He didn't mean to kill her

Sylvia Holmes' body was found in the front bedroom of her tiny cottage, Cremorne Street, Fitzroy, a suburb of Melbourne on the evening of May 5, 1950.

The 23-year-old cleaner was partially clad, lying on her bed with one foot dangling over the edge, just touching the floor. She had been found by her partner Stanley Shaw, who lived with her.

Over the next 12 months, as Sylvia's body lay in her grave in Fawkner cemetery, police would be baffled regarding the identity of Sylvia's killer, despite combing the Fitzroy area and surrounding suburbs and interviewing hundreds of possible witnesses.

Sylvia's headstone in Fawkner Cemetery today. Courtesy Maria C. Findagrave

While the coroner found she had been strangled by a person or persons unknown at the inquest of her death, a woman by the name of Ada Adkins finally came forward 16 months after the murder to claim that Sylvia's partner, Stanley Henry Shaw, had admitted to her that he had killed his partner. Shaw was a bantam-weight boxer with a temper to match and he had warned Adkins to keep her mouth shut. She had lied to the police and promptly moved out of the area for her own safety.

It was revealed that Shaw had punched Sylvia on the chin then strangled her. The argument had developed around Shaw having an affair with Adkins and Sylvia also seeing other men. On the night of the murder, Shaw had been drinking and the result was Sylvia losing her life. He pleaded his innocence, not meaning to kill her but was found guilty and sentenced to death.

During his appeal later that year, he attempted a bid for freedom while being led handcuffed from the High Court building. He bolted up a lane until police brought him down as he screamed, "Anyway, I'm innocent!"

A year later, the case was re-opened and Shaw retried. This was due to a large amount of evidence taken at the first trial seen as inadmissable. Apparently, the Crown should not have been allowed to recall seven police witnesses after the defence case closed.

The jury in the second trial found Shaw not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter. He was sentenced to seven years in jail.

'This sentence is based on an assumption that you did not intend to do this girl any harm, but killed her in a sudden outburst of rage,' Mr Justice Coppel said.

References

• 'Police Baffled', the Mercury, Wednesday 10 May 1950, Page 24

• 'Police search for murderer', Daily Mirror, Wednesday 10 May 1950, Page 5

• 'Murder of Sylvia Holmes', Kalgoorlie Miner, Wednesday 13 June, 1951, Page 2

• 'Woman witness tells of 'Threat Letters', The Sun News - Pictorial, Tuesday 25 September, 1951, Page 8

• 'Retrial in Sylvia Holmes killing case', The Riverine Herald, Saturday 22 March, 1952, Page 1

• 'Seven years for Fitzroy killing', The Herald, Friday 30 May, 1952, Page 5

• 'Fettered prisoner bolts in city', The Sun News -Pictorial, Friday 14th December, 1951, Page 1