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The "Taman Shud" Case


Dredimus

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Also known as the "Mystery of the Somerton Man" is centered around an unidentified dead man found at 0630 December 1, 1948 on Sumerton Beach in Adelaide, Austrailia. This case is considered to be one of Austrailia's profound mysteries, it has been the subject of investigation and speculation for many years. As you study this case file, or the facts that are available, you definately start to get further and further away from any real answer... If someone could translate the "code" that was found to have been in the dead mans possession at some point, I think the case would only get deeper... Anyway, here are a few links to some information regarding the case, hope you all enjoy....

First Link This mystery is #2 on this list...

Link 2

Link 3 Should Include Video

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A genuinely fascinating case and thank you for it, but shouldn't it be moved to the "Crime" section?

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The wide publicity given to the case brought some result. A doctor who lived at Glenelg came forward with a copy of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, from the last page of which a piece had been torn out. Although the scrap of paper bearing the words Taman Shud had been neatly cut around the edges, tests proved that it came from the same book produced by the doctor. The doctor told police that he had found the book tossed on the front seat of his car when it was parked in front of his house on November 30. It was a finding to which the doctor had previously attached no importance.

Look, I'm just musing here, but I find the 'co-incidence' of the good Doctor just happening to find the book on the front seat of his car, and he being someone who might know more than most about poisons just a tad too convenient, somehow...

Just a thought.

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A genuinely fascinating case and thank you for it, but shouldn't it be moved to the "Crime" section?

I thought about that to an extent... but it has so many variables... I didn't know if I should tag it as crime or history... it is a pretty cold case, lol. If the mods feel the need to move it, so be it, wont hurt my feelings at all.

Look, I'm just musing here, but I find the 'co-incidence' of the good Doctor just happening to find the book on the front seat of his car, and he being someone who might know more than most about poisons just a tad too convenient, somehow...

Just a thought.

I didn't think about that... it is odd that the good doctor had the copy of the book that was the match, and he just happened to find it in his car... but why turn it in? Some sort of foul trail cover?

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...but why turn it in? Some sort of foul trail cover?

Good point! However, it has been known for murderers to either 'taunt' the Police, or to want to 'get in on the action/investigation in some way before, and even going so far as to correspond with them... :yes:

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Good point! However, it has been known for murderers to either 'taunt' the Police, or to want to 'get in on the action/investigation in some way before, and even going so far as to correspond with them... :yes:

True... kinda like the Zodiac and such... I do wish some one could unravel that code thought... I wanna know what it says...

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True... kinda like the Zodiac and such... I do wish some one could unravel that code thought... I wanna know what it says...

Hmmm... I Know I read about that case, and also about the code, but I'm such a flake I've forgotten much of the story; there are so many cases. Do you have a link to the code Dredimus?

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Hmmm... I Know I read about that case, and also about the code, but I'm such a flake I've forgotten much of the story; there are so many cases. Do you have a link to the code Dredimus?

MRGOABABD

MTBIMPANETP

MLIABOAIAQC

ITTMTSAMSTGAB

that was scribbled in the back of the book I do believe... could have been in the suitcase though... its in Link 1 on the original post

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that was scribbled in the back of the book I do believe... could have been in the suitcase though... its in Link 1 on the original post

Ah, thanks. And, sorry, I thought you were talking about a code in the Zodiac case.

Sorry, my mistake... it's been one of those days. lol

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MRGOABABD

MTBIMPANETP

MLIABOAIAQC

ITTMTSAMSTGAB

If these are anagrams, it's likely that they are not English words, especially since there is no 'u' in the 'third?' clue.

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MRGOABABD

MTBIMPANETP

MLIABOAIAQC

ITTMTSAMSTGAB

If these are anagrams, it's likely that they are not English words, especially since there is no 'u' in the 'third?' clue.

I cannot even count the websites I've visited today looking for more information on this case, and from what I can find, no one has been able to make any sense out of the scribble of those "codes" but I am willing to bet that it has something to do with the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. I wonder if I could find some software that scans phrases such as this in multiple languages, lol. Hell, I half expected Jaylemurph to pop up with the answer to the code as soon as I posted it, lol.

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Oh hell, Jaylemurph is good, but I doubt even he is that good. Besides he will most likely make a remark a la Jaylemurph, that he is not going to do your job for you :P.

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Oh hell, Jaylemurph is good, but I doubt even he is that good. Besides he will most likely make a remark a la Jaylemurph, that he is not going to do your job for you :P.

lol. Who is this Jaylemurph, that his opinion and intellect inspire such awe in his capabilities? If'n he can decypher that code I wanna know, and shall twist his arm until he tells us all what it means... I spent half the demmed night trying to decode it. :wacko:

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lol. Who is this Jaylemurph, that his opinion and intellect inspire such awe in his capabilities? If'n he can decypher that code I wanna know, and shall twist his arm until he tells us all what it means... I spent half the demmed night trying to decode it. :wacko:

I really do not know jaylemurph's ability as far as ciphering goes, but he is a very intelligent guy and pretty knowledgable as far as history is concerned.

Anyway, im still reading up on this case, and still diving deeper in hopes that some one has actually solved that code.

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This is a case study page, I think it was created as a page for students to use for a project but it has alot of information in one spot and it mainly focuses on the code.

Code Information

If a mod wouldnt mind, could this thread be moved to the True Crimes section? Due to the nature of his death, it was more than likely foul play and thus puts it into the category of murder...

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  • 4 years later...

In 2001, Janet Fyffe-Yeomans published an article in the Australian Magazine called “The Man with No Name” about the 1948 Somerton Beach murder/suicide case.

There is a code attached to this case, one of the legendary uncracked codes of history. Janet didn’t show a photograph of this code, she simply listed the letters. She missed out lines which seemed crossed out, namely MLIAOI and the letter X. This code was discovered under UV light in a copy of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam which belonged to the dead man.

Her listing of the code was as follows:

MRGOABABD

MTBIMPANETP

MLIABOAIAQC

ITTMTSAMSTGAB

I thought I recognized an alphabet substitution code, which I had seen how to break on the ABC’s “Codebreakers.” I numbered the letters above to look for a recurring pattern. It is not a long note to find the pattern, but M occurs at 1 & 21, P at 15 and 20, T at 11 and 36 and 41, I at 23 and 28. This suggests they are using 5 ciphers.

I rearranged all the above letters in 5 columns, each column representing its own individual letter code. Fortunately the top 2 rows of letters add up to 20.

This produces

MRGOA

BABDM

TBIMP

ANETP

MLIAB

OAIAQ

CITTM

TSAMS

TGAB

Next I took Column 1, MBTAMOCTT and allocated all 26 letter possibilities to it. I then did the same with column 2, RABNLAISG producing 676 possible combinations. However there are 9 sets of 5 letters to do comparisons with, so this is not quite as daunting as it seems. I was looking for words that made sense. Most combinations produced gibberish.

After multiple attempts I settled on column 1 M=P (add 3 letters to alphabet) column 2 R= O (minus 3 letters)Column 3 G=R (add 11letters) column 4 O= T (add 5 letters) and column 5 is uncoded(the letters are exactly as written.)

This results in, by substitution: PORTA

EXMIM

WYTRP

DKPYP (X goes in later, as an A))

PITFB

RXTFQ

FFEYM

WPLRS

WDLG

Allowing for abbreviations, letter or even word reversal, and a “looks like” quality where M could be N, W an upside down M, B looks like E, Q like O, and Y like R with the loop closed and a tail.

Then the X, which looks crossed out but isn’t, is put in as a column 1 X=A letter after DKPYP.

Hence my translation : PORT ADELAIDE EXAMINED. MY TRIP (did) PAY (to) DOCK (at )

PA (Port Adelaide) PLEASE FIT EXTRA OFFER. MAKE WAY (to) PORT (&) LARGS RESERVE (&) SEMAPHORE, WILL DO LARGS (&) GRANGE.

The decoding of the last 10 letters is my interpretation as an old Adelaide boy, recognising that LR could be Largs Reserve, the only beach with a reserve in my childhood memory. It makes sense in terms of the task of sussing out Adelaide beaches (eg Henley, Somerton) on the day he died. The reason why he was sussing them out we can only speculate about.

Bob Burgess 19/07/13

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I suggest forwarding this to that Fyff-Yeoman woman.

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Thanks for your comments. I did send my solution to Janet Fyffe-Yeomans who was very interested and sent back a photostat of the actual note. I had to regig my decoding a little on seeing this. I did send a copy also to Gerry Feltus, the dectective working on the case with Adelaide major crime squad. Gerry has since retired and written a book on the case, "The Unknown Man" , my copy of which is in the mail.

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Also known as the "Mystery of the Somerton Man" is centered around an unidentified dead man found at 0630 December 1, 1948 on Sumerton Beach in Adelaide, Austrailia. This case is considered to be one of Austrailia's profound mysteries, it has been the subject of investigation and speculation for many years. As you study this case file, or the facts that are available, you definately start to get further and further away from any real answer... If someone could translate the "code" that was found to have been in the dead mans possession at some point, I think the case would only get deeper... Anyway, here are a few links to some information regarding the case, hope you all enjoy....

First Link This mystery is #2 on this list...

Link 2

Link 3 Should Include Video

WOW. This is so fascinating. I'm going to read further into this!

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Nice work Bobblio,

I remember on my travels (coincidentally across Australia), I kept an old horror book full of short stories by people like Poe, Saki, Guy De Maupassant, etc, to read. I wrote in faint pencil in the book codes for things like bank account and pin numbers, telephone numbers and passport number etc. I used the 1st letter of my surname as 0 (zero) and then counted up through the alphabet so S=0, T=1, U=2, etc, with A=8 and B=9. It was just so I did not need to carry round so many important documents with me and also if if my main hold all got stolen (as I left in in the hostel rooms), I would always have my book with me in a little rucksack I carried with me at all times. I'm not sure why I did it but it just occurred to be a good idea whilst I was bored one night on a remote farm I was working on.

I wonder if the man with no name did the same sort of thing? They might be numbers not words. If some of them are telephone numbers the 3 'words' beginning with M could be them. The M would then probably be a 0.

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It is possible that the dead man's copy of "The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam" might be relevant in the way you describe. The coded note was found under UV light so I guess the authorities inspected it pretty closely, but that original book which was in police custody has since disappeared. A similar theme from that decade is Capt. Detmer's coded dictionary (he was the German capt. of the "Kormoran" which sank the "Sydney" in 1941), although this too is quite complex.

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  • 5 weeks later...

In another thread on the same topic posted a couple of years ago, I posed the question whether this was even a crime? While it is speculated the Somerton man was murdered, due to physiological features in the corpse consistent with poisoning, no trace of poison was found in the toxicology.

Furthermore, there are diseases and genetic conditions which could account for the curious abnormalities found - such as the splenomegaly and build-up of lipids in various organs. I postulated that Niemann-Pick disease would satisfactorily account for the deceased's condition, plus would not be picked up in a routine toxicology examination. The curious nature of the missing labels on clothing and complete lack of identification could be accounted for by the deceased being someone fleeing their background as a war-criminal. Remember, this occurred in 1948 - immediately post WWII and with the Jews becoming organised in hunting down war criminals. Australia would be as good a location to disappear as South America, indeed several have been located in that country and it is claimed hundreds may have fled there.

So, death by natural causes and a fleeing war-criminal who we may never know the identity of. As good a solution to the mystery as any other I have heard - and better than some.

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  • 1 year later...

Although it may have been done to death already (pardon the wording) I had the thought to look through lists of missing people that might fit the description of the Somerton Man. My search turned up Willie McLean, an American soccer player. McLean disappeared "without a trace" in 1938. I think he fits the description of the SM in a few ways -- approximate age, well-developed calves. However, I've had trouble finding pictures of the fellow that aren't worthless for comparison purposes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_McLean_(American_soccer)

Anyone interested also might want to check out the reddit AMA tonight with Professor Derek Abbott who has been researching the SM case since 2007.

http://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/2e2im6/announcement_ama_on_saturday_august_30th_with/

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This is supposed to be Willie on the far left

post-77721-0-70581000-1409492526_thumb.j

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