Jean Morris, aged about 19 years, was found dead in her bed in a small two-roomed galvanised iron house, in Queen St, Ayr, which she alone occupied. The body was attired in a silk nightdress. (QPG 15 October, 1932)
The post mortem examination revealed she sustained 43 stab wounds about half an inch wide and four inches deep. No screams or sounds were heard by the neighbours.
The body was discovered by the Electric Light Company employee at 10 o’clock in the morning. The inquest showed Jean Morris died about eight hours earlier. The evidence indicated a dagger or a stiletto was used to inflict the narrow and deep wounds. A dagger fitting the description was discovered in the deceased’s room, but there was no indication it was recently used.
Beautiful Dark-Eyed Jean Morris. Truth newspaper, 16 October 1932.
Jean Morris, as she was known in the North, was a slim, attractive girl not long out of her teens. She originally came from Sydney and was known to the police as a prostitute and an associate of criminals. (O’Driscoll, Mick. Notorious Crimes and Criminals) Miss Morris arrived at Ayr via Home Hill, Cloncurry, Innisfail, and Cairns on 29 September 1932. She was last seen alive on the night of 3 October. Two Italian men, Joe Maganetti, and Michael Gudas were the girl’s known associates. The room search turned up two bank books, one in the deceased’s name and another in Gudas’ showing a credit balance of £139.
Based on the ferocity of the assault and choice of the weapon, the local police concluded the murderer to be a foreigner. Moreover, the description of Jean’s latest nocturnal visitor fitted many southern Europeans who had associated with Jean Morris. The more the local police probed, the more convinced they became that the murder was no ordinary slaying, but that it was the calculated vengeance of a terrorist organisation.
Hotel Delta, Queen Street, Ayr.
Statistical data for the Townsville Police district showed that serious crime has increased in 1932. Gambling, such as fan tan troy card game, was rife in the 1920s and early 1930s. Between July 1932 and July 1933, 746 prosecutions were launched under gaming and anti-gambling laws in Queensland, 241 of them were launched in Townsville District alone. Townsville population in 1933 neared 26,000. Compared with the rest of Queensland, Townsville crime rates were on par with Cairns and Rockhampton, or about one third of total number of cases recorded in the Brisbane Police District. If gambling and Offences against Good Order (drunkenness) were ubiquitous in the area, murder was not; there were three cases brought before the courts in 1931-32, two in 1932-33, and one between July 1933 and July 1934.
The Black Hand involvement was suspected, in many quarters it was held that branches of the dread “Comorro” and the “Mafia” functioned in the area. (O’Driscoll) The organisation was later linked to a series of murders in Ingham, 1935-38. Italian national Vincenzo Dagostino, it was alleged, started his mafia gang and vowed to be an Al Capone of Australia:
Jean Morris made the mistake of rejecting advances … by Dagostino. His reaction was to order her murder by one of his underlings who stole into the cottage and stabbed her to death on 4 October, 1932 … Dagostino merely announced to the gang that Jean Morris was a danger because she knew too much about Mafia activities.
(Northern Territory News, 25 Aug 1976, p. 21)
Stiletto Jean Met A Fearful Death, Truth newspaper, 30 July 1950.
As the police closed in on their suspect, the man returned to Italy, where he was promptly arrested. He hanged himself in an Italian prison.
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This information has been provided by the Queensland Police Museum from the best resources available. The article was written by Museum Volunteer and Crime and Policing Historian Dr Anastasia Dukova.
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“FROM the VAULT – Murder of ‘Stiletto Jean’ Morris” by the Queensland Police Service is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (BY) 2.5 Australia Licence. Permissions may be available beyond the scope of this licence.
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