This case is one of secrets upon secrets: names suppressed, names withheld for generations, police investigation inexplicably delayed, crucial evidence ignored, evidence tampered with, evidence withheld from public scrutiny, crucial fingerprinting not done, police investigation hampered, witnesses not called to give evidence, evidence as a whole not officially secured for over two months, questions arise as how Carl Webb, a known barbiturate addict had no sign of it found in his autopsy, witnesses suspected of being rehearsed, crucial evidence not acted upon, doubts remaining as to whether the nan seen lying by the steps on the evening was the same man found dead in the morning, conflicting evidence submitted, inquest closed despite compelling new evidence, witnesses not interviewed in a timely manner, key witnesses not shown a photo of the dead man, failure by authorities to enquire any aircraft passenger arrivals of a man named Keane prior to body being found, false images distributed to the press, failure of police to door-knock nearby Somerton Beach residences after the body found, failure of police to interview Prosper Thomson despite that he used the phone number found written on the back of the Rubaiyat on a regular basis, contradictory depositions submitted yet not questioned  by the coroner, false reporting allowed, incomplete analysis of evidence, contradictory depositions not questioned, early loss of crucial evidence and inadequate official reasons given for same, incomplete investigation of poisons as means of death, contradictory legal rulings, key witnesses not followed up for second interview, potential witness not asked whereabouts prior to body being found, key witness’ de facto husband not questioned, his whereabouts immediately prior the body being found not known – and all of this in the middle of one of Australia’s best kept political secrets, the employment of dozens of ex-Nazis involved in weapons research in a facility in  a near-bye Adelaide suburb and within months of the end of WW2.#

The exhumation of the Somerton Man’s body was completed mid 2021 and an investigation into his DNA was commenced almost immediately. No results, if any, have been made public.

Given the above perhaps they never will be.

#Header pic is of Aust Prime Minister Ben Chifley (middle), Aust External Affairs Minister Herbert Evatt (left) and British Prime Minister Clement Attlee meeting at the 1946 Commonwealth Conference in 1946, and given the fierce competition to recruit German weapon scientists by Russia, Canada and the UK after the war there is little doubt a discussion of ways and means to do so took place between Australian and English politicians immediately post war.

(Last posted in 2022)