A SUSPICIOUS DEATH.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 66, 18 March 1907, Page 2

A SUSPICIOUS DEATH.

STRANGLED MAN FOUND IN THE SWAN RIVER. PERTH, March 10. The mystery surrounding the disappearance of John Olsen, of the firm of Sutton and Olsen, boat builders, "was reported yesterday to have been cleared up by the finding of the body in. the Swan River, but it is not certain that the case was one of self-destruction. Certain facts tend to discredit the theory. Olsen "was last seen on Sunday evening at the boat shed, and the following day he failed to put in an appearance. On Tuesday a dinghy belonging to the firm was found moored at a sand spit opposite the Swan Brewery, and in it was a cap -which belonged to Olsen. The police began dragging for the body, but without avail, and on Wednesday the body was found floating between the brewery and Point Lewis. A piece of iron had been tied around the neck, while the hands had been tied behind the back. The knot which held the hands was supposed to be one any person oould arrange without assistance, and it was surmised that deceased might have pinioned his hands and attached the weight to his neck. When the body was recovered ifc waa. considerably decomposed, but the post mortem examination disclosed that death had been caused, not by drowning, but by strangulation, and that a number of deceased's front teeth had been smashed as though from a. violent blow across the mouth. The clothing did not contain any money or property.