Further reading for Auntie Thally/ The shark arm case:

CAROLINE GRILLS: SERIAL KILLER: GRANNY’S CURE FOR BOREDOM (TRUE CRIME; BUS STOP READS Book 10)

Shark Arm: A Shark, a Tattooed Arm, and Two Unsolved Murders

1947 Australia, Caroline Grills became a suspect in the death of four family members. Her 87 year old stepmother Christine Mickelson; relatives Angela Thomas and John Lundberg; and sister in law Mary Anne Mickelson. She became a suspect after tea she gave to two other family members was tested and the poison Thallium was detected.

Caroline Grills was known to her family as “Auntie Carrie” and was a cute old lady known to often visit relatives bearing home-baked goodies and teas, which after the fact police believe were laced with the poison as many people suffered from the common symptoms associated with Thallium poisonings, including hair loss, blindness and loss of speech.

The poisonings came to light, when a family member spotted Auntie Carrie reaching into her pocket and dropping something into the cup of tea she was carrying to give to a family member. When she appears in court, she is charged with four murders and three attempted murders.

In 1953 she was convicted and sentenced to death, but her sentenced was later changed to life in prison where she became affectionately known as “Aunt Thally” to other inmates.

another old timey murder:

1935 Coogee Australia, a gaint shark gets caught and is so impressive that is is brought to a local Aquarium to for viewing. Within a week of being there, it gets sick and vomits in front of a small crowd, puking out the left hand and forearm of a man, it bears a very distinctive tattoo.

The fingerprints lifted from the hand identified the arm as that of a former boxer and small-time criminal (and police informant) James “Jim” Smith born in England in 1890. His (at that point) widowed wife then positively identified the tattoo on his arm. The arm however, was not bitten off by a shark, it had been severed with a knife.

The polices first suspect was a business man name “Reginal William LLyod Holmes” a smuggler and fraudster who owned a boat building business and employed Smith to work insurance scams, it was believed that Smith had started blackmailing Holmes.

But late on evening, Holmes left the house, telling he wife he needed to meet someone. Early the next morning he was found dead in his car, he had been shot three times at close range. The crime seen looked like Holmes had committed suicide but police found that there was no doubt he had been murdered.

In the end this was a super twisty turner old timey gangster story, totally worth the read.

Episode 86

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