GRUESOME MYSTERY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23442, 5 March 1938, Page 5

GRUESOME MYSTERY

BODY IN RIVER , CASE OF MANY CLUES : • (From Our Own (By Air Mail) LONDON, Feb. 12. One of the most complicated mysteries to engage the attention of the police in England for a long time has been investigated during the past few weeks and has still not been' cleared up. It has become known by the rather gruesome name of the " torso case " from the fact that •■■the dismembered body of a man has been found in the River Severn, The first hint of something untoward was the discovery on January 10 Of bloodstains and a glove on Haw Bridge near Tirley, Gloucestershire. Then on February 3 a man's torso, weighted with bricks, was found in the Severn near Haw Bridge. Subsequent drag- , ging operations have brought to /light an arm, similarly weighted, and' two legs. ~ ■.' '•)■:,'.;- The police reopened enquires on February 6 into the death of Brian Sullivan, aged 27, a professional dancer at a London hotel, who, on January 24, was found gassed at a cottage, Tower Lodge, Leckbampton Hill, Cheltenham. At the inquest a verdict of suicide by gas poisoning had been returned. The cottage was rented by Sullivan's mother, Mrs Irene Sullivan, from Captain W. B. Butt, of Cheltenham, whose wife she was nursing. During the daytime Sullivan stayed with his mother at Captain Butt's home, but at night went to sleep at the cottage, v The police announced on February b that they believe the' body found in the Severn was that of Captain Butt, aged 52, who was a retired army officer. He left home on January 4, and had not been heard of since/ A search and digging operations were carried out on February 8 in the cottage where Sullivan was found dead. A garage receipt for Captain Butt's car was among a considerable number of articles removed from the cottage by the police. From this point enquiries have extended until they cover a bewilderingly* wide range. Evidence has been taken from persons who saw / Sullivan and Captain Butt together. A description has been issued of a man of between 30 and 35 whom the police are anxious to interview. He is believed to have been seen with Sullivan at a Tewkesbury hotel on January 4. Captain Butt's car has been examined and the steering wheel removed. Enquiries have been made regarding* two men seen by a lorry driver'in the front seat of a car On Haw Bridge early on the morning of January 10 on which the bloodstains were found there. Another report has been made that on the night of January 4 a car was seen stationary in a desolate lane in the district, and that two men were seen standing on the road nearby with torches. s ■ / There is evidence leading to the belief that a mysterious caller visited Tower Lodge between the time of Sullivan's death and the finding of his ■ body some days later. . Investigations are being made in Somerset and Cornwall, where Sullivan owned. property, and people with whom he war: known to have associated shortly before his death are being traced.; Dragging has continued in an effort l c find the head of the man whose body was. found in the Severn. It is doubtful if the cause of, death can be established until it is found. • . ' , Mrs Sullivan, according to The Times, has expressed amazement al certain information given her by the police. She could not belive that her * son was strong enough to dig a deep || and recently-made trench discovered' beneath the floor of Tower Lodge. Every day results in numerous new ; discoveries being made., Whereas manjf :' mysteries of this type lack clues, this investigation is so full of tangled threads all bearing on h the case that i' is proving difficult to follow therr all up. ~