A book, A body, a jumble of letters, mixed with an ancient poem and a Cold
War paranoia created one of South Australia's most enduring mysteries....
Death Riddle Of A Man With No Name
NEARLY 57 years on, nobody has been able to give
a name, birthplace or age to
the man found dead on
Somerton Beach on December 1, 1948.
It is not known positively if
the man was murdered or
committed suicide, though
traces of poison were found in
his body at autopsy.
The dead man was found
during the Cold War when
tensions between the Soviet
Union and the West were at
trigger point and spies were as
common as beach-goers at
Glenelg.
Police at the time thought
the dead man may have arrived in Adelaide on the Overland train from Melbourne,
early on November 30, 1948.
Investigations showed the
day before the man was found,
he had bought a rail ticket at
Adelaide Railway Station for
the run to Henley Beach, but,
oddly, he placed half of the
ticket stub in his bag with the
other half never found. He
caught the 11.15am bus to
Glenelg and Somerton Beach.
Witnesses told police they saw
the man lying in the sand at
the top of the beach. He appeared to be smoking. Next
morning he was found dead,
with a half-smoked cigarette
on the collar of his coat.
A tiny, scrunched-up piece
of paper was found in the
man's trousers with the words
"Taman Shud", the last two
words of the 900 year-old The
Rubaiyet, written by Omar
Khayyam. Roughly translated
they mean "The End".
The mystery deepened
when a Glenelg doctor reported to police a copy of The
Rubaiyat had been thrown
into his car the night before
the dead man was found. The
words Taman Shud were
missing. On the inside cover
of the book was found a code
arranged - MRGOABABD
MTBIMPANETP
MLIABOAIAQC
ITTMTSAMSTGAB.
That remains unbroken.
There also was a telephone
number of a former nurse. She
told police she had given the
book to a man called Boxall.
But Boxall was still alive and
opened the door when police
called.
"It certainly remains one of
the great mysteries," said retired Detective, Senior
Sergeant Gerry Feltus, who
spent more than a decade on
the case.
Adelaide Advertiser (9-3-2005)
Shane Maguire
|
|