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Unsolved Crimes Nobody Can Explain


TheSearcher

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This is the source, for the following excerpt. Although not allways serious, they do find some good stuff at Cracked. From the article, two of them are my absolute favorites. So here comes the mind game, What's your take on these?

The Taman Shud Case

The victim was found dead at 6:30 am, December 1, 1948, under a street lamp at Somerton Beach in Australia. And with that, we have exhausted everything we know about the man. It's the things we don't know that have been baffling authorities ever since. Including the meaning of the apparently uncrackable secret code he left behind.

But more on that in a moment. Things first started to lurch towards the creepy when police noticed that all his clothes' identification marks had been removed. They were eventually and painstakingly able to place a jacket to America, which was strange because his dental records and fingerprints didn't match anyone who'd ever lived there... or anywhere else in the world. It was like the guy had never existed.

So the cops must have been half expecting it when the coroner returned with the cause of death: "Sudden, acute onset of damned if I know." The autopsy revealed exceptional health, a half-digested pasty in his stomach, and congestion in his brain and stomach that would have been consistent with poisoning if, you know, they'd found even a trace of poison anywhere in his body. For good measure, his spleen was three times too big.

Every breakthrough seemed to increase the mystery. They discovered a brown suitcase that had apparently belonged to the man, but that only revealed more clothes with the tags removed, and the aforementioned jacket.

The cops also discovered a secret pocket in the man's pants, which contained a scrap of paper with the words "Tamam Shud" printed on it (the words meaning "ended" or "finished").

The text looked like it was a scrap torn from a book. And it turned out it was; from a collection of poems called The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. And not just any Rubaiyat, but a specific translation, and an extremely rare one at that.

This was pointed out after police did an Australia-wide search as if the book was the ark of the goddamn covenant, presumably braving Indiana Jones-esque temples and solving ancient aboriginal riddles before some dude mentioned he found a copy of that exact book in the back seat of his car right around the time and location of death.

Sure enough, "Tamam Shud" was missing from the books pages. Instead of a library card with the dead man's name printed on it or something even a little bit helpful, the book contained the clue that would take the mystery from "spooky" to "officially starting to p*** us off."

It Gets Weirder:

In the back of the book, the cops found this code: Five sets of seemingly random letters, the second of which is crossed out. So, what does this code tell us? Nothing. Nothing at all. To this day it remains unsolved.

Was the code the result of a disturbed mind, or chronic boredom, perhaps? Turns out, no. The most recent attempt to solve the case found the letters aren't random, just some mysterious cipher nobody was familiar with. Can you solve it? If so, you're about to be famous, considering people have been trying for more than 60 years.

The Lead Masks Case

In 1966, a Brazilian boy flying a kite happened upon the bodies of two engineers lying next to each other in the grass. There was no sign of how they had died before the boy stumbled across them and he claimed he found them that way. We're sure the cops took a good hard look at him to make sure he wasn't like that murderous magical kid from The Twilight Zone who could kill people with his mind.

Anyway, before long the hill was crowded with policemen, scratching their heads at an utterly baffling crime scene--if it was a crime at all. The two dead men were dressed for their funerals in fancy suits and impermeable coats. There was an empty water bottle nearby. There were no signs of violence on either of them.

Why is it called the "Lead Masks Case"? Well, that's the baffling part. The dead men wore lead masks, a type used to protect against radiation.

The two guys were identified as electronic technicians from the area.

The police gathered evidence and eventually created a reconstruction of the day of their deaths. In it, the men buy their raincoats and go to a bar to buy bottled water. Whatever the reason, one of the men appeared rather nervous, and when they left the bar they went straight to the hill the boy found them at, then spontaneously dropped dead. Case closed.

It Gets Weirder:

A notebook was found at the scene. The notes inside translate to:

16:30 be at the agreed place.

18:30 swallow capsules, after effect protect metals wait for the mask sign

Well, they swallowed "capsules," so obviously that's what killed them, right? The problem is the note seems to imply they were waiting for something to happen after the capsules took effect, which means if they were poison, the two guys didn't know they were. Also, the men had a coupon to return the water bottle when they were finished with whatever they were doing, which also seems to imply they didn't plan on dying on that hill.

Toxicology tests could not be taken due to the victims' organs not being properly preserved (they were apparently left in storage too long, but we like to think the investigators took the idea of heart volleyball and ran with it).

So, what in the hell convinced them to go out to a hill, strap on radiation protection and swallow some strange capsules? What effect were they waiting for? What were the masks protecting them from? Was there some third party who convinced them to do all of this, saying the pills would, what, make them travel back in time? Or give them super powers? Was it all part of some 60s Brazillian version of Punk'd?

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yeah I liked this article as well just wondering tho wouldn't this be best in the true crimes section?

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The 'Taman Shud' case may not be a crime at all.

There is a condition known as Niemann-Pick disease, which is (as the Wiki article explains) a fatal metabolic disorder that causes splenomegaly and results in the build up of lipids (fatty liquids) in various organs, including the brain.

There are several variants of the disease:

Type A Niemann Pick disease has a extremely poor prognosis with most cases being fatal by the age of 18 months.[4] Type B and C Niemann Pick disease have a better prognosis, with many patients with these disorders living into their teens or adulthood.

..and type B or C would be possible, and explain the condition of the victim. There are other conditions which would also cause the same symptoms. Malaria is one, but I would have thought that common (and obvious) enough to be ruled out.

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So Searcher, your theory is that Bigfoot killed these people ? And thats why this is in the crypto section ?

Hey, if he can successfully avoid a world full of scientists, hunters, and photographers, running from the cops is nothing.

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Moved to the True Crime forum.

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Hey, if he can successfully avoid a world full of scientists, hunters, and photographers, running from the cops is nothing.

Whether or not sam12six was being sarcastic, he does make a good point.

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Moved to the True Crime forum.

Sorry My bad, I had put it in the crypto section by mistake.

@ Dr.Sexy : still beats a giant hyrax though

@ Leonardo : Good point. I didn't know about this disease. It might actually quite well explain the death of this person. I think Malaria would have shown up in the autopsy though.

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very interesting...........in 1948 there would have been little in the way of test that would have helped them solve this............the mask one...is just plain strange though :blink:

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I think the biggest and best clue is here;

The autopsy revealed exceptional health, a half-digested pasty in his stomach, and congestion in his brain and stomach that would have been consistent with poisoning if, you know, they'd found even a trace of poison anywhere in his body. For good measure, his spleen was three times too big

While forensic dentistry has roots (pun intended) as far back 1870, I believe IDing a body through dental work is more modern than 1948, and since there was a limited data base in finger printing then, I'm sure it was IMPOSSIBLE for Australia to have the means of viewing and matching finger prints to everyone ever in America up until 1948.

Bus it is a cool story.

I learned that Phosphine Poisoning following Ingestion of Aluminium Phosphide, causes brain congestion, post mortem, as well as an enlarged spleen.

I also think that acute cyanide or arsenic poisoning may be to blame. As they are both difficult for the untrained to detect.

Edited by stygeanhue
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The 'Taman Shud' case may not be a crime at all.

There is a condition known as Niemann-Pick disease, which is (as the Wiki article explains) a fatal metabolic disorder that causes splenomegaly and results in the build up of lipids (fatty liquids) in various organs, including the brain.

There are several variants of the disease:

..and type B or C would be possible, and explain the condition of the victim. There are other conditions which would also cause the same symptoms. Malaria is one, but I would have thought that common (and obvious) enough to be ruled out.

I love this. This is well thought out and researched. However it does not explain why the tag's of the victim's clothes were MIA, or the difficulty i.d-ing him. But no0ne the less, I like this answer best of all.

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I think the biggest and best clue is here;

The autopsy revealed exceptional health, a half-digested pasty in his stomach, and congestion in his brain and stomach that would have been consistent with poisoning if, you know, they'd found even a trace of poison anywhere in his body. For good measure, his spleen was three times too big

While forensic dentistry has roots (pun intended) as far back 1870, I believe IDing a body through dental work is more modern than 1948, and since there was a limited data base in finger printing then, I'm sure it was IMPOSSIBLE for Australia to have the means of viewing and matching finger prints to everyone ever in America up until 1948.

Bus it is a cool story.

I learned that Phosphine Poisoning following Ingestion of Aluminium Phosphide, causes brain congestion, post mortem, as well as an enlarged spleen.

I also think that acute cyanide or arsenic poisoning may be to blame. As they are both difficult for the untrained to detect.

Fascinating outlook!!!.....

Phosphine....

Phosphine gas is chemically inert and will not combine in any way to produce a food residue.

Symptoms of phosphine poisoning are...

The early symtoms of Phosphine poisoning are acute,obvious and easily reversible......

Slight poisoning......

The symtoms include a slight tightness of the chest and diaphragm,vomiting and diarrhea..

Medium to severe poisoning....

This is evident by vertigo,numbness and a cold sensation in the limbs,tinnitus,dyspena,dry cough..

Serious poisoning...

Symtoms include..

Cyanosis,muscular spasms,cardiac insufficiency and coma..

Phosphate poisoning

Australia was anything but behind in the field of biometrics or finger printing.....even in 1948!!!!

Biometrics

finger print technology

Research......it's an amazing thing.......:blush:

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Fascinating outlook!!!.....

Phosphine....

Phosphine gas is chemically inert and will not combine in any way to produce a food residue.

Symptoms of phosphine poisoning are...

The early symtoms of Phosphine poisoning are acute,obvious and easily reversible......

Slight poisoning......

The symtoms include a slight tightness of the chest and diaphragm,vomiting and diarrhea..

Medium to severe poisoning....

This is evident by vertigo,numbness and a cold sensation in the limbs,tinnitus,dyspena,dry cough..

Serious poisoning...

Symtoms include..

Cyanosis,muscular spasms,cardiac insufficiency and coma..

Phosphate poisoning

Australia was anything but behind in the field of biometrics or finger printing.....even in 1948!!!!

Biometrics

finger print technology

Research......it's an amazing thing.......:blush:

Sorry, I didn't mean to offend. I wasn't at all trying to imply that Australia its self was behind 1948, just that the organization of such needed databases at that time were not very evolved, so I thought it was silly for the article to claim that they were able to "check ever known person living in America at the time." I think that fete would be difficult even today.

Ps I researched the history of finger printing briefly as well as the poisoning, sorry I didn't list any links. How ever, poisoning seemed to fit, I was not able to find one single poison that involved both symptoms listed from the article.

I guess there's some conflicting info here. Check it out.

Clinical Toxicology. . .

Aluminum Phosphide Ingestion—A Clinico-pathologic Study

http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.3109/15563659609013832

:tu:

Edited by stygeanhue
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I love this. This is well thought out and researched. However it does not explain why the tag's of the victim's clothes were MIA, or the difficulty i.d-ing him. But no0ne the less, I like this answer best of all.

I have thought about this, and there is one very good reason why, in 1948, a person might wish to eradicate their previous identity and emigrate to a foreign country.

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Fascinating outlook!!!.....

Phosphine....

Phosphine gas is chemically inert and will not combine in any way to produce a food residue.

Symptoms of phosphine poisoning are...

The early symtoms of Phosphine poisoning are acute,obvious and easily reversible......

Slight poisoning......

The symtoms include a slight tightness of the chest and diaphragm,vomiting and diarrhea..

Medium to severe poisoning....

This is evident by vertigo,numbness and a cold sensation in the limbs,tinnitus,dyspena,dry cough..

Serious poisoning...

Symtoms include..

Cyanosis,muscular spasms,cardiac insufficiency and coma..

Phosphate poisoning

Australia was anything but behind in the field of biometrics or finger printing.....even in 1948!!!!

Biometrics

finger print technology

Research......it's an amazing thing.......:blush:

Aussie are always behind... especially behind NZ! lol

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Like the OP, those two were my favourites from the article.

The Niemann-Pick disease theory for the Taman Shud case is a good one, but it doesn't answer all of the other weird stuff. The suitcase with de-tagged clothes, the unused train ticket, the secret pants pocket with the piece of a page of a rare book in it, the recovered book with the cypher code written in to.

The Lead Masks case... god, who knows? The difference between this and the Taman Shud case is that you'd expect someone to know something about it without necessarily being a criminal. Surprised nothing's come out by now.

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  • 1 year later...

That's an interesting development Frederick, thanks for posting it.

As for the general state of missing identity of the Somerton Man, the year of his death provides a clue. Why would someone wish to 'disappear' in 1948?

As for my Niemann-Pick hypothesis, this was partly based on a proposed ethnicity of the deceased as a Jew (perhaps an Ashkenazi Jew). This may provide an additional clue as to why he may have wanted to 'disappear'.

Edited by Leonardo
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  • 1 year later...

Posted this in my own thread about Charles Hurd (http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=253476) but I thought the blogger that thinks he's solved the Somerton case might revive interest in this thread as well.

What do you think?

http://tomsbytwo.com/

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Never heard of this one...but it's intriguing. But to ask again, what was happening in 1948 that would make someone want to disappear? Does anyone have a speculation about that? Or did I completely miss something?

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I read something on the somerton case in one of my wife's psychic magazines ... I know ... But the psychic detective came up with he was a spy & murdered & was American

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