MYSTERY OF SEA.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20456, 8 November 1934, Page 5

MYSTERY OF SEA.

Surgical Operation on Dead Man. "NOT DROWNED” (Special to the “ Star.*’) LONDON, October 2. The East Sussex Coroner is confront ed with a mystery of the sea which he doubts will ever be solved. He is faced with the riddle of why a dead man was surgically operated upon. A few days ago a man’s body was found on the beach at Seaford. The head and legs were missing, and the inquest was adjourned after only evidence had been given of the finding of the body. The Coroner (Dr E. F. Hoare) said: “ Over each collarbone was a surgical incision. They must have been made by a skilled man, probably a doctor. It is impossible for it to be the work of an amateur. “ Beneath the left incision was a pad of cotton wool. In the right incision a piece of silk had been tied round a blood vessel. I have come to the conclusion that these incisions were made after death. “ I do not think that drowning was the cause of death. I think the man was dead before he went into the sea and also that he was dead before the incisions were made.” He said he thought the body had been in the sea at least two months. He also considered that the incisions were not of the type made by a surgeon conducting a post-mortem examination. Dr Hoare added: “It may be that the man died at sea and received the incisions before he was buried at sea. I doubt, however, whether the mystery will ever be solved.’’