The Ocean Island Murders, 1949
Speaker: Lisa Jones, Curator, Queensland Police Museum
31 July
11:00am-12.30pm
Bookings essential via Eventbrite or email museum@police.qld.gov.au
Sometime between the evening of 26 and the early morning of 27 April 1949, William and Isobel Allen were murdered in a vicious attack on Ocean Island. Two Queensland Police Detectives and a Fingerprint expert were sent to investigate.
This crime caught the attention of police agencies worldwide for two main reasons:
- Ocean Island was not an Australian protectorate but Queensland Police attended and solved the crime.
- It was the first time that a whole community was fingerprinted and palm printed as an aid to catching a killer.
Join the Police Museum Curator Lisa Jones as she outline the difficulties experienced by the Detectives and Fingerprint Expert as they strove to solve this crime on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
The one-and-a-half hour presentation will begin at 11am on Sunday 31 July and will provide interesting and educational content suitable for a mature audience.
The Museum opens its doors to the public on the last Sunday of each month from 10am to 3pm from February to November in addition to the standard Monday to Thursday 9am to 4pm opening hours. Monthly Sunday openings feature guest speakers from across the historical and crime-solving spectrums.
“2022 SUNDAY LECTURE SERIES: The Ocean Island Murders” 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. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/au/legalcode