Issue 11: Botanical Garden's Massacre
The Botanical Gardens remain one of the must see’s for any tourist to Melbourne. For more than 170 years it has delighted generations of Victorians. The gardens extends over an area around 93 acres (38 hectares) of land. There are 8,500 plant species in the garden, from around Australia and the world. It includes camellias, rainforest flora, cacti and succulents, roses, Californian species, herbs, perennials, cycads, plants from Southern China and, in the Rare and Threatened Species Collection, plants from south-eastern Australia.
On 23 January 1924, one of Australia’s worst massacres happened in Melbourne at the Botanic Gardens. On this particular Wednesday evening there were multiple families enjoying the last days of summer.
Firstly there was 39-year-old Eugenie Stohhaker. She sat in the easternmost lawns on a park seat. As her three children, aged 8, 5 and 11 months old splashed themselves with a tap, she sat nearby doing her knitting. Her friend, 42-year-old Marie Parry was resting against a tree, keeping her own 11-month old adopted daughter amused.
In another part of the eastern lawns a family were packing up their picnic they had just finished, before getting ready to head home. The members of the Moxham family were John Moxham, who was 37-years-old, along with his wife, Maud, also in her thirties. They were accompanied by their two children, 8-years old and 5-years-old respectively.
About 45 meters from them was Frederick McIllwaine. He was a 75-year-old who had just returned to Australia after a 20 year absence. He was stretched out relaxing on the grass. Tucked away in a green alcove, 47-year-old Miriam Podbury sat reading a book on her day off from her job as a maid.
6:30pm - Two gunshots fired
Mrs Parry was hit in the jaw before the bullet ricocheted down her throat. It finally lodged in her back after piercing one of her lungs. Mrs Strohhaker was struck in the neck by the second bullet.
Like a lot of people today, the gun shots were heard but it wasn’t recognised as such. Two off duty police constables heard the shots but thought it was a groundskeeper. They were known for shooting the cormorants that were known (and frankly still are) a pest. They would regularly go to the garden’s ponds to find fish. As well as the police constables, other people located nearby that they thought they heard a car backfire on Domain Road. Unfortunately they were both mistaken.
Mrs Moxham had originally thought it was a car backfire too, until a man with a rifle around 100 meters away rose from the lawn. In an instant she came face to face with the barrel of the shotgun now aimed directly at her. Screaming and ducking behind a bush, the man changed his aim to focus on Frederick McIlwaine, who was closer in range, being only 45 meters away. Firing the third shot, it hit him in the chest and caused the man to slump down on the grass face down. John Moxham had also been lying on his side on the lawn, seeing the gunman his immediate response was to raise his hand to shield himself. The first bullet completely shattered his hand. As he tried to get his footing he was shot in the back.
Fleeing the scene, the gunman once more saw Miss Podbury, he fired one final shot at her hitting her in the throat.
It had been the first gunshot that alerted the head gardener, Mr St John, to grab his shotgun and head towards the Anderson Street end of the gardens. What he and two off-duty constables came across was truly horrific.
Mrs Strohhaker had fallen onto the grass and was dead. Her knitting was still clutched in her hand and beside her was her oldest daughter wailing, ‘Are you sick, mummy?’. Mrs Parry, who was now unconscious, had managed to crawl towards her baby. Her facial wounds were disfiguring and she had ended up slumped against a small tree.
Miss Podbury sat where she had died. Her legs were crossed and her eyes were staring straight ahead. Her book was laid open beside her. Frederick McIlwaine had also died instantly. Beside him on the grass laid his hat and walking stick.
Mt Moxham, who was heavily bleeding, managed to convey that ‘I have been shot by a man… but I do not know who shot me.’ His wife and children were by his side, screaming. Mrs Moxham managed to compose herself enough that she told the police the direction the shooter had fled. A medical student said he also saw a man with a rifle flee the scene.
As the shooter fled, Mr St John and one of the off-juty constables gave chase. The shooter got away as Mr John and the constable encountered the head night watchman. He had heard the shots and had summoned an ambulance and more police.
One witness explained that the shooter had climbed an iron fence. It was tipped with barbed wire and surrounded a reservoir. Another witness stated that he climbed another fence that surrounded the gardens. They said he fled along Anderson Street.
The entire incident lasted four minutes. The shooter had disappeared leaving carnage in his wake. The victims were all strangers, so one can infer that this was a deliberate, random attack.
Meanwhile, close by to the gardens, constables had been informed of the shooting. They were now actively looking for the shooter. They instead came across an agitated man. He stammered his answers about where he was going, upon questioning. However, as he had no gun on him police let him go. They last saw the man try to hail a taxi further along the street. The man asked the taxi driver to bring more police to him - as he could show where the shooter was. Upon returning to the spot only a few minutes later with constables, the man had vanished.
6:45 - 15 Minutes After The Shooting
Between 150 and 200 police had descended upon the gardens, which included the surrounding suburbs. Anyone who bore even the slightest of resemblance to the shooter was stopped. Everyone was cleared leaving the shooter still at large.
Later on that night, the two survivors, Marie Parry and John Moxham underwent emergency surgery at Alfred Hospital. By the early hours of the following morning both remained in critical condition.
6:00am - 12 Hours After The Shooting
While the special edition newspapers, carrying headlines about the shooting were passed out, the police continued to search.
Police managed to locate the rifle. It was found in the bushes near the reservoir. Upon inspection the gun was found to be loaded with four cartridges. Nearby more cartridges were found in an ammunition box. The cartridges were of the dum-dum style. These were distinct for having a soft nose. This meant that upon impact that it would flatten. This caused the bullet to inflict deep, wide wounds. There was also brown paper and twine, the sort used as store wrapping, was also discovered. Furthermore near one of the victims it was discovered that exercise books - both on motorcycles and a bottle of rifle oil was found.
Senior-Detective Frederick Piggott as well as several of the city’s top cops took charge of the case. With the discovery of the rifle, the men focused on this lead. It was found to be an American-made Marlin repeating rifle. They figured it was a newly perchased gun to account for the wrapping paper being found at the scene. So, the squad set out to talk to the city gunsmiths about whether a rifle that matched the weapon was sold recently.
It was on Bourke Street where they found their answer. A gunsmith with a shop in the mall said that the day before the massacre, a matching gun had been sold. He explained that the man he sold it to said he wanted to use it for hunting. The price of the gun had been £7 10 shillings. The man called himself ‘N. List’, with his address listed as Victorian Seaman’s Institute. Though enquiries the following morning yielded no luck at the Seaman’s Institute, for good measure they also checked the Mercantile Institute. This proved fruitful.
The police discovered that on the 20 September 1923 a man who went by Norman Albert List had been discharged from the steamship Great City. He was born on 4 April 1893 in Melbourne. Armed with his information the police headed to the Titles and Electoral Offices in the city. It was here that they found Norman’s father, Charles List, resided in Richmond.
Three detectives headed to the house that afternoon. Although Norman was not there, they did find Charles along with his sisters Florence and Alma. They explained that Norman hadn’t been seen since Wednesday morning and that by the reports of the massacre in the paper, the family began to fear the worst. Upon completing a search of Norman’s room they found multiple pieces of evidence. This included:
A French and a Spanish dictionary
Books about mathematics and geometry
A bible
Pages from an exercise book like the one found at the crime scene
The frame of a safety razor - it’s blade missing
A sales catalogue for a rifle like the one Norman had brought
Handwritten notes about the ammunition
After further discussions with the family, a more rounded picture of Norman emerged. Since a young age he had read books on travel and adventure, wetting his ever growing appetite for wanderlust. He also was fond of long walks, so long that on 26 December 1911 at just 17 years old, Norman had set off on a hike. The departure point being Melbourne, with his destination more than 965 km (600 miles) away, that being Newcastle in New South Wales. It was from one of the ports in Newcastle that he took passage on a ship to America.
Over the years he had chosen to embrace the lifestyle of someone with no fixed address. He became a traveler across America and Mexico. Later when the Great War was at its most intensive, he traveled to England and enlisted in the British Army. Once over he returned to America where he took up a job as a ship’s steward. It had only been 4 months prior to the massacre that he had returned to Melbourne. It was the first time he saw his family in 14 years. The reunion was only fleeting as he was soon off again to Talangatta and then to Warburton. It was here he found work in the timber mills. Finally he worked at a farmhand in Laverton, he had left that job only two weeks prior to once more make his way back to Richmond.
Though his lifestyle was unique, that was not what worried the family. Norman had started to believe that people were talking about him. Particularly it was the men he worked with at Laverton. Furthermore it was lies about him, his father and sisters. They explained to the police that a similar thing had happened before. While in America Norman thought that people were controlling his mind while he slept. He also said that someone was sending wireless messages to injure his family. They also explained that Norman complained that his enemies in America had a radio system that would publicise his location wherever he went. This was specifically so that people always knew about him before he arrived anywhere.
Though all this information was divulged to police, there was a piece which if given could have saved the investigation time. The hundreds of lines of enquires could have been sifted through much quicker if the fact that Norman now sported 2 tattoos that he had acquired. On his right arm, he had a figure of a dancing girl, and on his left, he had a tattoo of a kangaroo.
The revised description was issued, Norman was around 5’6” and spoke with an American accent.
Back At The Hospital
In the emergency operation on Mrs Parry, surgeons had removed the bullet that had hit her. Still in hospital - her condition was improving.
For Mr Moxham, his wounds were much more severe than originally thought. The dum-dum bullet had caused much more damage. He had told detectives what he remembered. The reality of his situation hit him as being an accountant he was not able to do any more writing, and thus he described it as a hard position for his wife and kids. This was ominous as he passed away 2 days later.
The death toll now totaled four.
The Investigation
Not dissimilar to today, there were numerous sightings of Norman List everywhere. Just in Richmond in the space of 24 hours, a police sergeant followed up six leads that all turned out to be false.
The phone lines at Russell Street police station were hot with tips from the public. Police declined offers of help by clairvoyants. Stranger was letters from people telling police that they dreamt that foretold murders and also showed where the killer was hiding.
Even the psychologists weighed in. Alienists, as they were known back then, said it was more then likely that Norman would present in an agitated manner, likely to be soft spoken, reserved as well as cool and collected. Finally, he would not show any particular interest towards the manhunt. Back then the understanding of psychology and people who practiced its profession where not fully understood. Hence Senior Detective Piggott was skeptical of what help they would be.
9 Days Later - The Discovery
Charles Johnstone was an orchardist living in Pakenham, 47 minutes away from the Botanical Gardens, was out in the bush on Friday, 1 February 1924 near Deep Creek. He was out as he did regularly collecting maidenhair ferns which he fed to his birds that he kept. On this particular day it was an intense buzzing sound that drew his attention to the edge of the creek.
Just around midnight the body arrived at Melbourne’s city morgue. There was the deputy coroner, two detectives and Norman’s sister, Florence List. She positively identified him by the tattooed figure of a woman on his arm. In his right-side pocket of the trousers he wore was a razor blade. It was likely the one that was missing from his room in Richmond.
The post-mortem revealed that Norman had not broken his neck from a fall. The cause of death was a two-inch cut in his left forearm that was deep. It had been that which had caused him to bleed to death around 4 to 5 days earlier.
The Botanical Gardens Massacre hits a lot of similar notes to today’s mass shootings. The shooter would rather take his own life then be held accountable, he may have inspired a copycat but maybe even more so, if assisted by people trying to understand them - may have had a different outcome.