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The Human Glove Murder
The Human Glove murder case began when a body was found in the Murrumbidgee by fishermen on Christmas Day in 1933. The upper half of the body was in a chaff bag and the skull was badly damaged so considering with the advanced stage of decomposition, it was almost impossible to identify the victim. This was compounded further by the fact that the skin of the victim’s hands was missing. The cuff of the woollen sleeves of his jacket had shrunk and the skin from his hands had floated away. Detective Constable Joe Ramus of the Wagga police found the skin from one of his hands, the human glove, on the edge of the river. It was rushed to Sydney where Detective Constable JS Walkom made a brilliant contribution to forensic science by treating the skin with special inks and putting his own finger in the glove he was able to get a fingerprint with which they were able to identify the victim as itinerant shearer, Percival Smith.
Percy Smith had, like lots of workers during the Depression, been travelling around with his dogs in his wagon looking for work. Joe Ramus traced this wagon that had been auctioned and examined it finding Smith’s belongings and traces of blood. Smith’s horse and tuckerbox were auctioned at the same time and a man named Moncrieff Anderson identified them as belonging to Smith. Smith’s dogs were found and they discovered some bloody trousers belonging not to Smith but to a man named Edward Morey who was an illiterate rabbit trapper. The police were most thorough in their investigations so Morey was charged and convicted of Percy Smith’s murder.
The tale doesn’t end there, however, as Moncrieff Anderson was soon found dead. His wife, Lillian at first claimed to be innocent but then admitted that she shot her husband because he killed Percy Smith. Letters were produced that she had written to an unnamed lover and it looked as though the Wagga murders may have been complex crimes of passion but her statements were confused and contradictory and after being tried the for manslaughter of her husband three times she was finally convicted and she served twelve years before her release.
AmyHeap |
Latest page update: made by AmyHeap
, Sep 7 2009, 3:48 AM EDT
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Edward Morey
Joe Ramus
Lillian Anderson
Moncrieff Anderson
Percy Smith
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