The Shark Arm case refers to a series of incidents that began in Sydney, Australia, on 25 April 1935 when a human arm was regurgitated by a captive 3.5-metre

tiger shark The tiger shark (''Galeocerdo cuvier'') is a species of requiem shark and the last extant member of the family Galeocerdonidae. It is a large macropredator, capable of attaining a length over . Populations are found in many tropical and temper ...

, subsequently leading to a murder investigation and trial.

Discovery of the arm

In mid-April, a tiger shark was caught from Coogee Beach and transferred to the Coogee Aquarium Baths, where it was put on public display. Within a week, it became ill and vomited in front of a small crowd, leaving the left hand and forearm of a man bearing a distinctive

tattoo A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, and/or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several tattooing proc ...

floating in the pool. Before it was captured, the tiger shark had devoured a smaller shark. It was this smaller shark that had originally swallowed the human arm.

Investigation

Fingerprints A fingerprint is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. The recovery of partial fingerprints from a crime scene is an important method of forensic science. Moisture and grease on a finger result in fingerprints on surfa ...

lifted from the hand identified the arm as that of former boxer and small-time criminal James "Jim" Smith (born in England in 1890), who had been missing since 7 April 1935. Smith's arm and tattoo were also positively identified by his wife, Gladys Smith, and his brother, Edward Smith. Smith led a high-risk lifestyle, as he was also a police informer. 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 correctly led police to a Sydney

businessman A businessperson, businessman, or businesswoman is an individual who has founded, owns, or holds shares in (including as an angel investor) a private-sector company. A businessperson undertakes activities (commercial or industrial) for th ...

named Reginald William Lloyd Holmes (1892–1935). Holmes was a

fraudster In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compen ...

and smuggler who also ran a successful family boat-building business at Lavender Bay. Holmes had employed Smith several times to work

insurance scams Insurance fraud is any act committed to defraud an insurance process. It occurs when a claimant attempts to obtain some benefit or advantage they are not entitled to, or when an insurer knowingly denies some benefit that is due. According to the ...

, including one in 1934 in which an over-insured pleasure cruiser named ''Pathfinder'' was sunk near

Terrigal Terrigal is a coastal town in the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia, located east of Gosford on the Pacific Ocean. It is part of the local government area. History Terrigal was first settled in 1826 by European Settler John Gray, ...

. Shortly afterwards, the pair began a

racket Racket may refer to: * Racket (crime), a systematised element of organized crime ** Protection racket, a scheme whereby a group provides protection to businesses or other groups through violence outside the sanction of the law * Racket (sports equ ...

with Patrick Francis Brady (1889–1965), an ex-serviceman and convicted 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 then cashed. Police were later able to establish that Smith had been blackmailing Holmes. Smith was last seen drinking and playing cards with Patrick Francis Brady at the Cecil Hotel in the southern Sydney suburb of Cronulla on 7 April 1935 after telling his wife he was going fishing. Brady had rented a small

cottage A cottage, during Feudalism in England, England's feudal period, was the holding by a cottager (known as a cotter or ''bordar'') of a small house with enough garden to feed a family and in return for the cottage, the cottager had to provide s ...

in Taloombi Street, Cronulla at the time Smith went missing. Police alleged that Smith was murdered at this cottage.

Port Hacking Port Hacking Estuary (Aboriginal Tharawal language: ''Deeban''), an open youthful tide dominated, drowned valley estuary, is located in southern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia approximately south of Sydney central business district. ...

and

Gunnamatta Bay The Gunnamatta Bay is a small bay in southern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Gunnamatta Bay is located off the Port Hacking estuary, in the Sutherland Shire. The foreshore is a natural boundary for the suburbs of Cronulla to the east, W ...

were searched by the

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It include ...

and the

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ar ...

, but the rest of Smith's body was never found. This caused problems for the

prosecution A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case in a criminal tri ...

when Brady was eventually brought to

trial In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribun ...

. Brady was arrested on 16 May and charged with the murder of Smith. A

taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choic ...

driver testified that he had taken Brady from Cronulla to Holmes' address at 3 Bay View Street, McMahons Point 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 ewas frightened." Initially, Holmes denied any association with Brady but four days later, on 20 May 1935, the businessman went into his

boatshed Boatsheds are generally lockable wooden sheds, often brightly colored, that were originally built to securely store small private boats and bathing materials directly on beaches. They are similar in appearance to beach huts (or "bathing boxes") ...

and attempted

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and ...

by shooting himself in the head with a .32 calibre

pistol A pistol is a handgun, more specifically one with the chamber integral to its gun barrel, though in common usage the two terms are often used interchangeably. The English word was introduced in , when early handguns were produced in Europe, ...

. However, the bullet instead flattened against the bone of his forehead and he was merely stunned. Revived after falling into the water, he crawled into his speedboat and led two police launches on a chase around Sydney Harbour for several hours until he was finally caught and taken to hospital.

Second murder

In early June 1935, Holmes decided to cooperate with the police in investigating the murder of Smith. He 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

. He then claimed Brady had come to his home, showed him the severed arm and threatened Holmes with murder if he did not receive £500 immediately. Holmes also admitted that after Brady had left his home, he travelled to the Sydney coastal suburb of Maroubra and discarded Smith's arm in the surf. On 11 June 1935, 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 as he left his home, accompanied by his wife to the door of his Nash sedan. Early the next morning, he was found dead in his car at Hickson Road, Dawes Point. He had been shot three times at close range. The

crime scene A crime scene is any location that may be associated with a committed crime. Crime scenes contain physical evidence that is pertinent to a criminal investigation. This evidence is collected by crime scene investigators (CSI) and law enforcemen ...

was made to appear that Holmes had committed suicide, but

forensic Forensic science, also known as criminalistics, is the application of science to criminal and civil laws, mainly—on the criminal side—during criminal investigation, as governed by the legal standards of admissible evidence and crimin ...

police had no doubt that he was murdered. Holmes had been due to give evidence at Smith's

inquest An inquest is a judicial inquiry in common law jurisdictions, particularly one held to determine the cause of a person's death. Conducted by a judge, jury, or government official, an inquest may or may not require an autopsy carried out by a co ...

later that morning. Holmes was cremated at Northern Suburbs Crematorium on 13 June 1935. He left an estate valued at over £34,000 in 1935.

Coroner's inquest

The Coroner's inquest into Smith's death began on 12 June 1935 at the City Coroner's Court led by Mr. E.T. Oram, the same day Holmes was found dead in his car with gunshot wounds to his chest. Although Holmes was the inquest's star witness, he was never offered police protection before his testimony could be heard. Forensic evidence was examined by Professor Sydney Smith. The lawyer serving Brady, Clive Evatt KC (1900–1984), claimed to the coroner that there was not enough substance to begin the inquest. Evatt argued that an arm "did not constitute a body", and that Smith, minus his arm, could still be alive. The case is still unsolved. The inquest's most important witness, Holmes, was then dead; the case against Brady fell apart due to lack of

evidence Evidence for a proposition is what supports this proposition. It is usually understood as an indication that the supported proposition is true. What role evidence plays and how it is conceived varies from field to field. In epistemology, eviden ...

. ''The Shark Arm Murders'' suggests that Smith was killed by Brady on the orders of gangland figure Edward Frederick ("Eddie") Weyman, who was arrested while attempting to defraud a bank with a forged cheque in 1934 and later during a

bank robbery Bank robbery is the criminal act of stealing from a bank, specifically while bank employees and customers are subjected to force, violence, or a threat of violence. This refers to robbery of a bank branch or teller, as opposed to other bank-ow ...

, apparently due to information Smith had given to the police. Smith had been exposed as a police informant, and therefore would have been a target for assassination. The police charged Brady with the murder of Smith, although he was later

acquitted In common law jurisdictions, an acquittal certifies that the accused is free from the charge of an offense, as far as criminal law is concerned. The finality of an acquittal is dependent on the jurisdiction. In some countries, such as the ...

. For the next 30 years, Brady steadfastly maintained that he was in no way connected to the murder of Smith. He died at

Concord Repatriation General Hospital Concord Repatriation General Hospital (abbreviated CRGH), commonly referred to as Concord Hospital, is a major hospital in Sydney, Australia, on Hospital Road in Concord. It is a teaching hospital of Sydney Medical School at the University of ...

in Sydney on 18 April 1965, aged 76.

Cultural references

The investigation into the murder of Smith and his severed arm became legendary in Australia's legal history. It inspired the TV play '' The Grey Nurse Said Nothing''. In his 1995 book ''The Shark Arm Murders'', Professor

Alex Castles Alexander "Alex" Cuthbert Castles (7 March 1933 – December 2003) was an Australian historian and author who specialized in Australian legal history. He is the author of a number of published books in Australia as well as the author of numerous a ...

claims that Holmes took out a

contract A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to ...

on his own life to spare his family the public disgrace of conviction.

. ''The Shark Arm Murders''. Wakefield Press, Australia. 1995 ().

Bill Bryson William McGuire Bryson (; born 8 December 1951) is an American–British journalist and author. Bryson has written a number of nonfiction books on topics including travel, the English language, and science. Born in the United States, he has b ...

also mentions this case in his book ''Down Under'' (known as ''In a Sunburned Country'' in the U.S.), but wrongly implies that the arm belonged to a swimmer who was eaten by the shark. The Shark Arm Case was the basis of a 2003 episode of '' CSI: Miami''. This case was also featured on Season 5, Episode 2 of the popular YouTube series "Buzzfeed Unsolved". It was also basis for the season 4 episode 15 of comedy crime series ''

Psych ''Psych'' is an American Detective fiction, detective comedy-drama television series created by Steve Franks for USA Network. The series stars James Roday Rodriguez, James Roday as Shawn Spencer, a young crime consultant for the Santa Barbara P ...

'' (The Head, the Tail, the Whole Damn Episode).

References

External links

* (CC-By-SA)
History of Coogee Aquarium Baths

Cold Case Jury website which shows the real-time verdict of readers on the Shark Arm case
{{Australian crime 1930s in Sydney 1935 murders in Australia Coogee, New South Wales Male murder victims People murdered in Australia Unsolved murders in Australia Murder in Sydney