Pieces of evidence can be gathered from a crime scene or through a criminal investigation. Anything that connects a murderer to their victim, identifies the sequence of events or the murder weapon, is evidence, and is coveted by Police investigators. It can take any form – even a stuffed dog!
Athol Henry McCowan, a 23 year old taxi-driver of Southport, was murdered on May 22, 1952. Peter was the murderer’s dog and a silent witness to the crime. Police obtained descriptions from witnesses of the suspect, his motor vehicle and his dog. After an intensive Australia-wide investigation, Arthur Ernest Halliday was arrested in Sydney on November 13, 1952. He was then extradited to Brisbane to face charges for the wilful murder of McCowan.
Peter’s Story
Peter had been left with Halliday’s sister, he died of a tick infection before Police found him. As he was an important part of the prosecution’s case, Peter was mounted by a taxidermist for his court appearance. Peter was identified by witnesses as the kind of dog seen at the crime scene and it is said that Halliday was surprised to see the stuffed dog and admitted ownership of Peter before he could stop himself!! By using Peter as evidence, the prosecution effectively linked Peter to Halliday at the crime scene, Halliday to Peter as owner and then Halliday to the murder of McCowan. Arthur Ernest Halliday was convicted of the murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment at Boggo Road Gaol.
Mug shot of Arthur Ernest Halliday who was convicted of the murder of Athol Henry McCowan and sentenced to life imprisonment at Boggo Road Gaol. Image PM1941 courtesy of the Queensland Police Museum
Although Peter was not the only piece of evidence utilised in this case he was certainly the most unusual one and he is still on display.
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: An unusual piece of evidence” 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