SENSATIONAL MURDERS

Northern Advocate, 6 December 1935, Page 6

SENSATIONAL MURDERS

The body was found in two sections, an attempt haying apparently been made to burn it. A remarkable feature of the theory that a man dressed in Ma - chesi’s clothes succeeded m having Marchesi’s bank account tr ®; _ Adelaide, where he drew £B3. inere is evidence that the culprit murdered and dismembered the body and bro the bones into small pieces before the burning. , . The police are making .a search m all states.

Melbourne is one of the most notorious cities for murders in Australia. Of late there have been several dastardly crimes committed, which remain unsolved. Some years ago a well-known jeweller in Collins Street was found murdered in his office. JNo arrest has ever been made. From then on numbers of murders have been committed, many of them remaining unsolved. Last year a little girl was interfered with by a man in a train. Screaming, she opened the door an jumped to her death. The crime still remains unsolved. _ A mysterious murder occurred las. year in St. Kilda, one of the most fashionable parts of Melbourne. A beautiful girl was found battered to death in her flat. The room was stained with blood. She was lying naked on the floor. A cord was around her neck,' and a piece of wood with bloodstains was nearby. The crime sent a wave of Horror throughout the State. The girl, whom was afterwards alleged was of loose character, had taken a man to her flat, and for some mysterious reason he had killeti her. No arrest has yet been made. • About the same time, a young man was walking down a main street, when a motor car went past. Death, in the form of a bullet, suddenly left a gun, and the young man dropped dead in the street. His name was Johns, and he was a promising boxer. No arrest has been made, A notorious Victorian crime occurred last year in Albury. which is the town on the border or Victoria and New South Wales. In order to try to solve this most amazing murder of all timef the police department have spent over £35;000 in investigation. The body of a beautiful girl, clad in fashionable pyjamas of an expensive type, was found in a culvert. The body had been set on fire.

• Over 14,000 people have been interviewed and a photograph of her remains has been forwarded to every police station throughout the world. Every dentist in the world has also had an X-ray photograph of her teeth in the hope that some dentist can come forward. and recognise some peculiar bridgework in the top and lower jaws. No arrest has been made.

So \ far as Lena Griffiths, the little school girl, is concerned the crime has not been sheeted home. A man was charged with the murder but was found not guilty. The police realised they had made a mistake and set to work all over again. Who killed Lena Griffiths, however, is a mystery. A few years back criminal warfare broke out in Melbourne, and shootings were a daily occurrence. “Squizzy” Taylor, who burnt down the Caulfield racecourse stands the night before a big race meeting, was king of one underworld, while another equally notorious person was the head of another. Tajdor was very clever and it was seldom that , anything was sheeted home to him. One night, however, when Tayloir was in bed the door opened softly and a man appeared. “I’ve got you Taylor,” he said. In a flash his revolver was out and his gun was turned on “Squizzy.” Quick as he was, “Squizzy” was equally’as fast. Instantly he produced a revolver from underneath his pillow and both fired together. The intruder dropped dead. A few minutes later Taylor died in St. Vincent’s Hospital from the effect of the dead man’s bullet. Melbourne is full of unsolved crimes. There are also many that have been sheeted home and men hanged. The Victorian police force is one of the finest in the world and one of the most up-to-date. Powerful 100-m.p.h. radio cars encircle the city day and night. The police wireless patrol can-' not be beaten, even in America. Every man is a specialist job. But all the same, luck, or call'it what you will, on the part of many murderers has enabled them to baffle science and cheat the hangman’s noose.