Decision on Thorpe trial is likely today

MINEHEAD, England (AP) — A hearing to determine if former Liberal party leader Jeremy Thorpe and three others should be tried on murder conspiracy charges ended after 14 days yesterday. Chief Magistrate Edward Donati said a verdict was likely today.

Thorpe, 49, who led the middleof-the road Liberals from 1967 to 1976, is charged with conspiring to murder Norman Scott, with whom he is alleged to have had a homosexual relationship in 1961.

The prosecution alleged Thorpe wanted Scott dead because he feared Scott, a former male model who now works as a horse trainer, would reveal the alleged affair and ruin Thorpe's promising political

career.

Under Thorpe's direction the Liberal party rose to its strongest point since World War II, although it still had little representation in Parliament compared with the

Labor and Conservative parties. Thorpe resigned because of the scandal in 1976.

It was alleged that former airline pilot Andrew Newton was hired to shoot Scott but bungled the job. Thorpe has denied any sexual relations with Scott and the plot to murder him.

Charged with him are David Holmes, 48, a banker who is a close friend of Thorpe and a former

deputy treasurer of the Liberal party; businessman John Le Me surier, 46, and George Deakin, 35, a nightclub owner and slot machine distributor.

Thorpe also is charged with inciting Holmes to murder Scott and on that charge, too, the three magistrates must decide if Thorpe should stand trial. Each charge carries maximum 10-year sentence.

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