THE SOMERTON MAN MYSTERY: A MURDER OR A SUICIDE? THE ANSWER IS IN THE EVIDENCE... UPDATED 28th July 2023

...SOMERTON BEACH...

...DUSK November 30th, 1948...

...No firm description was recorded of the man who watched as a man on the beach was all but motionless...

We all know the story by now, some would say 'Ad nauseum' 

Without going into too much detail, here are the basics of the case;

Lying on the beach at Somerton was a man in his early to mid-40s, well-built and in good physical condition. His clothing, a smart jacket, trousers or strides as they would say in SA, a white shirt with a military-looking tie and a pullover. The clothing was described as being good quality and yet he had made some repairs to the collar of the coat and I think a trouser cuff. Had it not been for those repairs, there would be little to connect the man to the suitcase that was to be found some weeks later. His shoes were noteworthy, shiny almost new and one thought was that they were custom-made.

What else do we know?

1. When examined, there were no labels on any of the clothes he was wearing they had been removed, some torn away they say.

2. He had no identification on him at all, no driver's license, no wallet, no ration card or petrol coupons, there was nothing that could identify him not even a wristwatch or marks where one had been, and no sign of a wedding ring.

3. His pockets contained a few bits and pieces and many would know the list by heart. Suffice it to say there were some indications that he may have come from America, his jacket for example had feather stitching of a kind only made in the US at that time, 2 aluminum combs, and chewing gum despite the lack of teeth. Oh yes and a sixpence. Perhaps to pay the Ferryman?

Anything else?

We know that when found on December 1st, his body was propped up a little against a low sea wall at the foot of some rickety wooden steps that led down from the Esplanade just opposite the Crippled Children's Home. According to Constable Moss who had arrived as the result of a call from local Jeweller John Lyons, the body was cold and damp and it had not been in the water. A little odd given the Spring tide early that morning, 4.34 am it reached 9 feet, the highest tide of the year.

Later research by myself and local but Internationally renowned tidal expert, Dr. John Luick, found that the tide that morning would probably have reached the low sea wall against which the man was found propped. ( A nod here to John Sanders who had actually made mention of the unusual tides issue early in the piece) I say probably because according to John Luick, the only way we could be 100% certain would have been to have had a movie camera filming the event. What we did find was that in an almost identical tidal pattern, the tide would have come right up to the wall and this was a 7 foot 6 inch tide. 

This tide issue was all the more puzzling by the fact that Dr. Bennet, the Doctor who had pronounced life extinct made it clear that the man had died at around 2 am that morning. yet somehow he had made his way down to the beach which could only have been after the high tide that occurred at 4.34 am.

And the cause of death?

There were no signs of the common poisons, Digitalis was a prime suspect but no trace thereof. An overdose of Digitalis was known to have caused the death of a senior US Bureaucrat,  a US Treasury Department official, Harry Dexter White just a few short months earlier. Harry was perhaps better known for the Pumpkin Papers. Think in terms of the Ware Group of spies, Alger Hiss and Whitaker Chambers, etc.

But apart from suspicions, no definitive cause of death was recorded.

In summary,  we have an apparently fit man, found dead, labels removed from clothing, no identification, and who died as the result of being poisoned and no note was left.

Was this a suicide or was it murder?

By sheer coincidence apart from the possibility of being a well-planned suicide, the MO (or Modus Operandi) is an exact fit for an equally well-planned assassination. Untraceable poisons were the hallmark of Soviet assassinations.

From an earlier post regarding Soviet Assassinations:

Whenever police investigate crimes where Moscow’s hand can be traced or suspected, several ‘signature indications’ invariably bear the hallmark ‘Made in Russia' at the crime scene. 

First of all, the substance used must make the victim’s death or illness appear natural or at least produce symptoms that will baffle doctors and forensic investigators. 

To this end, the Kamera (Laboratory) developed its defining specialty: combining known poisons into original and untraceable forms.

Second, the poisonous agent is always ‘tailor-made’ like a bespoke suit from London’s famous Savile Row. Those agents are also ‘bespoke’ as they are first discussed in every detail and then tailored for the specific target in a well-planned and oft-rehearsed environment.

Finally, the operation will always be carried out in such a way that the victim’s self-defence instincts or vigilance will be minimised, so that he will not be expecting treachery and may even not see or remember the poisoner. All the cases described in this book follow this pattern.

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