Tamam shud means ‘is over’ or ‘is finished’ in Persian. But what about the Tamám Shud Case? Why was he lying on Somerton beach? Was he a spy?
We’ll go through the theories of the Somerton man mystery.
Image by Sathish Kumar Periyasamy from Pixabay/Copyright 2017
1. The Tamam Shud Case
The Tamam Shud case is such a case where the clues found were all guesses. There were no definite pieces of evidence or leads that would help the investigation go in a specific way.
This case remains one of the top unsolved cases in the history of South Australia.
1.1 The Somerton Man’s Body Discovered
On the 1st of December, 1948, strangely, a body of an unknown man was found on Adelaide’s Somerton beach, Australia. The body was found by two trainees. He was leaning against a wall with his head resting, outstretching his legs and his feet crossed calmly. And a half-smoked cigarette was hanging from his collar. Those two men had come near him to see if he was breathing. After a while, they realized that the man lying had already died.
The well-dressed man had broad shoulders. He wore a white shirt, and a red tie, along with a brown sweater and a brown coat. He also wore light brown trousers, the pockets of which were weirdly repaired with orange thread.
1.2 The Intriguing Part
But what struck me was, this dead man’s clothes had their labels ripped off. Moreover, he did not have any wallet or ID. The death of this man was unknown. There were no signs of injury or suffocation.
South Australian police suspected that his cause of death was most probably because of heart failure or poisoning. Even though, after an autopsy by Forensic Science South Australia, they did not find any poison. Eventually, the last thing the Somerton man had eaten was a pasty.
The postmortem of the dead man presented an odd statement. It was found that the pupils of this man were smaller than usual.
Since he was found all alone on the Somerton beach, all alone and without any identity, he was soon known as ‘The Somerton Man and thus the case was called ‘The Tamám shud case’.
1.3 The Royal Adelaide Hospital
Image by Arek Socha from Pixabay/Copyright 2016
The unknown man was taken to the Royal Adelaide Hospital, where Dr John Barkley Bennett stated that the man had died no earlier than 2 a.m. and a pathologist, John Matthew Dywer claimed that the body had not been moved after the man’s death.
They had also attempted to track the poison that had been used by the dead man. But the real question was, why would he kill himself with an unidentifiable poison?
While in the hospital, the doctors were all thinking about his peculiar behaviour as heard from witnesses. Witnesses had said that the Somerton man was raising and dropping his right hand as if he was drunk. The doctors suspected that behaviour to be the time the poison was taking a toll on his body.
Perhaps it might have been a slow poison. But at the same time, they found no trace of poison even after running so many tests.
The South Australia coroner, Thomas Cleland, was now really confused about what to do until Professor Sir Cedric Stanton Hicks informed him about two rare poisons that decomposed themselves much earlier before death.
The poisons were labelled so dangerous that the professor did not pronounce those names in court. Instead of that, he wrote the name of the poisons in a paper and gave them to the South Australia coroner, Thomas Cleland.
In the paper, the two names were ‘Digitalis’ and ‘Strophanthin’. After reading those two names, the coroner doubted the poison ‘Strophanthin’. He traced the poison to be extracted from some seeds of African plants. He also traced the fact that in early times, this poison was used by a less-known Somali tribe to poison their arrows.
2. Attempts of the South Australia Police
In hope that someone would identify him, police took the Somerton man’s fingerprints. They put up their fingerprints in the newspapers all around the world. Many people from around the world came to visit the Somerton man too but to no avail, no one could identify him.
The police even put up pictures of the Somerton man in the newspapers. But no one recognized him.
2.1 Tamam Shud
The police had called an expert and humble pathologist, John Cleland. He was called to investigate and re-examine the dead man and any of the information found about the Somerton man.
After about 4 months of investigation and re-examining, they found a piece of paper in the dead man’s trousers. It was inside a sewn-in pocket. In simple words, it was a hidden pocket in the Somerton man’s trousers. It seemed that they had missed the pocket in earlier investigations. It was tightly rolled inside the pocket.
They identified that scrap of paper to be from the rare New Zealand edition of the Rubaiyat, written by Omar Khayyam. It looked as if the paper was torn out from that book.
The paper had the words ‘Tamam shud’, which is Persian for ‘its the end’ or ‘is finished’.
2.1.1 Who Was this Man?
But the real question was, Who’s this man? and why was this dead man here on the Somerton beach all alone, his body found lying lifeless on the beach? It was also said that he did look like an athlete but the muscles around his calf looked similar to that of a ballet dancer.
Many people had suspected that the man found on Somerton beach in South Australia might also be a spy since all the labels were ripped off and he did not have any wallet or ID on him. Or maybe, he was an ordinary man who was rejected by their lover.
Australian police realized the fact that if they kept this body for more evidence, it would rot at some point. So, a plaster bust was built out of the Somerton man’s body. As for his body, a bunch of locals paid for his headstone, which said ‘Here Lies The Unknown Man’.
2.2 A Man Walks in with the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
Image by Dariusz Sankowski from Pixabay/Copyright 2015
After 8 months, a man carrying the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, walks into the police station, saying that it’s that book where that part of the page was torn from. After looking at the book, South Australian police noticed that indeed its last page was torn and that paper found in the dead man’s trousers fit on that page.
The man had said that the book was tossed in his car, which was parked at the Somerton beach. He had gone for a drive with his brother-in-law and had parked the car there. But he did not think about it though until he saw the news about the Somerton man’s body.
Investigating the book, Detective sergeant Lionel Leane found two numbers written inside the book. Along with that, they found a strange code.
They tried calling the first number but there was no response.
2.3 Jessica Thomson
As for the second number, they tried calling the number and found that the number belonged to a young nurse, named Jessica Thomson. She lived nearby Somerton beach and therefore while interviewing her, they noticed her to be very elusive.
The police report also said that upon seeing the bust of the unknown man, the young nurse had almost fainted and during the interview, she was crying the whole session but at the same time, denied knowing the same man.
She admitted the fact that she had gifted the book, The Rubaiyat, to a man named Alfred Boxall. Now this man named Alfred Boxall was alive and he did have a copy of The Rubaiyat.
Later, they got to know that Jessica Thomson had a son, whose father was unknown. But her son had some similarities with the Somerton man in terms of ears and dental.
2.3.1 The Unknown Code
Inside the Rubaiyat, they had found something like a code. The code had a bunch of letters written in it. But to this date, no one could decipher it. Experts from all around the world had tried numerous times but failed to crack the code.
Many think that it wasn’t a code. Whoever put it had the intention to distract the investigators by making them think that it was an actual code.
2.4 What Else Did the Police of South Australia Find?
In the pockets of the Somerton man’s pocket of trousers, investigators had found several things,
- A railway ticket to Henley beach
- A bus ticket to North Glenelg
- A packet of juicy fruit chewing gum
- Two metal combs
- A packet of army club cigarettes, inside which were seven cigarettes of an expensive brand called Kensitas
- A handkerchief
- A packet of Bryant and May matches
The South Australian police had also found a brown suitcase in the Adelaide railway station which possibly belonged to the Somerton man. In the suitcase, they found that orange thread that was used to repair one of the pockets of trousers of the Somerton man. Along with that they also found a stencil kit, the type that was used in merchant ships, and a table knife. They also found a coat stitched with a kind of stitch called feather stitching.
They had also found some clothing that was labelled as ‘T. Keane’. However, they didn’t find anything that they could use as a lead.
It was said that a laundry bag was found in the locker at Adelaide railway station. Inside it, there was a trouser and a pair of shoes with sand in them.
3. Theories of the Somerton Man Mystery
Over the years, many theories have come up for the cause of his death and the identity of this unknown man.
We shall know about them in detail.
3.1 Jessica Thomson and the Somerton Man
One of the theories that were quite popular is that, maybe this man had gone to meet his lover and was rejected. Heartbroken and losing his will to live, he might’ve decided to end his life.
For a more advanced version, it was suspected that this unknown man’s lover was none other than Jessica Thomson.
It got more serious when it was discovered that Jessica had a son, the father of whom was unknown. But several reports mentioned ear and dental similarities with the Somerton man.
Therefore, many believed that even though the young nurse was denying the fact that she knew the Somerton man, the Somerton man, and Jessica Thomson had a relationship and the father of her son was the Somerton man. Being rejected as a father of the child made him take his own life.
Although this was never verified, it did connect some lines. Like, the Somerton man did not have any physical injuries, and the piece of paper in the pockets of the Somerton man’s trousers had ‘Tamám shud’ written inside. That explains the man’s condition, ‘is finished’.
3.2 Was the Somerton Man a Spy?
Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay/Copyright 2015
Another really popular theory about the unknown man was that, maybe he was a spy.
When the secret pocket with the tightly rolled paper was discovered with ‘Tamám shud’ written on it, people compared that discovery to that of a spy. As we have all seen in movies and TV shows related to spies, they communicate secretly and their identity should remain hidden no matter what.
And in case, they get caught in some mess, they always keep poison with them. If their enemies get a hold of one of the spies, they would pressurize them and take any measure to get their answer, no matter what. To avoid disclosing any information, they would swallow the poison and take their life.
In the case of the Somerton man, much evidence served as proof that he might have been a spy.
First, there were no labels on any of his clothing and he did not have any IDs with him
Second, when his body was discovered, he was all alone with absolutely no physical injury or suffocation marks.
Third, when the Somerton man’s fingerprints and pictures were published in newspapers, no one could identify him. Although, many people had come to see him from around the world.
Fourth, when Jessica had come to see the Somerton man, she almost fainted but denied knowing the man.
Lastly, the possible cause of death was poison. Even if they could not for sure which poison it was or if it was poison at all.
Although, this theory was never verified and we will never actually know what happened to the Somerton man.
Some also say that maybe that nurse was also a spy. To protect their real identities, she might have denied knowing her. Her reaction to the Somerton man’s plaster cast was worth mentioning. Even fact that she was answering hesitantly while being interviewed. The Somerton man and her son’s similarities rose more doubts for this theory.
4. The Unknown Man
From recent sources, there have been updates about who the Somerton man might be.
4.1 Professor Derek Abbott
Professor Derek Abbott has been researching the Somerton man for a long time.
Recently, while researching the Somerton man mystery, Professor Derek Abbott came across the idea to contact Jessica. He thought maybe she was not ready to say anything back then but she will be able to open up about it now and help with the research.
Thinking he was contacting Jessica, Professor Derek Abbott contacted her granddaughter, Rachel.
4.2 Rachel Thomson
Rachel, the granddaughter of Jo Thomson, had received a letter from the professor. In that letter, the professor mentioned that Rachel might have some link with the case of the Somerton man. It also mentioned the professor’s guess, that is, he thought the Somerton man and Jo Thomson had a son, and eventually, Rachel was the granddaughter of the Somerton man.
Reading the letter, Rachel thought this idea was ridiculous. It was as if the professor had written a crazy fiction.
But the professor did not give up. He decided to meet Rachel. And they did meet each other in a French restaurant in Brisbane. Rachel knew that the professor was after her DNA but they got along anyways. They got along so well that after a while they even got married. Even though no one knows if the professor married Rachel just for her DNA or if they got along.
Now the professor was so engrossed in the Somerton man case, it made Rachel curious and passionate as well.
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay/Copyright 2018
4.3 Professor Derek and Colleen Fitzpatrick’s Research
Professor Derek Abbott then made up his mind that he was gonna find this Somerton man from the DNA from the hair stuck in the plaster bust of the Somerton man. Although they were in denial that these hair are almost 70 years, would they even be able to generate DNA?
But with modern technology, they hoped that they will surely find out about the real identity of the Somerton man. So finally, in 2017, Professor Abbott contacted a world expert in forensic genealogy, Colleen Fitzpatrick, to ask her to join him in this DNA research of the Somerton man. After hearing about the case, she was indeed captivated and agreed to assist Professor Abbott with the research.
Professor Derek and Colleen Fitzpatrick decided that they would take help from their family tree and their ancestors. They took out the DNA from the 75-year-old hair of the Somerton man and uploaded the information to a genealogical site to find DNA that matched the Somerton man’s DNA.
4.4 Carl Charles Webb
Surprisingly, in no time they found a close match of that DNA in the genealogical site. The family tree was of a person named Jack Hargraves. Now, there were almost 4000 people in that family tree. But they knew for a fact that it had to be a male and their date of death would be missing. And also, as written on the back side of his tie, ‘T Keane‘, they have to be close to the Keane family.
After some thorough investigation, they found a person name, Charles Webb. This person had no death details mentioned. His actual name was Carl Webb but he was more known as Charles Webb. It was said that this man had disappeared after 1947. So, they suspected to be the Somerton man. Although they couldn’t be sure.
To gather more proof about Charles Webb being the Somerton man, they found out his mother’s name. And from that, they found the names of his mother’s side only and searched for anyone alive within that list. Successfully, they found one of them and tried matching their DNA and it worked out. This person turned out to be someone from Victoria, with the name, Antero.
Professor Derek contacted Antero and asked him to volunteer with the research. Antero was first shaken back after getting such a call suddenly, but later he agreed to assist in the DNA test.
Soon after the DNA test, they were now sure of the fact that Charles Webb was indeed the Somerton man. It was found that Antero was Webb’s mother’s elder sister’s great-great grandson.
At this point, Professor Derek and Colleen decided to announce the Somerton man’s real identity.
They were very sure now about the Somerton man’s identity. And about the several theories formed for this case, they all proved to be false. He was no spy and neither was he related to Jessica, Rachel’s Grandmother.
Derek and Colleen reached out to one more person in their family tree, Stuart Webb. Turns out he never knew he was involved in such a big mystery. Stuart Webb was the great-great niece of Charles. Stuart was happy to know his relationship with Charles but it was saddening at the same time because none of his family members ever talked about this forgotten member.
5. About Charles Webb and Conclusion
Charles Webb was born in 1905, in Victoria. He grew up in the family bakery of Springvale. He was one of the youngest of six siblings. And turns out he wasn’t a ballet dancer, his calf muscles were from his participation in community football.
He was an electrical instrument maker and married Dorothy Robertson.
It was found that just before the incident, his mother and father had died. And eventually his brother, Roy Webb, who he used to be close with, died as well.
If we look at it now, the story of the Somerton man mystery is pretty saddening. His wife, Dorothy described Charles as a violent and moody person. He loved to write poetry, especially about death.
Gradually, he is said to have moved out in 1947 and after that, he was never found again.
Hence, the mystery of the Somerton man.
Icy Canada
Last Updated on by Saket Kumar
