A BROADER VIEW A MAJOR DISCOVERY
In the previous post, we looked at the likely events of the man's last minutes. We walked through it step by step and demonstrated what could well have been the actual sequence of events within those minutes. The conclusion we came to was that the man had lit a cigarette, smoked it for about 2 minutes annd then stopped puffing on it, as a result about 1 minute later, that cigarette went out and eventually dropped from his lips onto the lapel of his coat.
In this post we will take a step backwards, we will take a broader view and in doing so we reveal another significant insight about the timings of the happenings that night.
The inquest documents are clear:
1. John Lyons and his wife saw a man with his head and shoulders supported by the low sea wall near the steps opposite the Crippled Children's Home. We don't have the exact timing but believe it to have been a little before Gordon Strapps and his young lady also saw the man.
2. Lyons had said in a jocular fashion, 'I will report this to the Police' at which point the man put his hand up in the air and dropped it down. At that time Lyons said he would have been about 15 to 20 yards distant from the man, so within earshot I would conclude.
3. Gordon Strapps and his young lady first saw the man at approximately 7.30 pm., they watched him for a while and noticed another man who was wearing a hat situated behind and above them and to their right. He also seemed to be watching the man. The couple left at around 8 pm, the man with the hat was never traced.
4. The time of death was put at between 12 midnight and 2 am.
5. The autopsy revealed that the man had eaten earlier and that the food had been present in the stomach for between 3 and 4 hours before death.
6. Now let's look at the timeline in reverse, if the man had died at 2 am, then he would have eaten that pasty at between 10 pm and 11 pm on 30th November. If he died at 1 am then the food would have been consumed between 9pm and 10pm and if he had died at midnight then he would have eaten it between 8pm and 9pm. The broad picture says that the food he ate, the 'pasty', had been consumed between 8 pm and 11 pm.
THE FOOD, THE OPTIONS
Just where did the man get that food from?
1. Did he have it with him when seen by the couple and Lyons? If he had you would expect it to have been wrapped in a paper bag at least but no bag was found, perhaps it had been placed in a waste bin, but no mention of a waste bin in the evidence. Perhaps it was simply missed?
2. Did someone unknown bring the pasty to him after 8pm? But still no paper bag if that was the case.
2. Did someone unknown bring the pasty to him after 8pm? But still no paper bag if that was the case.
3. Or did he get up, walk into Glenelg and buy a pasty at one of, I think, a few late-night places where such food could be bought? And then return to his pace at the sea wall?
Out of the options described, my view is that just maybe the man with the hat is the one that has the answer to the question and it may be another option:
Coroner Cleland's words:
Out of the options described, my view is that just maybe the man with the hat is the one that has the answer to the question and it may be another option:
THE FOURTH OPTION
Coroner Cleland's words:
WHERE TO FROM HERE
Hopefully, we can bring informed minds together and work on the clues provided by the timeline. If we look at the possible times of death and the possible poisons that could have been used, which ones best fit the bill? Or was it the cigarette? Was the man seen that night by Lyons and the young couple the same man found the next morning?
All for consideration and discussion.
You could very well be correct, Gordon. If the man, in the hat, spoke to the SM and offered to buy a pasty, why would the shopkeeper/café owner be suspicious? And, if the man, in the hat, put an extra 'ingredient' into the pasty-who would be any the wiser? Clive
ReplyDeleteAgreed, Apart from late night cafes, there were little corner shops/delis that stayed open late. It could be that they had the familiar to some pie warmers sitting on the counter. Bakeries such as Balfours or Alien Brothers Bakery at Brighton may have supplied possibly hundreds of such little outlets in Adelaide and along the coast.
DeleteIs Mr Strapps or his companion still alive?
ReplyDeleteI finally found two pictures of Robert Victor Hemblys Scales. It's a long shot that anyone today could make an ID of the man I the hat from so long ago. But I'd like to see if they pick Robert Victor Hemblys Scales from his photo as being the man in the hat.
I'd not seen that bit of the inquest, but have always agreed with exactly that. I'd also like to add that Lyons (And Strapps and Neill) tlk about the body being in 'the same position' as the man they'd seen. Yet the interviews with Horrie the horse-trainer (or more accurately his apprentice or colleague) talk about him deciding SM was dead because he lifted and dropped his leg - so the 'crossed leg' might have happened at that point - in which case he wasn't in the same stance (although as I think about it now, while Lyons would have known how the body was that morning, Strapps and Neill wouldn't).
ReplyDeleteWhen ould local shops/bakeries close (Balfours-supplied or otherwise)? Would there have been a "pie cart" near Somerton in those days? These days there is a cafe at the corner of the Broadway (less than half way to Glenelg) - but was there shops there then?
It would be closer to walk to the Thomson house....but would they have a spare pasty (or similar) at that hour?