Trials: A Grudging Acquittal

U.S. Peace Corpsman Bill H. Kinsey, 24, charged with bludgeoning his wife to death, was on trial for 18 days in the Tanzanian town of Mwanza (TIME, Sept. 16). Last week he was found not guilty, but the verdict had a distinctly grudging sound.

The two trial assessors (something like jurors), one of them an American, decided that Peverly Kinsey's death was "an obvious accident." As they saw it, the prosecution failed to disprove Kinsey's claim that Peverly had slipped and plunged 20 ft. to her death while the two young teachers were picnicking on a rock-strewn hillside.

Not bound by that finding, British-born Judge Harold G. Platt, a member of Tanzania's High Court, spent seven days reviewing the evidence and making up his mind, before announcing his rather qualified agreement.

Concluded Judge Platt: "It may be that with more astute investigation the accused would have been found guilty, but then on the other hand, it is possible that it might have proved to be a clear case of accident. The charge has not been sufficiently proved against the accused so as to enable me to find that he is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. While the accused must therefore carry with him the suspicion that he may have been responsible for his wife's death, he must, in justice, be acquitted and set free."

Kinsey flew straight home to see his mother and veterinarian father in Washington, D.C. He says that he may well return to Tanzania and extend his Peace Corps tour.