SOMERTON MAN MYSTERY

The Evidence The Facts In Detail In Depth

Somerton Man: The Engraver





In the last post we covered off on the fingerprint issue and detailed why SM was right handed and that he had scars and markings on his right thumb, forefinger and middle finger. These things suggested he had been using a hand tool and that the markings were indicative of that hand tool being an engraving tool. Here's some solid information that supports the evidence.


In the image above you can see the prints from the man's thumb, forefinger and middle finger in that order.

In the image of the thumb print, note that the wear/indentations are near the top.

The Forefinger print shows wear almost exactly radiating from the centre of the print.

The Middle finger print shows its wear off to the left as you look at it.

Now lets look at the typical grip used by an engraver as per the images below:



Notice the thumb pressed close at the top, the forefinger almost central and the middle finger, somewhat hidden has a grip off to the left.

The closeness is obvious and is entirely consistent with the wear in the fingerprints submitted as being from the Somerton Man.

The next image below shows a slightly different grip style but nonetheless still consistent in the location of the wear, in this case the image shows part of the Intaglio printing technique:



Once again the fingerprint wear and the grip used in the Intaglio printing process are consistent.

Now let's look at further evidence that completely supports this argument, below are two images, the first image shows the knife found in the suitcase and the image to the right shows a vintage engraving tool:














You can clearly see the similarities between the two, almost identical in shape, this particular tool is for engraving wood. Wood block printing techniques were much in use during the 1940s. The shape of the tool means a different grip to the one shown prior to this. Here's a video clip link showing one Intaglio process:
The above is all new information but based on the hard evidence that remains, all that was needed to be done to uncover these additional and important facts was to treat this case as an investigation.

An interesting fact is that engravers were extremely well skilled at fine details including micro writing so yet again we have brought even more evidence to support the existence of micro writing in a number of places in this case.




The image above is of President Lincoln's fob watch, as you can see a message was engraved into it, it deals with details of a military attack. I have included this image because at one time one of Jestyn's relatives told me that there was a watch and something had been engraved into it on the inside. I can't vouch for the watch's existence, it is interesting though given the discovery that the person's fingerprints are consistent with those of an engraver.

Here's the message in Lincoln's watch:
"April 13th 1861, Fort Sumpter was attacked by rebels on the above date. J Dillon'
The second part of the message is repeated and states the location as Washington and then states
"Thank God we have a government"

I have more posts coming soon with further information on another item of evidence, I hope you'll drop by again soon.


5 Comments

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  1. Hi Gordon, Interesting stuff your showing. Thought going thru my head is that with the SM being found opposite the CH Home-was he working at the home? Some type of etching, possibly leather? Just a thought. Clive

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  2. Hi Clive, There was a thought a few years back that one of the members of the cast of the White Horse Inn which was playing in Adelaide at the time bore a resemblance to SM. This came about after an article was spotted on Trove telling of members of the cast giving a free show for the children at CH just 10 days prior to SM turning up. The man, Francoise?, was traced and it couldn't have been him. Yes, you're right on the etching it could have been leather as per one image in the post or wood or even scratching through a ground for an intaglio print. The tools in the suitcase all could have their purpose in etching/engraving including the brush. Thanks for the comment, all good value as usual.

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  3. Lithographic printing using the knife tool to etch a design onto the metal sheet. The brush to deposit the black powder. Voila! A perfect forgery. Petrol coupons? Vehicle License papers? Postage stamps? Tickets? All things that can be forged and uttered for cash sale. Who knows for sure.

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  4. I agree that the tools can be used for that purpose, you recently made mention of a document that I followed up and from there, followed another link to Wally Clayton's clandestine printing operations. The kind of tools needed for petrol stamp forgery would be a lot different, I have quite a few examples of the coupons and they are stunning in their detail. Will post some here over the weekend.

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  5. The rough tools he carries would be enough to create standard forms and a copies of the Rubaiyat for that matter.

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