Casefile True Crime - Case 75: Graeme Thorne

Episode Date: January 27, 2018

On June 1 1960, Sydney resident Bazil Thorne received a phone call informing that he’d just won one hundred thousand pounds in a Sydney Opera House Lottery. Bazil couldn’t believe his ears – he���d never won anything of significance before. ---  Episode narrated by the Anonymous Host Researched and written by Anna Priestland Additional research by Bonnie Lavelle Robinson For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-75-graeme-thorne

Have you ever tried BBQ on BBQ? Picture this. Freshly prepared crispy seasoned chicken that's tossed in a smoky barbecue glaze and topped with a creamy barbecue sauce. Can't picture it? Well you can try it now at Tim's. Get our new BBQ crispy chicken loaded bowls and wraps for a limited time. Our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents. If you feel at any time you need support, please contact your local Crisis Centre. For suggested phone numbers for confidential support, please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website. Today's episode deals with a crime committed against a child that won't be suitable for all listeners. On June 1st 1960, 37 year old Basil Thorn was 450km from Sydney's Bondi Beach where he rented a flat with his family. He was in the small town of Gunadah in the northeast of New South Wales. Basil worked on the road as a travelling salesman in a partnership with his father and was often away. His wife Frida was at home with their 3 year old daughter Belinda and their 8 year old son Graham who attended school at Scott's College in Bellevue Hill just north of Bondi. The Thorns also had an older daughter Cheryl who was born with a disability and permanently cared for in an institution. It was an ordinary week for the Thorns, with Basil on the road and Frida at home looking after the family.

Basil was writing orders in the store in Gunadah when a newspaper reporter called looking for him. He picked up the receiver and listened as the reporter told him he had just won the lottery. At first Basil didn't believe it, but when the man on the other end read out the number of the winning ticket and the name of the syndicate, Basil went cold all over. He felt flood as in his stomach and he lost the ability to speak. He struggled to finish writing out the orders he was making and had to accept the help of a few people around him. Basil Thorn had just won £100,000, the currency of the time in 1960. In 2018 that would be equivalent to around 2.8 million Australian dollars. Basil had only bought a £3 lottery ticket a few times before. He'd had small wins, 5 or 10 pounds here and there, but this time as he looked down at his winning lottery ticket, he tried to grasp just how significantly he and his family's life was about to change. The initial projections for both built time and funding for the construction of the Sydney Opera House were grossly underestimated. What had originally been thought to take 4 years to build at a total cost of around £7 million became a 14 year build at over £100 million. The NSW State Government realised they needed much more money to complete the project and after running several unsuccessful funding campaigns, they set up the Opera House Lottery.

The first lottery ticket was sold in November 1957 and construction of the Opera House began in March 1959. The Opera House Lottery was still running in 1960 when Basil and Frida Thorn unexpectedly won it. The price of tickets at the time was £3 and the major prize was £100,000. Winds were worthy of front page news in Sydney and stories were also splashed across newspapers around the country. As Basil's flight came into Charles Kingsford Smith Airport in Sydney, he was greeted by three reporters ready to photograph him for the paper. Basil was humble and the news had yet to sink in. He told the reporters that he wasn't going to get too excited. He spoke about putting the winnings into a fixed bank deposit until he got used to having so much money. He vowed he wouldn't get reckless and said, quote, I believe in the saying charity begins in the home and I intend to make this my policy. Basil had a lot to consider and was thinking about others. He was in a business partnership with his father and wasn't prepared to leave him in the lurch.

And his eldest daughter Cheryl, who was in permanent care, also had to be considered. Basil and Frida didn't own their house. This win meant they could now afford one, but they didn't want to make any rash decisions. As reporters watched on, 37 year old Basil Thorn got into a taxi at the airport and headed for home. The following morning, the headlines read, 100,000 pound win, too young to retire. And when the results were printed, so too were the street addresses of the winners. For a family who had just won big, the Thorns continued life as normal in the weeks that followed. Basil continued working on the road. Eight year old Graham went off to school and Frida stayed home with three year old Belinda. The Thorns' win was no secret, but for them, things remained the same.

After applying to have a telephone line put into their flat back in March, they finally received a number two months later in May. But by mid June, it still wasn't connected. So instead of reporters phoning the Thorn household, it wasn't unusual for there to be a lot of knocks on their door. On June 14th, 1960, just after dinner, Frida was standing in the kitchen when she heard a knock. She had grown used to the amount of people who had been knocking on their door since the win, but it was unusual to get a visitor that late. Frida was often home alone during the week with Basil on the road, but this night, she was glad Basil was home. She answered the door to a man who introduced himself as a private investigator. He said he was looking for a man named Bogna. Basil made his way to the door, and after a short discussion, the Thorns were confident he had the wrong address. They recommended he go and see the lady in the upstairs flat who had lived in the building for about 20 years.

But the private investigator was adamant that it was the Thorns flat he was looking for. He pulled out a small black notebook and asked if the phone number he had recorded was theirs. Considering their phone was still a week away from being connected, the Thorns thought it was unusual that he had got their new number correct. When they asked how he had gotten their number, he said he had ways and means to do so. Basil and Frida assumed the private investigator had just made a mistake and thought nothing more of it after he left. Just short of one month later, on Thursday, July 7th, 1960, Frida woke up and got Graham ready for school. Basil was on the road again, this time working in Kempsey, in Country New South Wales. Frida had an arrangement with a friend of hers, Phyllis Smith, to take Graham to school each morning.

Phyllis had two young sons of her own at Scotts College. At 8.30am, dressed in his grey Scotts College uniform, holding his 16-inch school case with his name on the corner in gold letters, 8-year-old Graham kissed his mother goodbye and walked out of his ground floor flat on Edward Street, Bondi. He walked past the few houses on Edward Street before he turned onto Wellington Street. The road was busy at that time of day, with workers hurrying in and out of Bondi. Each morning, Phyllis Smith picked Graham up in her Holden station wagon on the corner of Wellington and O'Brien Streets, out the front of a corner store. The distance Graham had to walk from home to the corner store was only about 270 metres. He liked to get there a little early, so he could pop in and buy some potato chips and have a chat.

The shopkeeper enjoyed Graham's visits each morning, and said the following. The lad comes in every morning and gets a packet of chips, saying, I'll have the same today, mister. He normally comes in about quarter past eight, or perhaps later. He'd been doing it every morning for the past couple of months, as regular as clockwork. Sometimes he has a yarn with me, and if he wants to know anything, he asks me straight out. He's pretty old in the head for his age. After speaking to the shopkeeper, Graham would go outside, sit on top of his school case, and wait for Phyllis Smith to collect him. But on that day, July 7th,

Graham never made it to the corner store. When Phyllis Smith arrived, there was no sign of him. She waited a few minutes, then pulled over a little up the road and sent her son to the corner store to look for him. When her son came back without him, Phyllis turned her car around and drove to the thorns house, assuming he was running late. When she knocked on the door, she expected Graham to come rushing out. But instead, a confused freighter answered and said Graham had already left. Phyllis went back to the corner store again, and this time she walked inside and spoke to the shopkeeper. When the shopkeeper told her Graham had never arrived for his usual visit that morning, she assumed he had gone off to school without her.

She couldn't understand why he'd never done that before, but she thought it could be the only explanation. Phyllis got back into her car and drove to Scott's college. The headmaster helped her look for Graham, but he wasn't at school either. Phyllis drove straight back to the thorns house. When Frida Thorn heard that Graham was not at the school, she picked up the phone which had just been connected and called the police. At 9.30am, Sergeant Larry O'Shea of Bondi police arrived at the flat. Frida described Graham to the sergeant. At eight and a half, he was tall for his age.

He had fair hair which looked darker and more brown as it was well oiled. It was parted on the left and swept her neatly back. He had gaps between his teeth and was always smiling. He was friendly, chatty and wise. Frida didn't believe he would wander off on his own accord. He would talk to anybody, but he wouldn't walk off with a stranger. He was wearing his grey Scott's college uniform, shorts, a light blue shirt with a grey pullover, long socks, black shoes and a navy blue cap. Frida then explained to the sergeant what had happened that morning and as she did so, the phone rang.

He's that you, Mrs. Thorn. The male caller then asked to speak to her husband, Basil. Frida said Basil wasn't home and asked the caller what he wanted him for. He replied, I have your son. Sergeant O'Shea was standing next to Frida, so she passed him the phone. Hello, the sergeant said. The male voice with a clear foreign accent said, I have your boy. I want 25,000 pounds before five o'clock this afternoon.

I'm not fooling. If I don't get the money before five o'clock, I'll feed the boy to the sharks. 25,000 pounds in 1960 is close to 750,000 Australian dollars today. The kidnapper said he would phone back at five p.m. with further instructions. There was only when O'Shea hung up the phone that Frida told him about their recent lottery win. She said they'd been inundated with letters from people asking for money. There were requests from individuals and some from charities, but at no stage had they ever felt threatened. Until now.

Knowledge of the Thorn's lottery win caused serious alarm and the initial police operation kicked in from that moment without any hesitation. It would become the biggest search in New South Wales police history and marked a new territory for Australia. The first known child kidnapping for ransom in the country. As Basel Thorn arrived home to Sydney Airport, he heard his name called over the loudspeaker. He was called to the inquiry desk. When he approached, he was told there was a police matter and they wanted to see him immediately. It was then that Basel was told about Graham's disappearance. But it wasn't until later this morning that he found out that he had been arrested.

Until he walked through the front door of his home that he heard about the ransom. Officers stayed at the Thorn's flight all day in case the kidnapper called back and as they waited, the search operation grew to unprecedented levels. Police conducted a door knock of all houses and flats in the area. They were baffled that no one had seen or heard anything unusual. For someone to entice a child into a car within such a short space of time on a busy road, the kidnapping must have been well planned and perfectly executed. Police believed it may have been committed by more than one person, possibly a group of people. They also felt a woman may have been involved, the theory being that a woman intercepted Graham,

telling him that she was going to take him to school instead of Phyllis Smith. With the accent of the man who called that morning and the knowledge that kidnappings were not commonplace in Australia, police believed early on that the offender may have been someone who had only recently arrived in the country. As they waited anxiously for 5pm to roll around, Basil and Frida confirmed without hesitation that they would pay the ransom demand and even more if they had to. They just wanted Graham home. But 5pm came and went with no phone call. Why had the kidnapper not called back like he said he would?

Police were able to ascertain that the initial call made to the thorns that morning by the kidnapper was made from an unlisted number. While checks continued on that unlisted number, senior members of the police were preparing to expand the search and go public with an appeal. At 8pm, the family's doctor arrived at the flat to treat Frida, who by then was in need of sedation as she was in severe shock. At 9.47pm, during a moment of silence in the flat, the phone started to ring. An officer answered the phone and pretended to be Basil. His job was to stall the caller for long enough so the call could be traced. The kidnapper started to give his instructions. The money was to be placed into two separate paper bags, but before he went on to state where the money should be dropped,

he hung up. After Frida was sedated by the doctor, a friend came to take their younger daughter. Basil refused to sleep and sat up all night waiting. Maybe the kidnapper would call back. Police continued questioning neighbours late into the night. They showed photos of Graham to all those living in the neighbourhood. Television stations showed Graham's picture and asked the public to look out for him. At 3am, the thorns light was still glowing.

Detectives who had been on duty for 17 hours didn't want to rest until Graham was found, but they were forced to take a short break. By that time, over 400 calls had been phoned in with possible leads and tips. By the next morning, Friday, July 8th, they had received no further word from the kidnapper. And despite the enormous amount of calls from the public, none got them any closer to finding Graham. Bondi police station was set up as the search headquarters. Detectives from the scientific bureau and all of the major squads from the criminal investigation branch joined the manhunt. All the police stations in New South Wales were alerted. The search for both Graham and his kidnapper, or kidnappers, was unlike anything ever carried out in the country before.

Some would refer to it as the greatest manhunt ever in Australia. Police stood by at the thorns flat 24 hours a day, hoping for further contact from the kidnapper. Part of the puzzle they had to work out was how the kidnapper had gotten the thorns phone number. Their phone line was only recently connected, so their number wasn't even listed yet. Police arranged for Buzzel Thorn to speak at a press conference at Bondi police station. With a barrage of microphones, television lights and cameras in his face, he took a deep breath and relayed a message for the kidnapper. To whoever is holding my son, I am ready to pay you the money you are demanding for your safe return. I will pay you in cash at any place and at any time you specify.

You may contact me at my home. You will not be betrayed. If the person who has him is a father and has children of his own, all I can say is, for God's sake, send him back to me in one piece. Buzzel then broke down. Some of the reporters became visibly upset themselves. The police commissioner, Colin Delaney and the NSW Premier Bob Heffern, then made an appeal for Graham's safe return. Delaney requested that Buzzel's plea be printed in the Sydney papers in three foreign languages, German, Italian and Greek. Languages that were widely spoken in Australia at the time.

Delaney's idea was to distribute the appeal as far as possible and didn't have anything to do with the accent of the kidnapper. The Premier Bob Heffern called the kidnapping an appalling happening and that it was every citizen's duty to help the police. Quote, Somehow we have never thought that kidnapping a child and holding him to ransom could occur in this country. But it has. Emergency plans were installed at airports, shipping docks and major roads. Three separate phone lines were set up to handle the influx of calls being made regarding the kidnapping. Emergency plans were installed at airports, shipping docks and major roads.

Three separate phone lines were set up to handle the influx of calls being made regarding the case. One at Bondi police station, one at the radio telecommunications centre in Redfern and one at the emergency switchboard. The case was televised on every news bulletin around the country. The shocked Australian public wanted to help in any way they could. Police received hundreds of offers of assistance and thousands of suggestions on where to look. By the end of the second day, the search for Graham Thorne had officially become the biggest manhunt in Australia's history. But the suggestions that were being phoned in from the public on where to look for Graham were leading nowhere. So police decided they just had to search everywhere.

They had to scour every road, every park and every waterway. They asked members of the public to search their yards and talk to their children. Through manpower, they hoped they would find him. One tip came in regarding the night of Graham's disappearance. On the night of Thursday July 7th, a dark coloured car with no front number play reported the bear dodge was seen by the owners of a petrol station in Pennant Hills. 32 kilometres northwest of where Graham lived. At around 10pm, the car approached with two men, a woman and a young boy on board. The men were around 30 years old and 20 years old and the woman was around 50.

Each were described as being of Italian or Maltese descent. But the young boy fit Graham's description. The group asked for their tank to be filled as well as a 13 gallon drum. When the car drove off in an orderly direction, the owners of the petrol station called the police. The next morning, the morning after Graham's kidnapping, Friday July 8th, an off-duty police officer spotted a car matching the description. Two men and a woman were seen on board looking suspicious. The off-duty officer chased the car at high speed and roads were closed off to try and stop it, but eventually the vehicle was lost in heavy traffic. After running the number plate, they discovered the car was using plates issued to a different vehicle.

All police units were placed on high alert to keep a lookout for it. Later that day, just over 24 hours after Graham disappeared, 75 year old Joseph Henry Bell was walking around in Parkland, north of Sydney Harbour. He was just off a major road in Bantry Bay, 22 kilometres north of where Graham disappeared. And directly east of the petrol station, where the two men and a woman were spotted with a young boy. Joseph was collecting bottles in dense bush right near a creek in the area just south of French's Forest. Around noon, just 10 metres from the road, he came across a small school case. It was wide open and empty. Printed in gold letters on the corner of the lid was the name G Thorn. Joseph hid the school case in a hollow under a rock.

He knew the young boy was missing. There was barely a person who didn't know by then, but he didn't call the police. Instead, he went back to his house and waited until around 6pm when his son-in-law visited. Joseph's son-in-law called the police immediately when he heard the story. Police sped to the location and retrieved the case, confirming it was Graham's. Even though they were concerned over the delay from when the case was found to when they were called. It was the first solid clue they had in the 34 hours since Graham's kidnapping. Police sealed off a 5 kilometre strip of bush where the case was found. And hundreds of official and unofficial volunteer searches began combing the area in a shoulder-to-shoulder search for more clues.

When darkness fell, they set up lights and concentrated on small areas of grassland, determined to not let the darkness stall their search. As time went on and nothing further was found, police began to consider that the school case was dumped as a false lead, possibly thrown from a car as it drove by. The school case had been emptied and had no fingerprints on it, but food wrappings were found under a rock which police felt could have been from Graham's lunch. Detectives believed that they were less than 24 hours behind the kidnapper or kidnappers and they focused on catching up the time in desperate hope of saving Graham. As the weekend began, the manhunt strengthened and an enormous perimeter was set for the continued search. The zone extended over 80 kilometres north to Gosford, 95 kilometres south to Wollongong and west into the Blue Mountains. Police believed the kidnapper or kidnappers were hiding out somewhere within that zone. All police leave was cancelled and every officer in New South Wales who was on leave was asked to come back to work.

No one looked kindly upon the kidnapping of a child, so even hardened criminals who had a long history of run-ins with the law were coming forward with offers to help police in the search. The state borders were patrolled as a precaution and any car leaving New South Wales and entering Victoria or Queensland was checked. After Graham's school case was found, the acting chief of the Criminal Investigation Branch, Inspector Windsor, made a public plea on radio and television. Inspector Windsor, quote, Every moment you hold him makes your own position worse. Take him out into the street, leave him there and tell him to approach the first person he sees. Then, go your own way. What you have done is dreadfully serious, but you can make it much worse than it is by keeping the boy.

So far, you have made yourself liable to a term of imprisonment, but not a long one if the boy is not harmed. If you hurt him, your position becomes a terrible one indeed. Publishers from the City Morning Herald newspaper offered a £10,000 reward and the state government added to that with £5,000. Basil Thorn was thankful for the reward and said he wouldn't hesitate for a moment to add to it if his son was returned. The £5,000 reward offered by the government was five times more than any reward offered previously for the apprehension of a criminal, but was also the quickest reward ever offered following a crime. The government added a free pardon to any accomplice that came forward with information leading to an arrest and Graham being found. In 1960, kidnapping for ransom was seen by Australians as something that only happened overseas. It was just about unheard of here. Graham Thorn was the first ever child kidnapped for ransom, and there had only been one kidnapping for ransom of an adult in Sydney, and that had occurred almost 30 years prior, in 1932.

In that particular case, the plan was foiled when one of the kidnappers was arrested and the victim was freed unharmed. Coincidentally, it happened only a few hundred metres from where Graham Thorn disappeared from. As it was so rare, there was no special law in New South Wales which covered kidnapping for ransom. Unlike the United States, which already labelled kidnapping a federal offence where perpetrators faced the death penalty, the fact Australia didn't have a problem with the crime meant there was no reason for a law to cover it. The most relevant law was abduction, the unlawful possession of a person. This had a maximum sentence of 10 years when the victim was a child under the age of 12. New South Wales Premier Bob Heffrin wasn't happy with this, and stated that kidnapping should rank alongside murder, and that he would be suggesting changes to the law. But even if new laws and punishments came into effect as the Premier was proposing, Graham's case wouldn't be covered by them, unless they were applied retrospectively, which had never been done before. 5,000 posters with Graham's picture were printed and distributed across all metropolitan police stations. They were also displayed outside town halls, supermarkets and businesses. The number of people searching for Graham then grew even further. The General Secretary of the New South Wales Scouts Association urged every single member of the state's scouts and cubs to join the search, all 38,000 of them. He believed they could use their scouting skills to help police search isolated and far-reaching spots.

200 Army soldiers from the No. 2 Battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment also joined the search. By now, police had managed to trace the origin of the two phone calls made to the thorns from the kidnapper. The first one, on the morning of the kidnapping, was made from a phone box on the northern side of the Spitbridge, around 30 minutes north of Graham's home. The second call, almost 12 hours later, was made from a phone box at Seaforth, an area just a few minutes away from where the first phone call was made. Detectives combed through all the people connected to the thorns. They heard of all the people they had come into contact with in the recent months since their big win. While questioning Frida, she told detectives about the visitor she and Basil had to their door a few weeks before the kidnapping. The private investigator who was searching for a man named Bogna. When she described the encounter, police became alarmed when they heard this apparent private investigator had known the thorns' phone number, as had the kidnapper, despite the fact that was newly connected and wasn't yet listed.

Frida described the private investigator as 35 to 40 years old, with dark brown or black slightly wavy hair, thick dark eyebrows, well spoken, with a foreign appearance. In addition, a neighbour came forward stating that she'd seen a man matching that description, sitting on a park bench outside the thorn's small block of flats for three mornings before Graham was kidnapped. A council worker then came forward and described the same man sitting on the same bench, but for three mornings the week before the kidnapping. Each time, the man was seen between 7.15am and 9am, with a newspaper stretched out in front of his face. Police were sure this man claiming to be a private investigator was involved in Graham's kidnapping. They just had to find him. The area where Graham's school case was found was continuously searched and patrolled over the weekend, Saturday, July 9th and Sunday, July 10th. On that Sunday afternoon, one mile north of where the case was found, and on the opposite side of the road, another discovery was made. Despite the fact that the area had been crawling with police and searches continuously since the school case discovery on Friday, it appeared that the kidnapper, or an accomplice, had come into the cordoned off search zone and planted some of Graham's clothing.

The reason the police knew what was planted after is because when the discovery was made on Sunday afternoon, the items were bone dry, and rain had fallen on Saturday night and Sunday morning. The items they found were a Scott's College schoolboy's cap, a torn page of an exercise book with Graham's handwritten schoolwork, a maths textbook, an empty plastic lunch bag, a peeled apple wrapped in plastic wrap with the peel still caught around it, just like Frida would do for Graham. And there was also a plastic raincoat draped over a small kerosene drum. The thorns felt immense relief at the news of the items being found. They were sure this meant that Graham would soon be returned home, alive. An electrician named Cecil and his wife were the next witnesses to come forward. They lived on Francis Street, one street from Graham's, and they had information about a car they had seen the morning Graham was kidnapped. On the morning of Thursday, July 7th, they were both driving down their street towards Wellington Street when they saw a blue Ford custom line parked at the intersection of Francis and Wellington Street. This corner was along the exact stretch of Wellington Street where Graham disappeared.

Cecil and his wife noticed the car because it was parked unnecessarily close to the street corner and its front was up on the curb blocking the footpath. Anyone walking along the footpath would have to go around it. Its rear end was hanging out on the road so much so that Cecil had to swerve to the right to miss it. As they passed, they saw a man exit the driver's side of the Ford in an overcoat and a brown felt hat. They described the man as 35 to 40 years of age, 5'10", with a stocky or thick set build. He had olive skin and dark hair. Cecil's wife said she was sure she had seen the same man hanging around a few days earlier. The description matched the man who had been sitting outside the thorns flap in the days leading up to the kidnapping and it matched the man who knocked on the thorns door claiming to be a private investigator. On July 19th, 12 days after Graham was kidnapped, police were still trying to identify the private investigator, but they were no closer to any answers. The search didn't slow down though and authorities remained dedicated to bringing Graham home safely.

On August 16th, 1960, almost six weeks after Graham Thorn walked out of his home and around the corner, never to be seen again, three children were playing in a cubby house built on a vacant block of land near their home in Seaforth. Seaforth was the location where the kidnappers' second phone call was made to the thorns. The vacant land was a place they played all the time, as did all the local kids. A few metres from the cubby, they noticed a rolled up rug. They assumed it was just rubbish that had been dumped, which wasn't unusual at all. One of the boys mentioned the rug to his father when he got home and the father thought he had better go and inspect it. He took a neighbour with him and with the neighbour's torch, they searched the low scrub.

As the flashlight bounced across the grass, it lit up the unmistakable pattern of a check, woolen rug. As the neighbour kept the flashlight on the bundle, the boys' father untied two knots of rope keeping the rug together. As he peeled back a fold, he saw what he thought was hair and then, as he pulled it open, he saw a small body. Inside the rug was the partially decomposed body of a young boy. The scarf wrapped around his neck and rope around his feet and wrists. He was lying in thick undergrowth amongst rocks about 30 metres from Grandview Grove in Seaforth, the location where the second phone call was made to the thorns the nightgrain disappeared. What had started as the largest manhunt in New South Wales history was now said to become one of the most intensive murder investigations the state had ever seen.

A post-mortem examination was carried out, during which it was found that Graham's coat was fully buttoned up and his school necktie was exactly as Frida had tied it that morning. The two handkerchiefs he carried in his trouser pockets were unused and still folded. His body was in an advanced state of decomposition. There was a patch of abrasions on the right side of his neck. There was a wound to the back left side of his head with an underlying fracture at the back of his skull and some bruising of the scalp. The nature of this injury indicated the use of considerable force. There were scattered surface hemorrhages in the upper part of his air passages at the top of the lungs and just below the larynx.

This was indicative of asphyxia. The cause of death was determined to be either asphyxia, blunt force trauma, or a combination of both. They were able to determine that Graham had been killed within the 24 hour period of being kidnapped and his body dumped at the vacant block of land shortly after. This was established by scientific analysis considered pioneering for its time. Graham's shoes were examined by the School of Agriculture at the University of Sydney. Four kinds of fungi were found growing abundantly on both of his shoes. The fungi had reached a stage of growth where perithesia spores had developed.

Scientists discovered one specific type of fungi that would have taken a minimum period of three weeks after the development of the perithesia under the conditions they were in. It was further discovered that the perithesia had begun to break away and this indicated a further period of another three weeks after their development. These fungi would not grow if the shoes were being used and would not develop unless covered in a humid atmosphere, like rolled up in a rug. The presence of fly larvae also helped determine the period of time Graham's body was likely to have been at the location.

Around six weeks. The exact amount of time Graham had been missing for. This pioneering scientific analysis opened doors between criminal investigators and scientific experts to work together in future investigations. Detectives turned their attention to the rug Graham was found in. They were able to establish that the rug was produced by textile mill in South Australia and the blue and grey check design was a style manufactured sometime between June 6th, 1955 and January 19th, 1956.

3,000 units of the rug were produced and it was believed that half of those were sold in New South Wales retail stores. The task of finding the owner seemed impossible unless a member of the public recognized it and could suggest who the owner might be. The chief of the criminal investigation branch said, quote, even at the risk of getting many false clues

we will welcome any information about similar rugs. If anyone recalls having seen a similar rug in somebody's possession the information could be very important to police. Following this announcement, magazines agreed to print coloured images of the pattern on the rug. A scientific examination revealed foreign hairs on both sides of the rug. The hairs were a mix of both animal and human. Animal hairs were also found attached to the back of Graham's coat.

They were thought to be from a small dog. More human hairs were found on the scarf around Graham's neck. Also present inside the rug were various types of foliage. Most species could be found in the vacant block where Graham's body was dumped. But there were two specific species present which didn't exist at that location. These fragments of two different shrubs were found on Graham's scarf, coat and pants. Some of the soil which had gathered in Graham's clothing was also tested.

It showed minute fragments of a pink coloured limestock mortar. It was determined that the distribution of the mortar on the clothing and scarf meant that Graham must have been lying on his back near and likely under a brick building when the scarf was tied around his neck. Because of the pink colour of the mortar and the presence of fragments of garden shrubs police felt the location where the scarf was tied around Graham's neck was likely a residential dwelling.

Music 500 people attended Graham's funeral at St Mark's Church in Darling Point. There had been no public notice made but still the streets surrounding St Mark's were packed with people by the time the service began. The hymn, Abide with Me, was played at the service. Reverend Clive Goodwin, a close friend of the Thorns began with the following words. We are gathered here this morning

because a horrible crime previously unknown in Australian history has cut short the life of an innocent boy. It has caused untold suffering in his family circle as well as the community. For nearly seven weeks they have watched, waited and prayed that Graham would be returned to his family circle unharmed. The desire of the nation is that the person responsible for the crime will receive the justice that the case demands.

Men, women and children wept openly. 150 Scots College pupils attended dressed smartly in their uniforms and as the muffled peel of the church bells rang out the Scots College children formed a guard of honour around Graham's coffin as it was carried from the church. A small silver plaque on it was engraved with Graham Frederick Thorn, aged eight. Graham's funeral coincided with an announcement from the Premier

that the highest priority would be given to new legislation providing drastic penalties for kidnapping. He confirmed it would most certainly come before the next session of Parliament. Detectives combed through the owners of all 1955 Blue Ford Custom Line vehicles. The car that was seen up on the curb blocking the footpath in the area of Graham's kidnapping. As they were going through the records

one owner came up who'd lived in the suburb of Clontarf. This was of interest as it was in close proximity to Seaforth where the second call from the kidnapper was made to the Thorns and where Graham's body was found. When detectives saw the owner's name, Stephen Bradley they thought it unlikely he would be of foreign origin but they were interviewing all owners so they had to tick the box. They arranged to meet up with him and have a quick chat on August 24th 1960.

Who they came face to face with was a heavy set man 42 years of age with an olive complexion, dark wavy hair and an accent. He matched the description of the man they were looking for. Stephen Bradley came across as friendly and seemed helpful. He told the officers that on July 7th, the day of Graham's kidnapping he had been home in Clontarf all morning. He had actually moved house that day and was at home until the removalists arrived. He had put his wife and children into a taxi at 10am

and he had only gone out when he made a solo trip to the shops. He said his Ford Custom Line never left the garage. When the removalists were interviewed they said they didn't arrive to the house until 11am that morning and that they were there until 3am. They didn't go into the garage at all because Stephen Bradley had already moved everything out of there. 34 year old Stephen Leslie Bradley was born Istvan Baranje in Budapest, Hungary in 1926.

When Bradley arrived in Melbourne in 1950, he had been divorced from his first wife for two years. He worked several jobs and in 1952 he married again to Eva Laszlo. Together they had a child. In 1955, in a car accident that many claim was suspicious, Eva died. Bradley received a substantial inheritance after her death. In 1957, Bradley had fraud charges placed against him but they were later dropped. In 1958, he married for the third time. His new wife Magda was divorced herself and had two children.

They blended their family and began raising their three children together. Magda owned a guest house in Katoomba but in 1959 the guest house burnt down. Luckily for them, it was substantially insured. In 1960, they were living in Sydney on the profits of insurance claims. According to NSW Senior Crown Prosecutor Mark Tedeschi, who authored the book Kidnapped the Crime that Shocked the Nation, with three children at home, the Bradley's funds soon dwindled. Tedeschi said in an interview about his book, quote,

He was an unlikely kidnapper. He had three kids and was a happy family man and it's hard to summarize his personality. He had a deep inner need to impress and be recognized as a man of consequence. He had a sense of entitlement and he was a wheeler and dealer who was not afraid to cross the line of the law. He was also in dire financial straits. The day after police spoke to Bradley, August 25th 1960,

his wife Magda Bradley booked a ticket for herself and one son on a ship to London. Four days later, Stephen Bradley booked the same passage to London with their other two children. One month later, September 26th, Stephen and Magda Bradley, together with their three children, boarded the ship the Himalaya from Sydney. Every piece of furniture they owned had been sold and they severed all ties with Australia. They didn't inform anyone where they were going, nor did they inform their real estate agent that they were not continuing with her lease. The gas and electricity companies weren't aware they had left either.

Their children attended two different schools and the headmasters were told differing stories. To one, Bradley said the family was moving to Victoria, and to the other, he said they were relocating to Queensland. Despite booking passage to London, Stephen Bradley never made it. When the ship docked in Colombo, Sri Lanka, he disembarked and didn't get back on board, but his wife and children continued on to London. It was starting to look like Bradley was hiding, but all of this was unbeknownst to police at the time.

During the time Bradley was fleeing the country, detectives were still building their case. In October 1960, the thorns were asked to go to Bondi police station and take a look at some photographs. Detectives wanted to know if they recognized anyone in a photo lineup they had prepared. In one of the batches of photos, Basil's eyes flicked to a man's face he recognized. Although he wasn't aware of his name, Basil knew him as the private investigator who had knocked on his door a few weeks before Graham's kidnapping. When Basil left the room, Frida was taken in separately. She picked the exact same photograph.

It was Stephen Bradley. The following Monday, October 17th, Sydney's central court sat for a hearing as police sought to establish a prima facie case against Stephen Bradley for Graham Thorn's murder. By now, they were aware he and his family had skipped the country, and they wanted an extradition order to bring Bradley back from Sri Lanka in order to stand trial. Police scientific expert, Detective Constable William Buchanan, told the court that he had found woollen material similar to a rug tassel after searching through rubbish at the house formerly occupied by Stephen Bradley.

It was a match to the rug that Graham's body was found in. On the first day, 21 witnesses gave evidence, and police expected to call a further 40 witnesses over the following days. The courtroom was full, and hundreds stood outside waiting for an update. At the close of the hearing, the judge ruled that there was sufficient evidence for Stephen Bradley to face a charge of murder. But he made it clear that the evidence would have to be taken to the court in Colombo, Sri Lanka. If Sri Lankan authorities agreed there was sufficient evidence against Bradley, they could approve extradition.

Two Australian detectives boarded a plane for Colombo, weighed down with cases of evidence against Bradley. Bradley was easily located, placed under arrest, and given legal counsel as the Australian detectives prepared to attend the Sri Lankan court to present their case. Bradley was visibly upset at his arrest and proclaimed his innocence. But it was of no use. The extradition was granted. Within days, Bradley was on a plane back to Sydney. Upon his arrival to Sydney, Bradley provided an oral statement, as well as a written explanation of what happened on the morning of July 7th, 1960.

He was no longer claiming he was innocent. His statement read, I read in the newspaper that Mr. Thorn won the first prize in the Opera House lottery. I decided that I would kidnap his son. I knew the address from the newspaper, and I got their number from the telephone exchange. I went to the house to see them, and I asked for someone, but I cannot remember what name. Mrs. Thorn said she didn't know anyone by that name, and she told me to inquire in the flat upstairs. I went upstairs and I saw the woman there.

I have done this because I thought that the Thorns would check up. I went out and watched the Thorn boy leaving the house, and I saw him for about three mornings. I have seen where he went, and one morning I followed him to the school at Bellevue Hill. One or two mornings I have seen a woman pick him up and take him to school. On the day we moved from Contarf, I went out to Edward Street. I parked the car in the street. I don't know the name of the street, but it's off Wellington Street. I have got out from the car and waited on the corner until the boy walked down to the car. I have told the boy that I am to take him to the school.

He said, why? Where is the lady? I said she is sick and cannot come today. Then the boy got in the car, and I drove him around for a while and over the Harbour Bridge. I went to a public phone box near the Spitbridge, and I rang the Thorns. I talked to Mrs. Thorn into a man who said he was the boy's father. I have asked for £25,000 from the boy's mother and father. I told them that if I don't get the money, I feed him to the sharks, and I have told them I ring later. I took the boy in the car home to Contarf, and I put the car in my garage.

I told the boy to get out of the car to come and see another boy. When he got out of the car, I have put a scarf over his mouth and put him in the boot of the car and slammed the boot. I went in my house, and the furniture removalists came a few minutes later. When it was nearly dark, I went to the car and found the boy was dead. That night, I tied the boy up with string and put him in my rug. The trial began on March 20, 1961. On the first day, all eyes were on Basil and Frida Thorn, as Stephen Bradley was brought into the dock dressed neatly in a blue suit, white shirt, and a green tie.

He sat quietly with his hands folded in front of him as he faced the judge, Justice Clancy. The prosecution argued that Bradley was not revealing the full story, and the death of Graham was intentional. They presented Graham shoes which had scuffs and marks along the top, indicating he had been dragged. During a four-hour address to the jury, Bradley's defense stated that his confession had been forced, and for that reason, the confession was false and was being withdrawn. He was now pleading not guilty. He claimed he had nothing to do with the kidnapping or murder of Graham Thorn. The prosecution presented the evidence of the rug tassel retrieved from the rubbish at the property where Stephen Bradley lived. An analysis showed that it matched the colour and yarn of a tassel missing from the rug that Graham Thorn was found wrapped in.

A role of film was also found at the previous home of the Bradleys, and when this film was developed, it showed a photograph of Magda Bradley with the same style and design of the rug in question. When all of the evidence was presented, the judge gave his final instructions to the jury, during which he said, A man is guilty of murder not only when he intended to take a life and took a life, but also if he killed someone while acting with reckless indifference to life. After deliberating for three hours and twenty-two minutes, the jury returned with their verdict. Bradley stood, resting both his hands on the rail in front of him solemnly. As the judge announced that the jury had found him guilty, the crowd yelled and clapped, cheering and whistling in celebration.

As they were calmed by the guards and silence was restored, Frida Thorn could be heard weeping as Basil comforted her. Magda Bradley, although in court earlier that day, was not present to hear the verdict against her husband. The judge then asked Bradley if he had anything to say, to which he replied, Yes, I have a few things to say. I never had an opportunity before this trial to say anything. One thing I would like to say is I knew before I came to this court I would be convicted of a crime which I did not commit. Why? I was almost convinced because of a certain human emotion you call prejudice. Prejudice is the same, although dissimilar as jealousy.

It is a human emotion, a very dangerous one, extremely so, because it affects your mind to such an extent that you are not able to judge things as the full facts. I think one of the main factors was the publicity in the newspapers. Everyone read it. Actually, your honour instructed the jury they had to forget about it. It's impossible. It's impossible. Anyway, I'm not saying the jury are not good citizens. They tried to do their best.

They have been influenced by these very powerful emotions. As a matter of fact, the jury has decided on a verdict and naturally it's your duty to pass sentence according to the law. That's all I have to say. When Bradley finished speaking, the crowd began yelling and screaming at him. When silence was once again restored, the judge spoke. Stephen Leslie Bradley, the sentence of the court is that you are sentenced to penal servitude for life. With his head down, Bradley returned to the dock before officers took him down to the cells below the court. As he walked, a group of women screaming surged forward in attack, but they were restrained by police.

Outside the court, there was a crowd of around 400 men, women and children. Families had come in droves to show their support for the thorns and to hurl abuse in the hope that Stephen Bradley would hear it. When the verdict was made public, the crowd cheered and hugged one another. Stephen Bradley launched an appeal against his conviction, but it was denied. Never again did newspapers print the addresses of lottery winners without their consent. Following the kidnapping for ransom at Graham Thorn, the law was amended to reflect harsher punishments. The law now states that those responsible for detaining any person with intent to entice payment by way of ransom are liable to a maximum sentence of 25 years. Magda Bradley divorced Stephen Bradley in 1965 and moved back to Europe.

Stephen Bradley was incarcerated at Long Bay Jail in Gulburn, New South Wales, where he gained prison employment as a hospital orderly. In October 1968, while playing in the jail tennis competition, Bradley suffered a coronary occlusion and died. The thorns moved away from Bondi. Buzzel Thorn died in December 1978. Frida Thorn died in 2012 at the age of 86. She was laid to rest alongside Graham. The hymn that was played at Graham's funeral, Abide With Me, was originally written as a poem in 1847 by Henry Francis Light. Abide With Me fast falls the eventide.

The darkness deepens. Lord with me abide. When other helpers fail and comforts flee. Help of the helpless. Oh abide with me. Swift towards close ebbs out life's little day. Earth's joys grow dim. Its glories pass away. Change and decay in all around I see. Oh thou who changes to not. Abide with me. Not a brief glance I beg, a passing word.

But as thou dwellest with thy disciples, Lord. Familiar, condescending, patient, free. Come not to sojourn, but abide with me. Come not in terrors as the king of kings, but kind and good with healing in thy wings. Tears for all woes, a heart for every plea. Come, friend of sinners, and thus abide with me. Thou on my head in early youth did smile, and though rebellious and perverse meanwhile. Thou hast not left me, oft as I left thee.

On to the close, O Lord, abide with me. I need thy presence every passing hour. What but thy grace can foil the tempter's power. Who, like thyself, my guide and stay can be. Through cloud and sunshine, I will abide with me. I fear no foe with thee at hand to bless. Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness. Where is death's sting, where grave thy victory?

I triumph still, if thou abide with me. Hold thou thy cross before my closing eyes, shine through the gloom and point me to the skies. Heaven's morning breaks, and earth's veins shadows flee. In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me. Copyright © 2020 Mooji Media Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Mooji Media Ltd. All rights reserved.