Casefile True Crime - Casefile Archives 2: The Somerton Man

Episode Date: January 17, 2026

In December 1948, the body of an unidentified male was found on Somerton Beach in Adelaide, South Australia. It initially appeared the man had simply passed away in his sleep, but as police looked into his death, they discovered a series of bizarre and unexplainable clues that presented more questions than answers. Was the Somerton Man an international spy? If so, what was he doing in Adelaide? And what significance did the ancient Persian text found in his pocket hold?---Casefile Archives is a series of special bonus releases revisiting the earliest years of the show. The re-run episodes have been completely edited, polished, re-recorded and freshly produced from start to finish to match our current production standards. They are not complete rewrites - our goal wasn’t to alter the cases or reshape the writing, but to preserve the original storytelling while giving the production the refinement it didn’t have when we started the show back in 2016. Where appropriate, updates have been added, but the core structure and storytelling remain faithful to the originals. Because of this, these re-releases may sound a little different to our recent episodes, but they allow us to bring some of the earliest episodes up to the technical quality listeners expect today.---Narration – Anonymous HostResearch & writing – Anonymous HostProduction & music – Mike MigasAudio editing – Anthony TelferSign up for Casefile Premium:Apple PremiumSpotify PremiumPatreonFor all credits and sources, please visit https://casefilepodcast.com/casefile-archives-2-the-somerton-man Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello case file listeners. As we enter CaseFiles' 10th year, we've created a new run of special bonus content, CaseFile Archives, a series of releases revisiting the earliest years of the show, along with previously unreleased premium episodes. This is completely additional content and will not replace new episodes. We will still be back in March with brand new cases and will be releasing the same number of new episodes this year. year as we did last year. Case file archives is simply a way to mark the 10th year, revisit some older episodes, and to offer previously subscriber exclusive episodes to the wider audience for the first time. For the re-release episodes, we have fully edited, polished, re-recorded and freshly

produced them from start to finish to match our current production standards. They are not full rewrites. Our aim isn't to reshape the cases or alter. the original storytelling, but to preserve them as they were first told while giving them the level of production they didn't have back in 2016. Where appropriate, updates have been added, but the core structure remains faithful to the originals. Because of this, these episodes may sound a little different to our recent work. Today's re-release is The Summerton Man, the second case file episode ever produced. In December 1948, the body of an unidentified man was discovered on Somerton Beach in Adelaide, South Australia. At first it appeared he had simply passed away in his sleep.

But as detectives examined his belongings and retraced his final movements, they uncovered a series of strange and unexplained clues that only deepened the mystery. Originally released in January 2016, the case has seen a significant, significant development since then, which has been included in this re-release version. Thank you to everyone who has listened and supported us over the years. Now here is the second episode from Case File Archives, The Summerton Man. 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 and for a more deep

detailed list of content warnings, please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website. On Wednesday, December 1, 1948, the body of a man was discovered along the seawall of Somerton Park Beach in Adelaide, South Australia. At first, police thought they were dealing with the straightforward matter, the natural death of an unknown man who needed to be identified. However, it soon became apparent that the case was anything but straightforward. The further police looked into it, the deeper it went. Welcome to the mysterious case of the Summerton Man. The unknown individual discovered on Somerton Park Beach would come to be known as the Summinton Man. He was found with his head and shoulders leaning up against the seawall,

his legs outstretched along the sand and his feet crossed. It looked like an uncomfortable position. When Case File originally released this episode, the man's identity and cause of death remained a mystery. As with all unsolved cases, there were many theories and a lot of speculation. The Summerton man had no identification on him. In fact, even the labels on the clothes he was wearing had been removed. He was found with a crumpled up piece of paper featuring two words, to Ma'am Should, which is Persian, means. meaning it is finished or ended. These words were later linked to a poetry book that contained what many believed to be a secret code and the phone number of a woman who lived just 400 metres from where the Summinton

man was found. While she said she had no idea who the man was, many believed that she was lying. In recent years, some questions in this case have been answered, but for a lot of the case, a long time, it seemed like an impossible mystery. There were only a few details known with any certainty. We know that the Summerton Man arrived at Adelaide Railway Station one day before he died on Tuesday, November 30, 1948. Upon arriving at the station, he checked in a suitcase in the cloak room.

The suitcase was tagged and a receipt was given to the Summinton Man. From a timestamp found on the suitcase. tag, it was determined that he checked it in somewhere around 11am. Police suspected that the Summitan man had likely traveled to Adelaide from another large city, as an unidentified man walking around a small country town or regional area with a suitcase, would have caught the attention of locals. The only train arriving from a big city at about that time was one from Melbourne, the capital of the neighbouring state of Victoria.

After checking in his suitcase, the Summerton man bought another train ticket to travel from Adelaide Station to Henley Beach, a coastal suburb in the west of the city. It was a one-way second-class ticket, although nothing could really be surmised from that, as that line had no first class and all tickets were classified as second class. There were two departures to Henley Beach around the time that the Summinton man checked in his suitcase. One was at 10.50 a.m. and the other left at 1151 a.m. But the Summerton man didn't catch either of these, as his purchased ticket was found unused in his pocket after his death. Instead of boarding a train, he walked across the road and

bought a bus ticket to Glen Elg, another seaside suburb about eight kilometres south of Henley Beach. The bus departed at 11.15 a.m. and dropped the Summerton Man off a short distance from where he was found dead. It's thought that the Summinton Man probably purchased a train ticket to Henley Beach as it was the closest railway station to his intended destination. However, perhaps after talking to someone or reading a map, he realized that a bus would be a more direct and efficient route. He then changed his plan and had no further use for the train ticket. After jumping on board what would have been an old-fashioned double-decker bus, he made the journey to Glenolk arriving at around lunchtime. What he did over the next few hours was anyone's guess,

because there were no further sightings of the summit of man until after 7 o'clock that evening. At 7.15 p.m., just as the sun was starting to set, A well-known local businessman by the name of John Lyons went for a walk with his wife along Somerton Park Beach. As they walked, the couple spotted the Summinton man lying on the sand, dressed in a suit with his head propped up against the seawall. When John and his wife passed by, the Summinton man raised his right arm up, then flopped it down again. The couple put the stranger's pose and demeanour down to him having had too much to drink, He just needed to sleep it off, they continued on their way.

Now, this was not a quiet, isolated spot. It was a popular location with plenty of people who regularly used the beach and walked along the Esplanade above. The Summinton Man was lying right next to a commonly used set of stairs that led up to the Esplanade. At about 8pm that night, just as the light was turning. to dusk, a young couple was strolling along the esplanade. They sat down on a bench right next to the staircase by the Summerton man. The couple noticed another unknown man in a hat standing at the

top of the stairs who was looking down at the sand below. This man was never identified, nor seen or heard from again, and it remains unknown whether he is related to the case or if he was just another passer-by. The young couple followed the man's line of sight and saw the legs of Summinton Man sprawled out on the sand. Their view of his head and upper body was obscured by the staircase. The couple didn't see the Summinton Man move, but they thought he might have changed positions at one point.

They later left without seeing anyone else. At about six o'clock the next morning, Wednesday, December 1, two jockeys were riding horses along the beach. They rode past the Summinton man, but, like John Lyons and his wife, they believed he was just drunk and sleeping off a bender. However, when they rode back up the beach passing him again, they realized that he hadn't moved at all. The man was in the exact same spot, with his head propped up against the seawall in an unnatural-looking position. The two jockeys approached the Summinton Man to see if he was all right. They discovered that he was dead. Now, at the same time, businessman John Lyons was actually back at the beach

enjoying a morning swim with a friend. He noticed the jockeys crowded around the Summitan man and realized it was the same person he'd seen the night before. He rushed over to help and called the police. Officer John Moss arrived at 6.45 a.m. He examined the scene and found a half-smoked cigarette that had fallen between the Summinton man's cheek and collar. Yet there were no burn marks on his face or clothing. The sand wasn't disturbed, his clothing wasn't disheveled, and there was no debris or personal items scattered around the beach. Officer Moss determined there were no signs of violence at all. A check of the Summinton Man's pockets found the unused train ticket, the bus ticket and two combs, one aluminium and one plastic. The aluminium comb was thought to be

of American origin, as there were none like it available in Australia at the time. The Summinton Man's pockets also contained a packet of juicy fruit chewing gum, a box of Bryant and May's matches, and a pack of cigarettes. The cigarette pack featured Army Club branding, but the cigarettes inside were cancer-dust club. At the time, it was common for people to buy an expensive brand of cigarettes than keep the box and later fill it with cheaper cigarettes. Just an image thing, trying to look more distinguished while giving yourself cancer.

But the funny thing about the Summerton Man was, that the cancerous cigarettes were the expensive ones, more expensive than the Army Club pack they were in. This was seen as a sign of someone who might have been trying to keep a low profile. An ambulance arrived to take the Summeter Man's body to Royal Adelaide Hospital, where a doctor pronounced him dead. The time of death estimated by the doctor was no earlier than 2 a.m., but that was a very rough estimate. The methods used to determine when death has occurred are far superior today. An autopsy was performed the next day.

The coroner's report described the Summerton man as a Caucasian male, aged about 45 years old and weighing around 80 kilograms. He was a well-built strong man in excellent physical condition with the classic V-shaped body of an athlete. His hands were smooth and uncalist, indicating he had a worked in manual labour, though they bore the yellow stains of a heavy smoker. His finger and toenails were well cared for. The Summinton man had well-developed calf muscles with a bulge near the knee.

The coroner thought this was a sign that he may have been a professional dancer, a ballet performer or similar. He was missing about 16 teeth, but that wasn't uncommon at the time. His spleen was three times the size of a normal one, which indicated pre-existing illness rather than an overnight injury sustained at the time of his death. This was evidence that the Summerton man may have already been in a weakened physical state when he died. Enlarged spleens can be a result of many illnesses, including viral and bacterial infections, inflammatory diseases, and even various cancers. The Summerton man's cause of death was not immediately obvious. As there were no signs of foul play, it was initially believed he died of natural causes.

The police certainly weren't treating it as suspicious and were convinced that it wouldn't be long before a friend or relative came forward to identify the body. Sure enough, many people did come forward to view the Summinton man, believing that he might have been a missing man. loved one, but no positive ID was made. When he remained unidentified more than a week later on Friday, December 10, a decision was made to embalm and preserve the body in the hopes that in the coming days or weeks somebody would identify him. But no one ever did. By now, investigators were starting to deviate from their initial belief that the Summinton man had died of natural causes. He had a healthful, he had a health

heart, with no sign of disease or a cardiac arrest, yet something had caused it to stop beating. It was believed that this something was poison. The Summinton Man's stomach, kidneys and liver were congested with a large amount of congealed blood, something that typically happens after an individual is poisoned and not when they die naturally. Tissue samples were sent away for testing with the coroner almost certain they would return positive for poison. Yet, nothing was detected. Dr. Robert Cowan, the chemist who tested for the presence of poisons, stated, I found no common poison present, and I do not think any common poison caused death. If he did die from poison, I think it would be a very rare poison. I mean, something rarely used for suicidal or homicidal purposes. There are poisons that

excrete from the body quickly, leaving no trace. And although there was no sign that the Somerton man had vomited, something that usually occurs in poisoning deaths, it was possible that he had vomited elsewhere before making his way to the beach. To this day, it hasn't been definitively proven that poison caused his death, but it hasn't been disproven either. Regardless, the coroner, medical examiners and police were now certain he hadn't died of natural causes. They just had to work out if his death was suicide or murder. Case file will be back shortly. Thank you for supporting us by listening to this episode's sponsors. Thank you for listening to this episode's ads, by supporting our sponsors, you support case file to continue to deliver

quality content. Detectives were assigned to the case. While there were no signs of foul play when the Summerton man was found, something unusual was discovered after his body was examined. All of the identifying tags on his clothing had been deliberately removed, so it was impossible to see where the clothes had been made. Detectives had no idea whether the tags had been removed by the Summerton man himself or somebody else. They checked the Adelaide train station to see if there was any unclaimed luggage, even though he had no luggage receipt on him amidst the public transport tickets and other items on

his person. They found a suitcase that had been checked in on November 30, and around the same time the Summinton Man arrived in Adelaide and had been left abandoned. Despite the missing receipt, detectives were certain that the suitcase belonged to the Summinton Man. A piece of thread inside it matched the suit he was wearing and the clothing sizes were a match. Inside the suitcase was a dressing gown, a laundry bag, a few singlets, some underpants, two ties, a pair of slippers, a pair of trousers, a sports coat, a scarf, and a shirt. There were also some coat hangars, handkerchiefs, envelopes, a cigarette lighter, a toothbrush, a razor,

a shaving brush, pencils, a towel, a stencil brush, and a screwdriver, a pair of scissors, and a knife. Detectives found nothing significant or unusual. But there was one strange detail. The suitcases identifying labels, along with the labels from the clothing inside it, had been removed. Just a few tags remained. The laundry bag had the name Keen printed on the label. This name was also found on one of the singlets, while one of the ties featured the name T. Keen.

This was their sole lead so far in identifying the Summerton Man. It was a matter of some concern that they still had no idea who he was, despite sending his photo and fingerprints to agencies across Australia and overseas. Extensive checks into individuals with the surname Keene were conducted, but the name couldn't be matched to the Summerton Man. There were no known missing persons or other unaccounted for people with that name. At the time, it was very common for people. to buy second-hand garments as clothing had been rationed during World War II.

This meant it was very possible that the name belonged to the clothing's previous owner and not the Summinton Man at all. This seemed even more likely when taking into consideration the fact that all of the other tags had been removed from his clothing and from the suitcase, just leaving three items labelled with Keene. If the Summerton Man or somebody else was tried to be removed. trying to conceal his identity, the obvious thing to do would be to leave tags behind that bore a false name. Another key detail was the Summerton man's missing luggage receipt. As the suitcase was found unlocked, it was possible that somebody had taken the receipt, accessed the suitcase and tampered with its contents, maybe even removed a few labels.

Detectives made inquiries into the Summettys. and man's clothing, and found that the jacket he was wearing when he died had been made in the United States of America. His tie featured a certain print that pointed to wit also being made in the United States. This didn't mean that the Summinton Man was American, but it was clear that some of his clothing was. Unfortunately, the Summinton Man's suitcase and its contents no longer exist as they were destroyed long ago in a police clean-out. Detectives didn't know who this man was, where he came from, how he died, or if it was suicide or murder, and their job was made even harder because the investigation had started on the back

foot. With the summer to man's death initially treated as natural, crucial evidence might have been lost. In addition to all of this, crime investigation techniques, techniques in 1948 were nowhere near the level of what we have today, with DNA evidence unheard of for another 40 years or so. The detectives were essentially chasing their tails from the very start. As the investigation continued into the early months of 1949, the Summinton man's body was starting to deteriorate. Police decided to make a plaster cast of his head and upper body to use in their investigation. The cast still exists today.

After it was made, the Summerton Man was buried at West Terrace Cemetery on Tuesday, June 14, 1949. A headstone was placed at his gravesite, which reads, Here lies the unknown man who was found at Summinton Beach, 1st December, 1948. At around the same same. time as the Summerton Man's burial, a piece of evidence was found that investigators originally missed, a crumpled up piece of paper in the Summant man's trousers, printed with the words to Maam should. This Persian phrase means it is finished or ended. The piece of paper had been

torn from a book. Investigators got to work trying to find where these words could have been taken from, They found that they were printed on the last page of a poetry book titled Rubayat of Omar Kayam. Omar Kayam was a Persian poet, astronomer, philosopher and mathematician who lived from 1048 to 1131. Rubayat of Omar Kayam is an English translation of a selection of his poems, completed by Edward Fitzgerald in the 1850s. The translations are pretty subject. and others have different interpretations of the poems, but Fitzgeralds are the most well-known. The general theme throughout the book is one of seizing the day, living life to the fullest and dying without regret. Death is a common focus throughout.

Investigators would eventually track down the actual book the Summater Man tore the words from, but unfortunately, not until a month after the inquest. A coronial inquest into the summit of man's death was held over two days on Friday, June 17, and then again on Tuesday, June 21. The coroner concluded, The identity of the deceased was quite unknown, his death was not natural, and that it was almost certainly not accidental. It was noted at the incidental.

inquest how remarkably clean the Summinton man's shoes were, looking as though they had been recently polished. That, along with his well-kept nails and general clean and tidy appearance, led the coroner to believe he wasn't a vagrant or drifter. The inquest was adjourned to no fixed date, meaning the case would remain open and continue to be investigated. If further information turned up, the inquest could sit again. Poison was still thought to be the cause of death, and two poisons in particular were named as possible culprits due to being untraceable. The names of these poisons weren't released as they were easy to obtain at the time. The last thing police wanted was to publicise an easy, undetectable way to kill someone. By now, the media had well

truly started to focus on the case, following their initial disinterest. A man dying of seemingly natural causes on the beach had an exactly been headline-grabbing. But as time went on, the mystery surrounding the Summinton man's identity and the exact circumstances of his death, captured the interest of the media and the public alike. I mean, who doesn't like a good mystery? After detectives tied the words to Ma'am Shud to Rubayat of Irma Kayam, they made a public appeal asking if anyone had a copy of the book with a page or a piece of a page missing. Incredibly, on Friday, July 22, 1949, a man came forward with a copy that had a piece missing from the exact page where those words would have been printed.

It was a very rare edition of the book that was published in New Zealand in 9. The man said he'd found the book on the backseat of his open-roof car and had no idea how it had gotten there. It wasn't his and he'd never seen it before. His car had been parked at Somerton Park Beach at around the time of the Summerton Man's death. This suggested the Summerton man had thrown the book into a random car. But why discard it this way instead of in a bin? if he wanted to dispose of it. Did he want someone to find it?

Was he being followed, and did that lead to him needing to get rid of the book quickly? An expert in paper was consulted, and tests revealed that the crumpled up piece of paper in the Summinton man's possession was definitely from the same book that had been handed in. The identity of the man who came forward with the book is unknown. He requested to remain an unknowed.

anonymous, and police respected those wishes. As if there weren't already enough mysteries in this case. Case File will be back shortly. Thank you for supporting us by listening to this episode's sponsors. Thank you for listening to this episode's ads. By supporting our sponsors, you support CaseFile to continue to deliver quality content. At the back of this particular copy of the Rubai ad were five rows of handwritten capital letters that appeared to be some sort of code. The first line featured the letter W,

followed by a space, and then the letters R-G-O-A-B-D, all written together. The second row had the letters M-space L-I-A-O-I. This row had been crossed out. The third line read W-T-B-I-M-P-A-N-E-T-P. beneath it was a cross that had a long line through it. The fourth row was quite similar to the second crossed out row with the letters M-L-I-A-B-O space A-I-A-A-A-Q-C. The fifth and final row read, I-T-T-T-T-M-T-S-T-G-A-B. A notable detail about the code was that the second line had been crossed out, before the writer then penned another line that was very similar to it.

This suggested that whatever they were writing was very deliberate and that a mistake had been made in one line. The code was published in the news and amateur codebreakers from all over the country got to work on the mystery. Many thought it may have been referencing something in the same book. Top military code breakers were consulted, but no one has been able to crack it to this day. day. Some have posited that these lines may not be a code at all, but instead a mnemonic device

to remind the writer of a certain poem or poems in the book. Or maybe they reference something else altogether. Perhaps whoever wrote it was just using each letter to represent a word, a sort of shorthand, if you will. Whatever it was, it added even more mystery and confusion to the case. The supposed code led many people to believe the Summerton man was a spy or some sort of secret agent involved in espionage, Jason Bourne, James Bond type stuff. But we will get into that in a bit. First, we need to talk about two phone numbers that were also written down at the back of the book. The first number was for a local bank, while the second was found to belong to a local woman named Jessica Thompson. Not only was Jessica Thompson local, she lived just 400 metres from where the Summinton Man was found.

It was starting to look as though the Summinton Man hadn't chosen to visit Summinton Park Beach randomly. He was there with a purpose. On Tuesday, July 26, 1949, more than seven months after the Summinton Man was found, police knocked on Jessica's door. When they asked her about the Summitan man, she denied all knowledge of him. But when they went on to ask about the Rubayat poetry book, Jessica surprised them by replying, Yes, that's my favourite book of poetry. The police asked if Jessica owned a copy. She said she used to, but not anymore.

She'd given her copy away four years earlier in 1945 to a military service. servicemen she'd met in Sydney. His name was Alf Boxel. At this point, the police thought they were a mere formality away from identifying the Summiter Man as Alf Boxel. They took Jessica Thompson to see the plaster cast of the Summinton Man and found her behaviour to be odd. After first glancing at the plaster cast, she couldn't look at it again, instead staring at the floor. She gave only brief, simple answers to police questions, replying with yes, no, or I don't know. At times, she looked like she was about to faint.

All of her body language seemed to point to her knowing who the Summitan man was. Jessica was married and had two children, a son called Robin and a daughter named Kate. Robin was the oldest and it was unclear who his father was. Jessica requested that her name not be released, as she didn't want any embarrassment to come to her family due to speculation that she might be linked to the Summerton man. The police agreed, so for many years she was only known in the public eye as the mystery woman, or by her nickname, Jaston. Detectives went to work on the Alf Boxel theory and were surprised to find him alive and well in Sydney. Moreover, he still had the copy of the Rubai Art that Jessica had given him.

She had inscribed a short message in the book when she gave it to Alf and signed it, Jastin. This development put a puncture in the police's theory that Alf Boxel and the Summerton Man were one and the same. And because he still had Jessica's old copy of Rubiart, this meant that the Summerton man had owned a different copy that had Jessica's phone number in it. So, how did Jessica and Alf Boxall meet? In 1945, Jessica was living in Sydney and training to be a nurse at the Royal North Shore Hospital. She spent a few evenings at the Clifton Gardens Hotel in Sydney, which was then frequented by military servicemen.

Jessica was introduced to Alf by the girlfriend of one of Alf's friends. They spent a few nights together, talking and sharing drinks, before Alf was put back. back on active duty for the war. As a parting gift, Jessica gave him a copy of her favourite book of poetry, Rubayat of Omar Kayam. Jessica left Sydney soon after that without completing her nursing exams. She moved to Melbourne for a brief period before settling in Adelaide. Jessica would have become pregnant with Robin at around this time. Not long after this, she met her husband, they had a date.

daughter named Kate, and all four remained together as a family. Remember when the Summerton man arrived in Adelaide how the only train arrival from a major city was from Melbourne? What if the Summinton man met Jessica in Melbourne, where she gave him a copy of Rubayat as well? Perhaps he then tried to track her down, only to find out she'd moved to Adelaide, prompting him to travel there in search of a former love. Whatever the case, it seemed possible that Jessica was lying to police and knew who the Summerton man was. Her daughter Kate has described to Jessica as a woman with a very strong dark side. Kate even believed her mother could have been a Russian spy after discovering that Jessica spoke

Russian but wouldn't say where or why she learnt it. This has led many followers of the Summinton Man case to believe in the spy angle. A possible code, missing labels, a mystery identity, an unexplained death, and Jessica's behaviour seemed like compelling details pointing in this direction. To top it all off, Jessica once remarked to her daughter that the Somerton man was known to people at a much higher level than state police. All of this is detailed in a 2013 60 Minutes story, which we've linked in the episode notes. There is another significant piece of information that adds further weight to the spy angle.

In 1946, a few hundred kilometres away from Adelaide, Britain and Australia entered into a joint project of missile and nuclear rocket testing. This was known as the Woomera testing facility. Such a top secret project would provide a reason for a Russian spy to be in Adelaide. Remember, this took place at the start of the Cold War. and it's accepted that there were Soviet spies operating in Australia at around this time. One person that might have been able to answer some of these questions was Jessica Thompson, but she kept her cards very close to her chest.

She seemed to know more about the case than she let on. Jessica was interviewed by former South Australian detective Jerry Felters, who took on the case and continued to investigate it in his retirement. Detective Felthus described her as being evasive with her answers. It also seemed as though every time the case received media attention and was back in the spotlight, Jessica would go away on holiday or leave town. In addition to the world of spies and a theory about the Summerton Man trying to track down a former flame, there was another theory.

At the time of the Summinton Man's death, World War II had just finished, but Europe remained in chaos. Millions had been displaced, and the Soviet Union was invading more of Eastern Europe, leading to a mass exodus of people looking to find a better life elsewhere. Australia was a popular destination. Isolated from many other parts of the world, it was considered a safe place to live, especially if nuclear war broke out. Millions had been relocating to Australia, and 19.

was the peak period for the Australian government's displaced persons immigration program. It certainly wasn't uncommon for migrants to create new identities as part of a fresh start in a new homeland. Some believed that the Summerton Man might have been one of many immigrants flocking to Australia at this time, which could explain why no one was ever able to identify him. Another possibility was that the Summinton Man was a returning soldier suffering, from PTSD, who had subsequently become estranged from his family. But of course, with so many questions and so few answers, each theory has its own pros and cons. The big glaring con for every theory is the unexplained cause of death.

If the Summerton man was a displaced immigrant or returned soldier, why did he just die with no sign of health issues? The same goes for the love angle. If Jessica was the Summerton man's former lover, that would explain why he was in Adelaide, but not his death. Suicide is one possibility, but many people have found themselves more drawn to the Jason-born James Bond path. It's easy to explain the Summinton man's death if he was a Russian spy in Adelaide as part of a secret mission. If that was the case, another spy could have killed him with an undetectable poison. But if the Summaterman was a spy, where does that leave Jessica Thompson?

Why was her phone number in his copy of the Rubaiat? By the way, the copy of that book involved in this case was destroyed along with the Summater Man's suitcase and an identical copy has never been located. Another interesting detail some have noted is that Jessica Thompson's favourite book was Howard's End by E. M. Forster. This novel is the story of a girl who has a son out of wedlock. Her family tried to scare her lover off, and in doing so, accidentally killed him in an altercation that proved fatal due to his pre-existing heart condition. Could that have been Jessica's way of telling us what happened to the Summater Man, without, telling us what happened. Because there isn't enough mystery surrounding this case,

what about this? Three years before the Summertime case, a man named Joseph Solheim Marshall was found dead in Sydney's Ashton Park. His death was ruled to be a suicide by poison. When his body was found, a copy of Rubayat of Omar Kayam was lying on his chest. As previously mentioned, Rubayat is a popular book, but the copy found on Mr Marshall was an extremely rare edition, just like in the Summerton Man case. There are two people thought to be experts on the Summertime case, and links to their work are provided in the episode's show notes. First is Jerry Feltas, a retired, decorated detective who has investigated the case for many years.

He has cracked some tough ones, but even he wasn't able to solve the Summitan man. He has written a book on the case titled The Unknown Man. The second expert is Professor Derek Abbott from Adelaide University. He stumbled across the case in 2009 and became fascinated, perhaps even obsessed by the case. Fun fact, the two experts in the case don't get on. Jerry Feltis basically viewed Professor Abbott as an amager, a pest who should stick to teaching at universities and leave crime-solving to law enforcement professionals. But it can't be denied that both have done excellent work. Professor Abbott has appeared on a Reddit Ask Me Anything for him and has lectures on YouTube about the case.

Another fun fact. While researching the case, Professor Abbott met Rachel Thompson, the daughter of of Robin Thompson and granddaughter of Jessica Thompson. He married her and they now have three children together. Professor Abbott was convinced that the Summerton man was Robin Thompson's father and Jessica Thompson's former, possibly jilted lover, who was tracking her down at the time of his death. Professor Rabbit reached this conclusion after observing a feature on the ear of the Summerton man, which only appears in 1 to 2% of the population. Robin Thompson, who died in 2009, also shared this feature. In the hopes of confirming his theory, Professor Rabbit submitted two requests

to have the Summinton man's remains exhumed for DNA testing. His idea was to compare his wife Rachel's DNA to that of the Summinton man to see if there was a familial link. Both of these requests were rejected. However, in 2022, more than six years after the original release of this episode, there was a stunning breakthrough in the case. After Professor Abbott had been investigating the case for more than a decade, South Australia's then Attorney General Vicky Chapman agreed to have the Somerton man's remains exhumed for DNA testing.

This occurred in May 2021. Meanwhile, Professor Abbott had also recovered some hairs from the plaster case, least had made of the Summinton Man's head and torso. These were sent away for DNA analysis as well. Just over a year later, Professor Rabbit announced that the Summinton Man had finally been identified. Using investigative genetic genealogy, Professor Rabbit and American genealogist Colleen Fitzpatrick were able to trace two of the Summerton man's cousins. This ultimately led them to identify the Summerton man as a missing man named Carl Charles Webb. Born in 1905 in Footscray, an inner city suburb of Melbourne,

Carl Webb was the youngest son of German immigrants. He grew up to become an electrical engineer and instrument maker. He took pleasure in poetry and even read a few poems himself. They seemed to focus mostly on death, a similar theme to the poems in Rubo out of Omar Kayan. Carl Webb also enjoyed betting on horse races. Professor Abbott has speculated that the code in the book linked to the Summerton Man case could actually be referencing racehorses. In 1941, he married a pharmacist and corropatist named Dorothy Robertson. According to Dorothy, their marriage was not an easy one, due in large part to Carl. He was a quiet and somewhat isolated man who didn't have many friends and preferred a quiet life spent mostly at home.

Sometimes he could be moody, even threatening and violent. Dorothy said that in March, 1946, Carl attempted suicide by overdosing on ether, a flammable liquid that used to be used as a recreational drug due to its euphoric effects. Dorothy intervened and nursed Carl back to health, which angered him. Carl became more violent following his suicide attempt, and in September 1946, Dorothy left him out of fear for her own life. She said he'd been physically and verbally abusive for years, and would later obtain a divorce in 1951, citing desertion.

Carl initially stayed in the couple's South Yarra home before leaving for whereabouts unknown in 1947. Members of his family said he relocated to Perth on the other side of the country, but they soon lost touch with him. There was no trace of Carl after 1947, with no recorded documentation about his movements or location. With most of Carl's family members who knew him, him having passed away by the time he was finally identified, there was no one to ask about what

had happened to him or how they drifted apart. Professor Abbott has speculated that if Carl Webb was the Somerton man, he may have travelled to Adelaide in November 1948 in search of his wife Dorothy, who wound up living in South Australia a few years later. Another interesting clue was the fact that Carl Webb's eldest sister married a man with the surname Keene, the same name found on some of the Summerton man's clothing. Her adult son, John Keane, had lived just 20 minutes from Carl before being killed in 1943 at age 26 while serving with the Royal Australian Air Force in World War II. Some items found in his possession indicated he'd spent time in the United States, possibly during his aircrew training.

These included American coins and a map of Chicago. If Carl Webb took ownership of some of John's belongings, this would explain why his garments bore the name keen and appeared to have been manufactured in the USA. Professor Abbott was confident he'd finally, at least partially, solved one of Australia's most enduring mysteries. While South Australia police did not officially confirm, the Summerton man's identity through their own forensic team, they released a comment stating,

We are heartened by the recent development in that case and are cautiously optimistic that this may provide a breakthrough. We look forward to the outcome of further DNA work to confirm the identification, which will ultimately be determined by the coroner. Despite Professor Abbott's long-held suspicion that the Summinton Man had fathered Jessica Thompson's son, Robin, DNA testing, ruled out any genetic link between them. Carl Webb was not the grandfather of Professor Abbott's wife, Rachel, and any connection he may have had to Jessica Thompson is unknown. Some of the more thrilling theories about the case were ultimately ruled out, like the notion that the Summerton man was a Russian spy killed while undertaking espionage. But questions still remain, such as why was Carl Webb so determined

to obscure his identity? Why did he travel to Adelaide? Did he intend to leave hidden messages behind via a crumpled note and an abandoned copy of a poetry book? And how exactly did he die? While we may never know these answers for sure, we're now closer to guessing at the truth, whereas before, there was only mystery.