THE SOMERTON MAN MYSTERY: DNA: THE 'UH-OH!' MOMENT...THE DNA CASE COLLAPSES?

 

...THE DNA ISSUE...

...THE PROBLEM...

Shortly before Doctor Dwyer performed the autopsy on the body of the Somerton Man, and as would normally be the case, a mortuary attendant arrived and washed down the slab ready to accept the body. I would imagine that it would have been this attendant who would then have laid the body out ready for the examination, washing the body was part of the process but that normally took place after the autopsy. And this is where the first issues arise...

THE STEPS:

 Dr. Dwyer then arrived unpacked his bag of tricks and set about his task. The first of which was to wash his hands, possibly put on surgical gloves and quickly look over the body for any marks of violence or perhaps needle marks. He made a note of the condition of the man including his height and build. An autopsy is a somewhat messy affair so a bowl of warm soapy water would have been handy for the Doctor to rinse his gloved hands in.

The autopsy proceeded, the body was opened, the scalp peeled back and the top of the skull removed. Organs were examined and removed ready for dispatch to Dr Cowan for forensic examination.

The autopsy was over, the body cavity and scalp stitched, and the attendant moved in to wash down the body. He would use mortuary soap and hot water for that process. 

The body of the Somerton Man was placed in a cool room from where, ten days later, the undertaker, Laurie Elliot, would have removed the body, placed it on the slab, washed it down to make sure there was no foreign matter and begun the embalming process as per his instructions from the Police. First, he would have washed the slab down and put on his apron and gloves and made ready his tools and various chemicals which included formaldehyde. The embalming process over, Laurie would have washed the excess fluids from the body and the slab.

The now embalmed body of the Somerton Man was now moved back to the cold room. Laurie's son is on record as saying that his father would make numerous trips back to the morgue to inspect the body and top up the fluids. He quoted his father saying that the body was kept in good condition.

FAST FORWARD TO THE MAKING OF THE BUST:

It was Paul Lawson who was given the task of creating the plaster bust of the Somerton Man, and according to his diaries, he first inspected the body and then organised the ordering of various materials that he required for the job.

Paul along with two Detectives or maybe 3, went along to the morgue and started work. First, the body was brought out and as per the discussion I had with him, Paul donned his rubber gloves and washed down the body before drying it off ready for the application of the mold. In between times, a small frame was constructed to support the man's upper body during the build process. It was a difficult process as Paul had to continually wipe down the man's body due to the flow of fluids coming from him as the body warmed up. A smelly job according to Paul. Eventually, the build was complete. The Cast was of course removed, and the body was once more cleaned and washed before being placed back in the cool room.

THE 'UH _ OH' MOMENT...

Count the number of times the body was washed, there were 4 occasions.

The body was wiped down numerous times including during Laurie's 'top up' visits to the morgue and Paul Lawson's creation of the bust.

Now here's the problem. First, mortuary soap was used to wash down the body on 4 separate occasions and like many other soaps contains a particular chemical, Sodium Hypochlorite, its a component of bleach. The problem is that this chemical is known to destroy DNA. In fact, it is recommended that DNA labs use a product containing this chemical to clean down surfaces in order to ensure there is no cross-contamination.

Next, formaldehyde. A component of embalming fluid. Once again this chemical, formaldehyde, is known to destroy DNA. The Somerton Man's body was pumped full of this and other chemicals.  Not only that but on an unknown number of occasions Laurie the undertaker visited the morgue and topped up the chemicals. It is not recorded whether he washed and wiped down the body at that time.

SUMMARY
We now have the body of the Somerton Man who has been identified as a 'Carl Webb' by DNA matching of hair samples from the plaster bust, such hair samples, according to this evidence, could not possibly have contained DNA. This is apart from the fact that, as we have consistently pointed out and proven, the man Carl Webb bears no resemblance to the Somerton Man.

The following two comments are worthy of Note:

1. By Dr Xanthe Mallet: 'My concern is that we may never be able to categorically say that we know this person's identity...' and in the ABC video at the 18 minutes 52-second mark in this video: 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-21/my-name-is-charles-somerton-man-mystery/101680520

2. " Forensic Science SA Assistant Director Anne Coxon said a range of different DNA techniques would be used, but cautioned that “we may or may not be successful”.

“The fact that the remains have also been embalmed [72 years ago] adds another complication, and that’s because the embalming fluid can break down the DNA,” Dr Coxon said ahead of the exhumation.

“At this stage, it’s difficult to put a timeframe on it.

“Even if we do find DNA present, we may not actually find a match. It will depend on who’s on the databases that we’re looking at and what information can be extracted from the comparison that’s made.”

The above quotation came from an issue of the Dail Beast published on April 1st, 2022, in an article that includes details of Professor Abbotts then claims that his wife was related to the Somerton Man.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/somerton-man-case-raises-theories-about-cold-war-spies-in-australias-most-baffling-mystery

I leave you with a question, if the hair samples, according to the information supplied here, could not have contained usable DNA samples, where did the samples sent to Dr Colleen Fitzpatrick come from?