15 – The suicidal electrical fitter ..

Carl Webb was an electrical fitter / instrument maker, he was also beating his wife; on one occasion kicking her in the back and on another threatening her with a knife. He was a gambler who hated losing and was in the habit going into a sulk and closing himself in his bedroom as early as 7 pm on a regular basis.

His wife said he had a ‘moody disposition’ would often ignore people and be quite rude, would not speak to her for hours on end, was displeased that she had to spend money on doctor’s bills and often abused her while in a rage. She said he had no friends. The police advised her he was dangerous. He was suicidal and may have been a barbiturate addict which was not uncommon in the forties. His wife mentioned that in early 1946 he had consumed about 40 Phenobarbital tabs and had sniffed enough ether for its smell to permeate the building and alarm their neighbours in what she thought was a suicide attempt. Both of these substances were widely abused post war.

According to Abbott and Fitzpatrick, Carl Webb had deserted his wife in April 1947.

In late 1948 Webb turned up dead in Adelaide and was routinely examined by Paul Lawson as he made a bust of his head and shoulders, describing him as follows: ‘His body was very robust. Very Strong. His body a beautiful shape. A real wedge shape. Broad shoulders. Narrow hips, Well-formed legs. Obviously a man of considerable strength. Strangely enough there were no body scars or signs of hard work. The hands didn’t show any signs or callouses you would expect from handling tools. They were quite smooth.’

In other words, Webb was built like a brick shithouse

Electrical fitters / instrument makers handle a variety of specialised tools yet Webb had none in his suitcase, bar one screw driver and a particle brush. Similarly, an electrical fitter’s hands would show signs of his trade as over the years the inevitable work accidents leave chips and scars. Webb’s hands though were smooth, his nails trimmed and clean and his body showed no signs of hard work. Some argue that in the absence of a nail file Webb used the cut-down knife found in his suitcase to clean his nails and the scissors to trim them.

Webb’s wife was very descriptive about his violent side yet didn’t mention if he spent any time at a gym or in a regular training discipline, yet a year and a half after he deserted her Webb was found to have a physique so powerful it astounded Paul Lawson, himself a body-builder, Lawson also marvelled at the size of Webb’s hands.

A blow from either of them would have had serious consequences, particularly for a woman.

Header pic is of a modern-day range of tools as used by electrical fitters.