MAIL TRAIN MURDERS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22399, 21 April 1936, Page 9

MAIL TRAIN MURDERS

THREE CHARGES BROUGHT REMANDED FOR TRIAL (Received April 20, 9.15 p.m.) BRISBANE. April 20 Herbert Kopet, who was arrested on April 6 in connection with the train murders, on appearing in the Police Court to-day, was charged not only with the murder of H. J. Speering, but also with the murder of Michael Francis Costello and with the attempted unlawful killing of Thomas Edwin Boys on the Rockhampton mail train on April 2. Accused was remanded.

One of the most shocking crimes in the history of Queensland was revealed on April 2, when the mail train arrived at Brisbane from Rockhampton. Two men were found to have been attacked in their sleeping berths. One was dead and the other was in a dying condition and expired five minutes after his admission to hospital. The conductor of the train was also discovered to have been badly injured The two men who were killed were: Mr. H. J. Speering, engineer, of the Postal Department, and Mr. M. F. Costello, a business man of Innisrail. It was Mr. Costello who was still alive when found. The conductor, Mr. Thomas Boys, suffered from terrible injuries to the head and face.

Four clays later the police, who had been closely following a suspect, arrested a man disguised as a woman in a coffee house at Melbourne. Subsequently Herbert Kopet, aged 28, labourer, was charged with the murder of Mr. Speering. No charge was then laid in reference to the death of Mr. Costello.