19 – An Investigation Bound To Fail.

Try putting this jigsaw together.

Gordon Cramer writes that in 1948/49 ‘they (the police) were a de-facto arm of the intelligence services.’

and this: “I think it likely that the war amongst intelligence operatives was hidden from public view and that its also likely that there were casualties on both sides. But who were the executioners and where did the bodies go? How would these events be hidden? I think you might find a higher than usual incidence of suicide by poisoning.”

John Sanders also has a strong view about the involvement of the intelligence services by using certain members of the South Australian police as their go-betweens and we know that pre ASIO intelligence matters were also treated as local police matters. This being the case there may have been signs showing if a particular investigation strayed from what should have been a relatively straight forward approach, such as the investigation into the mysterious death of the Somerton Man.

So dive in ……

1 The bus and train tickets found in his ticket pocket.

Despite that one of these tickets indicated the deceased was at the Adelaide Train Station the day before he was found it wasn’t followed up by the police, denying them the opportunity to interview station staff while their memories were still fresh.

2 The Barbour Thread

The deceased was conveyed to the morgue on December 1st where it was stripped of clothing and placed on a steel sliding stretcher. The clothing, including the coat repaired with Barbour thread was then stored at the morgue until the time when DS Leane allowed Professor Cleland to take possession of them.

On January 14th, the day the suitcase was discovered, Leane took away ‘some items for checking’ – the assumption being that they were the tools, tie and Barbour thread card (pic) yet there was no record of Leane personally examining the clothing while it was stored at the morgue, what’s more the date given when Cleland reported back to Leane of his findings on the clothing, including the repaired coat and Tamam Shud slip was not until April 19th.

If Leane didn’t know at the time he took possession of the Barbour thread that it was used to repair the deceased’s clothing, then what made him think others would when there were items in the suitcase more suitable for identifying him, like his coat shirt (pic).

3 Fingerprinting the contents of the suitcase.

Despite having the services of James Durham, one of the most distinguished finger printers in Australia and despite that there were many hard-surfaced articles in the suitcase that would have yielded clear prints the police decided instead that the repairs to the deceased’s coat using the same thread as found in the case was enough to identify him as the case’s owner.

Some argue that the thread card was added to the evidence* sometime between the time the body was found and the the suitcase was retrieved which was  noted to be found unlocked, an unlikely event given its near new state and also given that the suitcase key and luggage-ticket stub was not found on the body, neither of which would have been of any value to an opportunistic thief.

*also see 7 and 8

4 Olive Neill’s Watcher.

Ms Olive Neill stated that she saw a man standing on the roadside looking down on the man lying by the steps on the evening before a body was found in the same place. The light was good enough for her to be able to describe the colour of the suit and hat he was wearing and the curious fact that he stood there looking down at the man for about five minutes, uninterested in the beachside panorama and setting sun.

5 Gordon Strapps’ clear recollection.

The deceased was found to be wearing plain faun-brown trousers. Strapps insisted in his deposition that the man he was watching on the previous evening was wearing striped trousers.

6 Detective O’Donohue’s witness.

7 There was not a match to be found on the body.

In Constable Moss’ interview with the local newspaper he categorically and repeatedly stated that there were no matches to be found on the body despite that the deceased appeared to be a heavy smoker and a half-smoked cigarette was found wedged under his chin. Moss also noted there were no scorch marks on the deceased’s chin or on his clothing.**

8 A box of matches was later established to be with the body.

DS Leane contradicted Moss and swore on his deposition that a box of matches was found on the body, effectively silencing any discussion as to how the deceased had lit his cigarette.

**Some argue that when the body was laid out the man who had carried him there positioned the cigarette under his chin but forgot the matches.

9 The Rubaiyat.

Despite its importance to the case it was never photographed and was claimed to be lost early in the investigation

10 Naval Intelligence asked to decipher the code.

Naval Intelligence were given a photograph of the marked up code and a ‘similar’ copy of the Rubaiyat, denying them the opportunity to investigate if the code was related in some way to the book it was written on.

11 The Rubaiyat’s torn page.

Despite its importance to the case it was never photographed.

12 The phone number(s) written on the back cover of the Rubaiyat.

Despite their importance to the case they were never photographed.

13 The Rubaiyat code.

Despite its importance to the case the unmarked code was never photographed.

14 Detective Brown stood aside from certain aspects of the case.

Detective Brown was not involved in any way with the investigation of the circumstances surrounding the finding of the Rubaiyat despite him being a senior figure in the investigation.

15 Publication of the finding of the Tamam Shud slip delayed for 51 days.

DS Leane allowed the newspapers to publish images of the slip only days before the inquest commenced.

16 Coroner says he doesn’t know where the deceased died.

Then adjourns the inquest.

17 Coroner fails to depose Jessica Harkness despite her being a significant person of interest.

Her phone number was written on the back of the Rubaiyat and the police were in no doubt she recognised the man modelled in plaster by Paul Lawson.

18 Coroner rules that the deceased died where he was found.

Then closes the inquest.

19 Dr Dwyer is ‘astounded’ Analyst Cowan didn’t find any traces of barbiturate in the deceased.

But reluctantly accepted his findings.

2o PC Moss did not find the Tamam Shud slip on the body.

But Professor Cleland did while in the company of Analyst Cowan.

21 Analyst Cowan fails to identify the black powder shaken from the particle brush found in the deceased’s suitcase.

Despite being one of the most highly experienced analysts in his field.

22 Paul Lawson watched by the police for the entire period he worked on the cast.

Lawson told Cramer they were there every day.

23 DS Leane’s workload.

DS Leane was described as being directly responsible for overseeing general matters requiring direction together with the supervision of junior investigators and when he was given the job of overseeing the Somerton Body Case with a centrally located and dedicated team of investigators (GF 59) his workload changed considerably, but apparently not theirs.

Leane enquired with the staff of the Adelaide Railway Station about any unclaimed property on the 14th of January.

Later that same day Leane visited the station and sorted through the unclaimed property.

Leane then took possession of some items from an unclaimed suitcase for ‘checking.’

Leane visited the South Australian School of Arts and Crafts to enquire about the possible uses of the tools found in the suitcase.

Leane asked Hugh Possa, tailor, about the origins of the coat the deceased had been wearing.

At some stage Leane gave the property to Professor Cleland.

On the 23rd of July a Rubaiyat with a matching torn page was handed to Leane by its finder.

Leane soon discovered a telephone number written in pencil on the back cover.

Leane also discovered what appeared to be a code faintly written in pencil on the back cover.

Leane, accompanied by other detectives escorted Jessica Harkness to the museum to view the bust.

Leane reproduced the list of capital letters and released it to the media.

Leane sought the assistance of the Navy Office at Port Adelaide in de-ciphering the code.