WEBVTT - Season 09 Episode 19: Something in the Water

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<v Speaker 1>Hello, there's Richard McLain smith here to let you know

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<v Speaker 1>that I now have a substack page if you enjoy

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<v Speaker 1>Unexplained and want to go deeper into the world of

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<v Speaker 1>the show. I've created a new space for all the

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<v Speaker 1>bits that don't quite fit into the podcast, including the

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<v Speaker 1>Unexplained Dedendum, a weekly companion piece to each new episode.

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<v Speaker 1>Expect essays that lean more academic and analytical explorations of folklore, psychology,

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<v Speaker 1>and the shadowy corners of history that have shaped the

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<v Speaker 1>stories you hear on the show. But it's also a

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<v Speaker 1>home for something more personal, my fiction, my strange amusings,

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<v Speaker 1>and the odd fragments that don't belong anywhere else. Search

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<v Speaker 1>for Richard McClain smith on substack, or go to Richard

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<v Speaker 1>mcclainsmith dot substack dot com to find out more and subscribe.

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<v Speaker 1>If you'd like a little bit more of me and

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<v Speaker 1>Unexplained in your week, join me on substack and let's

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<v Speaker 1>keep exploring the unknown together. New writing most Tuesdays. It

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<v Speaker 1>was a glorious autumn day in Sydney, Australia, as Nazis

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<v Speaker 1>Young lent on the rail overlooking the indoor saltwater swimming

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<v Speaker 1>pool near Coudji Beach. Young worked at the Sydney Morning Herald,

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<v Speaker 1>but on Anzac Day, April twenty fifth, nineteen thirty five,

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<v Speaker 1>he was taking some time out to enjoy the busy

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<v Speaker 1>public holiday. Earlier, the pool had been bustling with visitors,

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<v Speaker 1>although no one was there to swim themselves. Now, as

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<v Speaker 1>late afternoon sunshines slanted across the water, Young was one

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<v Speaker 1>of only a few visitors left staring at the reason

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<v Speaker 1>why of fourteen and a half foot long tiger shark.

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<v Speaker 1>That had been eight shark attacks around Sydney in the

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<v Speaker 1>past twelve months, six of them fatal. In one case,

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<v Speaker 1>seventeen year old Frank Riley had his leg torn off

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<v Speaker 1>at the hip by a shark that, as onlookers described,

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<v Speaker 1>had shaken him back and forth like a dog shaking

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<v Speaker 1>a rabbit. A beach inspector eventually managed to pull the

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<v Speaker 1>horrifically injured Riley to shore, while fellow bathers beat the

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<v Speaker 1>water to keep the shark at bay, but it was

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<v Speaker 1>too late. The young man bled to death at the

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<v Speaker 1>Surf clubhouse while a horrified public watched the shark cruising

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<v Speaker 1>up and down the shallows in the bloodied water. Sydney's

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<v Speaker 1>slaughter houses and sewage system had been dumping their waist

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<v Speaker 1>directly into the ocean, which seemed to be attracting tiger

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<v Speaker 1>sharks as well as bull sharks and great whites. Close

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<v Speaker 1>to the city's most popular swimming beaches of Manly, Bondai

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<v Speaker 1>and Cudjie, the public were equally terrified and fascinated, with

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<v Speaker 1>many becoming increasingly eager to catch a glimpse of the

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<v Speaker 1>so called man eating monsters. And so, with business being

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<v Speaker 1>slow at Cudgee's indoor swimming pool, its owner, Charlie Hobson,

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<v Speaker 1>atched a cunning plan to try to catch one, and

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<v Speaker 1>did his brother Bert, an expert angler, to help. A

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<v Speaker 1>week before Anzac Day, Bert and his son Ron put

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<v Speaker 1>out baiting lines at Maroubra Point, a well known shark

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<v Speaker 1>hotspot just south of Kujie. The following morning they found

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<v Speaker 1>the head of a six foot shark clenched onto one

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<v Speaker 1>of the hooks. Tangled up alongside it was a much

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<v Speaker 1>bigger tiger shark, which had evidently eaten most of the

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<v Speaker 1>smaller shark, but had itself been caught in the process.

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<v Speaker 1>It was exactly what they were looking for. With the

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<v Speaker 1>help of Ropes and several other men. The shark offered

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<v Speaker 1>no resistance as the Hobsons hauled it out of the

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<v Speaker 1>water along the beach and finally lifted it into the

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<v Speaker 1>swimming pool. After its forty five minute ordeal, the shark

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<v Speaker 1>was barely alive. It remained that way for most of

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<v Speaker 1>the day until a pump was brought in to aerate

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<v Speaker 1>the water, at which point it seemed to perk up

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<v Speaker 1>a little. On top of the shark of being pulled

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<v Speaker 1>out at the sea and placed in the swimming pool,

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<v Speaker 1>something clearly wasn't right with it. You're listening to Unexplained,

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<v Speaker 1>and I'm Richard McLain Smith. A week after its capture,

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<v Speaker 1>there'd been little improvement in the tiger shark's health. It

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<v Speaker 1>was still despondent and barely eating, but it had certainly

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<v Speaker 1>brought in the tourists. For Herald journalist Narsis Young, however,

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<v Speaker 1>there was little to enjoy watching the thing edge listlessly

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<v Speaker 1>from one side of the pool to the other. After

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<v Speaker 1>watching it for fifteen minutes, it was just about to

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<v Speaker 1>leave when the shark suddenly began to swim, frantically, bumping

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<v Speaker 1>into the sides and flashing its tail after beating the

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<v Speaker 1>water into a foam. The shark then suddenly swam around

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<v Speaker 1>in a tight circle before sinking to the bottom of

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<v Speaker 1>the pool. Young stared on and wrapped as a cloudy

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<v Speaker 1>plume of brown sludge rose up from the depths. Then

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<v Speaker 1>a terrible stench hit its nostrils. Emerging from out of

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<v Speaker 1>the sludge, Young could see all manner of strange, putrid things,

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<v Speaker 1>half a rat, chunks of fish, feathers even, But the

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<v Speaker 1>strangest thing of all was the long, pale piece of

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<v Speaker 1>meat that rose up in the center of it all,

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<v Speaker 1>a human arm. Sometimes called the trash cans of the sea.

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<v Speaker 1>Tiger sharks have one of the most vary diets of

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<v Speaker 1>all shark species, as well as eating a wide variety

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<v Speaker 1>of marine creatures thanks to the endless waste we produce,

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<v Speaker 1>they've even been known to consume our rubbish. Thankfully, Tiger

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<v Speaker 1>sharks have a nifty way of dealing with anything their

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<v Speaker 1>stomach doesn't quite agree with, by pushing it out of

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<v Speaker 1>its mouth to eject its contents in a feet known

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<v Speaker 1>as gastric aversion. The stomachs of tiger sharks have on

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<v Speaker 1>occasion been found to contain some very strange items. You

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<v Speaker 1>might remember the scene in Jaws where a tiger shark

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<v Speaker 1>is all top seed by a marine biologist played by

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<v Speaker 1>Richard Dreyfuss. He finds a Louisiana state vehicle license plate

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<v Speaker 1>in its stomach. The scene is much closer to fact

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<v Speaker 1>than fiction. Along with license plates, objects found in the

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<v Speaker 1>stomach of tiger sharks have also included entire dogs with

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<v Speaker 1>collars and leads still attached, fur coats, and even an

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<v Speaker 1>entire suit of armour, including the helmet, according to one

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<v Speaker 1>sixteenth century report. And of course, human body parts too

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<v Speaker 1>have been found, much like the arm that appeared at

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<v Speaker 1>the Cujee swimming pool on that strange day in April

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen thirty five. It had been a quiet Anzac day

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<v Speaker 1>for detectives at the police station on the hill above

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<v Speaker 1>Coojie Beach when the phone rang late in the afternoon.

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<v Speaker 1>On being told what had just happened at the swimming pool,

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<v Speaker 1>two officers were promptly dispatched to investigate. Arriving at the pool,

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<v Speaker 1>they found Bert and Charlie Hobson attempting to clean up

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<v Speaker 1>some of the stinking debris. With their help, the officers

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<v Speaker 1>fished the arm out of the water. There were several

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<v Speaker 1>striking things about it. It was deemed to have belonged

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<v Speaker 1>to a male and was in a remarkably good state

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<v Speaker 1>of preservation considering where it had come from, so good

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<v Speaker 1>that the fingerprints were still clearly visible. It also bore

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<v Speaker 1>a striking tattoo just below the forearm, two boxers facing

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<v Speaker 1>each other, outlined in blue and wearing red boxing shorts.

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<v Speaker 1>There was one other curious feature. A length of rope

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<v Speaker 1>had been tied around the wrist. Once the detectives established

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<v Speaker 1>unequivocally that the arm had come out at the shark

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<v Speaker 1>and hadn't just been thrown into the tank at some

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<v Speaker 1>other time, an officer was sent for from the fingerprint branch.

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<v Speaker 1>He delicately cut the skin from the fingertips and took

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<v Speaker 1>it away for identification. The following day at the Margue

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<v Speaker 1>down at Sydney's Circular Key, the arm was examined in

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<v Speaker 1>greater detail. A pungent blend of maldehyde fumes and brotting

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<v Speaker 1>flesh hung heavily in the air. Oblivious or perhaps accustomed

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<v Speaker 1>to the unpleasant odors. Doctor Arthur Palmer, an experienced government

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<v Speaker 1>medical officer, along with the shark White specialist bent over

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<v Speaker 1>the severed arm and peered closely at its broken and

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<v Speaker 1>mangled skin. It had been assumed that the unfortunate owner

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<v Speaker 1>of the arm had fallen victim to yet another shark attack.

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<v Speaker 1>There were numerous puncture wounds which had likely been made

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<v Speaker 1>by the tiger shark when it ate the arm, But

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<v Speaker 1>as Palmer and the bite expert pored over the wound

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<v Speaker 1>where the arm had been torn from the body, both

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<v Speaker 1>agreed that were none of the ragged tears or bite

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<v Speaker 1>marks you'd expect to find from a shark attack. What

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<v Speaker 1>they found instead was the arm had been sliced off

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<v Speaker 1>cleanly with a single bladed implement, meaning it had been

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<v Speaker 1>removed before it ended up as chum. It was later

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<v Speaker 1>speculated that the arm had likely been eaten first by

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<v Speaker 1>the smaller shark that the Hobson brothers caught before that,

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<v Speaker 1>and its stomach contents were in turn eaten by the

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<v Speaker 1>larger tiger shark. To help identify the man to whom

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<v Speaker 1>the arm had once belonged, police put out a description

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<v Speaker 1>of the distinctive tattoo in the press and ran the

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<v Speaker 1>prints through their database. It didn't take long to get

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<v Speaker 1>a result in a modest cottage in a suburb in

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<v Speaker 1>northern Sydney, and missus Molloy recognized the description of the

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<v Speaker 1>tattoo as one that her son in law also had.

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<v Speaker 1>She rushed to tell her daughter Gladys, whose husband had

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<v Speaker 1>been missing for three weeks. He'd supposedly gone to Cronulla,

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<v Speaker 1>fifteen miles south of Sydney on a fishing trip with

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<v Speaker 1>a friend, but had so far failed to return. At first,

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<v Speaker 1>Gladys was in denial. Then her brother in law came

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<v Speaker 1>to call. He'd already spoken to the investigators who'd shown

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<v Speaker 1>him a photograph of the tattoo. He was adamant it

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<v Speaker 1>was his brother. His and Gladys's worst fears were confirmed

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<v Speaker 1>when the fingerprint check came back with a positive match too,

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<v Speaker 1>because the arm's owner had a police record. His name

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<v Speaker 1>was Jane Smith, a forty five year old from the

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<v Speaker 1>suburb of Gladesville, known to his family and acquaintances as

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<v Speaker 1>Jim or Jimmy. The man had been a builder and

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<v Speaker 1>a keen amateur boxer. More recently, he tried to invest

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<v Speaker 1>in property but had fallen on hard times. He'd been

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<v Speaker 1>fingerprinted three years earlier after being charged with a minor offence.

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<v Speaker 1>Those records also contained a description of the tattoo on

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<v Speaker 1>his left arm two boxers outlined in blue wearing red

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<v Speaker 1>boxing shorts. But this was no simple case of a

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<v Speaker 1>man falling overboard while fishing, then being attacked and partly

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<v Speaker 1>eaten by a shark. The events that had led to

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<v Speaker 1>the arm being in the shark's stomach had begun many

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<v Speaker 1>months earlier. In the early pre dawn light one April

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<v Speaker 1>morning the previous year, a mile offshore from Terragle, a

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<v Speaker 1>small fishing town on the central coast of New South Wales,

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<v Speaker 1>glanced around the beautiful yacht he was aboard. He took

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<v Speaker 1>in the Pathfinder's fine lines, polished walnut interiors and bespoke

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<v Speaker 1>furniture for one last time. Then, as the yacht bobbed

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<v Speaker 1>gently in the water, he went below decks with a

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<v Speaker 1>hammer and smashed the toilet's water pipes. A little while later,

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<v Speaker 1>the Pathfinder was low in the water and listing heavily

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<v Speaker 1>to one side. Wishing that the yacht would sink a

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<v Speaker 1>little faster, the man climbed into the dinghy he'd prepared,

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<v Speaker 1>when out of the dawn gloom a ship loomed. It

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<v Speaker 1>was a coal transporter bound for Sydney when its skipper

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<v Speaker 1>spotted the stricken yacht. He drew his ship closer and

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<v Speaker 1>called out to the man in the small dinghy, who

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<v Speaker 1>seemed to be rowing away from it towards shore. He

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<v Speaker 1>asked if he needed any help, but the man just

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<v Speaker 1>kept rowing and didn't reply. Perplexed, the coal ship's captain

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<v Speaker 1>could continued on to Sydney well Later that day, he

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<v Speaker 1>reported the incident to the police. As he tried to

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<v Speaker 1>get away, the man in the dinghy cursed his bad luck.

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<v Speaker 1>Being seen leaving the yacht was not part of his plan,

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<v Speaker 1>as he rowed. His muscles flexed, rippling the skin which

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<v Speaker 1>on his left arm bore a singular tattoo, two boxes

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<v Speaker 1>facing each other, outlined in blue and wearing red boxing shorts.

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<v Speaker 1>The man was, of course, James Smith. Jim had fallen

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<v Speaker 1>in with a shady Sydney based boat builder and speedboat

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<v Speaker 1>racer called Reginald Holmes. He'd become involved in criminal activities,

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<v Speaker 1>including using boats to coordinate drug drops off the coast

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<v Speaker 1>of Sydney. The plan for this latest venture that he'd

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<v Speaker 1>undertaken for homes was to sink the path Finder and

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<v Speaker 1>claim it was an accident in order to collect the

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<v Speaker 1>insurance money for it. But things were not going to plan.

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<v Speaker 1>As Smith continued to row, a strong wind from the

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<v Speaker 1>southeast picked up and with it came a heavy swell.

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<v Speaker 1>It took all of Jim's strength and four exhausting hours

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<v Speaker 1>to make it to shore, staggering into Terrible police station

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<v Speaker 1>to report his concocted story of how the Pathfinder had sunk.

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<v Speaker 1>Smith made a serious error, perhaps because he was so tired.

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<v Speaker 1>Instead of concealing the name of the yacht's owner, he

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<v Speaker 1>asked a policeman to dial the owner's number for him,

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<v Speaker 1>then immediately called him mister Holmes when he picked up.

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<v Speaker 1>A short time later, the police were alerted to the

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<v Speaker 1>report made by the coal ship captain, along with an

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<v Speaker 1>inquiry from a shipping insurance company about the suspicious sinking

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<v Speaker 1>of a yacht they just received a claim. On joining

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<v Speaker 1>the Dots, the police called Reginald Holmes and his his

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<v Speaker 1>business partner, Albert Stanart, who also had a boat building

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<v Speaker 1>business on Sydney Harbor, in for questioning. Jim Smith was

0:15:08.600 --> 0:15:13.320
<v Speaker 1>questioned too. Charges of attempting to defraud the insurance company

0:15:13.560 --> 0:15:18.359
<v Speaker 1>were eventually dropped, but Smith's relationship with Holmes at Sowart.

0:15:19.160 --> 0:15:23.080
<v Speaker 1>Determined to push on with his criminal activities, Smith turned

0:15:23.080 --> 0:15:26.120
<v Speaker 1>to the man who seemed to be his one remaining friend,

0:15:26.640 --> 0:15:30.480
<v Speaker 1>Patrick Paddy Brady, who he described to his wife as

0:15:30.560 --> 0:15:36.320
<v Speaker 1>Australia's cleverest forger. Brady invited Smith to join him on

0:15:36.400 --> 0:15:41.520
<v Speaker 1>his next criminal venture, a convoluted scheme that involved using

0:15:41.520 --> 0:15:45.920
<v Speaker 1>the Pathfinder sinking scam to blackmail money from Reginald Holmes.

0:15:46.880 --> 0:15:49.880
<v Speaker 1>Brady would forge checks that appeared to have been issued

0:15:49.880 --> 0:15:53.320
<v Speaker 1>by Holmes, and Holmes felt that he had no choice

0:15:53.360 --> 0:15:56.800
<v Speaker 1>but allow them to be cashed. Terrified that the investigation

0:15:56.920 --> 0:16:00.480
<v Speaker 1>into his insurance scam would be reopened if he didn't comply,

0:16:01.560 --> 0:16:12.720
<v Speaker 1>but Brady got greedy, as well as confronting Homes directly

0:16:12.920 --> 0:16:16.240
<v Speaker 1>to extort more money from him. Paddy Brady brought a

0:16:16.280 --> 0:16:19.840
<v Speaker 1>third small time crook into the mix, a man named

0:16:19.880 --> 0:16:24.520
<v Speaker 1>Stanley Watson. Watson was soon caught and identified in a

0:16:24.560 --> 0:16:29.560
<v Speaker 1>police lineup as the person cashing the forged checks. Watson

0:16:29.640 --> 0:16:33.600
<v Speaker 1>soon came to suspect with good reason that he'd been shopped,

0:16:34.840 --> 0:16:38.240
<v Speaker 1>as it turned out, in exchange for immunity from prosecution.

0:16:38.520 --> 0:16:42.000
<v Speaker 1>In the scuttling of the Pathfinder, James Smith had become

0:16:42.040 --> 0:16:46.000
<v Speaker 1>a police informant. The next few months were a dangerous

0:16:46.080 --> 0:16:50.320
<v Speaker 1>time for Smith, when Watson was convicted of forgery and

0:16:50.440 --> 0:16:54.160
<v Speaker 1>sentenced to three years hard labor. News of the botched

0:16:54.200 --> 0:16:57.800
<v Speaker 1>Pathfinder job, along with rumors that Smith might now be

0:16:57.840 --> 0:17:03.560
<v Speaker 1>a police informant, spread through Sydney's criminal underworld. One night,

0:17:03.960 --> 0:17:07.159
<v Speaker 1>Smith came home drunk, bleeding from a head wound that

0:17:07.400 --> 0:17:11.320
<v Speaker 1>was bad enough to need stitches. His wife, Gladys, asked

0:17:11.359 --> 0:17:14.320
<v Speaker 1>what had happened, only for Smith to claim that he'd

0:17:14.359 --> 0:17:18.240
<v Speaker 1>fallen and cut himself on a broken bottle, but Gladys

0:17:18.320 --> 0:17:23.240
<v Speaker 1>wasn't convinced. A few days later, on April seventh, nineteen

0:17:23.359 --> 0:17:26.879
<v Speaker 1>thirty five, James Smith walked his wife down the street

0:17:27.359 --> 0:17:30.600
<v Speaker 1>to where she caught the tram to work. He told

0:17:30.600 --> 0:17:33.119
<v Speaker 1>her he was going to Crunneller in South Sydney for

0:17:33.160 --> 0:17:36.000
<v Speaker 1>a week to stay at a cottage that Paddy Brady

0:17:36.160 --> 0:17:39.400
<v Speaker 1>had rented for them both. They planned to go fishing,

0:17:39.480 --> 0:17:43.600
<v Speaker 1>he said. Then he and Gladys said their goodbyes and

0:17:43.720 --> 0:17:47.919
<v Speaker 1>waved to each other as Gladys's tram trundled away. It

0:17:48.040 --> 0:17:50.840
<v Speaker 1>was the last time that Gladys would ever see her husband.

0:17:52.200 --> 0:17:55.720
<v Speaker 1>Later that afternoon, Paddy and Jim were seen drinking in

0:17:55.720 --> 0:18:00.040
<v Speaker 1>the bar at Cronneller's Cecil Hotel. The next day, a

0:18:00.760 --> 0:18:04.040
<v Speaker 1>taxi driver was hailed by a disheveled looking man who

0:18:04.080 --> 0:18:07.680
<v Speaker 1>seemed to be strangely on edge. The man asked the

0:18:07.760 --> 0:18:11.160
<v Speaker 1>driver to wait for him outside a second hand furniture store,

0:18:11.400 --> 0:18:14.280
<v Speaker 1>before emerging a few minutes later with a large metal

0:18:14.320 --> 0:18:18.159
<v Speaker 1>trunk and a mattress. The driver was then instructed to

0:18:18.240 --> 0:18:20.520
<v Speaker 1>deliver the man to the cottage where he was staying.

0:18:21.640 --> 0:18:24.480
<v Speaker 1>A day or so later, the landlord of the cottage

0:18:24.560 --> 0:18:28.120
<v Speaker 1>that Paddy Brady had rented for himself and James came

0:18:28.160 --> 0:18:30.760
<v Speaker 1>to inspect the property and get it ready for his

0:18:30.840 --> 0:18:34.840
<v Speaker 1>next set of guests. Weirdly, he found that the mattress

0:18:34.840 --> 0:18:40.880
<v Speaker 1>had been replaced and the walls scrubbed scrupulously clean. When

0:18:41.000 --> 0:18:45.200
<v Speaker 1>James Smith's arm was found, Paddy Brady was immediately brought

0:18:45.200 --> 0:18:59.560
<v Speaker 1>in for questioning. Under police interrogation, Paddy Brady wove in

0:18:59.600 --> 0:19:04.360
<v Speaker 1>a labor story which implicated Reginald Holmes in Smith's disappearance.

0:19:05.359 --> 0:19:08.280
<v Speaker 1>Brady claimed that after dealings between the two men had

0:19:08.320 --> 0:19:12.359
<v Speaker 1>turned sour, Holmes decided to do away with Smith, but

0:19:12.480 --> 0:19:15.800
<v Speaker 1>having by then identified Brady as the man whom Smith

0:19:15.840 --> 0:19:18.560
<v Speaker 1>had stayed with in Cronulla and who had also taken

0:19:18.600 --> 0:19:22.560
<v Speaker 1>a taxi to buy the replacement mattress, the police surmised

0:19:22.600 --> 0:19:25.560
<v Speaker 1>that he had murdered Smith in the rental property and

0:19:25.640 --> 0:19:28.640
<v Speaker 1>had been forced to replace the bed to cover his tracks.

0:19:29.440 --> 0:19:33.440
<v Speaker 1>On May nineteenth, despite no sign of Smith's body save

0:19:33.520 --> 0:19:36.800
<v Speaker 1>for his arm, Paddy Brady was charged with his murder,

0:19:37.359 --> 0:19:40.960
<v Speaker 1>but the police still wanted to speak to Reginald Holmes.

0:19:42.359 --> 0:19:46.199
<v Speaker 1>Early the following day, a dense fog hung over Sydney Harbor.

0:19:47.040 --> 0:19:51.000
<v Speaker 1>Around seven a m Reginald Holmes, dressed in an overcoat,

0:19:51.359 --> 0:19:54.760
<v Speaker 1>went down to Stannard's Wharf and borrowed a small speedboat

0:19:54.920 --> 0:19:58.840
<v Speaker 1>from a man named Harz. Hars could tell that Holmes

0:19:58.920 --> 0:20:01.600
<v Speaker 1>was drunk, but was happy to let him take the boat.

0:20:02.600 --> 0:20:05.920
<v Speaker 1>With that, Holmes gunned the engines and sped off into

0:20:05.960 --> 0:20:09.680
<v Speaker 1>the harbor, before coming to a standstill just offshore from

0:20:09.720 --> 0:20:14.240
<v Speaker 1>a place called Piper Point. As the fog slowly lifted,

0:20:14.560 --> 0:20:18.080
<v Speaker 1>with curls of it drifting across the water, Homes cut

0:20:18.160 --> 0:20:21.240
<v Speaker 1>the engine then pulled a half empty bottle of brandy

0:20:21.320 --> 0:20:25.320
<v Speaker 1>from his overcoat pocket and gulped down its remaining contents.

0:20:26.160 --> 0:20:29.280
<v Speaker 1>Then he took a revolver out of another pocket, pointed

0:20:29.320 --> 0:20:33.280
<v Speaker 1>it at his forehead, and pulled the trigger. The sharp

0:20:33.320 --> 0:20:36.800
<v Speaker 1>crack of the gun shot resounded through the mist, followed

0:20:36.840 --> 0:20:40.720
<v Speaker 1>by a loud splash as Homes tumbled over the side.

0:20:40.960 --> 0:20:43.920
<v Speaker 1>For a moment, there was nothing but an eerie silence.

0:20:44.440 --> 0:20:48.440
<v Speaker 1>Then frantic splashing sounds came from beside the speedboat as

0:20:48.480 --> 0:20:53.240
<v Speaker 1>Holmes is thrashing arms. Then his head breached the water's surface.

0:20:54.200 --> 0:20:58.040
<v Speaker 1>He had survived his suicide attempt. The gun had been

0:20:58.080 --> 0:21:01.639
<v Speaker 1>loaded with cheap nickel based bullets, and the shot hadn't

0:21:01.640 --> 0:21:05.840
<v Speaker 1>been strong enough to penetrate bone. Instead, the bullet had

0:21:05.880 --> 0:21:10.200
<v Speaker 1>become embedded in Holmes's forehead. Immersion in the freezing water

0:21:10.680 --> 0:21:21.240
<v Speaker 1>had brought the stunned man back to consciousness. After hauling

0:21:21.280 --> 0:21:25.800
<v Speaker 1>himself back into the boat, Reginald Holmes sat dazed, sopping

0:21:25.840 --> 0:21:30.840
<v Speaker 1>wet and cold, with a terrible headache. Its acquaintance, Hearts,

0:21:30.960 --> 0:21:33.320
<v Speaker 1>who happened to be out in one of his workboats,

0:21:33.600 --> 0:21:36.760
<v Speaker 1>noticed the speedboat bobbing on the water in the distance,

0:21:37.800 --> 0:21:41.240
<v Speaker 1>Drawing closer It was shocked to see Holmes hunched over

0:21:41.280 --> 0:21:44.680
<v Speaker 1>the wheel, bleeding profusely from a head wound and only

0:21:44.760 --> 0:21:49.480
<v Speaker 1>semi conscious. Taking the speedboat in tow, Hars returned to

0:21:49.560 --> 0:21:52.040
<v Speaker 1>the wharf, where he jumped out and hurried to the

0:21:52.080 --> 0:21:56.320
<v Speaker 1>local water police to get help. Holmes had remained throughout

0:21:56.600 --> 0:21:59.240
<v Speaker 1>slumped at the wheel of the speedboat, but when he

0:21:59.280 --> 0:22:02.720
<v Speaker 1>saw the police approaching, he sprung into action and took

0:22:02.760 --> 0:22:06.600
<v Speaker 1>off across the harbor at speed. The water police followed

0:22:06.600 --> 0:22:11.119
<v Speaker 1>in hot pursuit. For four hours, the police chased homes

0:22:11.119 --> 0:22:16.480
<v Speaker 1>around Sydney Harbor. Onlookers watched amazed as the fugitive, crouched

0:22:16.480 --> 0:22:20.119
<v Speaker 1>over the wheel with blood streaming from his head, twisted

0:22:20.160 --> 0:22:23.520
<v Speaker 1>and turned his speedboat in and out of bays and coves,

0:22:23.760 --> 0:22:28.080
<v Speaker 1>dodging boys and jetties. Several times. He made sharp u

0:22:28.160 --> 0:22:31.479
<v Speaker 1>turns and sped toward the police at full throttle as

0:22:31.560 --> 0:22:34.600
<v Speaker 1>if about to ram them, seemingly convinced that he could

0:22:34.600 --> 0:22:38.320
<v Speaker 1>evade them with his superior skills, and perhaps he might

0:22:38.400 --> 0:22:42.119
<v Speaker 1>have had he not run out of fuel. When he

0:22:42.200 --> 0:22:46.119
<v Speaker 1>was finally apprehended, Holmes was interrogated for three hours, with

0:22:46.200 --> 0:22:49.680
<v Speaker 1>the bullet still lodged in his head. His account of

0:22:49.720 --> 0:22:53.679
<v Speaker 1>events over the previous weeks were very different to Paddy Brady's.

0:22:54.440 --> 0:22:58.280
<v Speaker 1>According to Holmes, during that time that Brady had relentlessly

0:22:58.320 --> 0:23:02.040
<v Speaker 1>blackmailed and threatened him. On the morning of April ninth,

0:23:02.480 --> 0:23:05.879
<v Speaker 1>Holmes alleged that Brady turned up at his office with

0:23:05.960 --> 0:23:08.960
<v Speaker 1>a canvas back and told him to look inside it.

0:23:09.840 --> 0:23:13.520
<v Speaker 1>When he did, he saw that it contained James Smith's

0:23:13.560 --> 0:23:18.280
<v Speaker 1>severed arm, Claiming that he'd killed Smith, Brady made it

0:23:18.320 --> 0:23:21.880
<v Speaker 1>fairly obvious that if Holmes was not careful, he might

0:23:22.000 --> 0:23:25.960
<v Speaker 1>end up the same way. This seemed to explain to

0:23:26.000 --> 0:23:29.119
<v Speaker 1>the police why Holmes had tried to kill himself to

0:23:29.200 --> 0:23:32.520
<v Speaker 1>avoid the misery of being tortured to death by Brady.

0:23:33.720 --> 0:23:37.720
<v Speaker 1>Weighing the evidence, the police decided that Brady was the murderer,

0:23:38.000 --> 0:23:41.280
<v Speaker 1>and Holmes was released on the condition that he would

0:23:41.280 --> 0:23:45.480
<v Speaker 1>testify at the inquest into Smith's death and Brady's subsequent

0:23:45.600 --> 0:23:50.080
<v Speaker 1>murder trial, but Reginald Holmes would never see the inside

0:23:50.119 --> 0:24:00.000
<v Speaker 1>of the court room. On the afternoon of June eleventh,

0:24:00.400 --> 0:24:04.320
<v Speaker 1>Reginald Holmes visited his bank, where he withdrew five hundred

0:24:04.359 --> 0:24:08.680
<v Speaker 1>pounds in cash roughly fifty thousand Australian dollars in today's

0:24:08.720 --> 0:24:13.719
<v Speaker 1>money that evening. He went out in his car the

0:24:13.720 --> 0:24:16.680
<v Speaker 1>next morning, the same day he was due to testify

0:24:16.720 --> 0:24:19.520
<v Speaker 1>at the inquest, he was found dead in his car

0:24:19.840 --> 0:24:23.000
<v Speaker 1>from a gunshot to the head fired at close range.

0:24:24.080 --> 0:24:28.200
<v Speaker 1>Was it suicide or had someone done the job for him?

0:24:28.680 --> 0:24:32.240
<v Speaker 1>His withdrawal of the cash, along with forensic evidence, led

0:24:32.280 --> 0:24:35.320
<v Speaker 1>the police to conclude that it was murder. But with

0:24:35.400 --> 0:24:40.600
<v Speaker 1>Paddy Brady in custody, who else had wanted Holmes dead?

0:24:41.520 --> 0:24:44.320
<v Speaker 1>Brady was now firmly in the frame for murder. But

0:24:44.480 --> 0:24:47.200
<v Speaker 1>before he could go to trial, there was the inquest

0:24:47.240 --> 0:24:50.920
<v Speaker 1>on the Cause of James Smith's death. It was over

0:24:51.000 --> 0:24:55.240
<v Speaker 1>in less than two days. The evidence against Brady was

0:24:55.280 --> 0:25:01.080
<v Speaker 1>all circumstantial, and his defense lawyer, quoting historical precedents, successfully

0:25:01.080 --> 0:25:03.399
<v Speaker 1>made the case that for someone to be charged with

0:25:03.520 --> 0:25:07.120
<v Speaker 1>murder there had to be a body, not just an arm,

0:25:07.240 --> 0:25:11.240
<v Speaker 1>and so the inquest was quashed. Brady was tried for

0:25:11.280 --> 0:25:14.359
<v Speaker 1>the murder in September that year, but with no body

0:25:14.520 --> 0:25:18.400
<v Speaker 1>and only circumstantial evidence to go on, he was acquitted.

0:25:20.000 --> 0:25:24.159
<v Speaker 1>Then in November, based on fresh evidence, two new suspects

0:25:24.200 --> 0:25:27.760
<v Speaker 1>were put on trial for Smith's murder. One of them

0:25:27.880 --> 0:25:32.840
<v Speaker 1>was Albert Stanart, the long time business associate of Reginald Holmes.

0:25:32.960 --> 0:25:36.439
<v Speaker 1>Like Holmes, he too was a wealthy boat builder rumored

0:25:36.480 --> 0:25:40.120
<v Speaker 1>to be involved in insurance fraud and drug smuggling. He

0:25:40.200 --> 0:25:43.960
<v Speaker 1>was charged with the murder alongside John Patrick Strong, a

0:25:44.040 --> 0:25:48.359
<v Speaker 1>docker who worked for him, but again with little but

0:25:48.560 --> 0:25:53.399
<v Speaker 1>circumstantial evidence and still no body, they were also acquitted.

0:25:55.280 --> 0:25:59.159
<v Speaker 1>To this day, no conclusive evidence about who killed James

0:25:59.160 --> 0:26:03.760
<v Speaker 1>Smith or Reginald Holmes has ever been found. They remain

0:26:03.880 --> 0:26:09.000
<v Speaker 1>two of Australia's most intriguing and longest unsold cases, and

0:26:09.160 --> 0:26:13.440
<v Speaker 1>both they and exactly how James Smith's tattooed severed arm

0:26:13.880 --> 0:26:17.040
<v Speaker 1>ended up in the stomach of a shark seem destined

0:26:17.080 --> 0:26:24.840
<v Speaker 1>to remain forever unexplained. This episode was written by Diane

0:26:24.840 --> 0:26:30.159
<v Speaker 1>Hope and produced by Richard McLain Smith. Thank you as

0:26:30.200 --> 0:26:33.879
<v Speaker 1>ever for listening Unexplained as an Avy Club production podcast

0:26:34.119 --> 0:26:38.200
<v Speaker 1>created by Richard McLain Smith. All other elements of the podcast,

0:26:38.280 --> 0:26:43.840
<v Speaker 1>including the music, are also produced by me Richard McLain Smith. Unexplained.

0:26:43.840 --> 0:26:47.480
<v Speaker 1>The book and audiobook is now available to buy worldwide.

0:26:47.960 --> 0:26:51.720
<v Speaker 1>You can purchase from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Waterstones, and

0:26:51.840 --> 0:26:55.719
<v Speaker 1>other bookstores. Please subscribe to and rate the show wherever

0:26:55.760 --> 0:26:58.359
<v Speaker 1>you get your podcasts, and feel free to get in

0:26:58.400 --> 0:27:01.400
<v Speaker 1>touch with any thoughts or idea is regarding the stories

0:27:01.440 --> 0:27:04.240
<v Speaker 1>you've heard on the show. Perhaps you have an explanation

0:27:04.560 --> 0:27:06.520
<v Speaker 1>or a story of your own you'd like to share.

0:27:07.080 --> 0:27:10.159
<v Speaker 1>You can find out more at Unexplained podcast dot com

0:27:10.200 --> 0:27:13.919
<v Speaker 1>and reaches online through X and Blue Sky at Unexplained

0:27:13.960 --> 0:27:20.159
<v Speaker 1>Pod and Facebook at Facebook dot com, Forward Slash Unexplained Podcast.

0:27:37.680 --> 0:30:05.440
<v Speaker 2>Ms sas assass