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Interesting articles on the internet

RankenphileRankenphile Passersby were amazedby the unusually large amounts of blood.Registered User, Moderator Mod Emeritus
edited December 2009 in Social Entropy++
Sometimes the internet is fascinating

even, dare I say, awesome

other times it is furry porn and old people talking about kids these days or whatever they talk about

but sometimes, oh man, sometimes

sometimes it has stuff like this

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shark_Arm_case
The Shark Arm Case refers to an incident that occurred in Sydney, Australia on 25 April 1935 when a human arm was regurgitated by a captive 3.5 metre tiger shark. The shark had been caught 3 kilometres from the beach suburb of Coogee in mid-April and transferred to the Coogee Aquarium Baths where it was put on public display. Within a week the fish became ill and vomited in front of a small crowd, leaving the left forearm of a man bearing a distinctive tattoo floating in the pool. Fingerprints lifted from the hand soon identified the arm as that of former boxer and small time criminal James Smith, who had been missing since April 7. Examination revealed that the limb had been severed with a knife, which led to a murder investigation. Three days later, the aquarium owners killed the shark and gutted it, hampering the initial police investigation.

Early inquiries led police to Reginald William Lloyd Holmes, a fraudster and smuggler who also ran a successful boat-building business. Holmes had employed Smith several times to work insurance scams, including one in 1934 in which an over-insured pleasure cruiser was sunk near Terrigal, New South Wales. Shortly afterward, the pair began a racket with Patrick Brady, a forger. With specimen signatures from Holmes' friends and clients provided by the boat-builder, Brady would forge cheques for small amounts against their bank accounts that he and Smith would then cash.

Smith was last seen drinking and playing cards with Brady at the Cecil Hotel in the southern Sydney suburb of Cronulla on April 7 after telling his wife he was going fishing. Port Hacking was searched by the Navy and the Air Force, but Smith's body was never found. This caused problems for the prosecution when Brady was eventually brought to trial.

Brady was arrested on 16 May and charged with the murder of Smith. A taxi driver testified that he had taken Brady from Cronulla to Holmes' address in North Sydney on the day Smith had gone missing, and that "he was dishevelled, he had a hand in a pocket and wouldn't take it out... it was clear that [he] was frightened."

Holmes denied any association with Brady but four days later, on 20 May, the businessman went into his boatshed and attempted suicide by shooting himself in the head with a .32 calibre pistol. However, the bullet flattened against the bone of the forehead and he was merely stunned. Revived by a fall into the water, he crawled into one of his boats and led two police launches on a chase around Sydney Harbour for several hours until he was finally caught and taken to hospital. A month later, Holmes told Detective Sergeant Frank Matthews that Brady had killed Smith, dismembered his body and stowed it into a trunk that he had then thrown into Port Hacking. He also claimed Brady had come to his home, showed him the severed arm and threatened Holmes that he would be murdered.

The following day, 11 June, Holmes withdrew £500 from his account and late in the evening left home, telling his wife he had to meet someone. He was also very cautious when he went out the door of his home, hence he was accompanied by his wife as he went into his car. Early the next morning, he was found dead in his car at Dawes Point. He had been shot three times at close range. In his 1995 book The Shark Arm Murders, Alex Castles claims Holmes took out a contract on his own life to spare his family the public disgrace of conviction.

The coronial inquest into Smith's death began on 12 June, the same day Holmes was found dead with a gun placed by a police "dog" and gunshot wounds to his chest. Blood stains were also evident. The lawyer serving Brady, Clive Raleigh Evatt KC (1900 -1984), claimed to the Coroner that there was not enough substance to begin the 'inquest'. The Shark Arm Murders suggests that Smith was killed by Brady on the orders of gangland figure Eddie Weyman, who was arrested during a bank robbery apparently due to information Smith had given to the police.

So, internet

what else ya got

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