SHARK MYSTERY

Hokitika Guardian, 1 June 1935, Page 6

SHARK MYSTERY

STRANGE DISAPPEARANCE

man charged with murder

Investigations by Sydney detectives following the disgorging of a human arm. by a shark in the Coogee Aquarium on April 25 took a dramatic turn on .May 17, when a man was charged with murder. The arm had been positively identified as that of Janies Smith, aged 40, a billiard marker, of Gladesville, who had been missing I'ropi his home. Smith left his home on April 8. He told his wife that he was going on a fishing expedition with", a companion, but did not mention '- his friend’s name. His prolonged absence did not arouse any undue anxiety, and for more than a fortnight there was no suggestion that he had met with misadwnture.

The next link in the remarkable chain of circumstances that has culminated in the arrest of a man on a capital charge was supplied by two fishermen who set out from Coogee on a shark fishing expedition nearly a fortnight after Smith was last seen alive. They captured a 14ft. monster, which was ultimately placed on exhibition in the Coogee Aquarium. The shark refused to cat, and for a week swam lazily up and down the pool, brushing its body against the sides. On Anzac Day, the shark commenced to flay the water to foam, dashed up to one end of the aquarium, and, threshing wildly with its tail, chsgorged several objects. A few moments later the small group of spectactors were horrified to see a human arm float to the surface..

The police were hastily summoned to the aquarium, and the arm was removed from the water. A short piece of rope was bound tightly around the wrist, and on the forearm was a tattooed picture of two boxers in fighting poses. The arm had apparently been severed at the shoulder, but, from the state of preservation of the limb, the police were unable to determine whether it had been bitten off a body by the shark, or had been deliberately severed.

Fishery experts were astonished at the remarkable preservation of the flesh on the arm and hand. It was stated that normally the strong gastric and intestinal juices of the shark would digest any flesh within 38 hours, and that there was no ease on record of flesh remaining comparatively intact in a shark’s alimentary canal for more than that pei'iod. It was suggested that the only explanation was that the shark had been affected by a sudden change in its environment, and that the shock must have halted its digestion.

Intensive, inquiries were commenced to establish tire identity of the deaa man. Several men who had had tattooed marks on their arms had been reported missing. The disappearance of Smith was then brought forward, together with that of another man who had a somewhat similar picture on his arm. Ultimately the field was narrowed to these two men, and then Smith’s brother positively identified the limb. Although the possibility of foul play had not been overlooked, the detectives were of the opinion that the man had committed suicide by tying a rope around his arms and body and weighing it down with some heavy abject before leaping into the sea. This theory gained support by the position of the knot in the rope around his arm. Associates of the dead man were interviewed, but no on® was found who had been fishing with Smith, or had ever seen him set out, and the police reached the conclusion that he probably had never gone fishing. Investigations reached, their - climax when certain information reached the police that caused them to doubt the earlier theory of suicide. Six detectives were dtailed to the case, and the closest secrecy was preserved concerning their movements. It was learned that Smith’s arm was the only part of his body that had any distinguishing mark. The police came to the conclusion that the body had entered the sea sonic distance from the land, and-that ocean currents had prevented any other part being washed ashore. Probably nothing would ever have been known of the tragedy if the arm bearing the tattoo piark had not been seized by the shark. The fact that the identical shark that attacked the body should have been captured was an amazing coincidence. A shearer named Patrick Brady, aged 41, was subsequently arrested on a charge of murdering Smith.