Witnesses claimed that they saw the man the previous afternoon around 7 on the same position lifting his arm. Another witness said that around 8 p.m they also saw the man there, but he was not moving. They also had the opinion that the body's position has been changed. Although they thought that he might be dead they did not mention anything earlier cause they though that the man was probably just drunk.
The man carried no identification, which led police to believe he had committed suicide.
Sir John Burton Cleland , professor at the University of Adelaide mentioned that the man was probably 40 to 45 years old and had a "Britisher" appearance. He had fair to ginger-coloured hair and was in top physical condition. He had hazel eyes and was about 5ft 11in tall. He was dressed formal, wearing a white shirt, red and blue tie, brown trousers, shocks and shoes.He was also wearing a brown knitted pullover and fashionable European grey and brown double-breasted coat,despite the fact that it was a hot day.
And now for the weird stuff.
All labels on his clothes were missing. There was also a suitcase found later that belonged to the man. In the suitcase more clothes were found and yet again all labels were missing.
After the autopsy, examiners found congestion throughout the brain and body, blood in the man’s stomach and liver, an extremely enlarged spleen etc. All these suggest one thing: Poisoning. Although it was clear that the man was poisoned. No poison was found in his system to back up the theory.
Going through his staff police was able to find deep in one of his pocket a little piece of paper. The paper seemed to be cut off out of a book and there were only two words printed on it:
Officials quickly ordered an investigation on the meaning and from which book it was cut off. The answer came soon enough as the words came from a book called "The Rubaiyat" written by Omar Khayyam. It were the last two words on the book meaning "The End".
These last two words were under a poem of Khayyam about living life to the foolest with no regrets even when it ends.
A big search for the book with the "lost words" started. That was the time when a photographer that had parked his unlocked car close to the area that the victim was found called them. He told the police that he read in newspapers that they were looking for a book named "The Rubaiyat" and that he had in his possesion what they were looking for. The young photographer, who wished to stay anonymous, explained to the authorities that he found a very rare first edition copy of Edward FitzGerald's translation of The Rubaiyat in the back seat of his car. As it was natural he never though that was connected to the case until he read about it. He handed the book to the police.
The book was examined thoroughly and it was found that it was indeed the book they were looking for. In the back of the book were faint pencil markings of five lines of capital letters with the second line struck out. The strike out is now considered significant with its similarity to the fourth line possibly indicating a mistake and thus, possible proof the letters are code:
MLIAOI
Going through his staff police was able to find deep in one of his pocket a little piece of paper. The paper seemed to be cut off out of a book and there were only two words printed on it:
"Taman Shud"
Officials quickly ordered an investigation on the meaning and from which book it was cut off. The answer came soon enough as the words came from a book called "The Rubaiyat" written by Omar Khayyam. It were the last two words on the book meaning "The End".
These last two words were under a poem of Khayyam about living life to the foolest with no regrets even when it ends.
A big search for the book with the "lost words" started. That was the time when a photographer that had parked his unlocked car close to the area that the victim was found called them. He told the police that he read in newspapers that they were looking for a book named "The Rubaiyat" and that he had in his possesion what they were looking for. The young photographer, who wished to stay anonymous, explained to the authorities that he found a very rare first edition copy of Edward FitzGerald's translation of The Rubaiyat in the back seat of his car. As it was natural he never though that was connected to the case until he read about it. He handed the book to the police.
The book was examined thoroughly and it was found that it was indeed the book they were looking for. In the back of the book were faint pencil markings of five lines of capital letters with the second line struck out. The strike out is now considered significant with its similarity to the fourth line possibly indicating a mistake and thus, possible proof the letters are code:
WRGOABABD
WTBIMPANETP
MLIABOAIAQC
ITTMTSAMSTGAB
(unclear if the second line was underlined or erased)
They soon realised that this was some kind of a code. They called everyone and even gave it to the public, but until today noone was able to crack it. The code was also analysed by the Australian Department of Defence in 1978, they made the following statements about the code:
There are insufficient symbols to provide a pattern.
The symbols could be a complex substitute code or the meaningless response to a disturbed mind.
It is not possible to provide a satisfactory answer.
However, this was not the only thing found in the back of the book. A telephone number was found as well.It belonged to a former nurse who lived in Moseley St, Glenelg, around 400 metres.The woman said that while she was working at Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney during World War II,she owned a copy of The Rubaiyat but in 1945, at the Clifton Gardens Hotel in Sydney, had given it to an army lieutenant named Alfred Boxall who was serving in the Water Transport Section of the Australian Army.
Just when everyone though that Boxall was the victim and the case was moving to an end , they soon discover that Alfred Boxall was still alive and had still his own copy of "The Rubaiyat" that was given to him back in 1945.
The case has remained unsloved until today although in 2011 a lead came up about a man called H. C. Reynolds. An identification card, a document issued in the United States to foreign seamen during WWI was given to biological anthropologist Maciej Henneberg in October 2011 for comparison of the ID photograph to that of the Somerton man. While Henneberg found anatomical similarities in features such as the nose, lips and eyes, he believed they were not as reliable as the close similarity of the ear. The ear shapes shared by both men were a "very good" match, although Henneberg also found what he called a "unique identifier;" a mole on the cheek that was the same shape and in the same position in both photographs.
"Together with the similarity of the ear characteristics, this mole, in a forensic case, would allow me to make a rare statement positively identifying the Somerton man."
They are still trying to solve the case but as of today it is still a mystery and full of questions and coincidences...
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