Percival Cornelius Read, aged 44, was a prominent wheat farmer sharing his time between properties in Springbrook, near Nerang and Pirrinuan, near Dalby. Read and his employee, Frederick Benn, had attended the Toowoomba Show together in March 1933, and returned home later the same night. It was the last time anyone would see Percival Read alive. A month later Fred Benn and another farm employee James Heron, noticed a strong smell coming from the disused 60 foot well on the Jimbour Plains, about a mile from Read’s home.
Image and text taken from the Truth newspaper, April 10 1938.
Benn and Heron notified Dalby police and a supervised inspection was immediately arranged. Police and medical examiners visited the property and probed the well using grappling irons, which failed to bring anything to the surface. Albert Spilling from Dalby, for the Coroner, was then lowered down the well and found the decomposed remains of a man who was fully clothed in work wear, a blanket, an overcoat made of leather, rope and other dress articles.
Randall, Government Doctor from Dalby, identified the decomposed remains as those of Percival Read. Post Mortem examination found the skull had been smashed to pieces. Janet Read, the wife of the deceased, identified the articles that were found in the well as those belonging to her husband. During the course of the investigation, 30 witnesses were interviewed by Detectives.
Image No. PM2325 courtesy of the Queensland Police Museum.
Image and text taken from the Truth newspaper, April 10 1938.
It was discovered that another farm labourer, Percy Airs from New South Wales, who was hired by Read had recently forged Read’s name on cheques. He was interrogated by Detectives in connection to the crime. Airs had previously applied to become a police Constable in 1929, but was discharged from Roma Street Police Station in 1930, for making false statements when seeking enrolment. Airs eventually admitted to killing Read, putting his body in a car and then throwing it in the well. The forged cheques had been cashed on the same day Read had gone to the Toowoomba Show.
Percy Claud Airs, aged 27, disclosed he had had words with Read, and had trouble getting money from him. It was also suggested that Read would not provision his staff sufficiently when away, leaving only corned beef and bread. Airs was charged with the wilful murder of Percival Read on 30th March 1933, at Pirrinuan. He was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment, served in Bogga Road Gaol.
The funeral for Percival Cornelius Read was held at St. John’s Church of England. It was heavily attended; he had been a member of the Fifth Light Horse, and returned soldiers from Dalby and outer districts marched in the procession, with the coffin draped in the Union Jack flag.
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This information has been supplied by the Queensland Police Museum from the best resources available at the time of writing. The Police Museum is open 9am to 4pm Monday to Thursday and 10am to 3pm on the last Sunday of the month (Feb-Nov) and is located on the Ground Floor of Police Headquarters at 200 Roma Street, Brisbane. Contact: E: museum@police.qld.gov.au
“FROM the VAULT – The Dalby Well Murder” 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