MANIAC'S FIENDISH CRIME

NZ Truth, Issue 1306, 22 December 1930, Page 5

MANIAC'S FIENDISH CRIME

Pretty Molly Dean Murdered Under Shocking Circumstances BRUTAL ATTACK AT MIDNIGHT (From "N.Z. Truth's" Special Melbourne Representative.) One thing stands out with startling clearness m any analysis of the circumstances surrounding the brutal murder of Mary Dean, the young Melbourne school mistress whose battered body, subjected to the most foul indignity, was discovered m a right-of-way off Addison Street, Elwood, a suburb of the city, a few days ago. t It is that her slayer, dominated though he must have been b ysome motive which swept humanity to the winds, did not attempt to outrage his victim. He aimed at something far more terrible, and for this it is possible to assign as reasons only an overwhelming jealousy that dictated revenge, or a maniacal perversion. Whoever murdered Mary Dean, went about his dreadful work with a determination that was appalling. It was not just that he desired to maim. His intention was to destroy. Having completed his task, he vanished completely. Not even a fingerprint was left behind to give the detectives a clue on which to work.

ON the face of it, there is justification for the belief that the crime was planned. There was a completeness about it which indicates that nothing- was left to chance. Contemplating the awful details of this latest and most fearful of Melbourne's sex outrages, there arises the vision of some mad murderer abroad. Some modern Jack - the - Ripper, slashing and smashing with his weapon of death. What else can be imagined of one who subjected this unfortunate yuong school teacher to the violence which her torn and mutilated young body*revealed? It is impossible, almost, to believe that the perpetrator still goes about his way m Melbourne nad its preeients, to all intents and purposes, a normal being. Theories concerning the motive have been scrapped, only to be revived gaain when something has cropped up

had caused severe fractures of the skull. There were also ghastly internal injuries consequent on a further 'attack I by the fiend; and a throttling hand had almost crushed her throat. Any of these injuries could have caused death. The body was lacerated and bruised m such fashion as to suggest that the unfortunate girl had also been punched or kicked. Hardly a portion of the body was there which did not provide mute evidence of an attack fearful 'm its maniacal savagery. A search of the locality indicated that after the first blow was struck, and while- Miss Dean lay bleeding and unconscious, she was seized by the heels and dragged across the roadway to the right-of-way where her assailant proceeded to smash and maltreat her until his fiendish fury was satisfied. „■.-■:. The dragging of the body across the road had left a trail of blood, and there was a further accumulation m th& right-of-way. . . After completing his purpose, the murderer would have been provided with an easy getaway through back lanes and by-ways to the esplanade along the foreshore. Miss Dean's' clothing was practically torn to ribbons. Her underclothing had been stripped from her, and portion of it was

wrapped around her' left wrist as though an attempt had been made to tie her hands together. One of her stockings was dragged off and wound so tightly around her throat that the attend- ! ants at the Alfred Hospital had the greatest difficulty m loosening it. ' , . Of a weapon there was no sign whatever. 'It is thought a piece of metal such as a tyre lever was used. The murderer would have had no difficulty m disposing of this by throw- ! ing" it into the bay. It Is a remarkable fact that m very many crimes of a sexual nature, the ! assailant » appears to be possessed i of a diabolical cleverness m covering his tracks. The Ormond and Elwood murders are both cases m point. In neither instances has there been found any clue of suoh a definite nature as to enable the investigating detectives to say, "Here, at any ' rate, is a point from which inquiries may be started with some hope of success." As a result, conflicting theories must be analysed and dissected, and the one Which is most feasible at the moment followed to its logical conclusion. That is what Detective- sergeant O'Keefe and Senior Detective Lambell, who are m charge of the Elwood murder case, have been endeavoring to do, but they have been hampered by paucity of information. The detectives were not informed that Colahan received two telephone calls from Miss Dean at 12.6 a.m. on the morning of her death. As a matter, of fact, they did not receive this . important ■ item of information until the following day.

Fortunately, by checking up on ca-lls registered through the Windsor and

Dean at .12.20 a.m. and 12.35 a.m. that morning. Their descriptions differ widely, and there is no ground for assuming that they*might be one and the same person. At 12.20 a.m., . the man who was near her walked away at right angles to the direction m which Miss Dean was going. Mr. Nankivell saw the other man, a"nd said he turned into Addison Street just after, the girl. There is .a puzzling" feature about Hhis. A man,- who said he thought he might be the man seen ;by Mr. Nankiv&ll, went to the detectives and detailed his movements that night, put said that he walked down Dickens Street at an earlier hour than that mentioned by Mr: Nankivell; It is possible that he was not the person whom the solicitor saw. x The detectives were perfectly satisfied with his explanation, at any rate. In such case, was th6re another man, and! if so, why- has he not come forward, for anybody who; -followed Miss Dean into Mitford Street less than 20 paces behind her — the distance mentioned by Mr. Nankevill — must surely have had her m sight when she reached the point opposite Mr. Owen's gate. Neither have the detectives been able to locate the man who was seen to turn into Havelock Street. Perhaps it is not altogether surprising. The silence of 'a per- . son .m these circumstances could

be actuated by either one of two things. He may have a perfectly good explanation of his actions, but be averse to being involved m an unsavory affair, or it may be that a knowledge of guilt inspires m him a fear of the consequences. Such a motive as that first mentioned should not, however, be allowed to dominate what is a public duty. Still, it is the experience of the detectives that frequently it does. Mary Deani or Mplly.as her friends called her, was Bohemian to the fingertips. This desire for the unusual seems to have colored her life, m the last couple of years, at any rate: She was convinced, rightly or wrongly, that her sphere was not that of the humdrum routine of teaching, though her friends say that she loved her work, and her associate teachers at the Opportunity school, m North Melbourne, declare that she might have had a brilliant career m this direction. . What is probable! is that she would have done far better as a teacher than m the role of litterateur which she appears to have mapped out for herself, but there is no doubt that she was carried away by the adulation of her associates, and became confirmed m the belief that she was wasting her time m the Education Department. That this had "become, apparent to the. authorities is known, and that they had notified her that unless she paid greater attention to her work it might be necessary to consider certain steps is also a fact. Colahan has told the detectives that Molly Dean was worried about this, and that she had consulted him as to the advisability of throwing up her job as a teacher and launching forth into a career of journalism.

j might be committed to canvas. During this period Miss Dean was frequently m the company of a man who paid her a great deal of attention. The detectives have not been able to interview this person as yet. They would like to, however, for they belteve he might give them rrmcK information of a ffsef ul nature. ! He was not seen with Miss Dean j again after Colahan Neither has he- been seen m places which it was his habit to frequent .not so very long ago. It is hard to believe that m any man even remotely connected with, the life of Miss Dean there would be latent a. depth of such savage brutality that jealousy would drive him to a method of revenge so frightful m its cruelty. In this possibility, however, the psychological 1 problem presents itself, and a close, student . of the science t