This week on Classic Crime Jack covered the case of a man known in Brisbane papers as the Ether Man.
During 1966 several attacks on woman occurred in the suburbs of New Farm, Milton & Annerley. The first occurred in April, where a nurse was raped in her flat. The second in May, a woman attacked in her home. And the third in June, another woman was attacked in her own home. Amidst these attacks were more calls to police. Concerned locals spotting 'prowlers' near their premises.
One thing linked these attacks and suggested a common perpetrator.. he would knock out his victims with a rag soaked in ether, an early anesthetic.
During the time these attacks were being reported in papers fear swept Brisbane. Phone calls were made to the police for every suspicious person seen loitering around after dark, however the three cases outlined above were the only confirmed attacks by the Ether Man.
Finally, on 6 September 1966, police questioned one Philip Lamont about the attacks and had conclusive evidence that linked him to them. During the interrogation in his Wolloowin flat Lamont stabbed himself in the chest with a carving knife. The knife penetrated his heart and successfully ended his life as well as the drugged crime spree in Brisbane.
Jack Sim is currently researching this case further for it's submission in a book release later this year. If you have any information in regards to the Ether Man click here.
