Difference between revisions of "Leonard Douglas Brown"
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[[File:LeonardDouglasBrown.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Leonard Douglas Brown (b. 1918) at work in his office.]] | [[File:LeonardDouglasBrown.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Leonard Douglas Brown (b. 1918) at work in his office.]] | ||
| − | '''Leonard Douglas Brown''' (b. 28 December 1918) was the | + | '''Leonard Douglas Brown''' (b. 28 December 1918 - d. 20 May 2019) was the detective assigned to deal with Somerton Man’s suitcase and to find a copy of the ''Rubiayat of Omar Khayyam'' that matched the piece of paper found in the man’s pocket. |
==Early Life== | ==Early Life== | ||
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[[Errol Canny]] was the detective assigned to interview the nurse, and Len remembers that Errol always thought the nurse was holding back information. Len also remembers that [[John Burton Cleland|Burtie Cleland]] had to use tweezers to extract the tightly rolled-up piece of paper from the dead man’s fob pocket. This implies the paper was very tightly jammed into the crease of the pocket. This is possibly suggestive that the paper was not planted on the body, but was placed in there by the man himself who was anxious not to lose it. | [[Errol Canny]] was the detective assigned to interview the nurse, and Len remembers that Errol always thought the nurse was holding back information. Len also remembers that [[John Burton Cleland|Burtie Cleland]] had to use tweezers to extract the tightly rolled-up piece of paper from the dead man’s fob pocket. This implies the paper was very tightly jammed into the crease of the pocket. This is possibly suggestive that the paper was not planted on the body, but was placed in there by the man himself who was anxious not to lose it. | ||
| − | Although Len was not on the case when the missing '' | + | Although Len was not on the case when the missing ''Rubaiyat'' was handed in, he said he did briefly see the book at some later stage. Due to his brief contact with the book, and the passage of time, we cannot overly rely on Len’s memory of the book, but he felt he could remember the following: |
| − | *Len remembers that the code and nurse’s phone number were in the back of the book in pencil. The phone number was in very tiny lettering. Len stated that the phone number was written under the code. (We are now able confirm that the code was indeed on the back | + | *Len remembers that the code and nurse’s phone number were in the back of the book in pencil. The phone number was in very tiny lettering. Len stated that the phone number was written under the code. (We are now able confirm that the code was indeed on the back dust cover of the book. Len's testimony that the phone number was below that code and not beside it does concur with physical evidence from what we now believe to be the exact size of the book). |
*Len remembers that were two phone numbers in the back (there are many conflicting reports about the number of phone numbers, Len’s testimony unfortunately adds to the confusion). | *Len remembers that were two phone numbers in the back (there are many conflicting reports about the number of phone numbers, Len’s testimony unfortunately adds to the confusion). | ||
*Len remembers that the Tamam Shud paper matched the tear in the book. (Unfortunately photos we have today contradict this. Also the newspaper reports say forensic tests under a microscope were made to match the paper fragment to the book. This would have been unnecessary if Len was right about the tears matching). | *Len remembers that the Tamam Shud paper matched the tear in the book. (Unfortunately photos we have today contradict this. Also the newspaper reports say forensic tests under a microscope were made to match the paper fragment to the book. This would have been unnecessary if Len was right about the tears matching). | ||
*Len remembers the book was very roughly 6” by 5” in size. (The dust cover dimensions are in fact 5.5” by 4.5” so Len's memory concurs reasonably accurately). | *Len remembers the book was very roughly 6” by 5” in size. (The dust cover dimensions are in fact 5.5” by 4.5” so Len's memory concurs reasonably accurately). | ||
| − | *Len believes the last time he saw the Somerton Man's copy of the '' | + | *Len believes the last time he saw the Somerton Man's copy of the ''Rubaiyat'' was about 1950. (It is likely the book went missing not long after). |
*Len was not able to remember if the book was illustrated or not. (We can now confirm the book did have a few illustrations, but not many). | *Len was not able to remember if the book was illustrated or not. (We can now confirm the book did have a few illustrations, but not many). | ||
| − | A further detail is that Len was adamant that | + | A further detail is that Len was adamant that a man who handed in the ''Rubaiyat'' was a chemist by trade. |
===Timeline=== | ===Timeline=== | ||
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* '''1949''' January 14th, Adelaide Railway Station find a brown suitcase apparently belonging to the dead man. | * '''1949''' January 14th, Adelaide Railway Station find a brown suitcase apparently belonging to the dead man. | ||
* '''1949''' January 19th, police finally took possession of the suitcase. | * '''1949''' January 19th, police finally took possession of the suitcase. | ||
| − | * '''1949''' February, there were eight different possible identifications of the body, including a missing | + | * '''1949''' February, there were eight different possible identifications of the body, including a missing stable hand, a worker on a steamship, a Swedish man, and a man from Darwin. |
| − | * '''1949''' June, [[John Cleland| | + | * '''1949''' June, [[John Cleland|Burtie Cleland]] re-examined the body and noticed the dead man's shoes were remarkably clean and polished, implying the man would not have walked on the beach much if at all. About this time Cleland found the piece of paper bearing the inscription "Tamám Shud" tightly concealed in the dead man's fob pocket. |
* '''1949''' June 14th, the Somerton man is buried. | * '''1949''' June 14th, the Somerton man is buried. | ||
* '''1949''' June 15th, [[Paul Francis Lawson|Paul Lawson]] completes finishing touches to the bust. Len Brown, Lionel Leane, and Burtie Cleland inspect the bust. | * '''1949''' June 15th, [[Paul Francis Lawson|Paul Lawson]] completes finishing touches to the bust. Len Brown, Lionel Leane, and Burtie Cleland inspect the bust. | ||
| − | * '''1949''' June 17th, The | + | * '''1949''' June 17th, The coronal inquest begins in the [[IOOF]] building at 11-13 Flinder's Street, Adelaide. |
| − | * '''1949''' June 21st, The | + | * '''1949''' June 21st, The coronal inquest ended inclusively with an [[Sine die|adjournment ''sine die'']]. Len Brown moves on and is assigned to another case. |
| − | * ''' | + | * '''1977''' September, Len Brown is filmed for the ABC ''Inside Story'' documentary on the Somerton case. |
| − | * ''' | + | * '''1977''' December 31st, Len Brown retires. |
| + | * '''1978''' August 24th, Len Brown appearance in the ABC ''Inside Story'' documentary goes to air. | ||
==Personal life== | ==Personal life== | ||
| − | In 1941, Len Brown married Melba Joan Tindall (b. 8 August 1921, Renmark - d. 13 Jan 1997, Adelaide) and they had two boys (b. 1948 - d. 2010) and (b. 1951 - d. 1973). | + | In 1941, Len Brown married Melba Joan Tindall (b. 8 August 1921, Renmark - d. 13 Jan 1997, Adelaide) and they had two boys Richard (b. 1948 - d. 2010) and Anthony (b. 1951 - d. 1973). |
==Documents== | ==Documents== | ||
| − | * [http://www.eleceng.adelaide.edu.au/personal/dabbott/tamanshud/Len_notes_1987.pdf Len Brown's notes (1987)] | + | * [http://www.eleceng.adelaide.edu.au/personal/dabbott/tamanshud/Len_notes_1987.pdf Len Brown's personal notes (1987)] |
==See also== | ==See also== | ||
Latest revision as of 21:24, 28 May 2019
Leonard Douglas Brown (b. 28 December 1918 - d. 20 May 2019) was the detective assigned to deal with Somerton Man’s suitcase and to find a copy of the Rubiayat of Omar Khayyam that matched the piece of paper found in the man’s pocket.
Contents
Early Life
Len was born in Nelson Street, Stepney, Adelaide. He grew up in a suburb of Adelaide called Marden and attended Wellington Road Public School. Originally his ambition was to be a cabinetmaker and so he attended Norwood Technical School, which was then in Osmond Terrace. In November 1934, he started work at Butteries Management that made furniture. However, in December 1934, the headmaster of Norwood Technical School (Reg Jenkins) visited Len at home and encouraged him to join the police.
Career
Len reported at 9 a.m. on the 23rd of January 1935 to embark on a 4-year training program as a Junior Constable at the Port Adelaide Police Depot. At the end of the 4-year period he was sworn-in as probationary constable and posted to Renmark in January 1938. After a 2-year posting at Strathalbyn as a constable, he was posted to Port Augusta as a plain-clothes constable.
It was in 1946 that he was then posted to the Adelaide CIB where he became a detective, and took on the Somerton Case in that capacity in 1949. He rose to sergeant and in about 1959 he was posted to Port Adelaide. As a sergeant, he was the officer in charge of the CIB at Port Adelaide.
In about 1960, he was promoted to 2nd grade sergeant and posted back to the city, rising to 2nd grade sergeant prosecutor and then inspector in 1961. In 1962, Len returned to the Adelaide CIB and was in charge of the Breaking Squad, Consorting Squad, and Anti-Larrikin Squad. In 1965, he rose to superintendent at the CIB. During the 1974-1977 period, Len was in charge of the Prosecution Branch. After 42 years service he retired on 31st December 1977.
Awards
Len Brown was awarded the Queen’s Police Medal and the National Service Medal.
Cases
Other than the Somerton Case, Len worked on various high profile cases throughout his career including the Sunshine Café Murder, the Bony Schorchoff (sp?) Case, as well as dealing with a clairvoyant on the Beaumont Case.
Len and the Somerton case
Len was assigned to the Somerton Case two days before the dead man’s suitcase was located in the cloakroom at Adelaide Railway Station, in January 1949, and was moved to another case at the end of the inquest in 1949. This means that Len unfortunately never saw the body on the beach first hand, was not on the case when the Omar Khayyam was eventually handed in, and neither did he meet the mysterious nurse at the centre of the drama.
Errol Canny was the detective assigned to interview the nurse, and Len remembers that Errol always thought the nurse was holding back information. Len also remembers that Burtie Cleland had to use tweezers to extract the tightly rolled-up piece of paper from the dead man’s fob pocket. This implies the paper was very tightly jammed into the crease of the pocket. This is possibly suggestive that the paper was not planted on the body, but was placed in there by the man himself who was anxious not to lose it.
Although Len was not on the case when the missing Rubaiyat was handed in, he said he did briefly see the book at some later stage. Due to his brief contact with the book, and the passage of time, we cannot overly rely on Len’s memory of the book, but he felt he could remember the following:
- Len remembers that the code and nurse’s phone number were in the back of the book in pencil. The phone number was in very tiny lettering. Len stated that the phone number was written under the code. (We are now able confirm that the code was indeed on the back dust cover of the book. Len's testimony that the phone number was below that code and not beside it does concur with physical evidence from what we now believe to be the exact size of the book).
- Len remembers that were two phone numbers in the back (there are many conflicting reports about the number of phone numbers, Len’s testimony unfortunately adds to the confusion).
- Len remembers that the Tamam Shud paper matched the tear in the book. (Unfortunately photos we have today contradict this. Also the newspaper reports say forensic tests under a microscope were made to match the paper fragment to the book. This would have been unnecessary if Len was right about the tears matching).
- Len remembers the book was very roughly 6” by 5” in size. (The dust cover dimensions are in fact 5.5” by 4.5” so Len's memory concurs reasonably accurately).
- Len believes the last time he saw the Somerton Man's copy of the Rubaiyat was about 1950. (It is likely the book went missing not long after).
- Len was not able to remember if the book was illustrated or not. (We can now confirm the book did have a few illustrations, but not many).
A further detail is that Len was adamant that a man who handed in the Rubaiyat was a chemist by trade.
Timeline
- 1948 October, Len Brown is promoted to detective.
- 1949 January 8th, Det.-Sgt. Lionel Leane is assigned to the case.
- 1949 January 12th, police detective Len Brown is assigned to the case.
- 1949 January 14th, Adelaide Railway Station find a brown suitcase apparently belonging to the dead man.
- 1949 January 19th, police finally took possession of the suitcase.
- 1949 February, there were eight different possible identifications of the body, including a missing stable hand, a worker on a steamship, a Swedish man, and a man from Darwin.
- 1949 June, Burtie Cleland re-examined the body and noticed the dead man's shoes were remarkably clean and polished, implying the man would not have walked on the beach much if at all. About this time Cleland found the piece of paper bearing the inscription "Tamám Shud" tightly concealed in the dead man's fob pocket.
- 1949 June 14th, the Somerton man is buried.
- 1949 June 15th, Paul Lawson completes finishing touches to the bust. Len Brown, Lionel Leane, and Burtie Cleland inspect the bust.
- 1949 June 17th, The coronal inquest begins in the IOOF building at 11-13 Flinder's Street, Adelaide.
- 1949 June 21st, The coronal inquest ended inclusively with an adjournment sine die. Len Brown moves on and is assigned to another case.
- 1977 September, Len Brown is filmed for the ABC Inside Story documentary on the Somerton case.
- 1977 December 31st, Len Brown retires.
- 1978 August 24th, Len Brown appearance in the ABC Inside Story documentary goes to air.
Personal life
In 1941, Len Brown married Melba Joan Tindall (b. 8 August 1921, Renmark - d. 13 Jan 1997, Adelaide) and they had two boys Richard (b. 1948 - d. 2010) and Anthony (b. 1951 - d. 1973).
Documents
See also
- Timeline of the Taman Shud Case
- List of facts on the Taman Shud Case that are often misreported
- List of people connected to the Taman Shud Case
External links
- 1978 video of Len Brown being interviewed on the case (part 1)
- 1978 video of Len Brown being interviewed on the case (part 2)
