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[Music] our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents if you feel at any time you need support
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please contact your local crisis center for suggested phone numbers for confidential support please see the show
00:01:49
notes for this episode on your app or on our website [Music] the murchison is a large bio region in
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the state of western australia that's known for its agricultural and mining prospects
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spanning across 281 000 square kilometers the region is home to many small sparsely populated towns
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but consists mostly of rugged outback and arid bushland during the western australian gold rush
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of the late 1800s many people flocked to the area in the hopes of securing a fortune
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which resulted in the construction of several towns that were later abandoned when the short-lived gold rush ended
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afterwards there was little work available except for agricultural workers sheepshearers camel and horse breakers
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blacksmiths and boundary riders who were employed to maintain the outer edges of sheep and
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cattle stations by the turn of the 20th century rabbits from the country's eastern states had
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made their way across the desert and into western australia's agricultural areas european settlers had introduced
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rabbits to australia more than a hundred years earlier and they eventually became an invasive
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pest that caused significant damage to the country's ecology and farmland to combat what became known as
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the grey plague the western australian government decided to build the world's longest
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fence which stretched all the way from the north coast to the south coast in 1902 construction of the first phase
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began in the small wheat belt town of baracopen which became the major administration center for the fence
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a 20-foot wide line was cleared through the bush all the way south to a small bay called
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starvation boat harbour and the mesh fence was then erected two feet west of the center of the line
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12-foot gates were installed at designated intervals to allow passage through the fence wooden posts were also
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added every mile each marked with a number that represented the distance from borocopen
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in 1905 the second phase began with the remainder of the fence being built from baracopin to the far north
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coast of western australia stretching for 1820 kilometers it became known as the number
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one rabbit-proof fence the number two fence was completed in april of 1905 and was 1150 kilometers long
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it began on the south coast approximately 112 kilometers west of the number one fence
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and essentially ran parallel to it before turning east and joining the first fence at gum creek
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the number three fence which was completed in 1907 started near geraldton and extended 256
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kilometers east until it met the number two fans collectively the rabbit-proof fence was
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3237 kilometers long and building it had cost the equivalent of around 83 million australian dollars
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in today's currency a government sub-department was established to supervise the constant
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maintenance of the fence the maintenance team included a chief inspector sub-inspector camel drivers rabbit
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hunters and boundary riders fines were issued to anyone caught leaving the gates along
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the fence open and it was also an offence for any member of the public to use any of its
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maintenance tracks scattered along the fence were small government-owned stations and homesteads where
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maintenance supplies watersheds and other facilities were housed caretakers at the stations typically
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lived a lonely existence as it was common for weeks to go by in which they wouldn't encounter another
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person or vehicle transient workers travelers and the gold prospectors passing through the area
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would either stay at the stations or at one of the many campsites along the rabbit-proof fence
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which had bores containing fresh groundwater although the outback was isolated and
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sparsely populated work was available in the small towns and stations along the fence for men who
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were willing to tough it out in the harsh conditions due to the lack of communication systems
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at the time and the transient nature of these communities it wasn't unusual for people to leave
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without ever being heard from again [Music] [Music] leslie george brown was born in 1903
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in the new zealand city of gisborne he received a good education and grew up to be a well-spoken and presented
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young man standing at five foot eight inches tall leslie had a medium build curly brown
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hair and the blue eyes in december 1926 he married a woman named minnie and the couple went on to have two children
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a daughter named faye and a son named desmond the marriage was an unhappy one and
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after a few years leslie and minnie separated minnie returned her wedding ring to leslie
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who continued to wear it on the pinky finger of his right hand it was agreed that minnie would support
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herself while leslie provided for the children but this arrangement proved difficult
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given that he was unemployed and virtually broke left with few other options leslie
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boarded his children with the salvation army at the beginning of 1930 he'd heard rumors that there were jobs
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available in western australia's outback but any able-bodied man who was willing
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to work and decided to explore this opportunity eager for a fresh start he applied for a
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passport in the false name of louis john caron which he intended to go by from then on
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and set sail for western australia with a stopover in adelaide on february 6 1930 leslie brown
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now known as louis coron arrived in fremantle a port city 20 kilometers southwest of
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perth in western australia during his journey he'd been robbed of what little cash he
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had and left with nothing but a few personal belongings he went to a pawn broker in perth and
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pawned a suit one of his only items of value for 15 shillings which would amount to 90 australian
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dollars in today's currency at the perth railway station louis ran into a man named
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jack lemmon who had traveled to perth from adelaide on the same boat as louis as they were both looking for work they
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decided to team up and head to the murchison region together it was a long journey that would take
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them more than two weeks to complete during which they'd have to sleep rough to make their money
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last longer jack was in a similar financial position to louis and only had two pounds or the
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equivalent of 240 australian dollars in today's currency desperate for money louis sent a
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telegram to a friend in new zealand explaining his dire financial situation and asking for a loan
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he requested that the money be telegraphed to geraldton a coastal city approximately 400
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kilometers west of the murchison region after louis sent the telegram the two men began their long
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journey louie and jack took the suburban rattler train from perth to the midland junction railway
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station where they then set off on foot carrying their belongings in swags they spent the next few days hitching
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rides where possible and were occasionally provided with food along the way jack drank pots of beer while louis who
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didn't drink alcohol favored the lemon squash without much money to spend on accommodation
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they made do with what they could find on one occasion they slept in a wheat sack while another time they tried to
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sleep in some sand dunes but were thwarted by ants once they arrived in geraldton louis
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received the funds that had been sent by his friend in new zealand giving him a total of five pounds or the
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equivalent of around 600 australian dollars today the two men used some of this money to
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send their heavy swags ahead on a freight train to the murchison gold mining town
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of mount magnon they then walked and hitched the remainder of the way mount magnet was located near the 206
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mile gate of the number one rabbit proof fence when louis and jack arrived in town they
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gathered their belongings and began visiting the local stations looking for work
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within a few days jack secured a short-term job working as a station hand at naobara
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station while louis found work at wiji station the two had forged a strong friendship
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during their time on the road and while in their new jobs they began writing to one another fortnightly
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louis was an avid letter writer and also wrote regularly to his family and friends back home in new zealand
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by mid-1930 the murchison area was feeling the impact of the depression and many station hands lost their jobs
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including louis he wasn't overly concerned as he was confident it wouldn't take him long to
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find another job on his search for employment he planned to travel to the hamlet of campion
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where jack lemmon was now living to pay him a visit jack was staying at the fountain a
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stockman's hut and out camp located alongside the rabbit-proof fence between camel station and anandi
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station it was a remote area characterized by desert sands mulga scrub and acacia trees and it
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mostly had winding bush tracks instead of paved roads the closest towns were paynesville a
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one-stop former gold mining town 120 kilometers to the north and you and me another former mining
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town 65 kilometers north east via bush tracks jack lemmon was thrilled when he heard
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that louis was heading his way he mentioned the news to snowy roles a 27 year old
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self-employed dogger and fox trapper who had been coming and going from the fountain campsite
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snowy asked jack whether louis might be interested in working with him as his offsider
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this idea pleased jack as he liked snowy and was happy that louis would be able to stay in the area
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snowy had been working throughout the murchison since 1928 and had earned a reputation as a skilled
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bushman and respected jack of all trades he had a charming disposition and was known for his keen sense of humor
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composed temperament and willingness to oblige louis arrived at the fountain campsite
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on may 17 1930 and he jack and snowy stayed up chatting well into the evening louis was
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in good spirits and at one point he mentioned that he had recently made several purchases
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including a pair of high quality hair clippers he'd also sent two of his watches to
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perth for repairs and had paid to buy his suit back from the pawn broker though he still needed to collect it
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he also flashed his final widget station paycheck for 25 pounds which was the equivalent of around 3 000
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australian dollars in today's currency the money amounted to approximately five weeks pay
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and louis aimed to live off it for the next two months this seemed possible as he didn't drink
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or have a car to maintain he agreed to work as snowy's offsider until something more permanent arose
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and the two decided to see what job opportunities were available in the remote town of waluna
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the following day the men loaded up snowy's 1926 dodge utility truck and took turns
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posing for photos in front of the vehicle louie told jack he'd return in around five weeks
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then he and snowy headed off towards waluna five weeks passed but jack didn't see or
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hear from louie again this was unusual as the two wrote to one another regularly
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in june jack heard through the grapevine that snowy was back in the you and me area
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so he sent a reply paid telegram to snowy care of the unme post office inquiring as to louie's whereabouts
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with a population of around 45 you and me offered nothing more than a general store a post office
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a bank a pub a cafeteria and a small hospital meaning it was nearly impossible for
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anyone to pass by unnoticed jack explained that the telegram was urgent but he never received a response
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on august 9 jack wrote a letter directly to snowy snowy replied explaining that he had
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responded to the original telegram and was unsure why jack didn't receive it he said that he and louis had first
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traveled to mount magnan but louis had then continued on his own into geraldton louis had promised snowy he would send
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some photographs but snowy never heard from him again snowy urged jack to come for a visit
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writing i will explain to you better i'm no good at writing letters as you can see by this
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i'll be going away for a few weeks i'll write when i come back the letter did nothing to ease jack's
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concerns it made sense to him that louis would have traveled to geraldton but he couldn't understand why he would
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stop writing if everything was okay jack wrote to geraldton inquiring about his friend
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but with no result he also wrote to the pawnbrokers in perth to see if louis had collected his suit
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yet but he had not by this point jack was growing increasingly worried about his friend's safety
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[Music] meanwhile in the new zealand city of dunedin louie's friend w.a jackson was also
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worried he hadn't heard from louis since may which was suspicious given how prolific he was at letter
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writing jackson wrote directly to the mount magnet police who got his letter on december 31 1930
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due to the transient nature of many workers in the area and to the limited means of
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communication available the police were accustomed to receiving many such inquiries every year
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as most of the people in question turned up in due course no further action was taken to
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find louis almost a month later on january 21 1931 jack spoke with constable walter
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hearn of the mount magnet police he reported that his friend louis quran hadn't written to him since
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leaving the fountain out camp in may of 1930 constable hearn recalled the letter he'd
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received a few weeks earlier from w.a jackson of dunedin who was also inquiring about louis
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the constable was due to take annual leave but decided to postpone his departure
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so that he could get to the bottom of the matter on february 17 1931 constable hearn was joined by constable
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christopher mcarthur who was a veteran bushman and the two set out to make enquiries
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they travelled 320 kilometers north of mount magnet to waluna the location where louis and snowy had
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initially told jack they were heading to look for work no one in waluna recalled ever seeing
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the two men so constables hearn and macarthur headed south down the rabbit-proof fence
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to camel station where they set up their investigation headquarters the police soon learned that on may 20
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1930 two days after leaving the fountain out camp snowy rolls had driven through
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paynesville and stopped at the town pub which was owned by ted and laura moses he asked laura if she could cash a check
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for 25 pounds but laura didn't have enough money to do so she advised snowy to speak to her
00:21:04
husband ted who indicated they would have enough cash later that day at around six o'clock in the evening snowy
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returned to the pub and told ted he also needed petrol and supplies he agreed it could wait until morning
00:21:22
and decided to spend the night in one of the pub's rooms the following morning snowy loaded his
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dodge with petrol groceries a pair of boots a gold panning dish and a few other small items
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to pay for his haul he handed over a check for 25 pounds that was made out in the name of louis
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carron when ted asked who louis was snowy replied he's my mate we're camped out in the
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bush and is looking after the fox traps he's probably thirsty by now i'd better get some beer for him
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after placing the beer in the car ted accepted the check and gave snowy his change in the form of
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a 17 pound check and some small cash snowy gave the dodge some maintenance and told
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ted that he was heading towar luna he then drove out of paynesville but instead of heading north to
00:22:25
he turned south towards you and me constable hearn interviewed jimmy and charlotte jones
00:22:34
who owned the general store in you and me they confirmed that snowy roles had arrived in town a few days after leaving
00:22:43
fountain camp with louie but nobody in you and me had actually seen louie [Music]
00:22:50
the police soon learned that snowy was now working at hill view station near mecca thorough a small town 190
00:22:58
kilometers north of mount magnet the constables worked their way along the bush tracks from the fountain out
00:23:09
camp in order to retrace snowy's route to paynesville and on to you and me even though more
00:23:15
than nine months had passed since louie and snowy left on their journey tire marks remained in the area
00:23:22
for a long period of time due to the isolation and the police were hoping to find some
00:23:28
clues they eventually reached the 183 mile gate on the number one rabbit proof fence
00:23:36
which was located in an isolated spot populated by dense narrow leaf to mulga shrubs the gate was
00:23:44
rarely used as it merely opened to a remote 800 meter track that led to a small iron hut and
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campsite that had no access to water a boundary rider was required to check on the heart's condition
00:23:59
twice a year but other than that people seldom had any reason to visit and few likely knew of its existence
00:24:09
after deliberating whether or not to check out the campsite the constables decided to venture
00:24:15
through the gate and down the track 300 meters west of the hut was a dysfunctional water bore
00:24:23
and within the vicinity of this bore the constables found evidence of a large fire having been burned
00:24:31
they scoured the ashes and soon found a number of bone fragments including what appeared to be pieces of
00:24:38
a human skull they also found animal bones charred woolen material and a button made of bone
00:24:49
after detecting the remnants of ash trails the constables followed them deeper into the bush where they
00:24:55
discovered two more piles of ash the grass under these piles hadn't been burned indicating that the ashes had been
00:25:04
dumped at these locations rather than burned there among the ash the constables found artificial teeth
00:25:13
gold clips from a dental plate metal eyelets from a pair of shoes and a wedding ring
00:25:21
convinced they had discovered evidence of foul play constables hearn and macarthur sent the
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evidence back to the mount magnant police station detective sergeant harry manning a
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revered investigator from the perth criminal investigation department who had spent many years working in the
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bush was assigned to lead the case he departed for mount magnet immediately and after arriving on march 1 1931
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he and constable hearn returned to the 183 mile gate to conduct a more thorough examination of the camp
00:25:59
[Music] inspection of the main fire site determined it had measured eight feet by six feet with the ground
00:26:07
underneath burnt to a depth of three inches a nearby coffee tin had been severely
00:26:14
scorched on one side indicating the fire had been very intense the officers sifted through the ashes
00:26:23
using a fine mesh sieve and discovered more bone fragments a molar tooth and several unusual
00:26:30
wire stitches detective manning also inspected the camp oven near the main fire and
00:26:38
noticed that ash was stuck to the outside to him this suggested that the oven had
00:26:45
been used to transport some of the ashes to the other two piles tire tracks from a car or truck led from
00:26:53
the 183 mile gate to the side of the fire and then back again the officers returned to town and
00:27:05
detective manning started gathering witness statements louie's friend jack lemmon confirmed
00:27:12
that louis had false teeth as he had seen him clean them on several occasions detective manning began inquiring with
00:27:20
dentists and orthodontists throughout western australia and new zealand he soon discovered that a dentist named
00:27:29
arthur william sims had constructed dentures for louis that consisted of a complete lower set
00:27:35
of artificial teeth and a partial upper set that could be fixed to louie's existing teeth
00:27:41
using two gold clips similar to those found in the ashes jack lemmon also confirmed that louis
00:27:50
wore a wedding ring that was quote so tightly fitting that he once said he would have to have it filed off
00:28:00
detective manning tracked down louis's ex-wife minnie brown in new zealand who said her
00:28:06
former husband's wedding ring had been bought from a jeweller named a.t long mr long
00:28:13
examined the ring found in the ashes and determined that its unique markings and
00:28:18
parent number confirmed it had been made in new zealand he also recognised the visible
00:28:26
discoloration in a join on the ring which had been made by one of his inexperienced employees
00:28:32
during the resizing process mr long recalled that it had been resized at louis quran's request
00:28:42
confirming it to be his wedding ring detective manning learned that prior to louie's disappearance
00:28:50
he had sent two of his watches for repairs to a jeweler in perth named levinson and sans on april 11
00:28:58
1930 one was an open faced omega pocket watch and the other was a wristwatch detective manning contacted levinson and
00:29:09
sons who had recorded details of the repair in their register after the watches were
00:29:15
repaired they were returned on april 29 in a cardboard box the box had been constructed using wire
00:29:23
stitches similar to those found in the ashes of the fire the manufacturer of the box that
00:29:30
contained louie's repaired watches recognized the stitches as they had a slight defect
00:29:37
that matched the floor in one of his machines levinson and sons also said that on june
00:29:44
29 1930 a jeweler from mount magnet named fleming and co had sent them louise same
00:29:52
two watches seeking further repairs detective manning spoke to the owner of fleming and co
00:30:00
who confirmed that the person who had brought the watches to him for repair was snowy rolls louise travel companion
00:30:07
when he was last seen leaving the fountain out camp on may 18 1930 detective manning followed the trail
00:30:18
that snowy and louis had initially set out on he covered hundreds of kilometers filling books with notes about various
00:30:26
places distances dates and names eventually he had the name of every working man who was in the district at
00:30:35
the time of louis's disappearance word had it that snowy roles was currently employed on hillview station
00:30:45
those who knew him described him as a man of excellent character and a fine bushman detective manning
00:30:53
learnt that snowy had purchased his 1926 dodge utility truck from a man named james ryan
00:31:00
who had since left the district according to locals james ryan had left bernandi station with a man named george
00:31:10
lloyd in early december of 1929 and neither of the men had been seen for almost 18 months
00:31:22
james ryan was a former sailor aged in his early 50s known as a tough man he was five feet
00:31:29
eight inches tall heavily tattooed and spoke with a thick cockney accent he'd arrived in the murchison area
00:31:37
around 1920 rumors spread that he had deserted the royal navy to work in kalgoorlie's gold
00:31:44
mines for years james had mostly been based at the former gold rush sites of payne's
00:31:51
fine and mount magnon where he was known for being a conscientious worker and an excellent singer he was also
00:31:58
known to drink a lot and had been arrested a number of times for drunkenness as well as thrown out of all three pubs
00:32:05
in mount magnon on various occasions in mid-1929 james traveled to perth to purchase a 1926 dodge touring car
00:32:17
that had been converted into a light utility truck he drove it north to nandi station to
00:32:24
begin his next work assignment he was hired by the station manager hermann bogle
00:32:30
to build a fence along the eastern edge of the station james set up camp at the newly
00:32:36
constructed charlie bore a campsite and water access site that contained little other than a water tank a shed
00:32:44
and yards his first task was to clear a long strip of land through the mulga scrub known as a
00:32:52
skyline and then erect the fence down the centre it would take approximately four months
00:32:59
of solid work which meant james was scheduled to finish the job just before christmas of
00:33:04
1929 this was perfectly timed as james intended to spend the festive season in perth with a
00:33:12
female friend he hired an offsider named doug bell to assist him whom he ultimately sacked a few months
00:33:22
later in september 1929 30 year old george lloyd had arrived in the murchison area
00:33:30
after a long and arduous drive from his hometown of adelaide south australia this was an epic
00:33:38
journey at the time as there were no constructed roads and all travellers had to take their own
00:33:44
supplies and fuel george was a tall fit young man with fair hair who was married with two children
00:33:53
a motor mechanic by trade he had headed to the western australian outback after struggling to find work in
00:33:59
adelaide and was prepared to tackle any kind of job he soon accepted a position as james ryan's new offsider
00:34:08
and to celebrate james started on a drinking bander george abstained as he didn't drink
00:34:18
alcohol snowy rolls had also been working at nandi station around at the same time but he resigned
00:34:27
in early december 1929 he'd heard that james ryan had sacked his previous offsider doug
00:34:35
bell and was looking for a replacement snowy unaware that the position had already been filled
00:34:42
set off to take on the job on december 6 he drove out to camel station looking for james
00:34:50
only to be told he had passed through two weeks earlier on his way to perth to stock up on supplies
00:34:58
knowing that james was a heavy drinker snowy predicted he wouldn't have yet made it past the pub
00:35:04
at the wheatbelt town of baracopan and headed there in search of him driving his old hutmobile snowy only
00:35:13
made it as far as the 100 mile post on the rabbit-proof fence before his vehicle broke down
00:35:20
he decided to walk to a rainshed located at the 96 mile point and wait for james or another traveler
00:35:28
to pass through when snowy arrived at the shed he found a noisy party in full swing
00:35:37
those in attendance included an acquaintance by the name of george richie who was in charge of camel station and
00:35:44
responsible for keeping the buildings and equipment in working order james ryan and george lloyd were also
00:35:53
there like james george richie was a big drinker and his wild drunken behavior had put
00:36:00
him under the dog act which meant he was banned from all the pubs in the region it turned out that the trio had been
00:36:09
traveling along the rabbit-proof fans making their way through a stash of booze they'd purchased
00:36:15
george lloyd was the only sober one snowy was disappointed that james ryan had already found a new off-cider
00:36:24
but was grateful for the company and for a lift back to camel station he helped james and george richie finish
00:36:32
their booze and at the four camped at the rain shed overnight the next morning of december 7 1929
00:36:41
both james ryan and george richie were too hungover to drive so george lloyd drove james in his dodge
00:36:49
and snowy drove george richie in georgia's truck late in the afternoon the convoy rolled into camel station
00:36:57
where they all camped the night the following day snowy james and george lloyd loaded up the dodge and headed to
00:37:06
james's camp at charlie boar during the evening james entertained the men by singing
00:37:14
while george lloyd played along on his brand new accordion on december 9 the trio drove to the 100
00:37:23
mile post to pick up snowy's broken down hupmobile they brought it back to camel station
00:37:30
and left it in the shed there before returning to charlie board the next day the manager of nandi
00:37:40
station hermann bogle drove to charlie boar to check on the progress james ryan had made to the fence
00:37:48
when he arrived snowy was the only one there he explained that james and george lloyd
00:37:55
were out in the scrub cutting the skyline for the fence satisfied that the work was progressing
00:38:02
hermann headed back to nandi the following day of december 11 a mineral prospector named
00:38:11
james yates decided to camp the night at watson's gate another stopping point along the
00:38:17
rabbit-proof fence there he noticed to james ryan's dodge parked at the gate loaded up with supplies
00:38:27
mr yates knew both the james and snowy well and he soon spotted snowy drinking some
00:38:33
water snowy told him that james was a few kilometers west in the bush at yalanga bore collecting timber to
00:38:41
build a yard that evening snowy left in the dodge heading north this struck mr yates is odd if james was
00:38:53
out west as snowy had said then it didn't make sense that snowy had driven away in a different direction
00:39:01
mr yates decided to investigate the next morning he followed the dodgers tire tracks and
00:39:07
found that snowy had made his own route through the scrub purposely avoiding camel station
00:39:14
his tracks eventually linked up with charlie boar indicating that he never went to
00:39:20
yelangabor where he claimed james ryan was looking for timber mr yates was confused as to why snowy
00:39:29
had a lied he drove over to camel station to discuss the matter with the george richie
00:39:34
who was an old maid of his the two men were puzzled they wondered whether james and snowy
00:39:42
had perhaps discovered gold in the bush and were trying to keep it a secret eight days later on december 21 nandi
00:39:52
station manager hermann bogle arrived at charlie boar the fence was expected to be nearing completion
00:40:00
however herman discovered no one at the job site james ryan george lloyd and snowy rolls
00:40:08
were missing herman assumed they must have gone to boracan perhaps for a christmas bender
00:40:16
he searched the site and found a crowbar and a couple of shovels which he recognized as belonging to
00:40:22
james herman was annoyed as james owed him some money and had also borrowed his compass and
00:40:30
still surveying tape which hermann wanted back herman returned to charlie boar three
00:40:37
days later to check if james had returned but it appeared as though he and to the
00:40:43
others had cleared out for good leaving the fencing job unfinished arthur upfield was born in england in
00:40:54
1890 and by age 20 had been sent to australia by his father in the hopes that he would prove himself
00:41:02
as a man he spent several years working in the outback accepting whatever jobs came his way
00:41:10
including boundary rider shiraz cook fur trapper bullock driver and opal gouger arthur was a keen writer who spent his
00:41:21
spare time penning manuscripts his first novel a thriller titled the house of cain was
00:41:28
published in london in 1928 and his publisher quickly commissioned him to write three
00:41:34
more novels after completing his second book arthur traveled to mount magnan where he
00:41:41
secured a job as fence runner and camel breaker at camel station as the southern boundary rider he was
00:41:49
responsible for the portion of the number one rabbit-proof fence that stretched 163
00:41:55
miles south from camel station down to baracopan it was during this time that he met
00:42:03
snowy roles who was working as a casual station hand fox hunter and horse breaker in the area
00:42:11
by late 1929 arthur had heard snowy was constructing a stretcher fence line in the northwest with the james ryan and
00:42:20
george lloyd on december 23 arthur arrived in the town of you and me where he spotted snowy roles on the
00:42:28
steps of the you and me hotel snowy informed arthur that james ryan had quit the fencing job
00:42:36
because he owed station manager hermann bogle too much money snowy george and james had left the area
00:42:44
and traveled to mount magnon where the ladder decided to stay james let snowy burrow his dodge to
00:42:52
drive to you and me for christmas snowy had since picked up temporary work at the local hotel
00:43:00
where he also stayed after crossing paths with arthur upfield snowy ran into arthur's mate and
00:43:08
boundary rider counterpart lance madison he told lance that james had sold him the dodge for 75
00:43:16
pounds or the equivalent of about 9 000 australian dollars in today's currency neither lance nor arthur found snowy's
00:43:26
comments suspicious and didn't mention his conflicting stories to one another they both knew he was in the market for
00:43:34
a new vehicle given his hup mobile had died and that he had family in perth who had sent him
00:43:40
money in the past additionally they knew how much james ryan loved to drink and thought he'd be willing to sell the
00:43:48
shirt off his back in order to afford more booze it also made sense to arthur and lance
00:43:54
that george lloyd could have stayed in mount magnet to keep an eye on his friend
00:44:01
days later on december 26 a prospector named ted may bumped into snowy driving the
00:44:08
dodge in you and me ted recognised the vehicle as he had worked for james ryan earlier that year
00:44:16
surprised to see snowy driving it he asked after james to which snowy replied last i heard he
00:44:24
was in mount magnon he was talking about going up to waluna so i expect that's where he is now i bought the
00:44:31
truck off him for 80 pounds snowy continued working at the unme hotel until february 10 1930 after which he
00:44:41
returned to the rabbit proof fence where he worked as a freelance fox hunter and
00:44:46
dog trapper he mostly stayed in the you and me dromedary hills area but occasionally ventured further afield
00:44:56
one day he bumped into james ryan's former offsider doug bell who asked whether james was in town
00:45:04
snowy said the last time he had seen james was in nandi and he believed he was heading to
00:45:10
boracan from there he told doug that james had owed him 30 pounds which he didn't have so snowy had struck
00:45:18
up a deal to clear the debt paying james 40 pounds in exchange for the dodge in april 1930 snowy made his way to the
00:45:30
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best fiends detective manning was now certain that louis quran had met with vowel play
00:51:28
after leaving the fountain camp with snowy roles and he continued his investigation into
00:51:33
the new zealander's disappearance and suspected death during detective manning's inquiries
00:51:40
he also learned another interesting detail according to arthur upfield and a few of
00:51:46
his associates arthur had been working on his fourth manuscript in the months leading up to
00:51:52
james ryan and george lloyd's disappearance it was a follow-up to his second novel
00:51:59
the baraki mystery which focused on a murder investigation conducted by a fictional character
00:52:05
named detective inspector napoleon bonaparte known simply as boney the character of detective boney was
00:52:14
based on a friend of arthurs an indigenous man named leon whose mother had been murdered when he was a
00:52:21
baby consequently leon had been raised on a queensland mission and was later employed as a tracker with the
00:52:28
queensland police barracky mystery experienced the moderate success and arthur upfield planned to write more
00:52:38
novels in the detective bony series by mid-1929 he started brainstorming ideas for his next book
00:52:47
as arthur understood it a murder mystery required three key plot points the discovery of a
00:52:54
corpse followed by a detective beginning their investigation and then finally the killer being
00:53:01
identified and arrested wanting to be original arthur questioned whether the first plot point was even
00:53:08
necessary to his story without a victim's body detective boney would have to prove
00:53:16
a murder had been committed along with how and by whom resulting in a unique take on an
00:53:22
otherwise predictable narrative while the idea was very attractive to arthur he quickly realised the practical
00:53:31
difficulties the biggest problem was how the killer could dispose of a body so thoroughly as to leave no trace
00:53:40
most real-life murderers had failed to do so despite all their ingenuity arthur contemplated
00:53:47
the use of a crematorium or bath of corrosive acid but ruled them out as they weren't resources that the
00:53:54
average person in his fictionalized though realistic australian outback story would have access to
00:54:03
one night in the winter of 1929 arthur was playing cards with the george richie at camel station homestead
00:54:11
when he asked a george for a good way of completely destroying a human body without leaving any trays
00:54:19
george suggested the killer lure the victim into the bush shoot him and then burn the body clothes
00:54:26
and all after a few days the killer could return to the bush with a sieve and sift through the ashes to find any
00:54:34
metal parts and remaining bone fragments the metal objects could be thrown down a
00:54:41
well while the bones could be crushed to dust using a dolly pot a manual device used
00:54:47
to crush rock specimens when panning for gold and other minerals the killer could then shoot and burn a
00:54:54
couple of kangaroos on top of the same ash pile as a disguise arthur marvelled at the simplicity of
00:55:03
his friend's method but viewed it as too perfect if there was no evidence of a corpse
00:55:10
arthur questioned how detective boney could prove to a judge or jury that a murder had even been committed
00:55:18
the police and courts would require some identifiable remains before they could charge a suspect with murder
00:55:25
arthur decided that the killer would have to make a mistake as there needed to be evidence no matter
00:55:31
how small he offered to pay george richie one pound or the equivalent of around 120
00:55:39
australian dollars in today's currency if he could identify an error in the killer's disposal plan
00:55:49
george richie was determined to find a solution and reap the reward a few weeks later he ran into snowy
00:55:57
rolls who was on his motorbike near camel station george was carrying a rifle and without
00:56:04
providing any context he asked hey snow if i was to shoot you stone dead drag your body over to that dead scrub
00:56:14
burn it thoroughly then come back tomorrow with a sieve and go through the ashes for the bones and
00:56:20
the metal objects on your clothes dump the metal objects down a well and dolly your bones to dust
00:56:27
how could my crime be discovered snowy looked afraid and rode away on his motorbike without responding
00:56:36
he arrived at camel station where he found arthur upfield and told him about the odd exchange
00:56:43
he feared george richie had gone mad and wanted to shoot him amused arthur explained his new
00:56:50
detective bony project and to the offer he had made to george to come up with a flaw in his otherwise
00:56:56
perfect murder scenario arthur openly discussed his conundrum to others and it became a talking point during a
00:57:05
small party held at camel station in october 1929. everyone in attendance including snowy
00:57:13
tried to come up with a solution despite their best efforts they were unable to find
00:57:20
fault in george richie's idea arthur started to give up then one morning while he was preoccupied with these
00:57:30
camels he had an epiphany his fictional killer would not be aware that his victim had a small silver plate
00:57:37
in his head that was used to repair a wall wound when the killer shot the victim in the head
00:57:44
arthur decided the little silver plate would be sent flying to be eventually found by detective
00:57:50
boney bony would then be able to deduce that the missing victim was dead arthur also fine-tuned the disposal of
00:58:00
any remaining metal fragments with the body so that instead of throwing them down a
00:58:04
disused well his fictional killer would dissolve them in nitric acid small jars of which were available at
00:58:11
the stations in the area the plot was finally complete arthur began writing the manuscript
00:58:20
which he titled the sands of windy to detective manning it didn't appear to be a coincidence that louis quran had
00:58:30
been disposed of in the same manner described in arthur's upcoming novel armed with this new information he
00:58:39
returned to nandi with constable hearn and the duo drove down to james ryan's former campsite at charlie boar
00:58:48
it was a remote area 800 meters west of the rabbit-proof fence that was very rarely used
00:58:55
at the camp they discovered the remnants of eight fire sites similar to those where louis caron's
00:59:02
remains were found the officers scoured the ashes and found some metal eyelets from pairs of shoes
00:59:11
metal parts from an accordion and various bone fragments that were badly burned and broken
00:59:18
the bone fragments were so damaged that it was impossible to determine whether they were human
00:59:23
or animal however the presence of the shoe islets and accordion pieces convinced the officers there was a high
00:59:32
probability they were human and belonged to james ryan and george lloyd had the men
00:59:40
chosen to vacate the camp without their shoes or george's accordion they would have simply left these items
00:59:46
behind instead of burning them furthermore it made no sense for them to depart into the dense bushland
00:59:54
without their shoes as snowy rolls was the last man seen with the james and george
01:00:02
and was now driving james's dodge detective manning concluded that snowy had likely murdered both men as well as
01:00:10
louis coron although it was unlikely that snowy was motivated to commit the murders by
01:00:17
arthur upfield's fictional plot there was a high chance the novel had provided the inspiration
01:00:25
as it was highly improbable that all three men had been killed in separate fits of rage
01:00:31
detective manning determined that the deaths were calculated and had been financially motivated
01:00:42
in early march 1931 detective manning and constable hearn traveled with constable thomas penn from
01:00:49
the maker therapist to hillview station looking for snowy roles after learning he was stationed at an
01:00:57
out camp several miles from the hill view homestead the officers dressed undercover in worn
01:01:03
bushmen's clothing and made their way to the camp when they arrived snowy wasn't at his
01:01:10
heart so they kept a discreet presence the following afternoon at 2 30 snowy drove up in a lightweight horse-drawn
01:01:20
cart known as a sulky detective manning was a short distance away in the bush the constables hearn and pen were
01:01:28
sitting in their car nearby they watched as snowy unharnessed the horses from the sulky and led them
01:01:36
away the constables approached the cart and found a 22-bore rifle in the back when snowy returned to
01:01:45
the sulky after a short absence constable hearn was casually examining the rifle
01:01:53
at this point detective manning arrived on the scene to his surprise he recognized snowy
01:02:01
roles as none other than john thomas smith a convicted criminal who was wanted for
01:02:07
escaping from del wolenu prison in 1928 he asked snowy how long he had been going by the name
01:02:15
rolls snowy who evidently also recognized detective manning replied you know very well who i am and if i had
01:02:27
known who you were you wouldn't have got me so easily the officers said that they were looking
01:02:35
for louis coron james ryan and george lloyd all three of whom were last seen in snowy's company
01:02:44
when snowy was asked where he'd gotten the dodge utility truck that was in the shed
01:02:49
he explained he'd purchased it from james ryan snowy let the officers into his hut
01:02:56
where they found two loaded 32 boar rifles detective manning asked snowy if everything in the hut was his
01:03:05
to which he said yes except for the rifles the sewing machine and the gramophone
01:03:11
[Music] the officers gave snowy permission to cook himself some food while they searched the hut
01:03:20
in the drawer of the sewing machine they found a pair of expensive hair clippers
01:03:25
which snowy claimed to have bought from a traveling salesman one of the officers found a parcel
01:03:32
wrapped in newspaper sitting high on a shelf when he reached for it snowy said where the hell did you get
01:03:41
that i know nothing about it inside the parcel was a wristwatch three shirts a watch chain a pair of scissors and a
01:03:52
razor marked as being made in new zealand the officers also searched the dodge and
01:03:59
found an open face to watch that snowy claimed was already there when he purchased
01:04:04
the vehicle from james ryan as there was an outstanding warrant for snowy's arrest from the darwolo new
01:04:12
jailbreak he was informed that he would be returned to custody after finishing his meal he asked for
01:04:20
permission to change into a blue surge suit detective manning pointed out that this was unnecessary given the long
01:04:29
dusty ride ahead but eventually agreed the four men then drove 130 kilometers to the mykathara police station where
01:04:40
snowy rolls aka john thomas smith was returned to custody [Music] john thomas smith was born in western
01:04:52
australia on august 8 1905 to parents ernest and catherine he was one of seven children and the
01:05:00
family lived in a rented house in the suburb of north perth as a child john had white blonde hair which earned him the
01:05:08
lifelong nickname of snowy although intelligent he was a lazy student and prone to petty
01:05:16
theft by the age of 11 he was already known to the police and had appeared in children's court
01:05:22
three times snowy left school at age 14 and worked sporadically as an unskilled labourer he was almost always broke
01:05:33
and continued to get in trouble with the law by the time he was 20 years old snowy
01:05:39
had accumulated a string of fines predominantly for theft and unlawful possession
01:05:45
he acquired a motorcycle and whenever it needed a new seat he simply stole one from someone else's bike and installed
01:05:53
it on his own in april 1926 snowy robbed two employees from the wa boot manufacturing company as they
01:06:02
returned from the national bank carrying a briefcase full of cash for the weekly paychecks
01:06:09
the briefcase contained 333 pounds which would amount to approximately 40 000 australian dollars in today's
01:06:17
currency snowy was arrested found guilty of the crime and sentenced to two and a half years
01:06:23
imprisonment with hard labor he was released less than two years later on february 2
01:06:30
1928 at the age of 22. five months later he broke into a cooperative store in the small wheat
01:06:38
belt town of nangaran and stole some food a suitcase and clothing four days after that he and another man
01:06:47
burgled a store in the remote town of dao wolinyu taking seven pounds the equivalent of
01:06:52
around 840 australian dollars today as well as an assortment of goods and clothing
01:07:00
the police found a can of petrol and angelic knight left behind at the scene it appeared as
01:07:06
though the culprits had intended to blow up the shop safe but abandoned their plan at the last
01:07:12
minute snowy and his accomplice thomas wilson were found hiding in the bush and were placed under arrest they were
01:07:22
taken to dao walinu where they were charged and held in the wooden lockup behind
01:07:26
the police station on july 23 detective manning was dispatched from perth to appear at their committal
01:07:34
hearing before the district magistrate during which both men were committed to stand trial in perth
01:07:43
the following day of july 24 detective manning returned to perth to organize secure transport for the two thieves
01:07:53
that evening an officer entered snowy and wilson's cell to deliver their dinner but the men knocked the tray into the
01:08:00
office's face and bolted out of the open cell door they fled into the darkness as police
01:08:07
brandishing rifles pursued them wilson was hit and injured by one of the officer's bullets
01:08:13
so he surrendered while snowy escaped into the night the next day the only trace the police
01:08:21
could find of him was a report of a stolen horse the search eventually wound down but the
01:08:27
warrant for snowy's arrest remained active snowy soon found himself a motorcycle
01:08:34
and made his way to the murchison district where he adopted the name stanley rolls while continuing
01:08:40
to go by his nickname of snowy with snowy now held in the maker thorough lockup on account of his
01:08:51
outstanding arrest warrant detective manning questioned him about the trip he took with louis coron
01:08:58
snowy claimed that after leaving the fountain campsite the two men spent the night camping at
01:09:04
windermere the following day snowy went to paynesville to cash louie's check and
01:09:10
pick up supplies before spending the night at the paynesville hotel on the third day he returned to
01:09:18
windermere where he and louis began work shooting kangaroos on day four the two men travelled to
01:09:26
mount magnan where they parted company that night snowy slept by the roadside and then
01:09:34
continued on to you and me the following day detective manning then questioned him
01:09:41
about his time spent with the james ryan and george lloyd snowy claimed that after leaving nandi
01:09:47
station in early december the trio travelled to chalibor camp where they stayed for several nights
01:09:55
on their third day there james and george made a day trip to nandi and when they returned all three men
01:10:02
started to cut the skyline for the fence on day four james was having trouble with the tyres on his dodge
01:10:10
so snowy rode his motorcycle to nandi to retrieve the puncture repair kit the next day he fixed the puncture and a
01:10:19
man named herman bogle paid a visit to charlie boar james was working on the fence about two
01:10:27
kilometers down the track at the time and didn't see herman which he was relieved about as he owed
01:10:34
herman quite a bit of money snowy james and george stayed at chalibor for a few more days
01:10:42
before deciding to leave on the eighth day when they reached the 202 mile gate the
01:10:49
dodge broke down so they camped out on the track for the night the following day some men in two
01:10:56
separate vehicles drove by saying they were heading north james and george decided to hit a ride with the
01:11:03
men and james sold his dodge to snowy according to snowy that was the last he ever saw of either
01:11:12
of the men after snowy signed his statement he remarked a man must have a kink to do this sort
01:11:21
of thing i am sorry i did not take my old lady's advice she wanted me to give myself up when i
01:11:28
escaped from dao walinu and if i'd taken her advice i would have had that all over by now
01:11:34
and would not have had this other thing to face manning asked what other thing he was
01:11:41
referring to as snowy was only being held on his outstanding arrest warrant and hadn't yet been charged with
01:11:47
anything else snowy replied oh the less said about that the better snowy was taken to perth to stand trial
01:11:59
for his original crime of breaking and entering in del wolinhu in early 1928. he was convicted
01:12:06
and sentenced to three years in prison giving the authorities plenty of time to continue their investigation
01:12:13
into the disappearances of louis coron james ryan and george lloyd two eminent pathologists studied the
01:12:26
bone fragments that were discovered in the remains of the fire at the 183 mile gate they confirmed that the
01:12:34
non-artificial teeth were human with the one proving to be a molar tooth some of the smaller bones were suspected
01:12:42
to be human finger or toe bones although the pathologists couldn't conclusively rule out the
01:12:48
possibility that they were from animal pores the few skull fragments were fitted together
01:12:55
and it was determined they had most likely come from a caucasian male these skull fragments along with the
01:13:03
teeth were the only decisive evidence that the fires had indeed contained human remains
01:13:11
on january 7 1932 snowy rolls aka john thomas smith was formally charged with the murder of louis coron
01:13:21
and a mandatory coroner's inquest was ordered on january 9 the media reported that
01:13:29
earlier the previous year snowy had made two suicide attempts while in the maker thorough lockup
01:13:36
constable penn told the western argus newspaper that he'd found snowy attempting to hang himself in his
01:13:43
cell at which point snowy also admitted that he tried taking strychnine a highly toxic poison typically used as
01:13:51
a pesticide according to constable pan snowy said he would prefer execution to spending life in prison but
01:14:00
would rather hang himself before the authorities were given the chance to kill him
01:14:06
after the media reported this snowy's lawyer denied any suicide attempts had taken place
01:14:14
a few weeks later the coroner's inquest commenced with the aim of determining for certain whether louis quran was
01:14:21
deceased and if so who or what was the likely cause of his death louis's ex-wife the jeweler who had sold
01:14:31
the wee his wedding ring and louie's dentist were all flown over from new zealand to testify
01:14:37
with their expenses covered by the state of western australia several other witnesses also gave
01:14:44
evidence including detective manning arthur upfield louie's friend jack lemmon nandi station manager hermann bogle and
01:14:53
publican ted moses the inquest concluded on february 13 1932 with magistrate edward butler
01:15:02
finding that louis coron was indeed dead and while there was no evidence of the cause of death
01:15:09
snowy rolls was responsible prison officers escorted snowy to fremantle jail to awake trial
01:15:21
on march 10 1932 snowy's trial commenced before a jury of 12 men with the justice percy draper
01:15:29
presiding at the time it was the most sensational murder trial in western australia's
01:15:36
history and public interest in the case was enormous many people were strongly against snowy
01:15:44
though a majority of murchison locals who knew him personally wanted to believe that he was innocent
01:15:51
not only did they find him to be enthusiastic warm and hard-working but they also knew how easily men could
01:15:58
disappear in the bush sometimes the years would pass before a missing person's remains were found
01:16:05
while other times nothing was recovered at all additionally residents of murchison were
01:16:12
aware that many of the region's transient workers could have various reasons to voluntarily disappear
01:16:19
and believed that the three missing men might have gone off the radar of their own accord
01:16:26
however the fact that all three had disappeared around at the same time with two of them giving their belongings
01:16:34
to snowy made it impossible for merchants and locals to disassociate one disappearance
01:16:40
from the others as the trial progressed constable hearn detailed his discovery of the fire pit
01:16:48
at the 183 mile gate and the items he found amongst the ashes while detective manning clearly
01:16:55
described the course of the investigation [Music] pathologists testified as to their
01:17:02
findings in particular that the skull fragments and muller tooth were definitely human the jeweler and
01:17:10
dentist who had traveled from new zealand also provided evidence confirming that
01:17:15
the wedding ring dentures and demolar tooth belonged to louis quran [Music] when it was arthur upfield's turn to
01:17:23
testify the prosecution alleged that although he was in no way an accessory to the crime
01:17:30
he had inadvertently provided snowy with a way to destroy the bodies of his victims
01:17:37
arthur detailed how the fictional disposal method came about for his book and confirmed that snowy rolls was fully
01:17:45
aware of these details crown prosecutor clifford gibson called snowy's original police statement
01:17:53
a tissue of lies [Music] he called witnesses to the stand who were able to rebut snowy's version of
01:18:00
events around the time of louis caron's disappearance snowy was eventually called to the stand
01:18:08
by his defence council fred curran he impressed the court with his unhesitating responses
01:18:15
and clear well-modulated voice as he essentially repeated the original statement he had provided to detective
01:18:22
manning in concluding the defense case curran asked snowy if he knew anything of louis quran's present
01:18:30
whereabouts to which snowy replied no curran then asked his client if he had done anything to bring
01:18:40
about louie's death again snowy said no under cross-examination prosecutor gibson asked the snowy
01:18:51
why louis would send him a letter from geraldton as snowy had claimed yet not make any contact with his close
01:18:59
friends jack lemmon or w.a jackson in new zealand whom he wrote to regularly snowy responded that he didn't have to
01:19:08
account for that [Music] at the conclusion of the trial on march 19 justice draper summed up the case for
01:19:17
the jury noting that the discussion between arthur upfield and snowy roles about how
01:19:23
to destroy a human body without leaving any trace was a curious thing while he agreed that the evidence
01:19:31
indicated the method of disposal had been used in louis quran's case he told the jury quote
01:19:39
whether roles did it is a matter for you to decide in relation to the wedding ring and
01:19:46
artificial teeth found in the fire justice draper observed quote it would be a strange coincidence seeing
01:19:55
that quran possessed things identical to all these articles if those found in the fire did not
01:20:02
belong to him that afternoon the jury retired to consider their verdict their first task was to decide whether
01:20:17
the remains found at the 183 mile camp were in fact those of louis quran according to one juror who spoke to the
01:20:26
daily news after the trial while the jury was compelled by the presence of the false
01:20:31
teeth shoe eyelets and metal stitches it was the wedding ring that convinced them
01:20:37
that the charred remains belonged to louis the evidence given by jack lemmon that
01:20:43
louis wore the ring on his little finger and had remarked that it was so tight he
01:20:48
would have to cut it off convinced the jury that the ring couldn't possibly have fallen into the
01:20:53
fire by accident they therefore concluded that louie's finger was either cut off
01:20:59
or his whole body was thrown into the flames the next task for the jury was to decide
01:21:07
whether snowy roles was the person responsible they were unconvinced that louis had
01:21:13
been shot but were satisfied that the manner in which the bones had been crashed and the
01:21:18
ashes were distributed indicated intentional concealment it was this that they believed was
01:21:25
evidence of murder after deliberating for just over two hours the jury delivered their verdict
01:21:35
snowy was brought up from the holding cell and stared intently at the jury shaking his head as though he knew what
01:21:43
was coming the verdict was then read aloud with the jury finding snowy roles aka john thomas smith guilty of the
01:21:54
murder of louis quran when justice draper asked if snowy had anything to say he responded i have been found
01:22:04
guilty of a crime that has never been committed justice draper handed down his sentence
01:22:11
immediately declaring john thomas smith the sentence is that you be returned to your former custody
01:22:21
and that at a time and place to be appointed by the governor you be hanged by the neck until you were
01:22:28
dead may the lord have mercy on your soul on march 30 snowy's defence council fred curran lodged an appeal against the
01:22:42
conviction he cited that evidence relating to james ryan and george lloyd shouldn't have been admitted and nor
01:22:51
should the evidence provided by arthur upfield that snowy was present during a discussion about the disposal method of
01:22:58
a fictional victim curran also argued there was no evidence that louis was dead and claimed that justice draper had
01:23:07
misdirected the jury resulting in a miscarriage of justice the appeal was heard before the court of
01:23:15
criminal appeal on april 15 1932 two weeks later it was unanimously dismissed with the appellate judges disagreeing
01:23:26
with curran's arguments and pointing out it was snowy's own legal council who initially raised the
01:23:33
association with the james ryan and george lloyd during the trial snowy's legal team then appealed to the
01:23:41
high court of australia but this too was rejected leaving snowy with no more formal avenues for appeal
01:23:51
a non-denominational christian organization known as the groper brotherhood protested against snowy's sentence
01:23:58
due to their moral objection to the death penalty a groper is a slang term for people from
01:24:05
western australia taken from the name of an insect native to the state the groper brotherhood made a submission
01:24:13
to western australia's executive council arguing that the death penalty was designed to be reserved for cases of
01:24:21
quote repulsive willful murder where there are not mitigating circumstances and where no atonement or
01:24:28
reformation can be looked for as the circumstances of louis quran's death had never been established
01:24:36
and the evidence used to convict snowy was mostly circumstantial the brotherhood argued it wasn't
01:24:42
justified to take snowy's life they also claimed that a systematic search hadn't been carried out for james
01:24:50
ryan and george lloyd and therefore the two men shouldn't have been mentioned at snowy's trial
01:24:57
according to the brotherhood he should be granted mercy pending further police activity on their
01:25:03
whereabouts on june 3 1932 the attorney general received the brotherhood submission
01:25:13
but declined to their request explaining that forbidding the use of circumstantial evidence in murder trials
01:25:20
would essentially prevent the prosecution of virtually all murders other than those committed in front of
01:25:26
an impartial and reliable witness undeterred the brotherhood joined forces with the housewives association
01:25:36
who viewed themselves as acting on behalf of snowy's mother together they amended their objection to
01:25:44
the circumstantial evidence they drew up a formal petition requesting that mercy be extended to
01:25:51
snowy so that quote he may live to atone in the body for the deeds done in the body and we as
01:25:59
a christian society may discharge our creative and reformative responsibilities to the father of all the petition was
01:26:09
printed and distributed throughout perth in the hopes of accumulating signatures
01:26:19
on june 4 1932 snowy's lawyer fred curran held a press conference in which he announced that snowy had
01:26:27
confessed to what really happened to louis coron snowy had prepared a statement that read
01:26:36
karan and i were together it is true that we camped at the old windermere homestead
01:26:42
the police said we didn't camp there but we did we were getting short of stores and
01:26:48
quran asked me to slip into paynesville and cash his check he didn't sign it we hadn't any pens and ink karon said to
01:26:57
me you can sign it and i did when i got back i found karon dead he had apparently eaten by mistake one
01:27:08
of our poisoned butter pats which we had for poisoning foxes the body was in terrible condition the
01:27:15
crows had been at it i was in a rotten position i had just come back from cashing quran's check
01:27:23
i had a record and was an escaped prisoner my first impulse was to go and tell the
01:27:29
police but i knew they would take me and put me in prison so i decided to do away with the body
01:27:37
and say nothing about it the alleged confession seemed to sway many perth residents and the petition against
01:27:47
snowy's execution gained 50 000 signatures however it was a different story in the
01:27:54
outback where people became even more convinced of snowy's guilt to them this version of events seemed
01:28:03
utterly impossible especially considering the windemara homestead where snowy claimed louis had
01:28:09
died was 80 kilometers from the camp where his remains were then burned the petition was submitted to the
01:28:18
attorney general on june 7 1932 with the executive council declining to reprieve snowy citing that
01:28:27
the law must take its course the following day a letter from the groper brotherhood
01:28:34
appeared in the daily news announcing the organization felt it had discharged its spiritual obligation
01:28:42
and was relieved of any further responsibility snowy's execution was scheduled for june
01:28:49
13 1932. five days prior his mother and sister visited him at fremantle prison where they described him as being wasted
01:28:59
away to a shadow with sunken eyes snowy told his mother that he would rather the death sentence
01:29:07
over a life in prison he was also surprised to learn that his confession to his lawyer had been
01:29:14
published as he had only intended for it to be made public after his death on june 9 the family of george lloyd
01:29:24
sent a telegram from adelaide making a final plea for snowy to tell the truth about what
01:29:30
happened to their loved one but he declined to offer any information on june 11 snowy's lawyer fred curran
01:29:41
published a letter his client had written to him that served as a final public statement
01:29:48
the letter read if i could help clear up about james ryan and george lloyd i would
01:29:55
because they can't take my life twice and it would put other people's minds at rest
01:30:00
and save a lot of worry i had ryan's truck i paid 50 pounds for it there was no receipt
01:30:09
things are different up in the north to what they are in town you take a man's word for it what i told
01:30:16
you the other day was the truth about louis quran i have never taken a man's life
01:30:22
it is not me who has committed murder but the law death can be no worse than what i have
01:30:30
gone through for the last few months i should have told the truth in the first place but i had to make a fool of
01:30:37
myself and i have to pay for it the law will be satisfied i can die with a clear mind
01:30:48
at 8am on june 13 snowy rolls was hanged at fremantle prison some news outlets reported that rolls
01:30:58
made no final statement yet others asserted that his final words were i did not kill louis quran
01:31:14
snowy's mother inherited her son's small estate which included the dodge truck she
01:31:20
attempted to sell it to a motor wrecker but the police refused to release the vehicle into her possession
01:31:26
arguing that it technically still belonged to the estate of james ryan given that james never married or
01:31:33
had children he had no known heirs and the dodge was eventually auctioned off by the
01:31:39
government the proceeds were placed in a trust in case any of james heirs ever came
01:31:44
forward to claim the money but none ever did as a result of the case and its links to
01:31:52
arthur upfield's novel interest in arthur's book surged during snowy's trial his first three books were serialized in
01:32:01
western australian newspapers further adding to their popularity consequently arthur moved to perth's
01:32:09
eastern suburbs and started riding full time in late 1932 he relocated to a small
01:32:17
town in victoria and began writing articles for the herald newspaper before once again traveling the
01:32:24
countryside in 1934 arthur penned his recollection of the snowy role saga for a book titled the murchison murders
01:32:37
arthur upfield was essentially australia's first crime fiction writer over the course of
01:32:44
his career he wrote and published 36 novels the majority of which were part of the
01:32:49
detective bony series in 1954 arthur was the first non-american author to be awarded full membership
01:32:59
into the mystery writers guild of america and in 1957 he was nominated for the edgar
01:33:06
allan poe award for best mystery novel published in the united states at the age of 73 arthur upfield died of
01:33:16
a heart attack in his home in barrel new south wales his deep love of the australian outback
01:33:23
lasted throughout his lifetime with arthur commenting in his later years quote in me was born a passionate love for the
01:33:33
australian bush which will burn until the end a love stronger than love of family so strong
01:33:41
that even now it threatens to claim me capital punishment was abolished in western australia
01:33:49
in 1984 with snowy roles being the sixth last person ever executed in the state although james ryan and george lloyd
01:34:00
were eventually declared illegally dead no one was ever charged for their murders and
01:34:06
none of their remains were ever formally identified however many were convinced that they
01:34:13
both suffered the same fate as louis quran detective manning stated as a result of my
01:34:21
inquiries i don't think there is any doubt that both ryan and lloyd were murdered at charlie
01:34:27
boar and then their bodies cut up and burned on the different fires over the years the rabbit-proof fence
01:34:37
proved ineffective with rabbits and other animals managing to make their way through
01:34:42
gaps or via open gates which travelers often failed to close by the late 1940s the grand ideal of one great vermont
01:34:54
thwarting coast to coast fence had started to fade this feeling of defeat coupled with the
01:35:03
fact that many aussie men were called away from the outback to go to war meant it became difficult to keep the
01:35:09
fence in good repair as the century progressed the western australian government abandoned
01:35:17
stretches of the number one rabbit proof fence from gum creek junction to the north coast
01:35:23
and from the south coast to the 76 mile post north of baracopan the remaining portion became important
01:35:32
for repelling wild dogs and emus and therefore continues to be maintained in 1989 author terry walker visited the
01:35:44
untended 183 mile camp north of camel station where the remains of louis quran were found in his book about the case
01:35:55
titled murder on the rabbit proof fence terry wrote much has changed at the haunted camp
01:36:04
new fences passed through the area although the 183 mile gate still swings rather reluctantly on its rusty hinges
01:36:14
there is nothing there to suggest that it was the scene of a murder despite its dilapidated state camel
01:36:24
station was added to the western australia heritage register in march 2018 for its association with
01:36:31
the killings in an article for the west australian newspaper heritage minister david templeman said
01:36:40
the heritage listing quote encapsulates the fascinating story of the mergers and murders
01:36:47
and the hard and isolated life of boundary riders on the rabbit-proof fans [Music]
01:37:19
you