Unsolved Taman Shud Case - The Somerton Man

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What's the point of holding a second inquest to issue a death certificate?

I think it's a technical issue which was to enable South Australian Police to either close the case or keep it open.

Time may of run out, without a certificate to formalise a reason for Police to keep the case open indefinitely.

Keeping the case open keeps Police in control of the investigation, the collected evidence and any new evidence that comes to light, as seen recently when Mr Abbott collected some hairs for a new DNA test.

Maybe that's the point of the second inquest?


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Actually I don't think it was a second inquest, it was an adjourned inquest with the findings not released until the 1958 session. The death certificate could not have been written until the findings were published. I think you are right about the Police wanting to keep an interest, after all how many run of the mill sudden deaths had 3 maybe 4 detectives assigned to them in the first weeks of the event? In my day in the job, sudden death was mostly dealt with by uniforms unless there was something immediately suspicious. A sudden death in a public place would have meant that SOCO would have visited and taken photographs of the scene whilst the body was still there but that was in the 60s in the UK and not here. We had a Coroner's officer who took on the management of the process. Hope that makes sense :)
 
Actually I don't think it was a second inquest, it was an adjourned inquest with the findings not released until the 1958 session. The death certificate could not have been written until the findings were published. I think you are right about the Police wanting to keep an interest, after all how many run of the mill sudden deaths had 3 maybe 4 detectives assigned to them in the first weeks of the event? In my day in the job, sudden death was mostly dealt with by uniforms unless there was something immediately suspicious. A sudden death in a public place would have meant that SOCO would have visited and taken photographs of the scene whilst the body was still there but that was in the 60s in the UK and not here. We had a Coroner's officer who took on the management of the process. Hope that makes sense :)
It does make sense. I don't know the go in 1948 either, but there'd certainly be a lot more forensic evidence gathered nowadays. It would appear that a lot of those things weren't done back in those days that could've answered a lot of questions about where he'd been, when and what he ate, and whether his clothes were changed that day.
An inquest is always problematic though, as it makes public a lot of details that police never release until someone is prosecuted. Sometimes just enough is held back in an active investigation so they can throw out the usual nutters who hand themselves in to get free board and lodgings with health care, when their only real crime is grifting the system.

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What's the point of holding a second inquest to issue a death certificate?

I think it's a technical issue which was to enable South Australian Police to either close the case or keep it open.

Time may of run out, without a certificate to formalise a reason for Police to keep the case open indefinitely.

Keeping the case open keeps Police in control of the investigation, the collected evidence and any new evidence that comes to light, as seen recently when Mr Abbott collected some hairs for a new DNA test.

Maybe that's the point of the second inquest?


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Remember that by 1958 they'd lost the book. Had that book never been located in the Hillman glove-box, police would never have traced the phone number back to the nurse, nor pondered any mysterious writings (code) or matched it to the 'Taman Shud' note found in SM's pocket...The mystery of the unidentified man would have lost public and media interest sooner had SM's Newspaper Headline remained 'man found dead on beach, suspected suicide'...Even by adding the parting note 'Taman Shud' found in his pocket, SM's death could have still been easily explained as 'unidentified man found dead Somerton beach... self administered poison...suicide'.
The discovery of that book became a very important piece of evidence, as it turned 'suspected suicide' to 'suspicious death... murder'.

Had more information later emerged that lead to a prosecution for murder...the evidence (book) was now gone thus sabotaged any future prosecution. We can't even be certain that the 'Taman Shud' piece of paper wasn't introduced later, and the whole scenario staged. The autopsy revealing poison as cause of death changed everything, along with the emergence of the book. How and why did that book go missing by early 50's. Does anyone know whether the 'missing' book was mentioned in the second inquest, and was the bag of items found on SM at the beach, also destroyed along with the suitcase. There'd have to be some tight Police protocols for destruction of evidence, and SM's remained an open case; so who signed it off and watched it burn. Also why destroy all the evidence in a open case, but keep the plaster cast as an exhibit in the Police Museum. I realise the cast could later help with identification, but so could his belongings (now via DNA). It's as if SM's case has been made more of a mystery due to the actions of police loosing or destroying evidence, when the book and the suitcase were the very things that made the mystery.
 

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Actually I don't think it was a second inquest, it was an adjourned inquest with the findings not released until the 1958 session. The death certificate could not have been written until the findings were published. I think you are right about the Police wanting to keep an interest, after all how many run of the mill sudden deaths had 3 maybe 4 detectives assigned to them in the first weeks of the event? In my day in the job, sudden death was mostly dealt with by uniforms unless there was something immediately suspicious. A sudden death in a public place would have meant that SOCO would have visited and taken photographs of the scene whilst the body was still there but that was in the 60s in the UK and not here. We had a Coroner's officer who took on the management of the process. Hope that makes sense :)
Think you are right. It was opened on 17th June 1949 adjourned to 21st June 1949 when evidence continued to be heard and then adjourned until 14th March 1958, when a death cert was added, and some of the Exhibits added. I'm not sure if it wasn't published in 1949 as this copy has all the signatures and initials but in the 1958 copy they are all removed.

Because it was reopened Coroner Cleland could have changed his findings in half an hour if he had wanted to, but didn't change anthing. The death cert doesn't represent the facts or his own summary of the Inquest, but was required by law and is limited in what can be said.

I find it interesting that the legal analysis of the case you posted seems to agree with this and only looks at the facts to give their opinions on the poison administered. They say glycosides which reflects the evidence given by Professor Hicks and not the mistaken and very different glucoside mentioned by Corner Cleland and indicated in Exhibit 18.
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I have read nothing that indicates a severely enlarged spleen results from digitoxin poisoning. He may have died as a consequence of a pre existing illness.
He may have had a pre existing illness that related to the severely enlarged spleen but it wasn't what killed him. They would have noticed a blood clot to the heart in the autopsy as well.

It is interesting that to my knowledge no one seems to have suggested what may have caused the enlarged spleen. It could have been trauma, or viral, parasitic or bacterial infections?
 
Your are correct but it seems that many documents from this particular file have gone missing including the autopsy docs and the inquest transcripts. On the issue of voice recording, I have attached a document from a Law Journal discussing the SM case and reference is made to the way the inquest was conducted as in who asked questions. From that, we can deduce that a voice recorder wouldn't have done the job. There's a request under FOI in place for the transcript if it is still in existence. It would be very useful to know who asked what questions, in the attached you will read that a Detective may have been assisting the coroner.


Thanks for posting this interesting read and summary of the facts from the Inquiry. The 1994 Phillips Brief published in the Criminal law Journal and with the assistance of the State Coroner of SA and Professors Cordnor and Drummer from the Victorian Institute of Criminal Pathology.

There are a couple of questions I have. I thought it was Coroner Thomas Erskine Cleland who had subsequently found the paper with Tamam Shud in the man's packet and not Dr (Professor) John Cleland. The two were cousins and Dr Cleland a pathologist was brought in at a later date after the man was embalmed.

In his evidence Dr John Cleland could not remember the lividly that was observed at the back of he head and behind the ears of the body. I believe it was said the paper containing the words Tamam Shud was found around April 1949, after examinations by P.C. Moss, Det Sgt Leane and Brown and three other police assigned to the case missed it. It sounds in this summary that Dr Cleland examined the clothes and found the Tamam Shud paper before 14th January 1949 (but couldn't remember if he had lividity).

It's also interesting that the police photographer Durham says in his affidavit when he photographed the man on 3rd Dec 1938 he also took pictures of he paper found on the man the the writings.

So the pathologist got curious and examined SM's clothes?

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Poison evidence summary from Prof Hicks correcting the likely cause of death to glycoside poisoning.
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Malaria can also cause Hepatosplenomegaly



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Malaria can also cause Hepatosplenomegaly



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Not according to your attachment,
Several conditions can cause hepatosplenomegaly. Examples include:
  • infection, such as hepatitis C, syphilis, or sepsis from a significant bacterial infection
  • chronic liver disease with portal hypertension
  • cancers, such as amyloidosis or sarcoidosis
  • HIV
  • leukemia
  • lymphoma
  • pernicious anemia
  • acromegaly
  • sickle cell anemia
  • systemic lupus erythematosus
  • thalassemia
  • thyrotoxicosis
  • trauma, such as a car accident that impacted the spleen and liver
And he didn't die from it.
 
Not according to your attachment,
Several conditions can cause hepatosplenomegaly. Examples include:
  • infection, such as hepatitis C, syphilis, or sepsis from a significant bacterial infection
  • chronic liver disease with portal hypertension
  • cancers, such as amyloidosis or sarcoidosis
  • HIV
  • leukemia
  • lymphoma
  • pernicious anemia
  • acromegaly
  • sickle cell anemia
  • systemic lupus erythematosus
  • thalassemia
  • thyrotoxicosis
  • trauma, such as a car accident that impacted the spleen and liver
And he didn't die from it.
That's my point. Malaria is overlooked, so is Denge. Did the coroner miss something else?
Could this be a clue to his travels? And his occupation, and his identity?

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Thanks for posting this interesting read and summary of the facts from the Inquiry. The 1994 Phillips Brief published in the Criminal law Journal and with the assistance of the State Coroner of SA and Professors Cordnor and Drummer from the Victorian Institute of Criminal Pathology.

There are a couple of questions I have. I thought it was Coroner Thomas Erskine Cleland who had subsequently found the paper with Tamam Shud in the man's packet and not Dr (Professor) John Cleland. The two were cousins and Dr Cleland a pathologist was brought in at a later date after the man was embalmed.

In his evidence Dr John Cleland could not remember the lividly that was observed at the back of he head and behind the ears of the body. I believe it was said the paper containing the words Tamam Shud was found around April 1949, after examinations by P.C. Moss, Det Sgt Leane and Brown and three other police assigned to the case missed it. It sounds in this summary that Dr Cleland examined the clothes and found the Tamam Shud paper before 14th January 1949 (but couldn't remember if he had lividity).

It's also interesting that the police photographer Durham says in his affidavit when he photographed the man on 3rd Dec 1938 he also took pictures of he paper found on the man the the writings.

So the pathologist got curious and examined SM's clothes?

View attachment 776741

Poison evidence summary from Prof Hicks correcting the likely cause of death to glycoside poisoning.
View attachment 776742View attachment 776743View attachment 776746
I think it would be beneficial to construct a detailed timeline of events. Lots of dates and times mentioned throughout the proceedings, they just need to be properly flagged and organised. I am unable to do that this weekend due to commitments.

The note written by Stanton Hicks is in the 1958 Inquest document so that will clear up one aspect of the article.

Professor Hicks made mention of the man's arm possibly being the last convulsion, however that was at 7pm on 30th November and the time of death was firmly placed between 1 am and 2 am on 1st December? Again, a timeline would be most useful.

From reading this account, it looks like Dr. Cleland (as opposed to coroner) first found the torn piece in December after the embalming and replaced it in the pocket. That begs the question, 'Why did he replace it?'. It was some time, June 9th, before the discovery of the piece was mentioned in the press. That could have been a crucial factor. I will check other information against this to verify it.

UPDATED 10th November, 1 pm. Can confirm that an article appeared in the NEWS Adelaide on 3rd May 1949, Page 1. stating that a small piece of paper printed in Turkish was found in the man's pocket.


The press took a very early interest in the unusual aspects of the case, I would think that would have been due to the actions of a press-friendly officer.
 

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That's my point. Malaria is overlooked, so is Denge. Did the coroner miss something else?
Could this be a clue to his travels? And his occupation, and his identity?

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And Malaria wasn't being treated during the war due to a lack of quinine. This would cause hepatosplenomegaly, to be present even if the malaria was treated with quinine later on.

12 Aug 1946 - MALARIA ARMY'S WORST DISEASE - The Telegraph (Brisbane, Qld) http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article188714896
56b1c85bdcd16d60b35947db455c29b6.jpg


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That's my point. Malaria is overlooked, so is Denge. Did the coroner miss something else?
Could this be a clue to his travels? And his occupation, and his identity?

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Good point, many soldiers may have had multiple episode of Malaria which can lead to enlarged spleens. Keith Mangnoson was sent home from New Guinea with Malaria.

However, to be fair if it didn't contribute to SM's death then I suppose it wasn't that important to the Inquest. The point was made that he didn't have a vaccination mark and I assume they are talking about smallpox which left a noticeable scar on the upper arm, and all soldiers (Allied?) were vaccinated.

I don't know if Russian or German soldiers were vaccinated. But if SM was in Australia in October 1945 when Robin would have been conceived it would not have gone down well just after the war finished to be a foreign speaker, although not impossible. Could Jo Harkness have been in England or Europe in October 1945?

Americans on the other hand were here in droves.
 

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Lot of seafarers/travellers used quinine past WW2 which can enlarge the spleen and also exacerbates the effects of digitalis. If the digitalis didn't affect his spleen regular doses of quinine might have.

It doesn't take long before quinine passes through the body so it may not have been noticed either, four to eight hours iirc.
 
Your are correct but it seems that many documents from this particular file have gone missing including the autopsy docs and the inquest transcripts. On the issue of voice recording, I have attached a document from a Law Journal discussing the SM case and reference is made to the way the inquest was conducted as in who asked questions. From that, we can deduce that a voice recorder wouldn't have done the job. There's a request under FOI in place for the transcript if it is still in existence. It would be very useful to know who asked what questions, in the attached you will read that a Detective may have been assisting the coroner.


It can't be a co-incidence for so much to have gone missing? The SA Coroner helped with this 1994 Phillips law Review of the case and mentioned that the original piece of paper that Prof Stanton Hicks wrote the classification of poison and the two groups went missing.

The handwritten note Exhibit C18 is not his handwriting (compared to his signature and corrections made in his handwriting on his affidavit seen on the 1949 Inquest. The classification of the poison on this note is incorrect, which the Law Review corrected to glycocides.

The two groups within glycoside were illegible in the hand written note. The law review interprets Prof Hicks comments where he talks about the poison most likely coming from the first group and gives two examples from this group as the most likely, to be digitalis. The Phillips Review was assisted by two Professors from the Victorian Institute of Forensics Science.
 
It can't be a co-incidence for so much to have gone missing? The SA Coroner helped with this 1994 Phillips law Review of the case and mentioned that the original piece of paper that Prof Stanton Hicks wrote the classification of poison and the two groups went missing.

The handwritten note Exhibit C18 is not his handwriting (compared to his signature and corrections made in his handwriting on his affidavit seen on the 1949 Inquest. The classification of the poison on this note is incorrect, which the Law Review corrected to glycocides.

The two groups within glycoside were illegible in the handwritten note. The law review interprets Prof Hicks comments where he talks about the poison most likely coming from the first group and gives two examples from this group as the most likely, to be digitalis. The Phillips Review was assisted by two Professors from the Victorian Institute of Forensics Science.
Yup. It seems to be all down to the copy of the transcript. It shouldn't be too long before we get a response. I would add, once again, that Professor Hicks's views were to the best of his knowledge at the time.
 
Lot of seafarers/travellers used quinine past WW2 which can enlarge the spleen and also exacerbates the effects of digitalis. If the digitalis didn't affect his spleen regular doses of quinine might have.

It doesn't take long before quinine passes through the body so it may not have been noticed either, four to eight hours iirc.
The timeline of the liberation of Singapore would probably exclude SM from being a POW as it only a month before Jessica is knocked up in Sydney. But it's interesting to note that 80% of POWs had endemic Malaria.
The Malaria mosquitoe was wide spread from Southern Europe to Northern Australia, and both americas until DDT spraying started after WW2. I'll post how, If he had, malaria can be used to narrow down who he might be.
07 Sep 1945 - SINGAPORE'S PRISONERS SOON FREED - The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW) http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article248026379

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The timeline of the liberation of Singapore would probably exclude SM from being a POW as it only a month before Jessica is knocked up in Sydney. But it's interesting to note that 80% of POWs had endemic Malaria.
The Malaria mosquitoe was wide spread from Southern Europe to Northern Australia, and both americas until DDT spraying started after WW2. I'll post how, If he had, malaria can be used to narrow down who he might be.
07 Sep 1945 - SINGAPORE'S PRISONERS SOON FREED - The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW) http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article248026379

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GG grandfather was a sea faring Scotsman, far as I know never had a bout of malaria but he always had quinine tablets 'just in case' and would carry on about the river mosquitoes later in life if he ran out. Lived to over 100yo. He didn't need the quinine but he probably saw enough malaria to not like the idea and it haunted him.
 
The timeline of the liberation of Singapore would probably exclude SM from being a POW as it only a month before Jessica is knocked up in Sydney. But it's interesting to note that 80% of POWs had endemic Malaria.
The Malaria mosquitoe was wide spread from Southern Europe to Northern Australia, and both americas until DDT spraying started after WW2. I'll post how, If he had, malaria can be used to narrow down who he might be.
07 Sep 1945 - SINGAPORE'S PRISONERS SOON FREED - The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW) http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article248026379

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Jessica apparently spoke Russian, and might've had a Jewish ancestry. Did the Harkness family adopt her as a refugee child?

Has anyone read Brother Fish, by Bryce Courtney?

If so, you might have some idea of the large number of white Russians that migrated to Australia in the 30's. These were people that once fled to Harbin in China during the Russian civil war. In the 1930s many fled China for Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Australia. Indeed, some of my school classmates were grandchildren of Tsarist Army officers, other White Russian refugees and Russian Jews, originating from Harbin.

Many of the White Russian refugees had contracted malaria in China





As for the deceased found upon Somerton Beach in Adelaide, he had American clothes and a link to America in a hair DNA sample. Yet a witness said he spoke with an eastern European accent? Maybe part or all of this evidence is unreliable, but for the shake of it, I'll go down this rabbit hole.

So was he of mixed descent?

Russian communities in Alaska, California, and Hawaii in the 1800's》



American communities in Soviet Union 1930's


2c5da6dc987cae97bad124e9e70390a0.jpg

Americans baseball team in Gorky Park, Moscow, 1934

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Interestingly, this rabbit hole brings up an American Ambassador, Joseph E. Davies and his wife, Marjorie Merriweather Post, who collected looted Russian artefacts.


Weird twist: Joseph E. Davies's coat of arms granted in 1939 by the College of Arms was plagiarized as a logo by the Trump Organization.

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Rabbit hole gets deeper

Private papers of John Burton Cleland held by the State Library of South Australia

contains correspondence between himself and Peking Union Medical College

The very institution that tried to move the Peking Man fossils to the US Embassy in Peking for transportation to America at the outbreak of WW2View attachment PRG5_1-32_ClelandJB_speciallists.pdf

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One thing that bugs me.
Phone numbers didn't move with people. At least not outside of an exchange area. Certainly not interstate. It i s impossible that Jessica's phone number could've been written on the book before she moved to Adelaide, unless she lived in the house before and knew that she'd be moving back there.
Who did the house in Moseley St Glenelg belong to over the preceeding years before she moved in?

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Yup. It seems to be all down to the copy of the transcript. It shouldn't be too long before we get a response. I would add, once again, that Professor Hicks's views were to the best of his knowledge at the time.
I can't fault the credentials of the Chief Justice of Victoria and Chairman of the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine, John Harber Phillips, who reviewed the case in 1994. That he also had co-operation from the SA Coroner at the time and two professors in forensic science means he would have got the best access to documents of the Inquest available and help in anlaysing these documents.

I'm interested if you have emailed or asked the State Library of SA for the notes that Dr or Professor John Cleland made on the Beaumont case? In the list of documents that Redacted provided of Dr JB Cleland's documents it says there were to be suppressed for 60 years. It is now coming up to 71 years when SM was discovered dead on the beach.

Have these notes been asked for or made available that you know of?
 
I can't fault the credentials of the Chief Justice of Victoria and Chairman of the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine, John Harber Phillips, who reviewed the case in 1994. That he also had co-operation from the SA Coroner at the time and two professors in forensic science means he would have got the best access to documents of the Inquest available and help in anlaysing these documents.

I'm interested if you have emailed or asked the State Library of SA for the notes that Dr or Professor John Cleland made on the Beaumont case? In the list of documents that Redacted provided of Dr JB Cleland's documents it says there were to be suppressed for 60 years. It is now coming up to 71 years when SM was discovered dead on the beach.

Have these notes been asked for or made available that you know of?
Pretty sure that Professor Abbott has asked for all SM notes.
 

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