FOUND SHOT

Grey River Argus, 31 July 1940, Page 4

FOUND SHOT

DANGEROUS SYDNEY GUNMAN. SYDNEY, July 16. An underworld “gangster’’ for many years, William Smillie, 39, met hie death at the week-end in circumstances as mysterious as those in which he lived. There is little doubt that Smillie was the victim of a gunmen’s feud. With three bullet wounds in the left side of his stomach, Smillie was found dead in an alley way in Surrey Hills, one of Sydney’s “bad areas.” Clad only in shirt and trousers, he lay cn his back, with a dead cat at his feet. Apparently he had been dumped in the dark alley by his murderer. The first intimation of th e tragedy received by the police was an anonymous telephone call. The police combed the Surry Hills neighbourhood, and eventually came across Smillie’s body. An examination by torchlight showed that the shots were fired at close range, and abrasions on Smillie’s head and knuckles suggested that immediately before they were fired, he was in a brawl. Subsequent investigations showed that Smillie was called to a small shop near where he lived. There the shooting took place, and his body was carried about 40 yards to the alley, where it was found. Police efforts to trace the murderer were severely handicapped by the rigid principle of silence always observed in the underworld. When wounded five years ago in an underworld brawl, Smillie himself refused to disclose the identity of his assailant. He boasted that he would deal with the person himself.

Smillie was regarded by the police as a violent and dangerous criminal. His police record dated back to 1919. He had been convicted for razorslashing, for which he was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment, and for carrying firearms, and had been wounded by bullets on two occasions. For several years he had been engaged in starting-price betting, of which he had been convicted. Last year he .was convicted of inciting a prisoner to resist arrest.