10,000 Miles

Police Travel Over

Curious Sequel To Ocean Island Murder

THREE Brisbane detectives (Senior- Sergeant T. E. Martin, Sergeant C.

Smith, fingerprint expert, and Con stable J. Hamilton), having already travelled over 10,000 miles in the pursuit and punishment of an alleged Pacific Islands murderer, left Brisbane again on September 3 for Suva, and probably will add another 3,000 or 4,000 miles to their joumeyings before justice is done.

Last April, on Ocean Island (that hump-backed dot of phosphatic rock near the equator) a middle-aged engineer and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. T. Allen, were found in their bungalow, stabbed to death.

It was a strange, motive-less crime.

Ocean Island (part of the domain of the British High Commission of the Western Pacific, headquarters in Suva) appealed for help. Suva appealed to Australia.

On April 30 the three detectives, at very short notice, went out from Bris bane on a launch, to intercept and board the phosphate steamer, Edenbank, for Ocean Island, 1,200 miles away.

On Ocean Island, they found, in the Allens’ bungalow, certain fingerprints which seemed to have significance. On Ocean Island, there are large numbers of Chinese and Gilbertese, labourers on the phosphate deposits, in addition to the indigenous Banabans. The detectives set to work to fingerprint the whole popula tion. They took no less than 18,000 finger and palm prints.

As a result, they arrested and charged with murder a 28-years-old Chinese labourer, Tai Shek, and he was committed to Suva, for trial. As reported in last

Issue of the PIM, the British court in Suva, owing to some colonial law tech nicality (Ocean Is. is in the Gilbert and Ellice Colony) did not have authority to try Tai Shek. He was discharged and returned to Ocean Island, for re-arrest and re-committal, while the detectives (by now perhaps the most completely fed-up police officials in the wide Pacific) went back to their Brisbane homes.

The new trial was expected to com mence in Suva on September 6; so the three detectives, on September 3, set off from Brisbane again upon their travels.