So, you’re new to this Somerton Man game, are you?
From the very beginning ……
1/ The coroner ruled he didn’t die where he was found. (See /29)
2/ The first policeman on the scene contradicted crucial evidence sworn to by his senior officer.
3/ There was nothing found on the body that identified him.
4/ The man who handed in the coded Rubaiyat to DS Leane was apparently not introduced to any other of the case officers nor were they given his name.
5/ In fact his name was withheld for the remainder of his life.
6/ The coded Rubaiyat was not photographed.… and it was said to have been lost by the police only days after being handed in.
7/ The phone numbers reported to have been written on the back of the coded Rubaiyat were not photographed.
8/ Jessica Harkness, a subscriber to one of the phone numbers was not asked to identify the Somerton Man from a photograph taken of his face soon after he was found (below).
9/ In fact the police were initially convinced this fellow was the Somerton Man (below).
10/ Her name was withheld for the remainder of her life.
11/ Naval Intelligence, after being asked to decipher the code were denied the opportunity to view the coded Rubaiyat itself.
12/ There is no chain of forensic evidence connecting the rootless hair found on the bust to the Somerton Man himself.
13/ The list of nine witnesses not interviewed by the police is as follows, ten if you include Prosper.
14/ The two jockeys exercising their horses on the beach accompanied by the horse’s owner and who were the first to find the body (ta Dusty).
15/ Any of the other three people in the car who were with the man who found the coded Rubaiyat on the car floor.
16/ Any of the other three people who were with the man who reported to the police that he saw a man carrying a man along the Somerton Beach foreshore the evening before the Somerton Man was found dead.
17/ It is also not apparent if any of Harkness’ near neighbours were interviewed by the police and asked if they witnessed any comings and goings of a man of similar appearance to the Somerton Man.
18/ No fingerprints were taken from any of the items in the suitcase thought to have belonged to the Somerton Man.
19/ The Tamam Shud slip was not found on the original search of the body.
20/ The man identified as Carl Charlie Webb in a family photo has more than a passing resemblance to another family member named Charlie Webb. It should be noted that Charlie Webb (not Carl) was about 5’8”.
22/ The man identified as Carl Charlie Webb in a family photo looks to be considerably shorter (at about 5’8”) than the measured height of the Somerton Man (at about 5’11”) see pic below, It should be noted that the other two men in the photo, Grandpa and Roy, were known to be about 5’8”.
23/ Nothing was found in the suitcase thought to have belonged to the Somerton Man that identified him, bar a spool of Barbour thread that matched some repairs to his clothing.
UPDATES ..
24/ Harkness’ partner, George Prosper Thomson, a second-hand car dealer who used the same phone number she did multiple times was not interviewed by the police
25/ The police decided that the subscriber of the second phone number written on the back of the coded Rubaiyat was not relevant to the case and neither the number or subscriber were disclosed.
26/ None of Harkness’ family was interviewed to ask if she was nicknamed Jestyn, neither were any of her workplace colleagues.
27/ Alf Boxall was not asked if he knew her as Jestyn, in fact when interviewed he admitted to not remembering her name at all.
28/ Despite the new and crucial evidence# that surfaced after the initial inquest adjournment, the coroner decided it was of no relevance and closed down the procedures.
29/ The coroner then changed his mind to finally rule that the `Somerton Man died where he was found, despite the body’s lividity which had expert witnesses agreeing he had died elsewhere.
30/ it is apparent that none of the code-breakers who worked on the Rubaiyat code for over seventy years realised that there was a subtle patten in each but one line, being the line crossed out.
31/ There was no explanation as to why Paul Lawson was accompanied by three detectives as he completed the bust.
# The circumstances of the finding of the coded Rubaiyat. The emergence of Harkness as a person of interest.
That should be enough to go on for anyone new to the case, so welcome to the club.









..and then there were the two hoops who were first on the death scene, plus the horse owner Col. Jim Lee, none of whom were interviewed by attending scene Sapol officers or ever after.
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….perhaps young Neil Day, Horrie Patching the seasoned Jockey and Melbourne Cup owner Jim Lee each gave their statements to first offending Sapol detective on the scene Sgt. Strangway, but if so, Harry kept it to himself which is somewhat strange in a way too.
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Anyone ever think to ask Harry Strangway’s daughter’s Gwen & Trixie what went down with dad’s mystery body at Somerton; or how’s about Sir Arthur James Lee (scab scar & bar). Jim had three boys Peter, Paul & Harry, born circa late forties who might know summit about dad’s involvement on the day. Oldest son Peter has a nice piece on Utube about the Lee family mansion at Vicror Harbor (Encounter Bay) which may enable him to be run to ground and interrogated by one of our ace SA agents. See to it Clive, or let me have a crack at the blighter once you track him down.
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I suppose you can understand it, if a couple of witnesses were overlooked by the police but, not on this scale surely? The “Higher Authority” that Jessie told her daughter were certainly quick off the block, and the reason……?
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All at the very time MI5 rolled up to relieve the local police of their Federal responsibilities .. in other words, whoever in SAPOL was handling enquiries that had international implications was relieved of his current tasks, this has to be a consideration.
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Jim (Arthur James) Lee was elected to serve on the Australian Commonwealth Immigration Advisory Council under A. Calwell post 1946; So one might reasonably assume “international implications” be part of his then agenda; that along with his SA state RSL leadership duties etc.
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Looks like house # 5 Storer Lane, Encounter Bay?
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Can’t argue Clive, you being a local. Thought A. J. Lee (listed) might’ve been at 5 Ridge Rd., above Storer Lane but, S & Mc. don’t give Street Nos. for country towns. Guess you might also have crossed paths with a retired Sapol Sgt. R. L. Leane (38 The Esplinade, Victor Harbor) while you were poking around down that way on the trail of Peter Lee.
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I’ve just bunged a copy of this to the Ad Advertiser .. knowing that those tired old journalists probably couldn’t give a ..
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Yes, “The Advertiser”, if nothing else, it certainly lives up to it’s title. Come to think of it, there isn’t anything else.
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Just between you and me, here I’m thinking the hundreds of views this joint is getting lately, now I’m reading that it’s all AI bullshit .. for every 1,000 views maybe 10 are fair dinkum. And they are all from Nick Pelling, because he knows what I know ..
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Well, you can’t help being popular!
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So far this month I’ve had 59,000 visits from North Bergen in the USA .. everyone of each is bullshit, some kind of AI rubbish.
The world is going to the dogs.
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You bet. It’s a dog’s life, no body drops a line to me these days. Reckon some dog has spread the word I’m diseased or close to it, and they’d be right
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Sure hope none of those North Bergan trolls won’t be bold enough to pour cold water on Trump’s parade today. Scorn on the 4th of July aint the American way Jose … USA..USA … give us shit yer going to pay … OK?
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I’m reading that most of the musos he wanted to perform walked away, the stage where the dancing girls were doing their stuff had some scenery collapse, the various political stalls were only attracting about half a dozen visitors each, the temperature expected to hit over 40 … in other words, the whole thing looked like being a dud.
And of course the Swift Kiece marriage has got all the attention of the Press as well ..
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Wasn’t Donald’s day was it? No doubt he’ll complain it was the Democrats, Iranians, Taylor Swift, fake news etc anything but, facing reality he’s linked to Epstein-enough said.
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Can you just picture the selfrighteous ponce giving his two hour speel under a missile proof glass dome in 140 degree heat to at least an hundred selected GOP dupes in Washington Square? Finishing up with a non Springfield version of ‘Spawn on the US of A, just as a deadly flight of Iranee glass buster drones come a swarming right overhead. Scenes we’d like to see sez Alfred E Newman.
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Gotta give Donald duck credit for pluck, boasting that he got a crowd of 145,000 plus to come and hear him live at the 4th July sausage sizzle in DC’s National Mall today. No big deal when you consider the Ayatollah Khamenei being able to draw twenty million dedicated followers together to file past his closed coffin in Tehran with him inside dead as a stuffed duck.
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I’m imagining a massive roar of booing when cadet draft dodger bone-spurs takes the pulpit at the FIFA final, regardless of who is playing.
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Why is it when the leader of the world (aka Trump) has to raise his shoulder, almost defensively, when he trumpets a Trumpian opinion? Being a man of knowledgeable reactions, I’m thinking that America’s’ lord and master has a load of self doubt in his reactions.
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Self doubt he has in spades I’m certain but, as long as his MAGA mannequins + cronies continue to take his word as gospel and, he promises everything and anything to the dummies who listen, well, what can you say?
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Willie Nelson’s rendition of “heartland” with the immortal words “My American dreams fell apart at the seams if you know what it means” and “There’s a whole in the sky where God used to be” should be sung from the leaking rooftops throughout the land on this day of all days. For shame and fond memories as to what their once lucky country might have been if it had not been for tyranical leadership.
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Ready, get set for breaking news on Somerton Man according to Derek Abbott, as reported AM today on ABC TV w/ claims that Sapol Adelaide be finally ready to submit their report to Coronor SA or consideration re inquest or nay. Could it be that Trump made the call to get things moving right along.
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Wouldn’t surprise me if Trump was involved somewhere in this case. Probably a distant relative, who was bumped off, because he wouldn’t make a deal.
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Any chance the Nato chief in Belgium givex Trump a red card at the upcoming summit as a bit of payback on his interverence in the Worrld Cup pro America suspension red cup reversal deal.
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Donald put his foot in it, glad the Belgium team won the game.
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Most ducks have Webb feet in order to waddle & swim away from trouble; Whereas Donald ‘fuckaduck’ Trump grew spurs so’s to keep the fowl basket out of harm’s way back in the day.
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…and what do you know? big bad brave Donald just ducked for cover again, this time re his cunning change of flight schedule and a plane swap to ensure getting home safely from England where he had stopped off to avoid becoming a prime target for the Iranee “scum”.
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Probably the ‘old’ Air Force One plane has better colouring books than the ex-Qatari ‘gifted’ plane?
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