Today in History - April 25: Murder charges after shark vomits up Sydney man's arm
Spectators at the Coogee Aquarium Baths in Sydney were horrified when a shark on display vomited up a human arm on April 25, 1935.
The four-metre tiger shark had been caught alive by a local fisherman, who took it to the aquarium for display a week earlier.
Police inspected the arm, fearing it had been the victim of an attack.
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Jim Smith's arm had a distinctive tattoo on it. Supplied
But a medical examination revealed the arm had been sliced off with a sharp weapon rather than bitten by a shark.
It also had a distinctive tattoo of two boxers.
Based on a description of the tattoo published in the newspapers, the victim's brother identified him as Jim Smith.
Smith, a former boxer and police informer, had apparently been murdered by cheque-forger Patrick Francis Brady.
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Patrick Francis Brady was acquitted of the murder. NSW Police
Brady had allegedly murdered Smith then cut off his arm as part of a standover tactic to get money from respectable businessman/secret cocaine smuggler Reginald Holmes.
Afterwards, the arm was thrown into the water at Maroubra Beach.
Brady was charged with murder with Holmes the star witness in the trial.
But a few weeks later, Holmes was found dead in his car, shot three times.
In court, Brady's lawyer argued that an arm alone was not proof of a murder.
Smith, without an arm, could still be alive somewhere, the lawyer said.
Brady was acquitted.
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Reginald Holmes was found shot in his car. Nine Archives
Both the murders of Smith and Holmes remain unsolved.
Coogee Aquarium Baths is now the Coogee Pavilion.
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