He said he was "talking to her for some time, sitting on the edge of the bed", when "a desire for her took possession of me, but on making the suggestion to Miss Sommerlad she opposed it" and called out to her brother. Kelly struck her on the face with his fist and left the room. Marjorie followed him into the hallway where Kelly again struck her with his fist, knocking her down. He told Snowden he then went outside and returned with an axe. Marjorie screamed and he hit her with the axe. He then rushed to the verandah and "thinking that Eric Sommerlad might awaken and see that an accident had happened to his sister, I hit him with the axe". An inquest into the death of Marjorie Constance Sommerlad was held at Tenterfield over two days on 8 and 9 March 1939. The Coroner, Edgar Jennings, returned a finding that Miss Sommerlad died "from the effects of wounds caused by blows feloniously and maliciously inflicted by Kelly". He ordered Kelly's committal to the State Penitentiary at Long Bay, in the Sydney suburb of Malabar, to await trial. Trial and appeals Kelly was tried on the 2 and 3 May 1939 before Justice Halse Rogers at a sitting of the Supreme Court at the Court House in Armidale. Kelly pleaded not guilty. The defence barrister, Wilfred McMinn, maintained his client was insane at the time the crime was committed. The prosecution called medical witnesses whose testimonies led to the conclusion that, although the defendant was of below average intelligence, there was "no evidence to suggest the slightest degree of mental disorder". McMinn asked the jury "to consider the effect of drink on such a man with sub-normal mental capacity", and claimed the defendant's mind had been "so inflamed and depreciated by drink that he could not appreciate the nature of his crime". Eric Sommerlad had been released from hospital and gave evidence at the trial. He explained that on February 3, he had driven Kelly into Tenterfield and arranged to meet him again at 11 p.m. Sommerlad said he waited until 11.45, but as Kelly failed to appear, he drove home. He talked with his sister for half an hour and then went to bed. He remembered nothing more until he regained consciousness in hospital. The jury returned a verdict of guilty after which Justice Halse Rogers commented