Australia Australia - Tamam Shud Case - Male, Dec 1948

[FromGermany1]

Carl Josef Halban

Genealogy profile for Carl Josef Halban

www.geni.com

Attention to the date/location of death.

Is it our man or not?

 

[Kemug]

Doesn't look like him, IMO.

 

[LolaAngelina]

Doesn't look like him, IMO.

Agreed, doesn’t look like him at all

 

[SouthAussie]

One of Sophie Holman's claims (in the new article) is that Carl Webb doesn't match the photos. And that Carl Halban's documentation matches the physical characteristics of the Somerton Man.

Her expert evidence apparently comes from internationally renowned document examiners, scientists and Halban’s family.

There is a different photo of Carl Halban in the new article, it shows some likenesses with the Somerton Man. Lips, nose.
.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

I can't see the article so can't see any photo there.
Though I did find a family history site of someone of the same name with a photo.

Didn't look anything like Somerton man and it also didn't say that he died in Australia.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

I've now seen the photo on the headline of the Chronicle article and there is no way that he could possibly be Somerton Man.
Not the slightest resemblance.

 

[pukasonqo2]

SBS Australia broadcasted a special about the Somerton Man yesterday but cannot find a link (except for the Australian Story episode broadcasted by the abc last year)

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Thanks @pukasonqo2

Here is the link to the programme.

You need to register to watch.

The Body on Somerton Beach

As the Cold War ramps up, a well-dressed man is found dead within miles of a nuclear testing site on a tranquil Australian beach. There are no clues to his identity, or what could have happened.

www.sbs.com.au

 

[Vern]

I googled this new name and selected "photos" and the ear-lobes do not match the post mortem photo in the slightest. IMO, this is much ado about nothing.

 

[Susikatze]

Yeah it looks like some desperate attempt to keep the "foreign spy" mystery alive.
I dont get it. It is fairly obvious SM is Carl Webb.
But since Australian LE has not officially confirmed the match (when will they?) some folks wants their own 5 minutes of fame with bringing old theories back.

And Somerton Man being Carl Webb, just your average local Aussie dude who was a drinker, gambler and domestic violence case and estranged from his wife and family who took one too many sleeping pills at the beach or maybe just died of a heart attack (we dont know) is not the outcome people expected. But that is life. It is often very very ordinary.

 

[SouthAussie]

Another reason that Sophie Holsman does not think that Carl Webb is Somerton Man is that previous forensic findings showed high levels of strontium-90 in Somerton Man's hair. (Link to Uni of Adelaide's final report).

Strontium-90 is produced by nuclear fission.

Sophie says that Somerton Man must have travelled internationally to have the strontium-90 in his hair.
(The nuclear testing at Maralinga, in the South Australian outback, didn't happen until 1956-1964. Somerton Man was found in 1948).

Carl Webb did not travel internationally.
Carl Halban's cousin worked on building an atomic bomb in the UK.

 

[Susikatze]

I

Another reason that Sophie Holsman does not think that Carl Webb is Somerton Man is that previous forensic findings showed high levels of strontium-90 in Somerton Man's hair. (Link to Uni of Adelaide's final report).

Strontium-90 is produced by nuclear fission.

Sophie says that Somerton Man must have travelled internationally to have the strontium-90 in his hair.
(The nuclear testing at Maralinga, in the South Australian outback, didn't happen until 1956-1964. Somerton Man was found in 1948).

Carl Webb did not travel internationally.
Carl Halban's cousin worked on building an atomic bomb in the UK.

I have no idea how the high strontium 90 count happened but I went into his genealogy and saw that Carl Halban was fully of Ashkenazi Jewish descent. Which is a very distinctive and obvious genetic signature and comes with a crazy boatload of matches. It jumps into the trained eye immediately and I am sure the geneticists would have immediately identified it if SMs genetic makeup was Ashkenazi.
The chance that SM is Carl Halban is close to zero in my opinion.

 

[Kemug]

If it was suicide, why on earth didn't SM leave a note? Most annoying!

 

[george14]

Sorry to potentially derail this, but did I miss something where Carl Webb was not SM? Is there doubt?

 

[TootsieFootsie]

When I first saw the two photos side by side the first thing I noticed were the noses.

Somerton man had a pert little nose. Mr Halbans's nose was strikingly different.

 

[Susikatze]

Sorry to potentially derail this, but did I miss something where Carl Webb was not SM? Is there doubt?

As far as the media releases are, he was identified by DNA as Carl Webb. However it seems that local LE never officially confirmed it in a press conference (no idea, why) and this is why all kinds of wild theories can still bloom.

As for records, ive found that Carl Halban died in Salzburg in 1953. I have no idea how he would even be considered. The Sr90 reading can be influenced by many factors i guess and why shouldnt an Australian be exposed to it? The Pacific had nuclear tests in the 1940s and id assume, Carl Webb was in the Army during WW2.

 

[JLZ]

As far as the media releases are, he was identified by DNA as Carl Webb. However it seems that local LE never officially confirmed it in a press conference (no idea, why) and this is why all kinds of wild theories can still bloom.

As for records, ive found that Carl Halban died in Salzburg in 1953. I have no idea how he would even be considered. The Sr90 reading can be influenced by many factors i guess and why shouldnt an Australian be exposed to it? The Pacific had nuclear tests in the 1940s and id assume, Carl Webb was in the Army during WW2.

There are stories about spies whose deaths were faked. I suppose that would be the line Sophie takes.

 

[iamshadow21]

As far as the media releases are, he was identified by DNA as Carl Webb. However it seems that local LE never officially confirmed it in a press conference (no idea, why) and this is why all kinds of wild theories can still bloom.

As for records, ive found that Carl Halban died in Salzburg in 1953. I have no idea how he would even be considered. The Sr90 reading can be influenced by many factors i guess and why shouldnt an Australian be exposed to it? The Pacific had nuclear tests in the 1940s and id assume, Carl Webb was in the Army during WW2.

Because it wasn't done by the police. It was done privately, by a private citizen who hired Coleen Fitzpatrick. Identity has to be established and confirmed by LE and the Coroner, and none of that has happened.

MOO

 

[SouthAussie]

Sophie handed her "brief" of evidence about Carl Halban to the police about two years ago. Which would be about a year prior to Professor Abbott's DNA submission.

The Coroner will make the formal determination of Somerton Man's identity at some point in time.

With a couple of competing analyses, I imagine they need to check it all out thoroughly. Though I can't imagine that it is of huge importance - more an ongoing curiosity - so I wouldn't think retesting would be a big priority in the labs.

If any error is found in Professor Abbott's result it would likely be because ..... "It's important to note that the DNA used by Professor Abbott and his team was not extracted from the body; but rather from hair fibres found on the original plaster cast bust". Link



Sep 2022
Police successfully exhumed the body of the Somerton Man last year, but are yet to release any details of their investigation.

In a statement they said they were "heartened" by Professor Abbott's findings, but ultimately it would be up to the Coroner to formally determine the Somerton Man's identity. Link

 

[Fanboi92]

For what I had reasearched about this case ( 3 years) I strongly believe they were multiple bodies used to make the plaster bust,photo taken for the newspaper,the pre-bust photo! I think one of the bodies used was Carl Webb,<modsnip - not an approved source> I also don’t think the Somerton man was MR.Halban tho’ it was a very interesting theory.