S3 E3 air date: 02/08/25

Take a bite out of this classic true crime case from the early 1900s.

Sharkception

There was an arm at the bottom of the sea
A shark swam by and said, “Yummy!”
It was just his luck to get gobbled up
as soon as the fingers hit his tummy.

A bigger shark, a bigger appetite

but even he didn’t win the fight
against being captured and displayed

by the worst predator, to date
The shark, he was distressed,
cooped up in his prison, you see,
distraught in his cozy Coogee tank
the tiger shark fell ill and sank
to the floor with a shake and shudder
he vomited his supper and in the mess
was the arm from the bottom of the sea.

Now the question is, who does the arm belong to and why was it in the ocean? Well my pretties, let me take you back to April 1935 where a tiger shark was admitted to the Coogee Aquarium Baths in Sydney, Australia. A week after its capture, the tiger shark upchucked the tattooed remains of a human arm.

The owners, Charlie and Bert Hobson, summoned the authorities. Det. Frank Head and Det John Mannion rushed to the aquarium to investigate. After they were assured the arm could not have been placed in the tank by anyone and was, in fact, vomited by the shark, they collected the remains for investigation.

The forearm and hand were still intact despite being partially digested. A distinct tattoo of a pair of blue outlined boxers in red shorts squaring up adorned the arm. The medical examiner could determine that the arm had been severed rather than bitten off. The case was now being treated as a homicide.

 Authorities released a sketch of the distinctive tattoo to the Sydney Truth that Edwin Smith would identify. He called in to say that the tattoo belonged to his brother, Jimmy Smith, and he’d been missing since April 8th. He and his sister-in-law Gladys went to the police station, where they would positively identify the arm to belong to Jim Smith.

Later on, John Lindsey of the fingerprint branch oh so carefully removed the skin from the fingertips. Padding the thin samples, he could get a clear copy of the thumb and ring finger. Armed with the fingerprints and a name, the detectives searched police jackets for any records on a Jim Smith.

 Lady luck graced them with a quick search as Jim had a long history with Johnny Law, so his prints were on file and was charged in 1932 for allowing illegal betting on the premises that he owned. There were enough points of similarity between the prints that they could confirm the arm belonged to Jim Smith.

That same day A team was tasked with the investigation the team composed of detective sergeants frank Matthews and Leonard almond and detectives Devereux Get out of there McDermott Ruben Baker and Milton Danny Calman Matthews would head the team and be the detective best known for the case.

Lettuce would tell the detectives that Jim had gone down to Cronulla where he was going to take a quote wealthy bloke from another state fishing UN quote he had invited his brother to join him and told Gladys that he was going to receive five lbs which is the equivalent of about $500 or a £500 in today’s money she told them of a hotel Cecil and Cronulla as the place where Jim had said he would be he could be contacted she brought a photograph of her husband and told the detectives that he left their house wearing a Gray suit and shoes a blue shirt and a Gray felt hat he was also carrying a small brown leather bag that belonged to her 17-year-old son Raymond.

During this interview Gladys also revealed that I’m April 13th 5 days after her husband had left for Cronulla her neighbor who often received messages for her had had taken one from a man with a gruff voice and the message was tell Mrs. Smith that Mr. Smith will not be home until Monday morning”

During the day there must have been a conversation where Detective Sergeant Matthews revealed Jim Smith was not just an anonymous victim, but a man known to both men through their secret and former networks the previous year Jim had been interviewed by Matthews in relation to a mysterious sinking of a luxury yacht called the Pathfinder and then a few months later in relation to a case of bank fraud.

Detectives saw that was a possibility that his death was possibly connected to these matters because Matthew had a prior history with the victim; this gave him a head start as he knew the victims’ associates as well, especially Jim’s longtime mate Patrick Patty Brady

Later that afternoon detectives almond and McDermott climbed into a car and headed to shades Creek Wharf in the grim industrial area of Saint Peters the shark at the center of all the excitement had died the previous day and had given the job of disposing of the carcass to fish oil merchant Arthur Russell whose men hauled the shark from the aquarium pool and took it to Russell’s factory besides shea’s Creek

after Russell had disemboweled the shark and his bloody leather apron and scooped out the contents of its stomach onto the Wharf, the detectives recorded that they observed the bones of a smaller shark a small amount of mackerel and other small fish and a good sized point of the shorts backbone but no other trace of human flesh bones or fragments of clothing once Russell was finished picking through the remains that he wanted to collect they rolled the creature into the Wharf and let it sink

the next day on April 30th Matthews almond McDermott Coleman and the team of detectives headed to Cronulla armed with photographs of the missing man and his associate Patrick Brady there they would canvas the neighborhoods asking barman real estate agents boat hires shop owners taxi drivers bus drivers and anyone else who might have any knowledge of Jim Smith his companions or a fishing trip this would lead to outstanding progress by the end of the first week the CIB or the Central Intelligence Bureau detectives that identified the location where the murder had taken place theorized what happened to the body and were well on the way to solving this curious case.

Of course the case was sensationalized by the newspapers and heckled the detectives without remorse in a newspaper called the truth the description of the arm on April 28th was given and would describe the murder as a tragedy such as Edgar Allan Poe never dreamed of in his weirdest fiction a tragedy that is without parallel in the history of crime the world over

in just over a week, the shark armed murder had become a national sensation, prompting the detective to put their heels to the ground

Jimmy Smith was born in England in 1891. In Camberwell, South London, he was the eldest of four children, with two brothers and a sister. Though they grew up, poor the family must have been loving as they remained intensely loyal to each other throughout their lives.

Such as the case for many children in the early 1900s, he could only have the bare minimum of schooling before he had to go to work as a minor to help support the family. Courageously, at the age of 18, he decided to pursue a better life and emigrate to Australia in October 1909. He sailed third class from London. There he would quickly settle into the working-class suburbs of inner Sydney by November he was described as tall well built good with his fists and happy-go-lucky he was joined by his brother a year later and they would remain the closest of pals all their lives.

In his early years, Jim worked as a barman and a billiard room attendant and, like many of his peers, he fancied himself a boxer. It’s a very popular sport back in the day Jim would take up amateur boxing as a welterweight at a popular inner city venue such as lahart stadium and Waterloo Coliseum patties arcade and the Gabby theater but it was obvious from the brief reports that while he was extremely fit and tenacious, they had more enthusiasm than talent.

many years after his arm had surfaced and Jim’s identity was confirmed his ex trainer Jack Burke was so moved that he contacted the truth and told the paper that he had trained Jim just before the outbreak of World War one he gave the following description of the young man who knew then Jim Smith was a beautifully built chap in those days his body was splendidly molded and unlike a lot of Englishmen he had a buoyant temperament was free and open about everything and was thoroughly a good sport after the war broke out I lost the run of him but it all came back to me in a flash when I saw a drawing of the tattoo mark on the arm was one of the first things I noticed when I met him the picture of the two boxers shaping up it was one of the finest chaps in the world

about six years later in 1916 Jim would marry Gladys Malloy a tall good looking Milliner and his brother Edward was his best man a year after that they would have their only child Raymond in their early years Jim ran a billiard room in the darling St. roselle and in 1920 he became the proprietor of the roselle Sports Club a billiard parlor with an illegal starting price which was a betting business on the side by 1925 he had saved several 100 lbs so that’s that’s good money now that he had money he brought his widowed mother and all of his other siblings to Australia they were very proud of him and encouraged his ambition and in 1925 he sold his interest in the roselle Sports Club and struck out in a new and surprising direction he would open his own billiard room in sporting club and would go into an odd partnership with William young who was an architect that had wealthy North Shore connections the arrangement saw young plan and arranged finance for construction of flats through a network of business associates with dental supervised the building work and an area which he had no experience no doubt he had been involved in a few dodgy deals since arriving in Australia but it was at this point that Jim entered a world of privilege and corruption where he would meet the people that would eventually play a part in his gruesome murder

in the next three years young and Smith built at least two blocks of flats in the harbourside suburbs yandera flats and McMahon’s point and burn gong flats and curability the contract would be taken out in Jim’s trading name JP Smith whether he knew it or not knew it or not in the beginning Jim was part of a scam in which he acted as a dummy contractor for a group of wealthy businessmen who raised just enough capital to get the flats completed while leaving many contractors and suppliers unpaid on completion of the flats they were sold to wealthy businessmen who took a profit and Jim filed for bankruptcy and the majority of the contractors and suppliers never saw their money this left gym in quite the pickle the big brains behind this scam were Reginald Holmes and Albert Stannard they were the same age as Jim but from much different backgrounds these dashing young men were Sydney Harbor royalty born and bred in the upper class North Shore their toughest nails forebearers having established successful boat building and lighter Ridge businesses from the 1850s Reg Holmes’s father was considered being the finest boat builder on the harbor turning out yachts loggers and speedboats of superb quality in the families Wickman’s point yard these 1930s playboys saw the harbor as their playground they would love to race yachts and speedboats despite in 1922 Holmes having flipped his speedboat and nearly drowning it’s not about them in the 1930s everything coming to Sydney from overseas arrived by ship

 this would prove to be a sneaky and lucrative business for illicit goods Reginald and Albert would employ tough skippers with criminal records and in an arrangement these men smuggled in contraband and would give a percentage of anything that they made to their boss this kept standard at a good distance while it being able to make money and turning a blind eye to the illegal activities some of these items were your run-of-the-mill perfumes tobacco alcohol women’s stockings paint engine oils but more than occasionally they were drugs specifically cocaine which was arriving from South America and opium from Asia

it’s hard to say how bad addiction was throughout the 1920s and 30s but it is speculated that Australia was but Australia’s per capita consumption of cocaine was the highest in the world of course by the 1930’s the depression had hit and Jim was in a tough spot he was desperate and competition with other men where work was hardly available after having declared bankruptcy in March 1930 he had fallen on hard times and was quite bitter he’d been given a grief which you know I mean he was rich like hundreds of thousands of pounds especially better about seeing homes in standard prosper while he had to go bankrupt this made him realize that his knowledge of their fraud could seriously endanger their fine reputations later in the year Jim would approach Holmes penniless and asked him if he could loan him £300 to open an Athletic Club this would be much to the billiard rooms he had owned 10 years prior Holmes did give him the money and by 1931 in July Jim was back on familiar turf as he registered as the proprietor of the roselle Athletic Club on darling St. in darling St. roselle Holmes would later tell the detectives that Smith had practically blackmailed the money out of him

this probably wasn’t the best idea think about it the depression who’s gonna be able to afford a membership to an Athletic Club it’s like Planet Fitness you know we can barely afford groceries now I think people are going to lift weights during this time there was also uh huge political change previous illegal betting was more frowned upon than prosecuted but after the labor government was dismissed by the NSW governor NSW this ushered in a long period of conservatism in supporting the interests of the conservatives the police were told to actively pursue illegal SP vetting this would be gene downfall once again as in September 1932 police raided his Athletic Club where he and 26 patrons were arrested he was fingerprinted charged for allowing illegal betting on his premises and later given a hefty fine and the depression after your assets were seized but this wouldn’t stop him from trying to get rich quick after this he would buy an illegal fruit machine which was you know like the poker machine prototype but he was rated again and in may 1933 he appeared in the bail eventually Jim’s money dried up and he was back where he started in a desperate attempt he called up his old benefactor Holmes and blackmailed him to be employed to drive launches on the harbor in August 1933 Jim had another hair brained scheme Jesse Byers the new owner of the roselle Athletic Club reported to detective Sergeant Percy arrance of Balmain police station that many of his billiard balls had been stolen or her from her property and she suspected that Jim Smith was the perpetrator Terrance later wrote that he had contacted Jim told him of the accusation and asked him to come to the police station Jim arrived not long after with his distraught wife and asked the detectives if he could speak to him privately they went to another room where Jim asked him if he could get the billiard balls back could it be all swept under the rug and ignored iron said he made no promises but Jim followed up saying I will be able to put you on to one of the best smuggling cases in Sydney if you give me a chance I am at present driving a launch for an old friend of mine and it would astound you to know the smuggling that is going on in the harbor Detective Sergeant Aronson said Jim rang him a few days later and told him where the billiard balls could be found they were returned to Mrs. Byers and no charges were pressed true to his word Jim contacted arantze shortly afterward and arranged a clandestine meeting at long nose point Balmain where he picked up the detective in the launch arantz said that they motored out into the harbor where Jim cut the engine and according to arantz where he told him that the launch belonged to an old friend who has a boat shed at the point he told him that they were in a building trade many years ago that the proprietor has plenty of money and this is the launch that they do the big jobs with France asks him what jobs Smith reveals smuggling arantz asked some you know what are they smuggling in he says everything from tobacco silk and cigarette papers they tell me to give them opium and cocaine but I haven’t handled any of that yet Jim goes on to tell him that that he is worried about a boat builder from neutral Bay named Alfonso who was to be kidnapped for being non compliant with the smuggling business he thinks that his benefactors are going to murder the man

Reginald Holmes in Albie Stannard we’re enamored with marine insurance fraud and in 1933 they were presented the opportunity when a Mr. EW Williams a managing director of the Woolworths limited in Queensland brought his family from Brisbane to Sydney aboard his luxurious motor cruiser the Pathfinder this long sleek beautifully built craft with the interiors of highly polished Aaron’s walnut turned heads and a week after his arrival Williams was approached by Holmes and asked if he wanted to sell the cruiser you would pester him until February in 1933 when they finally agreed on a sale price of 3350 lbs Holmes then gave Williams the check saying that he was acting as an agent for the register a very wealthy retired gentleman named Albert Thompson ohh just lying for Thompson was actually standards golfing friend who for a fee of £500 agreed to act as the dummy owner police investigations uncovered a complex scheme that Holmes and standard had put in place to distance themselves from their ownership of the Pathfinder Nicosia arrangement standard had raised most of the money to purchase the cruiser with an overdraft from his bank for $3200 in a gentleman’s agreement Holmes handled him one of his life insurance policies as a surety shortly after the sale the Pathfinder was insured for $3500 in Thompson’s name a month later he approached Greg Vaughn a city based real estate agent and organized yet another dummy sale with Vaughn becoming the new owner two weeks later von and Holmes invited the reputable marine survivor captain aims to inspect the Pathfinder at homes built shed and lavender Bay as Inns was carrying out the inspection Holmes talked up the boat by telling him I could not build a boat of this kind for less than 10,600 lbs given assurance of the pathfinders value by a man with an impeccable reputation in the boat building pedigree Ian signed the valuation certificate the next day van took this certificate to the offices of Benny Cohen and associates and Lloyd’s ancients in Sydney where they agreed to ensure the Pathfinder for $8500 so I bought it for 32 insured it for 85 good afternoon Vaughn paid a hefty insurance premium of 214 lbs and crisp new notes that had been given to him by Holmes was bought for 3350 was now two months later insured for 8500 an increase of her value by 5150 lbs for just over 500,000 lbs today to make a Long story short because we are a low budget podcast they would have Jim take out the Pathfinder and sink it to collect the insurance money.

It was on one of these outings that Jim would both confide and impress his old pal, Paddy Brady. By his own account, trouble stalked him throughout his life. His first dance with Johny Law was being caught for throwing a rock through the window of a school. He was only eleven and honestly, kid are dumb. My cousin and I did that when we were a bit younger than him.

His family was supportive, coming to his defense and pleading eith the judge for leniency. However, the judge citing that this was a serious offense and sentenced him to give years in a boys reformatory school. Here he was the youngest boy and found that working in the yard was good for him. Acquiring basic farming skills, he eventually decided to escape.

Paddy would go on to travel the rural areas of New South Wales, working odd jobs on different farms. For a while, this would keep him out of trouble. In 1915, he enlisted in the army to fight in WWI. Long story short, trouble found Paddy in the form of a whisky bottle and being AWOL.

After his arrest, Paddy discovered that he had a knack for forging signatures. He and his mates would steal leave passes that he would then scrawl the neat signatures of various commanding officers. Long story short, he was often sick, seen some shit and was honorably discharged in 1919.

Returning home, he worked as an electrician and would meet Jim Smith sometime in the early 20s, probably in Jim’s Rozelle Sports club. The two would become chummy. Both of them are in and out of jail cells and court rooms.

Ok, now we have the cast. There are many people mentioned in the book and for the sake of time and sanity, I cannot dive into everyone’s backgrounds. Both men had loving families that often paid the price for their misdeeds. I will mention that times were tough and coming by an honest days work was difficult. While Jim was running illegal gambling dens Pddy was forging checks for ridiculous amounts, oftentimes involving unwitting strangers, and other times working with a gang of unsavory characters.

Anyway, Jim would bring Paddy into the fold of insurance fraud. Giving him all of the nitty gritty details of the prominent men that he worked for. The Pathfider was insured and planned to sail the seas for a year before Jim would sink it.

In April 1934, he sailed down the central coast to the yacht’s grave. He spent the night weighing her down and damaging the water intake pipes. Just after dawn appeared on the horizon, Jim made his way above deck only to find a ship was headed his way. Without haste, he jumped into the dinghy and rowed as fast as he could to shore.

This ship was the Waller 2 transporting coal from Catherine hill Bay to the power stations at white Bay and Balmain and Sydney an officer spotted the yacht that was now low in the water and changed his course to see if they could help as they came closer the officer saw that there was a man in a dingy about 30 feet or 9 meters from the stricken yacht as he was rowing to the shore the ship steamed past just a mere 50 feet away from him the officer called out and asked if they could help but the man kept rowing ignoring them the ship continued on where later in the morning the officer would report the bizarre encounter to the police something seems suspicious

it took him four hours to finally get ashore he would then make his way to the local police station where he told him his fabricated story he said that he was on his way to Sydney in the Pathfinder when a leak occurred and water poured in with the engine flooded the boat was down and carried north by the wind and the current he then asked if he could use the telephone to tell the owner

His brain must have been a bit scrambled because he forgot to use the code names and instead and instead asked for Mr. Holmes when the other end was answered. After the call, Jim immediately went to north Sydney to holmes’s house to tell him of the catastrophe.

Upon Jim’s departure Holmes would call standard To tell him the news with all this being said the jig was up with the officers called to the Sydney police an investigation would occur with the copper sniffing around Holmes and standard know that they can’t claim the insurance the insurance guys are now asking questions what was it doing out there why was it just manned by one person you know all the things like it’s a little suspicious so they were forced to drop the claim which means nobody gets paid.

Of course this upset Jim deciding that it was bullshit he went out on the limb to be the one to sink the ship and regardless of whether the insurance paid out he was going to get his money these were prominent silver tails as he described them I guess means like a silver spoon in their mouth you know their prominent family they got money they’re gonna pay him for his time.

He did eventually reveal this scheme to his wife Gladys He would later tell investigators that Jim resorted to drinking even more heavily now that this was happening in fact all of the men involved in this were at the bottom of a bottle and like I can understand this is hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars at this point pounds whatever they’re using there and not just money the men’s reputations homes and standards specifically were at stake you know they’ve got an image to protect they can’t be seen as criminals you know a lot of their power comes from their reputation.

With the police poking around and the insurance company asking questions standard decided to meet with Jim to buy his silence for £150 80 of which his wife promptly grabbed to pay off their debts smart lady.

Long story short nobody could keep their story straight the insurance claim was dropped and because of their unwitting assistance in the fraud scheme the bankers and the lawyers all decided to keep their mouths shut as well so even though everybody suffered an enormous financial loss at least their reputations were intact for now. If yeah

Now this is where all the blackmail starts coming in Patty was blackmailing Jim they were both blackmailing Holmes and standard it it was getting crazy it was getting out of hand. While all of that’s going on Jim and Patty are resorting to their old methods of a quick buck. Patty was out there forging checks for ungodly amounts getting caught because he’s being stupid. This would garner the attention of detective Matthews who I believe I have kind of glossed over all of the detectives like I said there’s a lot of characters going on in this story and I gotta cut for time but uh they they did the work they did the work um detective Vaughn and detective Matthews yeah them blokes. We’re investigating Patty for the forgery and Jim for the insurance fraud and sinking of the Pathfinder.

Patty would jump around from Australia to Tasmania and back again, leaving his wife to raise their son alone while he forged checks and lived free until it was caught again for forging ungodly amounts. He would eventually find himself back with his family in Sydney and in the market for a cottage he was found one by a family friend near gunnamatta Bay was it typical fishing shack with the kitchen and a couple bedrooms and a boat shelter this would become his safe house we told the realtor that he would take it for a couple of months and they agreed on a rent of 30 shillings a week Patty gave his name as Williams and his address as the new farm in Brisbane with all the paperwork complete Patty put down his deposit and said that he would put the rest in the mail once he returned to Sydney which he did by March 25th 1935 he picked up the key and settled in the College in the cottage almost immediately. He would use his family as a disguise, bringing them down to enjoy summary weekends, all the while saying that there was an agreement and that they were to not be in the cottage if any of pat’s men’s friends were there.

While patty’s enjoying the beach on the boats Jim is getting obscure messages such as one morning when a neighborhood boy came round his house to deliver a message saying that Mister George James had rung and could Jim meet him the next day at 9:30 AM at the hotel Sydney he said that he would like Jim to look after his billiard hall for eight weeks while he was away Jim would go into the city that night and came home to tell Gladys that Mister James had not turned. Throughout the next week, this pattern of messages to meet Mr. James somewhere and then be stood up would continue.

Jim and Patty would meet up once more to blackmail 622 lbs from Holmes mind you that’s 622,000 pounds approximately. I’d want to kill a motherfucka, too. We’re going to fast forward through a haze of booze and blackmail to early April.

On Monday April 8th 1935 Jim woke up around 8:00 AM ate some breakfast got dressed and asked his mother-in-law to keep an eye out for his neighbor as he had arranged a ride into town He left just after 9:30 and that was the last his family had seen of him Who he wound up at the Australia hotel where he would have lunch with musician Sydney Allen whom he had met the week prior he would once again pitch his idea for a neon sign company just saying that he needed to raise a little capital towards the end of the meal he told Sidney that he was headed to Cronulla. They parted ways about 12:30 with Jim carrying a small bag he made his way to Martin place and took the train to Hartsville and a bus to a bridge in cronulla arriving at the hotel Cecil around 2:30 PM he entered the public bar but Patty wasn’t there so he asked the barman if a Mr. Williams had left a message Levi told him that there was a message for Jim to meet at the Wharf

Jim ended up at the wrong Wharf because Patty was waiting at the launch and the ganada Bay about 400 meters from the Cecil hotel when Jim didn’t turn up Patty went to back to the hotel looking for him after a series of tag you’re it they eventually found each other and decided to postpone working the launch yet for another day and then settled in to get fucking drunk they drank beer and played dominoes before they would leave their companions at the end of the 6:00 swill the next morning He would hire a car to take him into his town just giving the driver a general direction towards the city. After a series of twists and turns they would end up at lavender Bay where the driver would take off with his 1 LB payment the house Patty ended up at belonged to Holmes 40 minutes later Patty would call a cab to take him back to cronulla He would make a few stops before having the driver drop him off at gunnamatta park near the swimming baths.

He would make his roundabout way back to the cottage seems he was a bit paranoid taking all of these scenic routes to get back to the cottage unseen.

A few days later he would call on another taxi to take him to a bunch of second hand shops where he would buy a mattress a trunk He had the taxi take him all around looking for people who never showed up until they arrived back at the cottage taxi driver assisted him in taking the chunk in the mattress up to the steps of the cottage where Patty said he had it from there Patty waited for the taxi driver to leave before entering the cottage

So what was the point of all of this clandestine cab rides in the middle of the night up and down the winding roads of gunnamatta Bay what was going on in the cottage what happened to Jim Why did Patty need a trunk and a mattress that Friday April 12th after all of his hectic meanderings Patty returned to his wife making up for all of his neglect and nonsense she recounts that Patty seemed to be more at peace than he had been in a long time wonder why.

Growing sick of being at the cottage grace and Patty would clean up and leave when the landlord had come back he said that the house was clean, but that they had left the boat out littered the gas tank empty but he was pleased that Patty had replaced the rope and anchor he said was missing. He also noted that a rug missed that a tin trunk was missing but a larger and better trunk had been left in its place he also noticed that they mattress had been replaced so that’s why Patty needed those things to replace what the could be seen as evidence maybe you notice there was also a new anchor as I mentioned and some other various missing weights for voting phishing this is everything that he said to investigators

something he also found extremely strange was that when he took a kerosene tin from his pantry he said that he had left some kerosene in it but when he opened it he saw that it only retained a red substance with a very small quantity of kerosene he said that the red substance was noxious and not and in his opinion was probably blood

by this time Jim had been missing for a week and his wife was growing ever more desperate he had never been away for more than a few days without contacting her she would call the Cecil hotel several times asking if anybody had seen her husband and though they knew him they said that they had not seen him for few days. This lessened her worry but only by a fraction

on Tuesday April 23rd Patty suddenly announced to long-suffering grace that they were moving to the other side of the harbor. Grace was upset about this because they didn’t have any money left Patty told her not to worry that he would get some he would later call on a mysterious stranger That he would set up a meeting with and come back 300 lbs richer or 3 lbs richer excuse me

At the same time Gladys was tracking down her husband she would call upon Vaughn whom she was told was supposed to be going out on that fishing trip with her husband Jim to keep everybody straight he said no that they weren’t going out he in fact Jim had left him a message saying that he would be gone for a week to cronulla and that he would see him when he returned Gladys wasn’t buying it and told him that she was worried and that there was no way to find him except going to the police and Vaughn cut her off saying that you know Jim might not be doing something so savory so don’t involve the police she she backed down and then said if you see Jim tell him to fucking call me because you know I’m worried

on April 25th anzac day the hobsons opened up their aquarium to debut their latest attraction the melancholy type tiger shark they had caught just a few days earlier. It’s it it swam suddenly and it’s small enclosure before it would vomit the forearm of Jim Smith

and here we are full circle where the story would be sensational sensationalized by the truth Newspaper when Patty saw the article depicting the description of the boxer tattoo and the rope tied around the wrist and that the police hoped they could get good finger pin prints he quickly blackmailed one of his proprietors for six more pounds and took his family on a journey until the money dried up.

Out of options and bitter a desperate Patty Held homes responsible for the events at the cottage earlier that April and he had good reason to be paranoid as the police had him pegged as the prime suspect from day one specifically a Detective Sergeant frank Matthews Patty was known for his forging and Jim wasn’t known associate of his

the detectives dispersed all over quinella showing pictures of Jim and Patty asking if anybody had ever seen them going on together much of the information that I have previously stated the insurance fraud the black male. In their interview with Gladys Jim’s wife to keep everybody straight she would describe a violent encounter between the two men over a check of course this could provide a possible motive seeing as Patty was known for his high stakes forging they showed him a picture not him her a picture of Patty and a letter that was supposedly from Jim which was written as a quote May 1st 1935 son keep your mother quiet I am in a jam I plead it’s OK call the cops off tell your mom I will have plenty soon and we will be alright they want me something in town never mind be a man for me your loving father Jim Smith destroy this Gladys told the detectives that it resembled her husband’s handwriting but it certainly wasn’t his it was a clumsy attempt at making it seem as if Jim was still alive later that week a message would be given to a neighbor by a man with a gruff voice asking her to say that Jim would not be home until the following Monday. The detectives asked how many people had her phone number and she said only a few one of which was Patty this gave them enough reason to make them feel as if Patty was their man so they went on the search for him

they knew that Patty was a family man and that his family supported him wholly often coddling him throughout life especially when he was in trouble they use this to their advantage the handpicked some wonderful police officers trained to keep criminals under surveillance and gave them immediate instructions to set up watch and his family members they headed to cronulla and the hotel Cecil where the barman identified both Jim and Patty from their photos and revealed that Patty had given his name as Williams and that he had a cottage somewhere nearby probably a boat as he left a message for Jim to meet him at the Wharf although I got that mixed up you’re drinking too much now that they had a motive and a last scene with they pursued petty with the utmost bigger they investigated the cottage but ultimately it didn’t reveal anything and was deemed to be inconclusive it was clean and sparse with only the strangeness being that furniture had been replaced with better furniture

Their investigation began to form a picture of a possible murder happening in the cottage however they deemed that the tin trunk described by the owner would have been possible to hold a body they said because the mattress had been switched out that is probably where Smith had been killed and his body wrapped up to soak up the blood between the carpet and the mattress the rug and the mattress. They surmised that the arm could have been cut off because it didn’t fit in the trunk or to be used as Proof of a murder.

They looked out into the Bay the best waters a perfect dumping ground for evidence however the cottage only came with a dingy which proved to be too small to carry out two men and a trunk but canvassing the neighborhood they found a neighbor that had rented Williams a 17 foot launch with a motor during his stay at the cottage this would tighten the rope around patty’s neck.

The detective speculated that Jim Smith had been lured to the cottage where he was killed and dismembered with his body being stuffed into the trunk which was then bound with the rope weighed down with the anchor lifted on to the boat taken out into the port and dropped overboard the cottage hedgeman thoroughly cleaned removing all traces of blood and viscera removing the rug the mattress and anything that they could find except for the arm.

Now they just needed proof they would go on to dredge the port using grappling irons from the boats and using spotters flying overhead.

Hearing from the neighbors that Patty would often take taxis they sent Detective Constable Milton Coleman to canvas all of the taxi depots and private car operations in the city and the South suburbs. This was a large area with many taxi and ca higher services but as luck would have it common would find the needle in the haystack relatively soon when a Herbert McGowan of orange top cabs based in Kensington recognized patty’s photo and told his story of the journey with him buying the chunk and mattress and taking him to the cottage in cronulla detective Matthews was overjoyed for here he had circumstantial evidence that Patty was involved in the covering up of Jim Smith’s murder because like why else is he buying all of this shit to replace in the cottage like yeah you could say I passed the mattress sure ohh I shot the rug fine but why the trunk why the trunk

while the investigation was going on Patty would harass holmes’s wife calling everyday to ask when Holmes would return. This nuisance would have his wife making him return from his happy place sooner rather than later immediately upon his return Patty would Leech onto him extorting more money from him. Of course this old trick was getting old and on the following night Wednesday May 15th after a phone call to Holmes Patty would be greeted outside of his hotel room by detectives McDermott Coleman and burns the jig was up they made Patty get dressed and took him down to the station

He was now to become the subject of unrelenting questioning Matthews would play mind games in order to break him as he was convinced of patty’s guilt Based on professor Alex cassell’s interviews with detective almonds and common in his book 1995 the shark arm murders this is how the interrogation went

Patty was driven to central police station at 7:00 PM and by prearrangement was taken to the third floor of the CIB where instead of being placed in one of the normal interview rooms he was led into Superintendent William pryor’s impressive office and left alone for two hours to contemplate his grave situation at 9:00 PM almond and Matthews drove into the courtyard with grace and saw her placed under the care of two women special constables who made her as comfortable as possible in a room on the ground floor with the bed a radiator and a blanket the two detectives then headed to pryor’s office Patty later claimed that he asked for a solicitor to be present Mr. Joe lamaro of landa and Romero who was a former justice minister and attorney general but Matthews deflected that request by informing him tha and hinting that she could be charged with concealing a crime Patty reacted to the anger that won’t improve your position my wife wouldn’t be a party to any crime you all know that much Matthews knew this to be true but ignored the remark Patty later said of Detective Sergeant Matthews was the type of cop who would get anyone’s backup he had a sneering voice even his mates didn’t like him but Matthews had no time for a man he now faced either a forger a crook with whom he believed he had killed his mate Jim Smith the first face to face interview between them had Matthews holding all the cards while Patty was on the back foot desperately worried about how much they already knew and what the case against him might be.

Round and round they went with Patty deflecting their questions and giving them short answers and bullshit eventually they wore him down so that he gave an almost coherent one page statement petty implicated homes in the events of the cottage saying that he had known the boat builder for 12 months since Jim was skipper on the Pathfinder and that Jim had drawn him into a conspiracy with Holmes to forge the signature of frank Carroll a business associate of homes got a check for 620 lbs Patty admitted that Jim did come to the cottage on two or three occasions but he had seen him in the days after that Jim had supposedly disappeared he admitted to buying the trunk and mattress but gave no explanation as to why he purchased them he wrote that he was with I’m an assessor hotel on the afternoon of April 8th and after playing Domino’s they went back to the cottage had dinner and then Jim left about 7:30 saying he was going into town Patty explained that the taxi ride the next morning to holmes’s house suggesting that it was to see Holmes about the forged check and said later that

this angered Matthews he was exhausted and tired of Patty dicking them around it was nice that he had implicated Holmes and something they already knew about and the handwritten statement could be compared to the letters that were sent to Gladys Smith but beyond that math delete Matthew’s head zilch. Matthews decided to use grace as his ticket in but this just pisssed off Patty and made him dig his heels in further seeing her husband in distress grace would eventually agree to make a statement thinking that she was helping her husband she simply told the truth. They were at the cottage Patty made a lot of stops

nearing the early morning hours party exhausted Patty unbroken they needed more time they held them on a trumped up charge for a forged check that he had tried to cash at the commercial banking company they kept him in custody so that they could further break him down.

They brought in Holmes they asked Patty to confirm his relationship with the man which he did but when Holmes was asked to do the same he said that he did not know Patty this surprised everybody Holmes gave his statement which basically boiled down to him employing Smith on the Pathfinder from 1933 to early 1934 which was it was sunk sometime after that stating that he really hadn’t seen him since the police inquiry concerning the yacht which ended in 1935 he denied any and all knowledge of Patty or any checks or encounters

Later that day the detectives took Patty out so that he could show him exactly where he bought the trunk and the mattress they took him back to the cottage where they were careful to study his reactions but he showed no emotion where he would then implicate palms with canvas in the boat shed they would then show him the port where the detectives were conducting dragging operations detective devereaux McDermott told Patty they were confident they would soon find the trunk but Patty seemed more amused than concerned and remarked that it must have been an expensive exercise

With nobody and only circumstantial evidence Jacketthere was nothing to link Patty to the murderer the waters were murky Patty had of course implicated Holmes in the disappearance but how he was in delete involved remains unclear. Despite this they would charge him with murder with this decision being made the detectives scooted over to Holmes to let them know Patty had been formally charged

they did this to put pressure on homes into revealing exactly how he was involved he would still deny having any involvement or even knowing Patty or anything about the cottage his wife backing him up but their fear was palpable and the seed had been planted

All of this is to say that he did eventually request to see detective Matthews where he told the detective that he was going to make a statement but if interrupted it would no longer cooperate

Patty began admitting that he was with Jim at the Cecil hotel on the afternoon of Monday April 8th but gave Jim the main role in events around the cottage and painted himself as not really knowing what was going on he says he told me there will be some visitors up I said well I’ll send the misses away he said they won’t be here for a while you can wait nobody turned up he rang homes from the hotel Cecil telephone where Jim came to back to see me and said Holmes will be up tonight and Greg will be up with him meaning Greg Vaughn that it would go on to say that he played Domino’s with Jim Gordon Dahl and Albert ward and left the bar at 6:00 PM when it closed he then described taking the boat from the Wharf around the cottage where they anchored just off the sand and walked to the cottage inside he described a cozy scene they had a bottle of beer made a cup of tea had some cheese and bread and then chatted for about 3/4 of an hour about 7:15 PM the unexpected visitors showed up he says quote we were sitting in the dining room the room just inside the door you know the room on the right coming down the steps there was a call are you there Jim or hello Jim I’m not quite sure we were both talking there Jim went out to the steps he was dressed in a suit that he came out in it would be a dark suit he went out of the shack when someone called out he was only about 6 minutes and he came back and said I won’t stay we won’t go fishing I will go into town I said who was it he said only standard and his friends he said I will go back into town I will most likely be back tomorrow or words to that effect practically and assurance that he would be back he put his coat then his head and went with them UN quote

He went on to say that Holmes came to the cottage asking where Jim was and that Patty told him he had gone off with stannard and friends. Almost then gave him a check made out in his honor they surmised that the men would not be back and in fact might be meeting Holmes back at his house he offered Patty a ride back into town with him this was a cunning way to remove Patty from the murder scene and implicate other people Patty went on to describe the route that he and Holmes took back to the city and said the conversation was cordial and that they were on friendly terms he said Holmes dropped him off near the Redford station where Patty went from pub to pub trying to get some after hours beer finally getting 2 bottles from someone who knew what the imperial hotel in Newtown he said that he drank them in a park walked back to Redford station caught a train to Hartsville than a bus to cronulla and finally arrived back at the cottage at around 11:00 PM this was a way to bury them under their own investigation all of these were positive plausible explanations for his meanderings about the city and countryside he would go on to say that he visited the butcher went fishing for another run into town taking them all over the place until around about 12:30 PM where he had a few drinks at a pub and then was back to the cottage where he would see Jim Smith sitting in one of the carriages at the art arncliffe station train station they had a small conversation about where Jim ended up last night saying that he only had a couple of drinks that he didn’t get drunk

Daddy told them everything they already knew peppermint in anecdotes about him and Jim buying bread and meat on their way back to the canalis cottage in cronulla Patty placed Holmes and gym at the cottage Where Holmes had told him That Jim had gone back to the city Holmes would then pull out a check that Patty would forage in the name of frank Carroll for 622 lbs. Asked him to run errands giving him a list of things to buy for the cottage such as a mattress and a trunk when Patty asked Holmes what he wanted the mattress for he said Jim burnt out one of the mattresses and there may be a row if they see that you might as well replace it mom said it was just an accident and when asked what the trunk was for he said that they had wanted to put some of the gear off the Pathfinder that had been left up there a good while.

Patty story was plausible and implicated Holmes further in the events at the cottage and distance Patty himself from any involvement. Every question had a neat and tidy answer leading to reasonable doubt in patty’s murder charge

meanwhile Holmes is losing his mind the confrontation with the CIB years worth of blackmail and however he was involved in Jim Smith’s disappearance had him unraveling he met up with his good friend stannard or he would drink himself unconscious. The morning after his drunken stupor he would awake with a renewed determination and find himself in a boat chase.

The police having their morning meeting interrupted with news of holmes’s excursion up the coast they had the water police dispatch the nemesis a powerful new speed boat that would take off in pursuit

now Holmes was a speed boat racer and his skills were embedded in his muscle memory he did he took them on a wild ride with sharp turns nearly skirting shores Piers and other boats for more than four hours. This ended it with him eventually shutting his boat off and letting detective Haas approach him only to begin the chase once more once the nemesis was refueled. He would leave the nemesis into open water about two miles before he would return to the Bay exhausted and spent he was apprehended and joined by his brother while he was restrained half closed and matted hair with dry blood they saw a gaping wound in his forehead and gave him bandages Matthews would later meet back at the water police headquarters where he would take Holmes back to the CIB instead of the hospital which was later revealed to be requested by Holmes himself when he got there he was given dry clothes and given a look over by a police Doctor Who cleaned and treated the wound on his forehead

the detectives let him lie down for a bit hoping that when he woke he would reveal his secrets however after he sobered up he was tight lipped after about 3 hours they transferred him to Sydney hospital where a 32 caliber lead bullet was taken from the center of his forehead Jesus Christ

when detectives informed Patty of the events hoping to elicit some truth from him they were sadly disappointed as he had a nonchalant demeanor. The detectives now under pressure to find concrete evidence. With homes in the hospital they took this opportunity to investigate his house and talk to his wife without him there obviously distressed she said that her husband had left in the middle of the night while she was asleep and had only been awoken when standard had called saying that Reg had shot himself and to please send a boat to retrieve him the detectives were surprised that she had stayed home all day instead of trying to go see him at the hospital

they gave the house a thorough inspection where they found a check for 622 lbs signed by frank Carroll that Patty had mentioned in his statement at least on this he had been telling the truth

After his suicide attempt hopes and cooperative he arrived at the detective station Friday May 24th 1935 accompanied by his lawyer and detective Coleman there he would tell the detectives about patty’s threats and blackmail and what Patty had revealed to him about the murder of Jim Smith holmes’s manner was later described as wistful as though he was somehow disconnected from the events he was describing despite his fragile state of mind the detectives felt that he was telling the truth as much of what he told them confirmed what they had uncovered in their investigation

arms revealed that Patty had been blackmailing him for many months and threatening to ruin him over what he knew about the Pathfinder scuttling but it was after Jim Smith disappeared that Patty became truly terrifying Holmes described on how the morning of April 9th Patty had arrived at his house disheveled agitated and frantic he told him that he had had a fight with Jim killed him and disposed of the body by taking it in the cottages tin trunk and dumping it overboard outside port hacking but it was in telling of patti’s return that night that Holmes began to falter and show real signs of fear he could barely recount how he had led his menacing visitor into a study where Patty had opened the brown bag he had brought with him and pulled out Jim Smith’s arm holding it up by the rope around the wrist Holmes said that after the horrific display of petty’s ruthlessness he was terrified for himself and his family and gave in to his constant demands for money after 4 hours of gentle questioning Holmes was spent and any was summoned to take him home as Holmes left Matthews asked if he would like the police protection but Politely declined not wanting to be the gossip of the neighborhood

the detectives were delighted with what they had heard they had gained holmes’s trust and he was willing to testify that Patrick Brady had killed Jim Smith and disposed of the body they had a case. Whatever his reasons for cooperating with the police after his suicide attempt certainly in their favor for he went against his word and actually gave a statement in it he said that Patty ceaselessly threatened and blackmailed him he said that the blackmail began when Patty came to his boatyard in August 1934 and said that he needed some money to flee to Tasmania because quote Smith the bastard has squealed over a check and put one of my mates in jail Holmes said when he refused Patty threatened him I have enough information about you to cripple you with the bank and put you in jail over the Pathfinder and unless I get that money I will fix you Holmes said that Patty started asking for money again when he returned from Tasmania and once more gave it to him 2 lbs 1 LB at a time he went on to describe the conversation between him and Patty that later happened at his office on April 9th Patty arrived agitated and disheveled he said he had a row with Smith and I have done for him he said what are you saying he said I killed the bastard and he squeaked out of you and you will also get yours if I’m not able to get you one of my covers will Brady came back to my place that night he said I split a bit too much this morning and if I hear even a whisper of it you’ll get yours Holmes said that he asked about Jim’s body to which Patty replied they won’t get that I dumped that in a tin trunk outside port hacking you might as well know a lot because then I will know who squealed if anything comes out Holmes said that the blackmail and threats escalated when Patty moved close by and he was so terrified for himself and his family that he denied knowing Patty at the CIB after Holmes signed the typed statement he assured Matthews that he was now willing to appear in court and reveal all he knew Matthews privately thought that Holmes was mentally unbalanced but as a witness in the police case it was important for him to present his stable and respectable the shore boat builder who had been stood over by vicious gangsters

the detectives told Patty that Holmes had rolled over at him according to detective Coleman who was present as Patty read holmes’s statement he said that his face had become pale and he seemed quite distressed Patty handed the statement back when he finished and said that’s all right is that all he said to the detectives patty’s words and his demeanor at the cell door seemed to confirm the truth of Holmes’ statement and could lend weight to it as evidence

Alright pretties um this is going to be a 2 parter so there’s that

And back to share exception Part 2

with holmes’s statement giving credence to their investigation they just needed a few more things.

City coroner Edward Thompson Orem was particularly interested in this case and had been following it since he first saw it in the newspaper. As the coroner it was his job to determine the cause of death and who could have provided that death he said that he would begin an inquest May 30th 1935 were detectives almond and common went to his office giving him all of the facts thus far uncovered. I’m sorry the inquest actually began began on June 12th 1935 and said based on the facts he couldn’t determine the guilt of the individuals but maybe his recommendations could lead to criminal proceedings of course it’s hard to figure out how someone was murdered just based off of a forearm but you know everybody did their best

with only two weeks left to find Jim Smith’s body and link him to Patty Brady the detectives began to subpoena witnesses and gather more evidence.

The search for the truck began in early May assisted by the water police they would dredge the tidal shoreline and the Bay digging up some holes that were up to 9 meters in depth here they employed the usual method for looking for bodies which was dragging with grappling hooks along the floor of the Bay but the choppy waters made it very difficult to maintain a consistent search pattern but even with a 10 foot rake which was a bunch of grappling hooks attached together and a weak of useless trawling they found nothing but an eel and a few fish traps they even employed a private trialing company much to know available

while the police were out there searching the Bay standard often visited homes Or they would talk about homes as insurance companies discussions of not paying out life insurance policies if the holder completes suicide. Holmes had five life insurance

While detectives gathered their evidence Would lie about in bed until he set up a meeting between Albert standard at his boatyard. Over the next few days there would be more meetings with standard and another associate known as kinkead he would tell his wife that he was worried about being bumped off. He was right Holmes would be found in his car in the early morning hours by constable Harold Casey who was driving along down Hickson Rd. in his patrol car he states that he saw a car with the headlights on and approached it where he saw a man slumped over the steering wheel with his head on his head thinking he was asleep he opened the car door to see that blood was pooling on the man’s chest and his hands were neatly placed on his knees he felt for a pulse but there was none

Amir hour before this and he his wife was calling standard to see if he knew holmes’s whereabouts he said that he hadn’t seen home since that afternoon she then called her friend Eileen Cobb who arrived and told Annie to call the police just before 1:30 AM any telephoned the CIB&S operator to either get Matthews or almond to call her back soon after the phone rang and and he picked it up expecting it to be one of the detectives however it was a reporter from the Telegraph newspaper asking her if she knew her husband was involved in a car accident in the city and he hung up on them distraught the phone rang back a few seconds later and cab answered it it was the Sergeant at the Phillips St. police station who coldly asked cops to inform any that her husband was dead found shot in his car that’s cruel that’s cold they even send somebody out to say it’s just over the phone your husband was shot in his car rude she called Standard Bank told him the news and he said that he would come straight to her which he did

Texas Matthews and almond were phoned right after that giving the news that Holmes was dead they quickly dressed making their way down to higson roads where reporters had already gathered at the crime scene They left the forensics team there to take their pictures and gather evidence while they made their way over to holmes’s house there they saw Annie Holmes standard his wife and Eileen Cobb they asked standard when the last time they saw Holmes was and he told them about 2:00 to 3:00 in the afternoon that afternoon and then gave an unprompted alibi about him and his wife being in the theater from 7:00 to 10:30 of course this raised the detectives suspicions

this was just a few hours before the inquest into Jim Smith’s murder was to begin and with little concrete evidence and only hearsay the case against pat Brady soon frayed. With their star witness gone The detectives had little more then tarnished hope

With or without homes the inquest still had to begin Outside the courthouse witnesses had to enter from the front entrance. Photos of Jim Smith’s widow Gladys caused a sensation in the press as she arrived in mourning black with a veil over her hat and face accompanying her were her brother-in-law and sister. It didn’t take long for the court to overflow after the doors opened the police had to deny penny many people entrance and lock the doors representing Patty with Clive Everett Who was just at the beginnings of his legal career and had represented Patty in the landa and lamaro case where he sued the truth newspaper for  defamation in their articles of Jim Smith’s murder and one Patty arrived unwashed with a handkerchief over his face stubble on his cheeks every eye was turned to the shark armed murderer as detective McDermott led him to his seat in front of the press gallery

After proceedings began of it was on his feet protesting and challenging every legality of the whole inquest stating that there was no body or any substantial part of a body that could be given a postmortem examination citing that until this was done the coroner had no jurisdiction. And in fact lensed out to Jim Smith even being dead because you can live without an arm if that’s the case where’s Jim Smith Everett and coroner Orem would go through a feisty exchange which set the tone for patty’s defense in the court in the days to come Gladys Smith was the first witness called Actually came forward every eye in the court studied her our reporter for the sun wrote that she wore a black Ford colored costume with a small hat and a half tail black and white gauntlet gloves and carried a handbag while a reporter for the truth remarked her face was still showing the strain and worry of the past few months but she took her oath in a clear and forthright manner

Sergeant toole had her give Jim Smith’s background and she told them everything she knew about her husband from being born in England but unsure of exactly where that he had no property or investments that she’d taken out a small life insurance policy without his knowledge and they had one son young Raymond she told them about his drinking and that she volunteered he would go on drinking bouts for two or three days and then go off for about a month or six weeks 3 even more since last Christmas he had scarcely taken any at all

tool had her identify her husband through a photograph and then asked her to describe his relationship with Reginald Holmes and the Pathfinder she simply stated that they had been together on a failed business venture that was building flats and that her husband was employed as a a caretaker for the Pathfinder in early 1934 she described how she had met palms and his wife and standard and to Mr. Anderson tool Esther if she could point out a Mr. Anderson in the courtroom she confirmed that she could and in fact pointed to Patrick Brady she revealed that she knew him by many names some such being Mr. Evans Mr. Anderson and of course Mr. Brady in the end she said that when she questioned him about this she was told to mind her own business if it took offense at this but was promptly chastised by the coroner telling him to sit down that if he saw that this wasn’t fit evidence that it would not be admitted and that he seemed to be unfamiliar with how these little legal proceedings take place

But evatt was right in some manner that he was not presented with any evidence that was gathered by the detectives he was completely in the dark about his clients involvement regardless Gladys continued on with her testimony with toole asking her leading questions about a confrontation between Stanley Watson and her husband near their house in August 1934 she stated that Watson had shown her husband a gun and said that he ought to blow his brains out he then asked her if her husband had told her any more about pat Brady and she revealed that her husband told her his name was Brady and that he was a man who was good with a pen

and another protest Evan stood up but his efforts were for nothing the truth was coming out and showing Patty and the terrible light he was a man of many aliases associated of a gunman and a forager Sergeant tool then escalate to describe her husband in the last few months of his life she would go on to say that he seemed happy that he hadn’t been drinking that he had never said that he feared for his life or that he was going to take his own life he was in generally good spirits if not a little despondent about The Economic Times they never had many disagreements that when he did drink he wasn’t often quarrelsome never hit her he just wanted to sing and laugh

he then presented the letter the detectives had shown Gladys earlier in may where she reconfirmed that though it was a good forgery it was certainly not her husband’s she went on to say how Jim had told her he was taking Mr. Vaughn out on a fishing trip and about her growing concern when he did not arrive back home she said this was unusual for him because during their married life there was not often times that he would not come back home if he was gone for a few days he would always figure out a way to let her know he was OK

lettuce would go on to recall the phone all she had from her mother who had seen a the sketch of the tattoo and the truth newspaper Gladys could hardly believe what she was being told but her mother confirmed the awful reality that that sketch was possibly of her husband’s arm recounting how she called her brother-in-law and then going down to the station to confirm that the forearm was indeed that of her husband

Sergeant tool would then approach her asking her to look at a photo of the arm everyone in the courtroom studied her closely she looked at it for what had to have been an endless moment the only remaining evidence of her husband’s life a photo of his forearm before her so she had kept her composure she soon stared down softly saying quote that is very much like the tattooing on my husband’s arm

the photo was not good enough for edit who protested that she needed to go down to the morgue and identify the armed person the coroner and Sergeant tool were reluctant to agree but they set a viewing for 10:00 AM the next morning

Evan was now given her turn to examine Gladys he focused on the relationship between Jim and Patty getting her to say that they seemed in all appearances to be unfriendly terms she said that they never she never saw any trouble between them and that Jim never spoke early of him

keeping this in mind he now changed his approach focusing on how Gladys could be sure that her husband was dead simply from a severed forearm he coerced a confession out of her that her only evidence of her husband’s alleged murder was through the allegations of the detectives not bowing to his manipulation Gladys said in a low piercing voice if my husband were alive he would have contacted me

reconvening after lunch witnesses were then called in chronological order beginning with the hobsons and their capture of the tiger shark and subsequent regurgitation of Jim Smith alleged form

First up was Burt Hobson who regaled the court with the capture of the tiger shark and its debut a week later on anzac day where it would shock the crowd with a gruesome display the shark vomited up a rat a bird pieces of a smaller shark and of course the star of the show the tattooed arm Burt would go on to say that he kept the arm to the side of the pool with a stick so that the shark would not attack it again and confirmed that there would be no way for anyone in the crowd or the staff to place the arm in there that it had to have come from the shark

a man from the anzac day crowd was a proofreader for the Sydney Morning Herald narcisse Leo young was an excellent witness is the testimony was detailed and meticulous he said that he had been watching the shark with a few other people for about 15 minutes when it suddenly took off towards the shallow end of the bass young said that he thought it was chasing some small fish so he followed it he described how it circled the water and then he noticed a brown scum on the surface when he saw that the arm floated to the surface he was absolutely sure that the arm had come from the shark he states that he would have seen if anyone had been able to throw it in there or if it had been in there before the shark vomited up the brown scum

the consecutive witness all confirmed the same story that the shark was swimming met the shallows and regurgitated the arm the detectives testified how they came upon the aquarium interrogated the crowd and collected the evidence they took possession of the tattooed arm with about four feet of rope attached at the wrist the rope was produced as an exhibit to the court when Edward Smith was interviewed he once again confirmed that the arm belonged to his brother saying that his undoubtedly my brother’s arm

there was no hesitation or backtracking in any of the witnesses testimony or confirmation that who the arm could have belonged to they were all confident in their testimony the fingerprint specialist detective constable William masters of the roselle police told of how he had taken the fingerprints of James Smith on September 12th 1932 when he was charged with allowing illegal betting at his Athletic Club Sergeant toole showed him the fingerprints from the form and the masters responded those are the fingerprints of a man James Smith wrote the particulars in my own handwriting the final two witnesses were the fingerprint branch of the CIB Detective Constable William Ewing and constable John Lindsey recounted how he would carefully take in the skin from the disgorged fingertips of the arms fingers and later padded them with cotton wool and took prints which he then handed over to Detective Constable Ewing for identification he brought the skin and impressions with him and handed them over to the courts clerk to be marked as exhibits evit declined to cross examine Lindsey and was stood down

at 4:00 PM coroner Orem adjourned the court until 10:00 AM the following morning.

 Later that evening a man went to the rocks police station and reported that he had been walking down Hickson St. the previous night and heard three sounds that he thought were shots as he approached further down the street he saw a man passing the bottom of the steps he glanced up at him briefly before scurrying on the man summers said that he would never forget the man’s face he was immediately taken back to the CIB where Superintendent prior interviewed him briar was convinced by what he heard that there was a witness to holmes’s murder he arranged to meet summers at 9:00 AM the following day at the murder scene hoping that his luck had changed

the next day 10 minutes before a court was to adjourn or reconvene doctor Palmer let Gladys Smith and Clive evatt Sergeant tool and corner orum into the morgue where he led them to a small room and asked Gladys to describe what she expected to see of the tattoo she told him that she expected to see two boxers in red shorts facing each other in a crouching position outlined in blue doctor Palmer then pulled the cloth back to show her a small piece of flesh with a quick quick glance Gladys was sure that the arm belonged to her husband

doctor Palma will go on to tell the court that the limb had been cut off at the shoulder joint the skin edge was sharp cut as though it had been done in a circular motion by a sharp instrument such as a knife. This revelation stirred the court as it was previously believed that the arm had been bitten off by the shark He produced his report as evidence showing that there were no poisons or other fluids at present in the arm and that it was examined by a shark bite expert doctor victor kopelson in his opinion doctor Palmer said that the arm had not been removed by a surgeon as it was roughly done and there are no flaps to have covered the wound you assured that the shark had not bitten it off but he was unsure of whether it came off of alive or dead body could also not confirmed how long ago the arm had been removed from the body as the digestion of the shark had skewed decomposition timeline

when asked why the arm was so well preserved traffic problem could only theorize that when sharks are in distress they pause their digestion and that having been captured this is what the shark was doing It also could have been that the shark had eaten the shark that originally ate the arm and the smaller shark would first be digested before getting to the arm and that was stalled with the capture and subsequent stress of being put in an aquarium that would explain the bits of shark and bird and whatever else it was crab or something being partially digested in the arm you know still having a visible tattoo but he goes on to say that he’s not a shark expert so he can only theorize

when asked by the coroner if he thinks that by the way the arm was removed if the victim could have lived after the fact, and he said with how it was crudely removed he does not think that there was a chance for the victim to have lived beyond the removal of the limb due to rapidly bleeding to death

whenever it went to cross-examine him to again ascertain whether the doctor could tell if the arm came from a living or dead person doctor Palmer answered he could not be certain whether it came from a dead or alive body and that he had previously stated he thought if it had come from a live body he had expected to see certain results and certain appearances he had expected to have seen the effusion of blood into the tissues the effusion would have been from the cut muscles at the end of the limb but is that is only difficulty I have in the manner but did concede that it could have been halted if someone said digestion had taken place

after his cross examination of the doctor, the court was adjourned for lunch, but all of this is happening the funeral for Reginald Holmes was being held and the investigation into his murder was ongoing

after lunch witnesses would be called all of them confirming that Jim Smith and Patty had been seen in the days before Jim’s disappearance many of them claiming that they knew Patty by a different name oftentimes when asked to identify the anonymous Williams they would point to petty in the courtroom many of them also said that there was a fair amount of amount of camaraderie between the men

Testimonies from different bar men down to the owner of the cottage confirmed what the detectives had already presented

When Holmes’s wife took the stand, she confirmed his statement saying that she had seen Patty arrive with the kit bag and that a week before her husband’s death he revealed to her patty’s confession to Jim Smith’s murder and the disposal of his body with the tin trunk to reveal how petty had blackmailed her husband for almost a year.

It’s just evidence saying it was the hearsay and the statement of a dead man but it could not be verified the judge decided to admit it into evidence. Ever would tell Patty that this was bullshit and that they were going to take action in two different ways they were going to challenge the judges jurist jurisdiction and filed contempt of court charges with the press for what they’ve already reported for slander.

Have it confronted the judge who was quickly shot down having the judge basically tell him it’s his court and he will proceed as he sees fit tool concluded his questioning of any Holmes asking how her she saw her relationship between her husband and Jim Smith

Now it was that it was turned and he was determined to implicate her husband and Jim Smith’s murder He accused her I’m initiating divorce proceedings against her husband so that she could run off with the young architect of course she was offended by this scandalous accusation she denied that her husband had any firearms and that he had never threatened to shoot anybody or threaten anybody in general she denied any knowledge of the Pathfinder other than it having been sunk and that Smith was on it when it happened. She says that she knew her husband gave the men money but she never asked how much as it was none of her business

With all the finger pointing court continued on. So many secrets were revealed in nitty gritty details of not just vote insurance fraud but standards ill faded ideas to burn other investments the men held when asked who any thought killed her husband palms to keep everybody straight she implied that standard might have an idea

The following morning pronounced this declaration to the Supreme Court to have the case dropped due to lack of a body. This of course angered coroner judge oram with eva’s accusation that he had no jurisdiction and at the trial was being unfairly reported in the newspapers showing his client in a less than savory light

reputations were dragged through the mud as the last witnesses called were gone and standard they’ve shown themselves to be foolish and evasive when on the stand.

With of its declaration that the inquest was a sham and that the coroner had no jurisdiction because there was nobody was before unheard of and brought up many legal questions in the future. Did a very good job of citing previous cases where bodies could be presented in parts but parts of bodies could not be presented soon this myth inquisition was dismissed by justice halls Rogers he also found that the newspapers were in contempt of court and ordered them to pay $100 or 100 lbs each in fines and the editor is $25 pounds each and to pay for the legal costs they paid up and apologized.

Had his fate and suspended animation the hunt for Holmes is killer was strengthened they’ll prove to be difficult. Detectives discovered that the people in the tight community of Hickson Rd. were tight lipped and uncooperative with authorities there was rumor that anyone who talked on Holmes behalf would suffer the same fate the detectives even lost many of their informants

a Jack strong was the main suspect but with a full check of his legal name the results produced no more than a charge of assault in the early 20s and a few arrests for public drunkenness.

The person of interest detective Coleman Detective Sergeant Matthews were led to strong by a constable John Brown of the rocks police station saying that strong could be found at his favorite place the AS&N hotel

they watched the man as he had a few beers letting himself loosen up before dragging him in at 5:00 PM to the CIb

Before Matthews could launch his interrogation into strong he was pulled aside I had detected prior who had received 2 notes from an anonymous tipster called #17 the first note made three demands stating that the correspondent should be destroyed that it should be shown to no other police officers and that if there were any reward to come from the evidence held therein and should be paid to a private bank account the second note said everyone is afraid to tell your men the truth and afraid that it might leak out and then there would be more murder done in fact my life is in danger now if it was known that I gave you information I would not live 2 hours UN quote prior told Matthews that he had placed a cryptic response in the personal comment the Sydney Morning Herald agreeing to the demands and that the second note had arrived promptly excuse me that was all on the first note now we have a second note it gave a brutal of count of what had taken place for the first time mentioning standard the second note contains the following

Holmes was put on the spot standard was a friend of Holmes standard drove with homes to Miller’s point standard 4 killers waiting strong Berg McCauley and Cassidy when standard got out of the car the two men rushed up and shot homes before he had a chance that those two men were strong and bird one of the two killed Holmes so if you arrest those five men and have them remanded for seven or eight days I will tell you where you can get enough information to convict them but I will not give the information until they are arrested

there’s just confirmed they looked into the accused men’s backgrounds all of them having long jackets except for the aforementioned Cassidy they were all shown to have connections to standard for lengthy amounts of time The detectives tracked down the accused men who all had much the same story that on the afternoon in question Cassidy and Berg arrived at standards boat shed around 455 where he saw him sitting in the car with standard talking to him through the driver’s window he said that standard called him over and they got into the back of holmes’s car where McCauley said he tried to talk to Holmes about the batteries and the boat that Holmes was building called the Ben Yolanda but Holmes had yelled bucked the banyana I’ve got more important things to worry about Kelly told the detectives that after 6 minutes heinberg left the car leaving standard still talking to Holmes not long after standard came over to them and they talked about the boat matters for 12 minutes during which time Holmes went to the office and made a telephone call McCauley said that Holmes left the office a short time later and had final private conversation with standard for 1 1/2 minutes and then drove away all of his times being oddly precise this matched Sammy berg’s account almost word for word finally some people who can keep their story straight ah all right we’ve gotten this far so I’m going to sum up the last few events here.

Patty’s case was moved to the Supreme Court Monday September 9th 1935 Where he was still represented by Abbott all of the facts and evidence were presented once more the witnesses reviving their testimonies justice Jordan throwing out some of the statements which was a real blow to the prosecution

after the trial the the jury returned to the court On the second day with no more witnesses to call or evidence to present last remarks would be given Without saying that was little that the prosecution had it was unnecessary to give the verdict to the jury justice Jordan would peek out through his wig and say this case is just one in which the evidence is circumstantial and in such a case it is well established that a jury is not entitled to convict unless there is no other reasonable explanation or evidence that the accused is guilty in such a case if it is found reasonably possible there may be a reasonable explanation which is consistent with innocence the jury must acquit in the present case there can be no doubt that there is plenty of matter for suspicion in the evidence that has been placed before the court during the last two days but the clear opinion I have formed is that upon the subject principles a conviction upon that evidence cannot be allowed to stand in the circumstances it seems to me that I have no alternative but to direct an acquittal and I direct accordingly Patty was pleased and dropped his head while Grayson and his sisters sobbed and hugged each other it was over upon the director of Chief Justice the jury gave a not guilty verdict.

After everything was said and done there was a shadow of a doubt casted on pat Brady’s involvement in his mates as you’ve heard the evidence was circumstantial and it could be a case of Johnny law wanting to get their man and making the evidence fit the narrative.

What could have actually happened to Jim Smith? There is no certain conclusion only theories. One being that he was shot in a struggle with the unknown men that turned up at the cottage and it was buried in a bushland. I would later recall how Jim had told him he felt as if he was in danger and that Holmes would be behind anything that happened to him.

Even on his deathbed Patty claimed that he was innocent and that he had no idea what happened to his old friend Jim Smith. He and the authors that interviewed him in his late life surmise that Jim Smith and Reginald holmes’s murder were undoubtedly linked but who orchestrated them and who committed them will forever remain a mystery.

Could Holmes have been martyred by the gangs he was moving drugs for that was certainly one theory for the detectives that they pursued though with the recent disaster of the Patty Brady case the commissioner advised them to move cautiously.

Gathering what evidence and testimony they could an inquest was began into Reginald holmes’s death though standard was a strong person of interest he was not formally charged During the inquest with the testimonies of standard Jack strong and associates and the revelations that standard move drugs and paid off blackmailers suspicions were soon turned from persons of interest to accused This inquest proceeded much the same as Jim Smith’s with finger pointing and reputation smearing running rampant but no concrete evidence surfacing.

In the interest of not making this a three parter as we are at 30 pages of notes here um ultimately both cases remain unsolved. But the deaths of Reginald Holmes and Jim Smith have provided curious minds with puzzles for many decades there are several books written on this uh such as the shark arm murders and shark arm a shark a tattooed arm and two unsolved murders by Phillip rupe and Kevin meeker they all really dived into this case obviously I’m just regurgitating their research and stories I highly recommend further reading in their books they really worked hard for it over the years um but yeah so that is shark exception the case of Jim Smith and Reginald Holmes

hopefully I did not bore you too much with all these words I was really into this case as sharks are one of my passions so when I heard that there was a shark arm murder case I was like no way immediately got the book and came back here to the mausoleum to tell item and all of you about it so yeah my brain’s exhausted I don’t know about yours uh thanks for joining us here in the mausoleum. We’re your host of the miscellaneous macabre, Autumn and Haley and that was a hell of a case, DonthchaKnow!