Anzac Day 1935 was the day that one of Sydney’s most bizarre murder cases came to the public attention. A 2.7m tiger shark, caught some days before off of Coogee Beach and on live display at the former Coogee Aquarium, stunned the late afternoon crowd by going into spasms and regurgitating a human arm! Sydney already felt under siege from the sea with 3 fatalities in and around the beaches from shark attack in the previous two months (not unlike today). It looked like a fourth victim had just been given up.
However something was amiss. This arm had a rope around its wrist and on closer examination had not been chomped by the shark but rudely sawn through before the shark had ever come along. Murder, surely, but who owned the arm? The arm was decorated by a tattoo of a pair of boxers facing each other. Newspapers quickly reported the whole affair and soon enough a man came forward to report his brother, who had a similar tattoo, was missing. The missing man was part time smuggler and minor crim Jim Smith. Jim Smith had a growing reputation around Sydney’s inner city as a battling boxer of middling talent, a barman at Balmain and later the operator of a billiard room which fronted a more lucrative illegal gambling den. Smith ran this for 3 years before inexplicably moving into the building trade, for which he had no background. His first major work was a block of apartments at McMahons Point for a Reginald Lloyd Holmes.
Holmes was a boatbuilder, making high class motor boats and pleasure craft. He was also a smuggler, using his fast boats to meet passing ships at sea, picking up contraband throw overboard by agents on ship, most notably cocaine, which was popular amongst Sydney’s younger crowd. Smith also worked the boats for Holmes as one of his drivers. So there is the link we all were waiting for.
The third person in the frame was Patrick Brady. Brady was a master forger, a skill picked up in trenches of World War I, and a handy skill in Sydney’s underworld. He was also a close friend of Smith.
Working a few thin leads, the police made their way to Cronulla where Smith was supposedly heading when last seen. Sure enough, a bartender recognised a photo of Smith and identified Brady as a person he was with in the hotel. Brady was renting a small shack on the water nearby. Further investigation uncovered a taxi driver who had picked Brady up late one night before Anzac Day. The driver remembered Brady appearing nervous, always checking behind them as they drove and of hiding his left hand from sight the whole trip. Furthermore, the trip took them from Cronulla to the North Shore, Lavender Bay, the house of one Reginald Lloyd Holmes.
Hang on a minute, whats Brady doing going to Holmes’ house after Smith disappeared? Brady allegedly was there to blackmail Holmes. He claimed Brady demanded money and produced the severed arm to warn him of what would happen if he didn’t pay.
Holmes had quite the story about Smith and Brady, about threats, blackmail and suspected murder. It looked set for closure, but there was one more strange twist. The night before the coronial inquest, where Holmes would testify and put Brady away, two beat police patrolling in Dawes Point under the Harbour Bridge noticed a parked car with its lights on, a man at the wheel, slumped over. The man looked asleep or maybe drunk. His hat was on his head, glasses on, his hands rested on his thighs, feet on the peddles; three bullet wounds in his chest. He was dead and he was Reginald Lloyd Holmes!
In Sydney, sharks are the least of your worries. Its more often your associates that kill you.
PS: If you want more, Alex Castles book, The Shark Arm Murders should sate your appetite.
February 22, 2009 at 2:05 pm
when i was listening to this on the radio the other day i was thinking this story would make a great film. it sure reads like a film!
September 8, 2009 at 1:09 pm
Growing up in Sydney at one stage – I heard this story from my grandmother – except she said the shark swam up a canal into a pool. From that point onwards in my mind, there were always sharks in pools. This was the beginning of my shark phobia. 40 years later I still can’t get out on a surfboard.
My grandfather actually saw the shark at the aquarium when he was a kid.
Thanks for the real story.
January 17, 2012 at 10:27 pm
This is my great grandfather, CSI Miami and Underbelly is based around this Murder Case.
November 8, 2014 at 10:41 am
Hi Natasha Holmes I am Terese k/a Terry Molloy-Sparks-Norman. My father George Molloy was a cousin of Gladys Lillian Molloy-Smith the wife of Jack Smith.
November 8, 2014 at 10:46 am
Oops name should be James Smith,
February 16, 2016 at 4:18 pm
Hi Natasha, my mother Gaye (need Holmes) sent me this story after tracing it to our heritage… what a story! It would be good to chat to you. Kind regards, Kary
February 16, 2016 at 5:50 pm
Hi Natasha. My mother traced our ancestors and this story is part of our history. It’s so amazing. I’ve watched ‘Underbelly’. Mum is a Holmes’. Please get in contact – it would be great to chat. Kary
February 16, 2016 at 4:16 pm
Hi Natasha, my Mother Gaye (nee Holmes) sent me this, as she researched the family tree. Reginald Holmes is our ancestor also… I am incredulous,.. what a story! I can be reached on: kjtalentplus@gmail.com
Sincerely, Kary