DRESSED AS WOMAN

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 52, Issue 3750, 1 May 1936, Page 8

DRESSED AS WOMAN

MURDER CHARGE PREFERRED. QUEENSLAND TRAIN TRAGEDY. Following inquiries by the police of three States into the deaths of two passengers, Messrs. H. E. Speering and M. F. Costello, and the wounding of the conductor on the Rockhampton express on April 2, Victorian detectives on April 5 arrested a young station hand in Melbourne and charged him with the murder of or.e of the men. When arrested, the man, it is alleged, was dressed in a woman’s clothes. A man dressed in women’s clothing, a grey one-piece frock, red hat and black shoes, and carrying a handbag, walked into a residential building in Little Collins Street, Melbourne, but attracted no attention until “he” reached the reception desk. Becoming aware of the “woman’s” approach, the clerk looked up and saw an alert masculine face with stubbly chin. Giving his name as Miss N. Williams, he said he wanted accommodation for the night. He spoke in a masculine voice. The clerk went to the manager and mentioned his suspicions. The manager sent a call to police headquarters. Within a few minutes two detectives arrived, and it was agreed that one of them should go to the room occupied by the suspect and tell him that he had occupied the room the previous night and had left i parcel there. This the detective did, and during a search of the room engaged the occupant in conversation. When the detective left the room, he was satisfied that the nerson in woman’s garb was a man. After more detectives had been summoned, the suspect was called upon to account for his masquerade, and he was later taken to police headquarters for further questioning. At tlie Melbourne City Court the following day, Herbert Kopit, aged 23, station hand, of Pialba, Queensland appeared on a charge of having murdered Harold Edward Speering in the carriage of a mail train between Gympie and Brisbane, on April 2 When arrested, the police stated, he was dressed in women’s clothes. Senior-Detective W. J. Sloan asked for a remand to the City Court on April 14, pending the arrival of an escort and the original warrant from Queensland. This was granted. Senior-Detective Sloan said Kopit was arrested on a provisional warrant in Melbourne. He admitted that he had come from Sydney on April S dressed as a woman. “It is alleged that on April 2 the dead body of Speering was found in his bunk in the carriage pf a train on the GympieBrisbane line,” said Senior-Detective Sloan. “Another man, Frank Costello, was also found injured in his bunk on the same train. He died shortly afterwards. Both men had received very serious injuries to the bead.” The magistrate formally refused bail, but told Kopit that he could apply to a higher court' if he wished. A message from Melbourne, published last Saturday, said accused had i been remanded to Brisbane.