AN OBSESSION WITH BLOOD: The Betty Shanks Murder

Locals become obsessed with Blood...

During the research of WHO KILLED BETTY SHANKS? numerous people contacted Ken Blanch and Jack Sim to report relatives, friends and local people who they claimed were wearing, in the possession of, or were observed destroying bloodstained garments – most commonly shirts.

For reasons which remain obscure, Brisbanites have been obsessed with linking their relatives to the Shanks murder. Also strange has been the number of individuals who seem to have delighted in claiming that bloodstains on their clothing were from their involvement in the murder of Miss Shanks.  As well as those possessing bloodstained garments, literally dozens of people claimed to have possessed letters detailing confessions from members of their family, estranged husbands and jilted lovers. What is truly bizarre is that most of these people who claim to have possessed such documents chose instead to burn, tear-up or destroy material which could have helped police solve this dreadful crime.

The murder of Betty Shanks was the crime which turned Brisbane into a big city, where violent crime was "normal".

One of the three oldest cold cases under investigation in Australia, and Brisbane’s greatest unsolved murder-mystery, the brutal killing of Betty in 1952 has baffled generations of detectives and locals alike.

Ken Blanch is appearing at several bookstores over the next few weeks to sign his book:

Dymocks Carindale                            Thursday 20/09/2012     4pm - 9pm     

Angus & Robertson - Brookside      Saturday 22/09/2012     10am-12.30pm

Dymocks Chermside                         Saturday 22/09/2012      1.00pm - 4pm 
   
Angus & Robertson - Ipswich           Saturday 29/9/2012       11.00am - 2.30pm      

A Lot of Books - Ipswich                    Thursday 4/10/2012      11.00am - 1.00pm