What is the Tamam Shud case?

The case was named Tamam Shud case because investigators found a small scrap of paper ripped out of a book printed "Tamam Shud" in the tiny pocket of the dead man trouser which means "The End" in Persian. On 1 December 1948, the body of an unidentified man was found on Somerton beach in Australia. The man was unidentified because there was no indentity of him such as his dental records and fingerprints which could match anyone who lived there or anywhere else in the world as if this unidentified man known as "Somerton man" had never existed. The unidentified man was in good physical condition and well dressed when he was found dead. But the labels on his clothing had been removed. Investigators believed that the unidentified man had been poisoned but autopsy had been done does not showed any unfamiliar particles in his body. This case was known as a perfect mystery because the victim was unidentified and if the man was killed so who is the murderer and what weapon been used or was it a suicide. This questions had no answers to it thus making it a dead end for the police and investigators which caused it to be unsolved. 

A picture of an unidentified man known as "Somerton man" who was found on Somerton beach

Newspaper article on the mystery dead man

Suspects on Black Dahlia case

Investigation on Black Dahlia murder case had been done by Los Angeles Police Department. Around 60 people confessed that they were the murderer to Elizabeth, who which are mostly men. Out of the 60 people, 25 people were viable suspect for the case. Another 25 people were eliminated and there were also several new suspects. However, there was one prime suspect to the case. The suspect was George Hill Hodel Jr. He was an American physician. After his death on 16 May 1999, his son named Steve who was a Los Angeles Police Department homicide detective uncovered an information which was believed that his father was Elizabeth's killer. George was also suspected to be the Lipstick killer and Zodiac killer. There was an evidence of a recording tape where George said that he had killed Black Dahlia and no one could prove it because he had killed his secretary too. Most said that Black Dahlia case was solved but it was unsure to some others as there was no captured been done on the killer of the Black Dahlia case. 

A picture of George Hill Hodel, suspect to be the killer of Black Dahlia

Facts about the Black Dahlia case-Content might be disturbing

On 15 January 1957, Elizabeth was found disfigured and her body was sliced half at the waist in Leimert Park, Los Angeles, California. Elizabeth murder case was one of the oldest unsolved case in Los Angeles history. A local resident known as Betty Bersinger discovered Elizabeth body while she was walking with her 3 years old daughter. Betty thought it was a discarded mannequin, but when she realized that it was a real dead body, she reported it to the police. Elizabeth's body was severely disfigured especially at the waist and had drained entirely of her blood. Her face had been slashed from the corners of her mouth to her ears causing her to have the Glasgow smile. She had several cuts on her thigh and portions of her flesh had been sliced away. Her skull was not fractured but there were bruises on the front and right side of her scalp including a small bleed. On January 25,  Elizabeth handbag and one of her shoe were found on top of a garbage can in an alley. 

Before and after picture of Elizabeth Short "Black Dahlia" 

Who is "Black Dahlia"?

Black Dahlia was a nickname given to Elizabeth Short who was born on 29 July 1924 in Boston. She grew up in Medford, Massachusetts and was the third daughter to Cleo Short and Phoebe May Sawyer. At age 16, Elizabeth spend her winter time in Miami because she had asthma and bronchitis. At age 19, she travelled to California and lived with her father who was working at the nearby Mare Island Naval Shipyard. In the early 1943, Elizabeth and her father had an argument which caused her to work at the post exchange in Camp Cooke, now known as Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Months later, Elizabeth moved to Santa Barbara where she was arrested for underage drinking on 23 September 1943. In Florida, Elizabeth met Major Matthew Michael Gordon Jr. who was United States Army Airforce Office. Michael had proposed to her and she accepted it. However, Michael died in a crash on 10 August 1945. On July 1946, Elizabeth returned to Los Angeles to visit Joseph Gordon Fickling who was an Army Air Force Lieutenant. At age 23, Elizabeth became a victim to an unknown murderer on 15 January 1947 and until today, her case remained unsolved. 

A picture of Elizabeth Short when she was arrested for underage drinking

Major Matthew Michael Gordon Jr. and Elizabeth Short 

Joseph Gordon Fickling who Elizabeth knew when she was in Florida

Suspects on the Beaumont children case

There were four suspects for the Beaumont children case. The first suspect was Bevan Spencer Von Einem who was an accountant aged 21 during the children disappearance. There was a witness known as "Mr B" gave an alleged conversation of Bevan brag about himself who had taken the Beaumont children from a beach and had taken them home to conduct experiments. Bevan said that he had done "brilliant surgery" on each of the children and "connected them up". One of the children died during the procedure, therefore he killed the other two and dumped their bodies in bushland South of Adelaide. The police did not consider Bevan to have any connection with the Beaumont children but somehow he resembled the descriptions and police sketches from 1966.  Bevan was known to have frequently visited Glenelg beach. He told the witness "Mr B" that he had taken two girls from Adelaide Oval. Thus, Bevan matches the police sketches of the suspect in both Beaumont children case and Adelaide Oval case in 1989. Due to this, he was identified as a suspect. But there were arguments saying that Bevan might not be the criminal as he was only 21 during the children disappearance and the real suspect which had been reported by the witness was in his mid-30s. 

A picture of Bevan Spencer Von Einem

The second suspect was Arthur Stanley Brown who was targeted as a suspect in year 1998. He was considered to be a suspect for the Beaumont children case because his face was similar to a sketches of the suspect for the Beaumont children and Adelaide oval cases. However Brown was in his fifties the time when the Beaumont children went missing. Therefore, he does not match the description of the suspect seen with the children who was supposed to be in his mid-30s. 

A picture of Arthur Stanley Brown 

The third suspect for the Beaumont children disappearance was James Ryan O'Neill. In the early 1970s, James told a station owner that he was responsible for the disappearance of the Beaumont children. However, there was no evidence to relate James with the disappearance of the children. South Australian police had interviewed James and they dismissed him as a suspect for the Beaumont children case. 

A picture of James Ryan O'Neill 

The fourth and last suspect for the children case was Derek Ernest Percy. This is because he was Victoria's longest serving prisoner. However, Derek was only 17 in 1966, the year when the Beaumont children went missing. Therefore, he was too young to be match as the man who had been described to be in his mid-30s. 

A picture of Derek Ernest Percy 

Facts about Beaumont children disappearance

26 January 1966, the Beaumont children took a 5 minute bus journey from home to Glenelg beach which they had taken the same trip the day before. As Jane was the eldest, she was considered to be responsible enough to take care of her two siblings. Therefore, their parents were not concerned about their trip to the beach. The children left home at 10 am and they were expected to returned home by 2 pm on that same day. However, they did not returned home and their parents became worried, thus they called the police at 7.30pm.

 

The Beaumont children's parents: Jim and Nancy Beaumont 

During the investigation, several witnesses who had seen the children said that they were companied by a tall blond man who is thin faced in his mid-30s. The children were playing with him and were seen waking together from the beach later, which the police estimated to be around 12.15pm. Shopkeeper reported that Jane Beaumont had bought pasties and meat pie with a A£1 note. However their mother, Nancy had only given them enough coins for their bus fare and food and not a A£1 note as stated by the shopkeeper. At 3pm, the children were seen walking alone away from the beach while holding hands and laughing, said a witness who is a postman who knew the children very well. However, the police said that the postman might mistakenly seen the time when he saw the children who should returned home by that time. Jim and Nancy Beaumont described their children as shy, thus for them to play with a stranger seems to be out of their character. Investigators came out with a theory that the children perhaps might had met the man several times during their visit. Before this, Arnna had told their mother that Jane had a boyfriend at the beach. However, Nancy Beaumont thought she meant a playmate and took no further notice about it. 

Tall blonde man with a thin faced in his mid-30s who was seen to be with the children on the day they vanished

The Beaumont parents also received two letters after 2 years of the children disappearance. One of which could be from Jane and the other was "The Man". The envelope showed a postmark of Dondenong, Victoria. The letter by "The Man" said that he had appointed himself to be the guardian of the children and was willing to hand them back to their parents. In the letter he also stated the place to be met. The Beaumont parents went to the place that had been stated by "The Man", followed by a detective. However no one appeared. After some time, Jim and Nancy Beaumont received another letter by "The Man". He said that he was willing to return the children but when he found out that there was a detective, he felt that the Beaumonts had betrayed him. For that reason, he decided to keep the Beaumont children. After that, there were no further letters. 

Newspaper article and poster in search of the Beaumont children

The Beaumont couple divorced and lived separately as they have accepted that the truth of their children never be discovered. However, the police received new leads regarding the Beaumont children on 19 January 2016. Thus this new leads is still under investigation. It has been 50 years of the disappearance of the Beaumont children and the case still remained unsolved till this day.

The Beaumont Children disappearance

They were three Beaumont children named Jane Nartare Beaumont who was born on 10 September 1956, Arnna Kathleen Beaumont who was born on 11 November 1958 and Grant Ellis Beaumont who was born on 12 July 1961. They lived with their parents named Jim and Nancy Beaumont in Somerton Park, Australia. The Beaumont children disappeared from Glenelg Beach, the beach where the children often visited near Adelaide in South Australia on 26 January 1966. At the time of their disappearance, Jane was aged 9, Arnna was 7 years old and Grant was 4 years old. The Beaumont children case was one of largest police investigation in Australian criminal history as it was remained unsolved after fifty years because the Beaumont children disappearance never been explained. 

The Beaumont Children: Jane Nartare Beaumont, Grant Ellis Beaumont and Arnna Kathleen Beaumont

Newspaper article about the Beaumont children disappearance