Sir Edgar & the Elders

One day in March 1959. in the British Central Africa protectorate of Nyasaland, harmless-looking Elard Chipandale, 31, tied a handful of magic twigs about his waist, donned a coat of tree bark, and turned himself into a crocodile. He lay in wait by the bank of the Mwanza River for an eight-year-old girl named Mponda

Simenti. When Mponda ambled by on the way to fetch water for her family, Elard the Crocodile dragged her into the river, broke her arm with his lashing tail, and finished her off with his finger-long teeth.

This was Elard's own mystical version of what some might consider merely a case of murder for pay. The girl's grandfather, Odreck Kasoci, had sought out Elard to get rid of the annoying child because Elard was well known in the neighborhood as a "magic man." and therefore qualified to deal with the problem. Odreck agreed to pay $13.50 for the assassination, but when the deed was done, he reneged. Chipandale sued in a native court for his fee--and won. But a government policeman happened in on the proceedings and reported the two men.

Last week, in Nyasaland's commercial center of Blantyre, both men were on trial for murder. Elard's ready admission of the killing did not make things any easier for Chief Justice Sir Edgar Unsworth. For Elard insisted that he was not guilty because he was a crocodile at the time. Sir Edgar called in the government's psychiatrist to test Elard's sanity. He was judged not insane, but the psychiatrist added, "We must admit we are dealing with a mentality completely foreign to us." Sir Edgar turned to the court assessors--three tribal elders--for expert guidance. "Are you satisfied," he asked, "that the prosecution has established that Elard was not, on account of his superstitious belief, under the delusion that he was a crocodile?"

The three were unanimous in their answer: "He turned himself into a magic crocodile and seized the child."

Sir Edgar was faced with another classic clash of white man's rules with deep-rooted African beliefs. Since the two could not be resolved, Sir Edgar was forced to make his decision on the basis of social patterns he could understand. Ignoring the elders' testimony, he sentenced both men to be hanged.

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