Dark history part V

Dark history part V

1954

On February 22 1954 police were called to a cliff side in the Sydney beach suburb of Tamarama where a car had plunged over the edge. The body of 44 year old Lithuanian born Dr Joseph Blank washed up in the surf.   While police were puzzling over why he had driven off the cliff the remains of another person were thrown up by the sea.  They were identified as Lithuanian woman Judy Arane 27, whose family said she had arrived seven years earlier after being held in a German prisoner of war camp and was 'just beginning to enjoy life'.  It was a mystery as to why she was in the car'.

1954

MIGRANT SUICIDES
A 29-year-old Lithuanian fettler was found dead in the railway quarters at Dulbydilla Siding on Sunday afternoon.
He was Bruno Paulauskas. A .22 rifle was found lying near the body. 
Police say there were no suspicious circumstances.

Western star (Toowoomba)  15 January 1954

1955

Lithuanian George Hayes killed a man, shot four other people, then suicided.

Bruce Clark shot in chest while visiting the Weate’s. Killer shot 5 in locked room George Hayes, 22 year-old Lithuanian migrant, who committed suicide Saturday afternoon after shooting up the family of pretty Beverly Weate, former girlfriend, at their Ivanhoe home.

Beverly's f a t h e r was killed and three members of the family and a friend were wounded, as Hayes, formerly Jurgis Vazelis, sprayed them at lunch time with a .38 pistol.
Then he locked the lounge room and shot himself dead.

Mr. Hector Weate, 45, who tried to disarm Hayes after he had shot Daryl Weate and Bruce Clark, both 17, lay dying in the hall with a bullet in his brain, when neighbours and police arrived.
Mrs. Weate, 40, was shot in the shoulder as she' fled from the kitchen with her daughter Mirim, 3, whose head was grazed.

Police believe Hayes went to the Weate home in a rage after phoning from a nearby box, and being- told by Mr. Weate to keep away.  

Police were told Beverly was walking through a park near her home recently when Hayes approached her. After an argument, Hayes fired a shot.
Hayes' only relative in Australia is a brother working in the country.

Mr.Weate had recently bought a hotel near Benalla, and owned a chain of frock shops and some trotters.

He died in St. Vincent's hospital an hour after he was shot.
Police rushed Beverly from Ivanhoe to her father's deathbed.
Funeral of killer Lithuanian George Hayes at Fawkner Cemetery.

Dark history part IV

Dark history part IV

1953

A drink sodden migrant stabbed his lover
A Lithuanian migrant sodden with drink on August 8 had acted like an automaton when he stabbed his de facto wife through the heart with a knife, Mr. F. W. Vizzard, Public Defender, suggested on Wednesday to M. Justice Clancy at Central Criminal Court.   
'The woman said  ‘stab me' said Mr Vizzard 'The man's ears were working, his eyes were working his hands were working, but there was no co-ordinating mind behind them.  'On the woman's invitation, as it were, the machine worked automatically and he stabbed her through the heart.'
Silvestros Visockis 45, labourer, had pleaded guilty to staying Mrs Dorotny Irene Denang at their home in Arthur St. Surry Hills. Blonde stocky, pug faced Visockis was making his second appearance in a Darlinghurst court in two years. He had the story of a hard life written all over his leathery sallow face.  Visockis had been charged with murder Mr C. V. Rooney, prosecution had said the Crown accepted Visockis' plea to man slaughter because it was conceded that the killing was the 'culmination of a sordid drinking episode.' Det Sgt Holmes, of Darlinghurst said Visockis came to. Australia in 1949. He was known to be addicted to drink and when under the influence became quarrel some and violent.
Red Army Conscript  
Sgt Holmes said Visockis claimed to have been a conscript in the Red Army from 1941 to 1943, to have been captured and imprisoned by the Germans until 1945 Holmes, said Visockis had been involved in other trouble and police had been called to his home several times.   On Xmas Eve 1951 he had gone to a New Australians' club at Greenwich with several other migrants. They ordered a meal and after eating it refused to pay the 5s a head due.  Visockis' companions left the club, said Sgt   Holmes. Visockis remained. The others returned about 9 p.m.   They wanted liquor supplied free or money to buy it.   The demand being refused, Visockis and his companions wrecked the premises.
Damage was £309.   Visockis was charged with causing malicious damage and was released on bond to pay £62 10s compensation.   On August 8 this year, said Sgt. Holmes Visockis invited several New Australians to join himself and Mrs. Denangle at a Surry Hills hotel for a drink about lunch time. Between 5 and 6 pm Visockis and Mrs. Denangle started for home On the way, apparently, he was struck severely in the mouth by some men who tried to take Mrs. Denangle away from him.

Plunged knife through heart

At home Visockis got a knife and 'was going to kill the party who hurt him.' Mrs. Denangle was sitting on her bed said Sgt. Holmes. She said 'I have saved your life if you want to kill any one, kill me.' Visockis immediately plunged the knife into Mrs. Den angle's heart. said Sgt. Holmes. She had been 'perfectly de fenceless.' Visockis had later told police that Mrs. Denangle being dead, he had nothing to live for Mr. Justice Clancy asked Mr. Vizzard: What are the prospects of having him sent back to his own country. Mr. Vizzard: I haven't considered that. I don't know whether he would be accepted back to his own country. Having read the depositions, Mr. Justice Clancy remanded Visockis for sentence and directed that a psychiatric report be prepared. His Honor commented: 'In a non-legal sense he was mad with drink, there's no doubt about that. He had certainly been attacked by somebody and there was an element of concussion that may have had a bearing.'

Truth (Sydney) 29 November 1953

He got 9 years.

Dark history part III

Dark history part III

1952

ACCUSED'S STORY OF CAMP DEATH (From Our Special Representative.) MORAWA

Povolis Navaras (25), single, farm labourer and Balys Grigaliunas (pictured) (35), single, railway worker, whom Navaras is alleged to have wilfully murdered at Pintharuka on February 23 had been friends before leaving Germany for Australia.
This was said by Det. G. Gooch at a preliminary hearing at Morawa, which was continued today, when he read an alleged statement by Navaras. Mr. T. Ansell, R.M., committed Navaras for trial at Geraldton.  Grigaliunas had tried to stab Navaras in Germany when they had fought over a girl, the alleged statement said. Until the attempted stabbing at Pintharuka, they had been good friends. On the day of the alleged shooting, he and Darance Hamlet Bradbrook (18), an other employee on the farm of Mr. L. Williams at Pintharuka, had been alone on the farm.  The bolt in the harvester had broken so that pair had gone to Morawa at 5 p.m. to get the bolt mended.  Accused and Colin James Munroe, another employee, had had several drinks at the Morawa Hotel.  When they left, they had taken eight bottles of beer, and he and Munroe with two other men had drunk five bottles before calling at the camp of Wladislaw Danek at Pintharuka.  "Fairly Drunk" After all Danek's beer had been drunk, Grigaliunas who had been at the camp had gone to accused's truck about 15yds from the camp and brought in all the beer left in the truck.  By then he (Navaras) was fairly drunk and so was Grigaliunas.  When about to go home accused had written a cheque for Danek to whom he owed £1. Deceased had asked for some money and started an argument when accused said he had no more. "Grigaliunas then started to abuse me," the alleged statement went on. "and was swearing at me. He was sitting on a box and he jumped up.  He had a knife in his hand.  He came at me and had the knife above his head and looked as if he was going to stab me.  I grabbed hold of the knife, which cut the palm of my right hand.  The knife dropped to the floor." Danek had grabbed deceased to stop him from using another knife that he had.  Navaras had taken the rifle from the truck because he was frightened Grigaliunas might try to stab him, the alleged statement said.  

Had Rifle

When he returned to the door of the camp, deceased was standing in the middle of the room. Accused was carrying the rifle loosely in front of him and had his finger on the trigger. "I stepped about three paces inside the door with the rifle pointing at Grigaliunas," Navaras is alleged to have told the police.  "He came towards me and grabbed hold of the barrel of the rifle with his hand and he pushed the muzzle away from his body. "When Grigaliunas grabbed the rifle it jerked my finger on the trigger and the rifle went off with an explosion." Bradbrook said in evidence that Navaras took 12 bottles of beer from the Morawa Hotel.  He heard deceased and accused arguing at the camp.  All had got into the truck to leave Danek's camp when accused found another bottle of beer on the floor and said he was going back to drink it. Bradbrook had then begun to walk home.  About ten minutes later he heard a shot then the truck had passed travelling fast with Navaras driving. Later Navaras came to his camp and said that he had shot Grigaliunas and added "I die myself."

Interview

Det. Gooch said that he had interviewed accused, whom he had found fully clothed and asleep at the farm in a caravan. Accused had asked: "How is Bill (the deceased); is he in hospital?" Witness had told him Grigaliunas was dead. Accused had said that he only fired one shot at the camp. "People there said you fired two shots and I found two cartridge shells on the floor," witness had said. "Did you fire two shots?" Accused had replied that he could only remember one.  When witness had told accused that all at the camp said deceased did not grab the rifle, Navaras had said: "I don't know, I was pretty drunk If they say he did not they must be right.  But I did not mean to kill Bill."  Constable B. P. Finlayson, of Morawa, said that Grigaliunas had been lying on the floor with a small puncture wound in the stomach and one in the back.  A bullet had passed through the wall of the room and hit the iron of the kitchen wall and had been recovered where it fells at the base of this wall. Det. Gooch said that no other bullet-holes had been found at the camp. Det.Sgt. C. E. Woodley prosecuted.

The Western Australian 27 March 1952

Grigaliunas was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 15 years in prison.

NAA record

Dark history part II

Dark history part II

1949

Attempted Suicide
A LITHUANIAN migrant who jumped into the Derwent River from Princes Wharf, Hobart, on November 21 told rescuers that the world was no good and "I kills myself," according to evidence given in the Hobart Police Court yesterday. 
The man is Antanas Simkus, and he was charged with having attempted to kill himself by drowning.
The case was dismissed.
Evidence was given that Simkus told rescuers that he had received word from his brothers and sisters that they could not come to Australia and that the "Russians wanted him back."
James Roy O'Toole, stevedore, told the Coroner (Mr. G. F. Sorell) that he saw Simkus jump into the river from the end of the wharf.
Simkus appeared to hesitate two or three times before jumping, O'Toole said.  In the water, Simkus was keeping afloat with difficulty and was heading towards the centre of the river.  O'Toole said he called to two men in a fishing boat to go to Simkus' assistance, and he threw him a life-buoy.  Ernest Mayne Butler Ford, water side worker, said Simkus pushed the lifebuoy away and kept hitting at the man in the boat when being rescued. 
On the shore, Simkus said he did not want to live, and told of the message from his brothers and sisters.  Keith Frances, Kelly told how Simkus struggled when he and another man towed Simkus to the shore.
Through an interpreter, Simkus told Mr. Sorell that he could not possibly commit suicide as he was such a good-swimmer. He said he was very drunk, and "just went for a swim to refresh himself." He did not remember being on the wharf. He had been drinking cognac.

He assured the Coroner that he had no desire to do such a thing again.

Mr. Sorell said it was necessary for the Crown to prove that Simkus intended to kill himself. His actions and the, evidence were consistent with the whole affair being a drunken escapade. The evidence was not sufficient to prove Simkus tried to take his own life.

Dismissing the charge, Mr. Sorell paid a tribute to persons who had acted "promptly and with good sense" in rescuing Simkus.

The Mercury (Hobart) 2 December 1949