The “almost perfect” crime that was solved because a shark threw up an arm

On one of the busiest days at ‘Coogee Aquarium and Pools’ it wasn’t the exotic tiger shark on display in a pool that caught people’s attention, but the rat, bird and human arm that it vomited.

Bert Hobson owned the enclosure and, after having difficulty getting people to go to his new attractions, on a lucky day he came across a four-metre, one-tonne tiger shark just a few miles off the coast of Sydney, in Australia.

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At that time, Hobson took it to his aquarium to become the biggest attraction and it was. In April 1935, during the local celebration of Anzac Day – where the soldiers who fell in the battle of Gallipoli are remembered – a large crowd gathered around the pool to see the promised shark.

However, the surprise was not because of the incredible creature, but because some time after being in the water under the expectant eyes of the people, the shark vomited up, among other things, a human arm that sparked the beginning of a murder mystery investigation.

The investigation

Hobson immediately contacted police, who had little trouble identifying who the left arm belonged to due to a tattoo of two boxers training on his forearm.

In addition, the authorities also concluded that the arm had not been eaten by the shark in an attack because it did not have that type of bite, but rather it had been cut up and then, apparently, fed to the shark.

Due to this, the investigation focused on a possible murder and the image of the tattoo was shared to find a victim, which gave a result: it was about Jimmy Smith.

Ever heard of early 1900s Australian fighter James Smith? Unless you’re from Sydney, really old or you specifically researched this, you likely have never heard of James Smith, whose arm a shark vomited up at an aquarium, sparking a sensational murder investigation

Follow me ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/deOWj8eOj1

— Patrick or Treat Connor ???? (@PatrickMConnor) April 30, 2021

Smith was a 45-year-old boxer, English, although he lived in Gladesville, an Australian city. From what local media ‘Truth’ reported at the time, people spoke of Smith as a man who “didn’t have an enemy in the world” and who, moreover, had been promising at some point in his sport.

However, the police would soon realize that this was not entirely true.

Jimmy Smith’s business

Apparently, at the time, Smith was much more than just a boxer.

Shortly after the investigation began, it was discovered that, apparently, he had illegal business with Reginald Holmes, a well-known character of the time.

Holmes was part of a family that had been building boats and speedboats for several years. However, it was said that his fortune really came from his illicit business where he used said boats to transport cocaine that was later sold in the city.

Supposedly, Smith became a faithful worker for Holmes and even managed the boats in which the illegal drug trade was coordinated.

However, the hitherto good business took another course when both Holmes and Smith decided to join forces with Patrick Brady who, in fact, was possibly the last person to see Smith alive.

Who killed Smith?

Apparently, the business between the three men did not go as planned and, paradoxically, among swindlers they swindled each other. However, Smith and Brady went out to play and drink on the night of April 7, which would end up being Smith’s last.

Brady was the first to be arrested as a suspect, but the man pointed to Holmes as a possible culprit.

When the police went to question Holmes, the man unleashed a boat chase in the port of ‘Circular Quay’, where he also shot himself in the head without killing himself, but only being unconscious. In the end, Holmes decided to collaborate with justice.

S4, E10: One Dorsal End From Murder
The Victim, Jimmy Smith
Suspect 1, Patrick Brady
Suspect 2, Reginald Holmes#TrueCrimeTuesday #Australia #sharkarmmurder #historicaltruecrime #murder #truecrime #applepodcast #spotifypodcast #googlepodcast #PodNation #darkhumor #crime pic.twitter.com/nqiMF0JExk

— ODFM: One D%!&# From Murder podcast (@ODFMpodcast) June 23, 2021

Apparently and from what he later confessed, Brady arrived home late at night with Smith’s amputated arm as the only evidence that he murdered him.

Holmes told police that Brady explained to him how he would have dismembered Smith and then put his remains in a trunk and dumped them in Gunnamatta Bay. Apparently, Brady was demanding a large sum of money from Holmes so as not to blame him for the murder and point him out for the business they had done.

As Holmes commented, Brady left his house, leaving him Smith’s arm, which he took and later threw into the ocean, where it was ingested precisely by the shark that would later arrive at the aquarium and that would start the entire search for the murderer.

According to Holmes’ statement, he threw Smith’s arm into the ocean where it was eventually eaten by a shark. (Photo: iStock)

no culprits

Despite the fact that Holmes had agreed to act as a witness in the trial against Brady, the man was found dead with three shots to the body hours before this process began.

With no witnesses to verify the story and no body to prove the murder, Brady was released and received no conviction. In fact, to the day of his death he denied involvement with Smith’s murder.

A few months later, Brady was acquitted of murder but arrested for other charges. He maintained James Smith was in fine health when they parted ways and left as friends. pic.twitter.com/HsI3UWRul2

— Patrick or Treat Connor ???? (@PatrickMConnor) April 30, 2021

According to local media reports, such as Australia’s ‘News’, the investigation also revealed that Jimmy Smith was a police informant.

To this day his body has never been found. The author of Holmes’s murder is also unknown, although the authorities suspected that he had been a hitman hired by himself.

Source: Elcomercio