The Shark Arm Murder Mystery

When Australia’s Public Enemy #1 accidentally fed on the arm of one of Australia’s most dangerous men.

In early 1935, a shark lingering off the coast of New South Wales beaches was temporarily labeled “Public Enemy Number 1.” From late February to March, 3 young men in Sydney, Australia had been taken by sharks and bounty hunters were deployed to capture any sharks in an effort to make the beaches safe again. It was at this same time that The Coogee Aquarium Baths started hitting some rough times. Ticket sales were drying up and the owner, Bert, was looking for anything to keep his business alive. On April 17th, he and his son agreed to try their luck in these shark-infested waters and see what they could catch to add to their exhibit. He caught a small shark off Coogee Beach and thought that would do, but then to their surprise, another larger shark came and swallowed the smaller one, and Bert ended up with a 1 ton, 4-meter long Tiger Shark just 3km (1.9 miles) off the shore. He managed to organize its transport to his facility and the shark was placed in a swimming pool exhibit. Finally, he had his money-maker.

Business was booming, the shark was a phenomenal attraction. It was lively, active and had quite a healthy appetite, which made for great shows. But a little over a week later, the shark’s disposition changed. It was beginning to act strange, ill, even disoriented. On April 25th, the shark began convulsing, and it vomited up a rat, then a bird, then finally a human arm right in front of the crowd.

Upon examination, it appeared that arm in question hadn’t been severed by a rogue shark attack. Instead of a jagged bite, the arm had been cut cleanly, not necessarily surgically, but definitely with a knife or other sharp object. So it was rather quickly that this ordeal evolved into a murder investigation. Not only that, but the shark they had wasn’t even the culprit. They determined that the arm had been eaten by the initial smaller shark, before it was eaten by the bigger one. They estimated that the arm had been in its stomach from 8–18 days but it was so well preserved that a tattoo of 2 sparring boxers on the forearm was still recognizable. The Smith family recognized that specific tattoo and suggested that it was their relative who had been…