 1 Exeter, went out of control on Highway 4 north of Exeter. The vehicle, owned by Larry Gould, RR 1 Exeter, rolled onto its roof in the east ditch. Damage was listed at $500 by Constable Bob Whiteford. On Friday at 1:05 p.m., a car driven by Lorne Kleinstiver, Dashwood, went out of control in the slush on Highway 83 east of 21 and hit a hydro pole and fence on the farm of Fergus Turnbull & Sons, The 1971 model vehicle was almost completely wrecked with damage estimated by Constable Lewis at $2700. Icy road conditions were also blamed for a collision in Zurich on Friday at 11:00 a.m. when a pickup truck driven by Gertrude Durand, RR 1 Dashwood, skidded into a parked vehicle owned by Richard Charles Andrews, Clinton, Damage was estimated at $450 with Constable Lewis in- vestigating. Two accidents were reported Thursday, one at 12:05 a.m. when a car operated by Keith Light- foot, Huron Park, backed into a parked vehicle owned by Dennis Robinson, Tupperville. The collision occurred at the Stardust Restaurant in Crediton and damage was set at $200 by Constable Whiteford. At 5:10 p.m., cars operated by Earl Edward Dietrich, Centralia, and Rainer Drietneyer, Waterloo, collided on Victoria St, in Centralia. Damage was estimated at $400. Exeter girl home after hospital stay Kandy Dobson, who suffered a depressed fracture of the skull when she was thrown from her pony two weeks ago, has returned to her home from St. Joseph's Hospital, London, where she underwent surgery. She is the four year old daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Ross Dobson, Pryde Boulevard. Her mother reported they are delighted with Kandy's quick recovery and return to good health, She will have to wear a hard hal to protect her head for a Short time. #w, THE NEWEST KINSMEN — The Exeter Kinsmen club received a real shot in the arm at their latest initiation meeting, The newest members are, back, left, I3ob Bailey, Dean McKnight, Fred Lankamp, Brian Sanders Bill Nutley and -John Bennett, Front, John Wagner, Gord Kirk, Craig Davidson and Bob' Hodge, ; T-A photo FIGHT BLAZE 'iternall John Wraight, right, adjusts his air-pack before entering the Cowie home, Friday. Other members of the brigade in the picture are Ray Jury and Don Wells. T-A photo Ilit and runs Two hit and run accidents were investigated by the Exeter OPP Detachment officers this week. On Wednesday, an unknown — Please turn to page 3