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So, from now on, we change the game, now I am going to put 3 cases back to back and I will allow a 2 weeks window to go for the discussion, then a new set of 3 cases will be put forward. The 3 Cases would be True Crime, Missing Person and Unsolved Mystery.
Anyway, I am going to introduce you to a new case. This case is a lot more closer to home and you may not heard of it, but it is a pretty big case in Australia. Even tho this man died in 1948, there is still an open investigation in various channel put forward today, trying to solve this almost 70 years later.
Let's us pay our tribute to this victim
Victim - UNKNOWN
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Mortuary Photograph of the Victim.
On December 1, 1948, the unknown victim was discovered along the seawall of Glenelg Beach, near Adelaide, South Australia. City
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The location of the beach and surrounding area.
Resident John Lyon and 2 unknown men on horseback discover the victim lying on his back, with his head prop up against the seawall and one leg folded.
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Depiction of the body
After police was called on 6:30 am on Dec 1, the police believe the man has died from his sleep, and recovered the body and send to the morgue for autopsy.
Personal Belonging
The dead man carries on him the following items
View attachment 437061
- An unlit cigarette on the right pocket on his coat.
- Unused Second Class Train Ticket from Adelaide Station to Henley Beach (9.5 Km North of Glenelg)
- Bus ticket from Adelaide to Glenelg (unknown destination)
- Aluminium American Comb
- Half Pack of Juicy Fruit chewing gum
- Army Club Cigarette package with Kensita Cigarette
- Quarter box full of Byrant and May Matches
- A piece of paper with the Persian Phase "Tamam Shud" hidden in fob pocket (found half a year later in June 1949)
Autopsy Information
In 1948, the autopsy was not done in detail and the record of the autopsy was already destroyed but autopsy finding on public record still exist.
The man was believed to be a Caucasian, aged between 40-45, athletic build, with normal body function up to time of dead, the clause of death according to the record is acute gastritis haemorrhage, extensive congestion of the liver and spleen, and the congestion to the brain.
Physical condition of the body is reflective to a prime 40-45 years old man, there was sign of vomit but none of found at the scenes of his death. The deceased have an unusual ear lobe, which contribute to 2% of all Caucasian, another distinctive feature is the present of hypodontia, again, only present in 2% of all Caucasian.
His feet is strong build, toes wedged together and with a muscular calf, suggesting he either a dancer or medium to long distant runner.
The deceased last meal is Pasty (like a meat pie) ingested 3 to 4 hours before expired and the coroner believe he was poisoned and his death is other than natural.
Manner of Death is ruled Undetermined. In 1994, a following inquiry rule the death to be caused by Digitalis poisoning. Time of Death is around 2 am, Dec 1, 1948
Witness Statement
A Few witness came forward and tell the police what they had seen preceding the body being discovered by John Lyon
7pm, Nov 30 - John Lyon (The same man who discovered the body the next day) was walking with his wife on the beach esplanade, he and his wife noticed a man lying in the spot, he raised his hand, and then drop it, John and his wife think he is a drunk and ignore the man and continue on.
7:30 pm - Gordon Strapps and Olive Neill was on a date, and walk along the footpath above the beach they notices the deceased, Gordon seems to be surprised that the man did not react to the mosquito around him, and think he was dead and had not move, but decided to move on, both notice the deceased position has change during the half hour.
Some time later, another witness saw the deceased from the guard rail, she cannot see the man upper half, but located the body where it lies and his feet was crossed (The deceased was found to have uncrossed his leg)
6.00 am Dec 1, John having a morning walk on the beach, and he notice the body still lies on the same spot he saw 6 pm last night, by now 2 men on horseback have stopped to investigate the body, they called police some time later and police arrive
Another man saw with his 3 friend a well dressed man shouldering another man on the night the Somerton man was discovered. But the man cannot remember whether it was the deceased nor was the location is at the same spot.
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Development
Jan 14, 1949
A suitcase believed to be belong to the dead man was found on cloak check in Adelaide Train station, the suitcase have several item belong to the owner (May or may not be the deceased) are found as follow.
View attachment 437062
- A Barbour brand thread card (A British Brand not available in Australia in 1948) Same thread was used to repair the trouser the deceased worn in his death.
- A Red Checker Dressing Gown
- 4 Pairs of Underwear
- 1 Pair of Brown Pants with sand on the cuff
- 1 Pyjamas
- A Men's Coat with Featherstitching, a stitching can only be done in the United States in 1948.
- A Ties with T Keane name on it
- A Singlet with the name Kean on it
- A laundry bag with the name Keane on it
- Personal Toiletries
- Electrician Screwdrivers
- Table Knife modified into a sharp instrument
- A pair of sharpened tip Scissor
- A stencilling brush generally used by a Third Officer of a ship
View attachment 437063
The body appeared clean, too clean for a person who supposedly died and found on beaches, Coroner noted that the deceased shoes is too clean and polished he does not believe the man had ever walk a significant distant with it, let alone walk along the beach, suggesting a walk in the beach was not the man's intension.
Also, the lack of sick and vomit evidence on the scene and his body suggested that the deceased may have been dressed and brought to the beach ante mortem or post-mortem.
The name on the ties and singlet is strange because all the label on the deceased and in the suitcase was removed, along with all the name. The only label not removed is permanently stitch and iron on the shirt, for which removing the label would have destroy the shirt. Police believe the deceased was not name T Keane (or T Kean) and thus the label was not removed.
No T Keane or T Kean was reported missing in English Speaking world.
June 14, 1949
A second Autopsy was done by the Coroner, in this detail autopsy, the coroner notice the deceased clothing and personal belonging was clean or has been clean and/or polished, yet no ticket was found on any baths, swimming pool or station overnight room where he can clean himself. Working on a theory he was an outsider who does not live in Adelaide or surrounding area, this seems odd, however, the coroner noted that the deceased could have throw away the ticket once he bathe.
Also the coroner does not find any ID, wallet, money, hat (Which was unusual in 1948) and correspondent on the man's clothing and his suitcase. However, it is noted that he has bought a few item upon arrival in Adelaide, including an unused train ticket, a bus ticket and a pasty for his last meal. Which either noted that he has either dropped off his wallet somewhere, or was stolen by whoever killed the man.
A third find is a piece of paper cut to the size with the Persian inscription "Tamam Shud", English for "Finished" hidden away on his fob pocket, it was secretly hidden by a concealed fob pocket. The piece of paper was torn off from a book Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.
The book it torn off from was located the day the deceased died on the back seat/foot well of a car believed to have been parked on Jetty Road a few block from the beach (See maps above) But was not reported immediately, it was reported almost a month after the second autopsy.
Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
Rubaiyat is a Persian poem about living life to its fullest until it ends, it was in the procession of the deceased and was deposited to the back seat of the car parked on Jetty Road by either the deceased or the person who killed the Deceased.
The copy is a 1941 copy of the 1859 edition of Rubaiyat, in the last page, the bottom half was torn out and a smaller piece of that page containing the word Tamam Shud was found hidden in the back pocket of the deceased.
On the reverse of the back page, a 5 Line Code/Cipher was written on the Book
View attachment 437141
Also found on the book is an unlisted phone number of Jessica "Jo" Thomas (Nee Harkness) of Marrickville, Sydney, residing in Adelaide at that time on Mosley St, which is about 400 meters of where the body was found.
On interview, Jessica denied knowing the man, and have denied he have visited her on the day the deceased arrived in Adelaide, she also do not know how her phone number appear on the deceased's copy of Rubaiyat, however, she did tell the detective she had a copy of Rubaiyat and it was given to a man named Alf Boxall when she was still in Sydney during the war.
Police initially believe the deceased identity is of Alf Boxall, until he was found alive and well in Sydney by Sydney detective in 1948.
The police detective noted that Jessica was evasive and was surprise to see the deceased photo and his body cast to a point she almost fainted.
Jessica Ellen "Jo" Thomson nee Harkness
Born in 1921, in the suburb of Marrickville, about 9 km from Sydney CBD and near the University of New South Wales. She was a nursing student during WW2, and she met Australian Army Lieutenant Alf Boxall during a night function before Boxall ship out and give him the copy of Rubaiyat she had, during the summber of 1945, Jessica wrote to Boxall and stating that they should stop communicating as she is now married to Prosper Thomson (Although she only married to him in 1950 after Thomson's divorce was finalised, the two did not communicate to each other since.
Jessica subsequently move to Melbourne with her family, and later to Adelaide with Thomson sometime in 1948. W
Jessica have a son born out of wedlock and have another 2 children with Prosper subsequently, her oldest son, Robin, also have the uneven earlobe and hypodontia which only occur in 2% of all Caucasian
Jessica died in 2007.
Alfred Boxall
Alf Boxall born in Sydney in April 1906 (Similar age group with the deceased), he was a Army Lance Corporal serving in the Water Transport unit and subsequent transfer to North Australia Observation Unit (NAOU), an intelligence unit in 1946. Discharge from the army in 1948.
He received the copy of the poem in 1945, the copy he received is not the same as the one found on the car in Jetty Road (Believe to be the deceased copy) it was a 1921 edition, with the back page intact.
Also, his copy of Rubaiyat have an inscription written by Jessica (signed JEtsyn) The inscription is one of the chapter of the book, read
Indeed, indeed, Repentance oft before
I swore—but was I sober when I swore?
And then and then came Spring, and Rose-in-hand
My thread-bare Penitence a-pieces tore.
Alf Boxall acknowledge he know Jessica, but denied knowing the identity of the dead man not was he in Adelaide at any time.
Time line
Police believe the following time line applies to the deceased last day of activities.
Nov 30
0830 - 1050 - The deceased arrived in Adelaide Train station by interstate train, either from Sydney or Melbourne
prior to 1050 - He bought a ticket for 1050 train to Henley Beach, a train he either missed or did not get on
Between 1100-1110 He bought a ticket for 7D bus to St Leonard and check his suitcase in Adelaide train station
1115 7D Bus depart Adelaide train station
1144 7D Bus terminate at Somerton (Not sure when and where the deceased got off the bus)
Between 1900-2030 Numerous sighting of the deceased already at the place he died, which he may or may not has been expired.
2200 judging from the coroner finding, he have his last meal
Dec 1
0200 - Time of Death according to the first autopsy.
0600 - Found by John Lyon and 2 men on Horseback.
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The overall information for the case.
I will go over a few point with you tomorrow, because it is very late here in Australia and I want you to take some time to digest this case.
There are a few point I want to raise for discussion and also I am going to give my thought on this case in a few days after our discussion.
I will also write the other 2 cases by tomorrow. So please stay tuned.
Thank you for the tag,
To me it seems unlikely that this was a well planned suicide, this is very likely to be the act of a local serial killer , and not even an accidental occurance.
Serial Killers are known to have weird fetishes associated with murder, for example, a particular serial killer in the US - I forgot his name - used to kidnap people and then set them loose in the woods nearby, then he'd proceed to hunt them down and even eat some of their meat, similiarly some criminials or serial killers will leave some sort of a "signature" on the victim or at the scene of the crime, usually a slogan,a pen name or some sort of mark/symbol to gain notoriety.
In this case, the victim had a piece of paper with "Tamam Shud" written on it, likely the work of a serial killer, the same serial killer must have dragged the person of his car after intoxicating him through a cake while that person was coming home for work, and then walked the intoxicated person to the beach where the victim waved at an eyewitness while "drunk" and then layed the person down before leaving him to die.
It is likely that "T Keane" is the non de guerre of the killer who ripped off anything that could be used to identify the victim(done to prolong investigation so that investigators try to identify the victim). Further investigaion should have been done to see who the car belonged to, all employees of the bakery that supplied that cake should be interrogated.
