The first time that this was actually done was in November 1917.
An Australian soldier, Joseph Durkin, was found shot dead in a hut in Sutton Veny Camp on Salisbury Plain on November 27, 1917.
The other occupant of the hut, Verney Asser, reported that he had been woken from sleep by a shot.
When Asser investigated by the light of a match, he found Durkin lying in bed under the bedclothes. Durkin had shot himself in the head. The rifle was resting against the wound.
Asser snatched the rifle away, ejected the cartridge and, when he realised that Durkin was dead, replaced the rifle where he found it.
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He did this, he said, to help with the investigation that he knew would follow.
An inquest later heard evidence from Asser that Durkin was depressed over his relationship with a young widow.
The coroner’s jury returned a verdict of suicide. Superintendent Scott of the local police was not convinced.
He assessed the scene and interviewed Corporal Milne, an occupant of a neighbouring hut. About 10.45 on the night, a rifle was fired twice from a neighbouring hut.
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One bullet had torn through the wall of Milne’s hut and ripped a hole in a soldier’s tunic and haversack hanging on a bedstead. Milne dismissed it as an accident.
Milne who was in charge of the camp’s armoury also informed Scott that Asser visited the armoury twice that night.
Asser rummaged about and then, with Milne’s permission, took a couple of magazines.
When Asser reported Durkin’s death, the Sergeant of the Guard found that Asser’s bed was rolled up. Asser could not have been sleeping in it.
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Durkin’s body had a bullet wound to the left cheek and an exit wound to the side of his head. The wound was not singed.
Superintendent Scott bought a shoulder of newly skinned mutton and proceeded to carry out a series of test firings with Durkin’s rifle.
He could produce an identical wound to Durkin’s with a rifle muzzle held at thirteen centimetres from the mutton.
Scott experimented with pulling the trigger with the muzzle at that distance.
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Because of Durkin’s height, Scott found Durkin could not have reached the trigger with his finger.
He could have done it with his toe, but that would only work if Durkin had been uncovered in bed. Durkin had been murdered.
When Scott discovered that Asser and Durkin were both competing for the young widow’s attentions, Scott had his motive.
Asser was arrested on December 3, 1918. At his trial, Asser could not explain why he took the rifle from Durkin’s body.
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He denied visited the armoury or firing shots that left holes in two huts. Scott recounted his investigations with the shoulder of mutton and the conclusions he drew.
The jury believed Scott and Milne. Verney Asser was hanged in Shepton Mallet prison on March 5, 1918.
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