The mysterious deadly affair of 1960s Australia | Forensic Files

[Music] Our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents. If you feel at
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our website. [Music] It was nearing 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday, January 1, 1963, as 16-year-old Michael
McCormack made his way east along the bushy banks of Sydney's Lane Cove River. Located in the suburb of
Chhatzwood near a popular picnic area known as Fuller's Bridge, the area was once a thriving spot for swimming,
fishing, rowing, and flower picking. Over the years, rising pollution levels put an end to many of these recreational
pursuits with people turned off by the discolored water and its offensive smell. Yet, the surrounding bushland of
the Lane Cove National Park continued to attract many hikers and day trippers. As Michael walked along the
lower bush track that ran parallel to the waterway, he noticed a man lying face down in the grass on the riverbank.
He was neatly dressed in a dark colored suit with his arms slightly out by his side. Michael's first thought was that
the man must have had too much to drink at a New Year's Eve celebration the previous night and was sleeping it
off. But as he edged close, Michael realized that the man's face appeared to be turning blue.
Although it didn't look right to Michael, he told himself the man was probably just a drunk and continued
on. He had plans to meet his friend Dennis at the nearby Chatzwood Golf Club to look for discarded golf balls and he
didn't want to keep him waiting. Michael caught up with Dennis near the sixth tea of the golf course
which backed onto the river and the pair spent about an hour hunting for balls before deciding to call it a day.
They made their way back along the lower river tract the same way that Michael had come, only to discover that the
drunk man was still in the exact same position Michael had seen him in an hour earlier. Michael approached the man
again only to realize that the color of his face had gone a bit darker. He also didn't appear to be
breathing. Fearing that the man might be dead, Michael told Dennis that they better get
going. Dennis stopped him, saying, "We had better tell the man over in the shop." The teens walked to the nearby
Lane Cove kiosk and told the shopkeeper what they'd found. The shopkeeper accompanied them
back to the scene to see the man for himself. As the trio gathered around him, Michael noticed something. he
hadn't seen before. A piece of carpet was sticking out from underneath the man's
jacket. While at first glance the man appeared to be neatly dressed, Michael looked closer and realized this wasn't
the case at all. The man's jacket had simply been draped over his shoulders and down his
back to make it look like he was wearing it. It had been placed so perfectly that the
right sleeve followed the bent angle of his right arm. Likewise, his trousers had been
neatly laid over both of his bare legs, the seams perfectly placed to make it appear as though he was dressed when he
was not. The shopkeeper summoned the police, who arrived at the scene at around 10:00
a.m. The attending sergeant removed the man's jacket and found that underneath he was wearing a white shirt with the
top buttons undone. A neck tie hung loosely around his neck and a piece of dirty brown
carpet had been draped over his torso with his jacket then placed meticulously on top.
He wore shoes and socks, but no underwear, and his trousers had been placed on top of his bare
legs. The man's body was in a clear state of rigor mortise, indicating that he'd been deceased for some
time. Yet, despite a trickle of blood that was seeping from his right nostril, there were no obvious signs of violence
anywhere on his body. The only thing out of the ordinary was a puddle of vomit that lay nearby.
Mystified by the scene, the police began a thorough search of the area to try and
determine what had unfolded, an officer made his way down the riverbank towards the mud flats
about 15 m south from where the man's body lay. Parallel to the riverbed, he came
across an indentation in the mud that was about 5 ft long and 2 ft wide. It had been covered up by several
flattened down beer cartons that had obviously been in the area for some time. The officer picked one of the
pieces of cardboard up. "Sergeant," he called out to his superior. I can see part of a woman's
[Music] head. The sergeant joined the officer on the riverbed. From underneath the beer cartons, the
head and shoulders of a young dark-haired woman lay on display. She was on her back as though asleep, her
head turned slightly to the left with her right arm resting on her stomach and her left arm by her
thigh. There was a small abrasion on her nose, which had been lightly bleeding. The woman was wearing an
imitation pearl necklace, but her shoulders were otherwise bare. the straps of her dress having been pulled
down to expose her breasts. The sergeant lifted the woman's arm, noticing that she was wearing a
wedding ring. He felt for a pulse, but there was none, and she wasn't breathing. Although she was clearly
deceased, her body was still slightly warm to the touch, and rigger mortise hadn't yet set in.
The sergeant pulled the rest of the beer cartons aside, revealing that the woman's bra had been rolled down across
her stomach. She was wearing a white dress with a red rose pattern on it, which had been rolled up around her
waist. Underneath the dress, she wore a white half slip that was torn and muddy.
She had no underwear or shoes on, and her feet and knees were smeared with mud. A pair of men's underwear layered her
feet stained with feces. Vomit and excrement dotted the surrounding area, adding to the already
foul odor of the thick black mud and surrounding mangroves. Other than some small
scratches on one of the woman's shoulders, there were no defensive marks or signs of violence anywhere on her
body, and it didn't look like her clothing had been forcefully removed. Her shoes and underwear were found on
the exposed riverbed directly below where the man's body was found, placed in a neat line along with the man's
belt. Detectives soon arrived at the scene and were baffled by what lay before them. Here they had two semi-
naked bodies just 15 m apart, both oddly covered up, but with no overt signs of violence on either of them.
Both of the deceased appeared to have been healthy young individuals. An unexpected medical
event, such as a heart attack or brain aneurysm, could kill one person, but the chances of it happening to two was next
to impossible. The vomit and feces at the scene suggested a more obvious cause of
death. The pair had been poisoned. A cursory search of the area didn't reveal any pills, powders, hypodermic
needles, or anything else to suggest what had made the couple so sick. Police divers took to the water to search for
any discarded evidence, but the water was too muddy and polluted, and the search had to be called
off. The only prince in the mud belonged to the woman and were consistent with her having walked to the riverbed before
collapsing onto all fours. The surrounding area didn't show any obvious signs of disturbance, such as
flattened grass or drag marks, to suggest that anyone else was involved. Detectives wondered if they
could be dealing with a double suicide or a murder suicide. But this didn't explain the
precise way in which the bodies had been covered up. They considered a third, more
plausible theory. What they were dealing with was a double homicide. Police searched the area for
the woman's handbag or purse, but couldn't find one. A search of the dead man's pockets didn't turn up any drugs
or poisons, but it did reveal his wallet. Inside were several£5 notes, a driver's license, and personal papers,
all in the same name. Dr. Gilbert Bogle. The 39year-old lived in Tara, a suburb in Sydney's Upper Northshore,
approximately 10 km north of the crime scene. Detectives were sent to Gilbert's address, where they knocked at the door
of the attractive brick home. A woman holding a baby in her arms answered and introduced herself as
Vivian Bogle. She was soon joined by three more young children, the eldest of whom was just
11. The detectives handed Vivian Gilbert's wallet and explained where they had found it. Viven's eyes
immediately filled with tears. She'd been worried sick about her husband ever since he'd failed to return
home from a New Year's Eve party the previous evening. Viven told the detectives that Gilbert
worked as a physicist for the government-run Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization
known as the CSRO, where he'd been a muchloved member of the faculty for the past 7
years. A gifted physicist originally from New Zealand, Gilbert had completed a doctorate in philosophy at England's
Oxford University after being awarded with a highly coveted road scholarship. It was there that he met and married
Vivien before accepting the position of senior research officer in the CSRO's division of physics at the National
Standards Laboratory in Sydney. During Gilbert's time with the CSRO, his superiors were so impressed
with him that he was given an indefinite appointment with the organization, with
his chief deeming him to be the most brilliant member on staff. Gilbert was equally admired outside of
the workplace. Not only did he speak several languages, play the clarinet, and have
four great children, he was an extroverted character and a conversationalist who got along well
with everyone he met. Vivian Bogle told the detectives that at around 9:00 the night before, Gilbert
had left home to attend a party thrown by one of his colleagues, Ken Nash, and his wife,
Ruth. Vivien couldn't go to the party because their baby was sick, and she had to stay home and tend to the
children. She woke up at around 5:00 a.m. only to find that Gilbert still wasn't home.
When he still hadn't surfaced by 6:45, her worry grew. Viven called the Nash residents to
see if they could shed any light on her husband's whereabouts. Ruth Nash told Vivien not
to stress. She said the party had run into the early hours of the morning and Gilbert had only left a short while
earlier. With Vivien receiving the news that her husband had been found dead next to the
Lanc Cove River, her worst fears had come true. As she tried to get her head around the reality of it, the detectives
delivered the second blow, explaining that a deceased woman had also been found just a few meters from Gilbert's
body. Viven was stunned. She had no idea who the woman could be. Back at Lane Cove, detectives checked
the parking area near Fuller's Bridge, which was about 70 m from where the bodies were
found. There, they found an old Ford Prefect with its doors unlocked and its keys tucked into the driver side sun
visor. A check of the Ford's registration confirmed that the car belonged to Gilbert Bogle.
On the back seat was a leather case with a clarinet inside and strangely an abstract painting depicting what
appeared to be a two-headed woman surrounded by a severed foot and hand. The car didn't smell of gas or any
other unusual odor. There was nothing inside the car that could explain how the pair had
died, nor was there anything that could help identify the mystery woman. Detectives visited the home of the party
hosts Ken and Ruth Nash. The Nashes lived on Warar Street in Chhatzwood, which was about 5 km east
of Fuller's Bridge. They were stunned to hear that Gilbert Bogle had been found dead. Gilbert had been one of 22 guests
who had attended their annual New Year's Eve celebration the previous night, and
when they'd last seen him, he'd been in perfect health. The Nashes recalled that Gilbert had
arrived at around 9:30 p.m. with his clarinet in hand. He also brought with him a Picasso inspired drawing of an
abstract figure, the one that had been found in the back of his car. He had drawn this at Ken and Ruth's
request. To keep things interesting, they had asked their guests to bring some kind of abstract art project they
could display for the evening. Most guests let the Nashes keep their projects at the end of the night, but
Gilbert wanted to take his home. The detectives asked Ken and Ruth if there happened to be a dark-haired
woman at their party who wore a white rose patterned dress. The husband and wife exchanged a
look. Yes, they said there was a guest who fit that description. Her name was Margaret Chandler, but they
didn't know her very well. She was the 29-year-old wife of another CSRO employee, 32-year-old Jeffrey
Chandler. The Chandlers had been a late addition to the Nash's guest list, having been invited to the party just a
week before at Gilbert Bogle's request. They'd arrived at around 10:30 p.m. dressed in more casual attire than the
Nashes had requested on their invite and without any artwork to contribute. Ken and Ruth told the
detectives that Margaret Chandler had been reserved at the party, perhaps even a bit
shy. She mostly sat on the lounge sipping a drink. In contrast, Gilbert Bogle was
the life of the party as per usual. He mingled freely, dancing and sometimes speaking to other guests in Spanish and
Italian. The Nashes didn't particularly notice Gilbert paying Margaret any more attention than he did the other guests.
However, they did notice that the two left the party at around the same time, shortly after 4:00 a.m., and Margaret's
husband wasn't with them. With this revelation, the detectives started putting the pieces
together. They were familiar with the area of Lane Cove where the two bodies were found, as the parking lot near
Fuller's Bridge was a well-known lover's lane. Officers were routinely dispatched there
to keep an eye out for any peeping toms or anyone who might be illegally dumping
rubbish in the surrounding bushland. It stood to reason that Gilbert Bogle and Margaret Chandler
could have left the party together and stopped at Lane Cove to have some time alone. Given that they were both in a
state of undress, detectives considered whether they had willingly taken their clothes off to engage in consensual sex
when they both became gravely ill. The problem with this theory was that the area they were found in wasn't
exactly a picturesque or romantic spot. The polluted river gave off an unpleasant smell while rubbish was
strewn throughout the bush track and riverbed. If the pair had wanted some privacy, it seemed odd that they'd
walked 70 m from the parking lot to this undesirable location when they could have just stayed in the comfort of
Gilbert's car. It also didn't explain what had happened to them once they reached the
bush track. The Nashes said that neither Gilbert or Margaret had drunk much throughout the evening, and neither
seemed intoxicated or sick when they left the party. This meant that something had occurred
in the period of time when they left the party at around 4:00 a.m. and when Michael McCormack first walked past
Gilbert's body at 8:00 a.m. Forensic examiners estimated that Gilbert had died shortly after leaving
the party at around 5:00 a.m. with Margaret dying an hour or two later. Although it was also possible that she'd
died around the same time, but her body had been better preserved due to the way
it was covered up. A medical officer at the scene examined their bodies for stab marks,
bullet holes, strangulation, or any other signs of assault. He found nothing, further solidifying the theory
that the pair had been poisoned. And detectives suspected they knew who was responsible.
It was nearing 100 p.m. on New Year's Day when detectives arrived at a modest weatherboard home in the Sydney suburb
of Cuddon, located roughly 18 km south of Fuller's Bridge. A sign in the front yard read,
"Daxand Pups for sale." It was the home of Margaret and Jeffrey Chandler. The couple had bought the house several
years prior and were renovating it slowly while raising their 9-month-old and 2-year-old
sons. Margaret was a former nurse turned stay-at-home mom, while Jeffrey worked as an engineer at the
CSRO. He'd started with the company as a technical assistant, but had slowly risen the ranks while studying
diligently for his master's degree in engineering. His hard work paid off, and coupled with Margaret's smart budgeting,
they'd managed to pay off their mortgage in just 2 years. They lived simply, their only
indulgence being their shared love for vintage cars. The detectives knocked on the
door, and a slightly disheveled Jeffrey Chandler answered, having obviously just
woken up. In his arms was his grizzling baby son while his older son stood by his
side. The detectives asked to Jeffree if his wife was at home. He said she was not. They asked if he knew where she
was. Jeffrey responded no. He said the last time he'd seen Margaret was at around 4:00 that morning
when he'd left the Nash's New Year's Eve party. Jeffrey asked if there had been an
accident. The detectives told him no and asked if he would accompany them to the
police station. Jeffrey agreed, but didn't ask why, nor did the detectives offer him
any explanation. At the station, a detective presented Jeffrey with the afternoon
edition of the Daily Mirror newspaper. The front page headline read, "Scientist, woman in death
mystery." The article went on to explain that Gilbert Bogle and Margaret Chandler
had been found dead on the banks of Lanc River, the cause of their death unknown. Jeffrey Chandler showed no
reaction as he read the story. He took a cigarette from his shirt pocket and lit
it up in a stony silence. The detective asked to Jeffrey how he knew Gilbert Bogle. Jeffrey explained that they had
worked together at the CSRO for several years, but in different departments. He said they didn't know
each other well, but would say hello in passing. Jeffrey explained that Margaret had only
met Gilbert, or Gibb as he was known, 10 days earlier at a CSRO Christmas barbecue. Margaret had been looking
forward to the event. Having given birth only months earlier, she hadn't been out
much and was looking forward to some adult interaction. Gilbert Bogle attended the
barbecue alone as his wife was at home nursing their sick baby. He soon started chatting with Margaret
and the two immediately hit it off. After the barbecue, Ken and Ruth Nash invited some of the guests back to
their place for drinks. There, Gilbert suggested that the Nashes invite the Chandlers to their
upcoming New Year's Eve party, and they obliged. Jeffrey wasn't particularly excited about the invite, but he could
tell that Margaret was. In the days following the barbecue, she seemed to have a renewed
spark. Margaret told Jeffrey that Gilbert Bogle had been the most interesting person there. She admitted
she felt quite attracted to him and that she found the prospect of sleeping with
him alluring. Jeffrey told her, "If you want to take a Gibb as a lover, if it would make you happy, you
do it. [Music] Jeffrey explained to the incredulous detectives that while he and Margaret
had a happy marriage, they had an arrangement in which they were both free to pursue intimate relations with other
people. He said they had attended the Nash's New Year's party with the understanding that Margaret was free to
take a Gilbert Bogle home at the end of the night if she so desired. Jeffrey had even agreed to stay
elsewhere and take care of the children so that the two could have some privacy. Jeffrey told the detectives
that on New Year's Eve, he and Margaret had dropped their two sons at Margaret's
parents house before arriving at the Nash's party at around 1000 p.m. Jeffrey could tell straight away
that the party was not his scene. He felt inadequately dressed in his shirt, sleeves, and sandals while all the other
men were in suits. He was also the only one there with a beard. Overall, the party was quieter
and more formal than what Jeffree was used to, and although it was pleasant enough, he found it quite pretentious
and wasn't eager to stick around. However, he'd made a promise to Margaret, and he intended to keep it.
Jeffrey told the detectives that at around 11:30 p.m. he slipped out of the party to go and buy cigarettes without
telling Margaret or anyone else that he was leaving. As he drove along looking for a
shop that was still open, he got further and further away from the Nash's house until he decided he might as well stop
in at another party he'd been invited to. This one was at the Balain home of Ken Buckley. a friend who worked as an
economic history lecturer at the University of Sydney. Ken Buckley's party was much
more to Jeffrey's tastes. There were about 100 guests and it was a more laidback and casual
affair. He also had an extra incentive to pop by. His girlfriend was going to be there.
Jeffrey Chandler told the detectives that he'd been romantically involved with a 21-year-old woman named Pamela
Logan for about five or 6 months. Pamela worked as a secretary at the University of Sydney, where the CSRO
building was located, and the two had met through mutual acquaintances. Jeffrey told the detectives that he'd
been at the Balain party for about an hour when they decided to go back to Pamela's place, which was about 6 km
away in the suburb of Darlington. Jeffree agreed to drive his car with Pamela following behind in her
own. She'd only recently gotten her driver's license and still had trouble navigating the streets on her
own. By the time they got to Pamela's house, she wasn't feeling very well, so Jeffree made her a cup of coffee and
left at around 2:00 a.m. He drove back to Chatzwood and slipped back into the Nash's party, where nobody seemed to
have taken much notice of his absence. Jeffree said he apologized to Margaret for being gone for so long, but
she didn't appear to be phased at all. A supper of chicken, ham, sausage, cheese, and vegetables was then
served. Afterwards, Jeffrey asked Margaret if she still had the same opinion of Gilbert Bogle as she did
before. She said that she did, and that Gilbert had offered to drive her home if
Jeffrey hadn't returned. A little while later, shortly before 4:00 a.m., Jeffree saw Margaret
and Gilbert chatting together on the couch. He went over and told them he was ready to leave. When Margaret made no
move to join him, Jeffrey asked Gilbert if he could take her home. Gilbert looked at him quizzingly
as though he was trying to make sure he interpreted the question correctly. After a pause, he
responded, "All right." Jeffrey told the detectives he then left without saying goodbye to
anyone else. He felt a bit embarrassed to be leaving by himself and didn't want to draw any attention to this
fact. Jeffree sat in his car and lit a cigarette, waiting a few minutes just in case Margaret changed her
mind. When she didn't come out, he drove off. Jeffrey claimed that he drove straight
back to Pamela Logan's house via the Sydney Harbor Bridge. He got to Pamela's house at around 4:30 a.m., woke her up,
and asked if she'd go with him to pick up his children. Pamela seemed slightly annoyed
by this request, but she agreed. The two then drove to Margaret's parents house, where Jeffree dropped
Pamela to wait around the corner. Jeffrey retrieved his kids, picked Pamela up, and took them all back to
Pamela's house in Darlington. They stayed there for a couple of hours before returning to the
Chandela's home in Cuddon. Jeffree said he was surprised to find that Margaret wasn't home, but he
assumed she must have gone out for a drive with Gilbert Bogle and would be back soon.
He went to sleep with the boys and the next thing he knew, the detectives were knocking at his
door. The detectives weren't buying Jeffrey's story at all. They found it difficult to believe that a happily
married couple could have such an arrangement. It seemed much more believable that Jeffree could have
sensed a mutual attraction between Margaret and Gilbert and killed them in a jealous rage.
Either that or he wanted Margaret out of the picture so he could freely pursue the relationship with his younger
girlfriend and Gilbert Bogle was just collateral damage. Perhaps Jeffrey had discreetly slipped
something into the pair's food or drink before they left the party together, and
the effects had only taken their toll once the two were canoodling by the riverside. Just before 4:30 p.m. on New
Year's Day, detectives visited Pamela Logan's house in Darlington. They asked her if she had
spent time with the Jeffrey Chandler the previous evening. "Yes," Pamela replied.
Why do you want to know? Pamela told the detectives the exact same story as Jeffrey. She also said that when he'd
returned to her house at around 4:30 a.m., he mentioned that he'd arranged for another man to take his wife
home. Pamela lived in a share house and one of her housemates had also been at the Bowain party the night before.
This housemate confirmed that Jeffrey Chandler had been at the party and brought the children over in the
morning. They'd all eaten breakfast together before the Chandelers had left at around 10:00
a.m. With Pamela backing Jeffrey's alibi to the tea, the detectives were left scratching their heads.
They visited Margaret's parents, who confirmed that Jeffree had arrived at their house at around 5:00 a.m. to pick
up their children. This was the same time that Gilbert Bogle was thought to have
died. Although this meant Jeffrey couldn't have been present when Gilbert and Margaret became fatally ill, it
didn't rule out the possibility that he'd managed to poison them before they left the Nash's party.
[Music] Given that the Chandelus house had been empty at the time, it made detectives
even more curious about why Margaret and Gilbert had ended up in the spot that they
had. Perhaps they were driving back to the Chandler's home when they were overcome with
illness. Gilbert might have urgently parked his car and the two had run into the bush to be sick in private.
Then again, if they were so violently ill, why go 70 m into the bush when there were plenty of other spots closer
by? The news that Margaret had been found to dead left her parents utterly devastated. Margaret was one of four
children in their close-knit family, and as the only girl, she was particularly beloved.
But equally crushing to them was Jeffrey's claim that he and Margaret had an open
marriage. While they'd always had a good relationship with Jeffrey, the thought that he had been liazing with other
women while encouraging Margaret to pursue relations with other men left them flabbergasted. They couldn't imagine
Margaret would ever agree to such an arrangement. Back at the police station, Jeffrey
Chandler explained to the detectives that he and Margaret had made the mutual decision not to regulate their marriage
according to the rules of suburbia. He said that neither of them were jealous, possessive, or demanding
in nature, and they recognized each other's rights as individuals. According to Jeffrey, the
fact that they were married and intended to stay married did not eliminate their
interest in other people. While he didn't think Margaret knew about his relationship with Pamela
Logan specifically, she knew he was involved with other women. He also made it clear that he
never intended to pursue a future with Pamela and she expected nothing of him. But the detectives were skeptical of
Jeffrey's claims, believing there was every chance he was using this as an excuse for his own bad
behavior. If the police didn't believe him, Jeffrey said they could ask his friend, Bill Bry, as he'd had a brief
affair with Margaret in the past. Bill backed up Jeffrey's claims completely. He said he'd slept with Margaret a few
times about 4 years prior, and that Jeffrey had been fully aware, even making jokes about
it. Bill claimed that Jeffrey Chantler was an easygoing and placid fellow, and definitely not the jealous
type. The affair only came to an end when Bill started dating his future wife. The police interrogated Jeffrey Chandler
for close to 13 hours, but he never veered from his original story and there was no evidence to tie him to the scene
at Lane Cove. Eventually, he was free to go. But the next morning, he was summoned to the
city morg to identify Margaret's body. Police hoped that this might prompt a reaction or perhaps even elicit
a confession. Several detectives gathered around the room, their eyes on Jeffrey as the
coroner lifted back the sheet to reveal Margaret's body. "She's a bit disheveled, isn't
she?" Jeffrey remarked. "He made no other show of emotion." Meanwhile, forensic investigators
searched the home of Ken and Ruth Nash for any evidence that Margaret Chandler and Gilbert Bogle could have been
poisoned before they left the party. If Jeffrey Chandler wasn't responsible, maybe one of the other partygoers was,
or maybe their deaths hadn't been intentional at all, but the result of contaminated food or drink, or a
practical joke gone horribly wrong. Officers confiscated all of the leftover food scraps and drinks that had been
served and were surprised to discover that very little alcohol had been consumed. Between the 24 people present,
only four bottles of spirits and 16 bottles of beer had been drunk throughout the entire evening.
Testing revealed no traces of poison or food born bacteria in any of the consumables served at the
party. Officers also seized a collection of medicines and household chemicals taken during a search of Jeffrey
Chandler's home as well as the home of Pamela Logan. They also confiscated the clothes
that Jeffree had worn to the party and swabbed the insides of his pockets for any poison
residue. Without knowing exactly what had killed Margaret Chandler and Gilbert Bogle, police weren't sure what to do
next. Because their bodies were discovered on a public holiday, detectives had to wait 36 hours for
their autopsies to be conducted. The carpet square that had been draped over Gilbert's body was
determined to have come from the boot of his car, indicating he'd taken it with him so they'd have a comfortable place
to lay down. Microscopic examination revealed that the pair hadn't had full sexual
intercourse, but fresh semen was detected on Gilbert's jacket and genitals, confirming that some form of
sexual activity had taken place. This meant that whatever had happened, the pair had been healthy and
well when they arrived at the riverbed, seeking privacy. The fact that they'd been unable to put
their clothes back on indicated that something had struck them down rapidly and without
warning. Initial toxicology testing showed no alcohol in either of their systems.
Tissue samples were taken from various organs and then tested against numerous readily available poisons including
stricknine, cyanide, arsenic, and other household chemicals, agricultural products, and prescription medications
such as barbiterates and sleeping pills. But to the great shock of everyone involved, none of the tissue
samples showed any traces of poison. While this didn't rule out the possibility that Margaret and Gilbert
had been poisoned, it just meant the toxicologists had to dig deeper. Whatever had killed the pair, it
wasn't an ordinary run-of-the-mill drug or toxin. Investigators considered whether
it was something that only a highly educated professional in the medical or scientific field would have knowledge of
or access to. someone such as a CSRO employee. Police searched the Chandler's home again and found a receipt in one of
Margaret's handbags for H Highrex. It had been issued by Windswept Kennels on Saturday, December 29,
1962, just 3 days before she died. Detectives visited the business owner, a well-known Daxund breeder named Sheridan
Py. Sheridan confirmed that she'd had multiple dealings with the Chandlers in the past, as Margaret was a dog lover
who had dottingly raised several Daxons. She viewed the Chandlers as a normal family and described Jeffrey as a
gentle man. The Chantler's dog had recently had puppies, and Sheridan confirmed that
Margaret had brought the litter over for her to have a look at. She remembered the visit well
because Margaret hadn't quite been her usual self. While she usually took pride in
her appearance, on this visit, she seemed a little unckempt. It also seemed like something
was worrying her. The two women started chatting and Margaret mentioned that she'd had an
argument with her husband, but Sheridan made a joke which had lightened the mood. Sheridan confirmed that she'd
given Margaret some Hyerex pills which were used to treat tapeworm in dogs. They were brand new to the market
and Sheridan had warned Margaret to keep them away from her children as they were
not safe for human consumption. However, Sheridan said she only gave Margaret four of the pills and this
wouldn't have been enough to kill a person. Regardless, as far as the detectives were concerned, this was
their first solid lead. They considered whether Jeffrey Chandler could have used the Herex to
spike Margaret and Gilbert's drinks to prevent them from being physical with one another.
Maybe he'd given them too much without realizing their potency, and this plan had fatally
backfired. Police returned to the Chandler's house to search for the Hydrax pills, but couldn't find them
anywhere, and Jeffrey claimed he knew nothing about them. Investigators remained convinced
that Margaret and Gilbert had both been poisoned by the same thing. They just had to figure out
what. They interviewed the other guests who had attended the New Year's Eve party at the Nash
residence. None of them had fallen even remotely ill, even though one guest had eaten food directly off of Gilbert's
plate. No one recalled anything unusual about Gilbert or Margaret's behavior towards the end of the night, either.
One guest had given Gilbert a handshake goodbye and noted that he'd been in good
spirits and appeared perfectly sober and healthy. However, the detectives were slightly dubious about one
guest. 39year-old Joan Gordon, not her real name, worked as a research scientist at the CSRO.
She had left the party at the same time as Gilbert, making her one of the last people to have seen him
alive. Joan described Gilbert as a kind man. She said the two occasionally ran into each other at work or at the tennis
club, and he always made a point of being nice to her and giving her compliments. He'd even kissed her at the
Nash's party when the clock struck midnight. The significance for police was that
Joan Gordon was the only single woman who attended the New Year's Eve party. She also suffered from a chronic skin
condition which resulted in an apparent lack of self-esteem. Police theorized that Joan
could have been infatuated with Gilbert Bogle and was overcome with the jealousy
when she saw him leave the party with another woman. As a scientist, she certainly knew a
thing or two about poisons and she could have followed Gilbert and Margaret to Lane Cove and killed them
both. Joan told detectives that she drove straight home after the party, but given that she lived alone, there was no
one to verify her alibi. Police remained suspicious of Joan, but it didn't seem likely that she would
have been driving around in possession of some kind of undetectable poison. Secondly, even if she did have
the poison and had followed Gilbert and Margaret down to the river, how would she have managed to administer
it? While everyone detectives spoke to painted Gilbert Bogle as a loyal family man, several women came forward to
report otherwise. At least two married women reported that Gilbert had asked them out or made moves
on them in the past, while another claimed she'd been having an affair with Gilbert for the past 3
years. Margaret Fowler was a married librarian who worked at the CSRO's scientific library.
She claimed that she'd begun a physical relationship with Gilbert in 1959, and the two would occasionally have sex at
work or at a private location in a public park. During these encounters, he'd always keep his shirt, shoes, and socks
on and remove only his pants, and underwear, just like he'd done at Lane Cove on New Year's Day.
Margaret Fowler quickly found herself falling in love with Gilbert, even though he treated her poorly and made it
clear the relationship was purely sexual. She once threatened to take her own life after he rejected her.
Eventually, Margaret's husband, Robert Fowler, who was a colleague of Gilbert, agreed that his wife was free to have
sex outside of their marriage as long as it didn't happen under their roof. She went against her husband's wishes
and one night, Robert came home to find Gilbert jumping over the balcony with his shoes in
hand. From the stories Margaret Fowler told, it was clear to the detectives that she was infatuated with Gilbert
Bogle, possibly to the point of delusion. But it also proved that Gilbert was no stranger to taking women
to public parks for sexual encounters. Bizarrely enough, it also turned out that Margaret Fowler had shared the
occasional kiss with the Jeffrey Chandler. Jeffrey told detectives that at the CSRO Christmas barbecue where his
wife had met Gilbert for the first time, Margaret Fowler had been in an emotional
state. She told him that she'd been having an affair with Gilbert and he'd recently called it off.
Detectives wondered whether Margaret Fowler could have been motivated to murder Gilbert and his new romantic
interest under the mindset that if she couldn't have him, then no one could. Alternatively, maybe her jealous
husband Robert wanted Gilbert out of the picture for good. The couple's whereabouts on New
Year's Eve were looked into. It turned out they'd attended a party in Tara Mara, 12 km north of the Nash's
party in Chhatzwood, where they'd stayed until 4:00 a.m. before walking the short
distance home. There was no way either of them could have ran into Gilbert Bogle and
Margaret Chandler in those early morning hours. The case immediately became a media
sensation with the local tabloids publishing story after story to keep feeding the intense public
interest. Sydney siders were left scandalized by the lura details about open marriages, late night affairs, and
suspected murder plots. Even more so when it was revealed that Jeffrey Chandler was a member of a libertarian
subculture known as the Sydney Push. Unofficially formed in the 1940s, the Push was the name given to an
amorphous group who had a shared interest in the anti- athoritarian movement and left-wing politics.
Members of the push consisted of university students, academics, musicians, artists, journalists, and
public servants. While there was no formal shape or goal for the push, members would typically attend meetings before
frequenting one of several pubs around Sydney, with many of those pub visits eventually turning into late night
parties. Although members of the push were mostly well educated and had good jobs, many
outsiders viewed them as beatnicks who lived outside the rules of conventional society. They had a reputation for
believing in free love and being heavy drinkers. And Jeffrey Chandler's association with the group made the
story of his wife's death all the more titillating for conservative members of the public.
It didn't help that publicly, Jeffrey appeared to show little emotion or respect for his dead
wife. Margaret's brother told the police that just 2 days after Margaret died, Jeffrey had introduced him to Pamela
Logan and described her as his girlfriend. In addition to the rampant speculation
that the pair had been murdered by a jealous lover or spouse, wild theories also started surfacing about Gilbert
Bogle's possible involvement in top secret information. A man of great intelligence, he'd recently been offered
a fellowship position working at the Bell Telephone Company in the United States. And before he died, his family
had intended to move there in just a few weeks time. The possibility was raised that Gilbert
could have been working as a spy or had been the target of espionage related nerve gas or even a death
ray. It was the height of the Cold War and public concern about nuclear bombs was at its
peak. Investigators considered these theories but found nothing to support any of them.
They even looked into the possibility that Jeffrey Chandler could have been involved in military research and had
been given access to a laboratory in which chemical and biological warfare was being looked
into. At the time, Sydney's two major afternoon tabloids, The Sun and The Daily Mirror, were in the midst of a
vicious war to take out the number one spot. Reporters from both publications pulled
out all the stops to be the first to break any developments in what was coming to be known as the Bogle Chandler
case. Reporters lurked around the Chandler's home as well as the CSRO building, desperate for any new detail
they could turn into a story. The public interest in Jeffrey Chandler was so intense that he began
moving between the homes of friends and acquaintances to avoid the media onslaught.
Gilbert Bogle's wife, Vivien, promptly packed up her four children and returned to her homeland of New Zealand, refusing
to believe that her husband was anything but the faithful family man she knew him
to be. The advantage of the public interest was that people were eager to come forward with any information that could
help with the case. Various witnesses made statements confirming they had seen Jeffrey
Chandler's distinctive 1924 model vintage Vauhall driving west from the suburb of Burwood sometime between 4:45
a.m. and 5:00 a.m. roughly 20 km from Lane Cove. These statements further supported
Jeffrey's version of events, proving he was nowhere near Fuller's Bridge at the time that Margaret and Gilbert died.
But for investigators, this just left the question. If Jeffrey didn't kill them, then who
did? When the tabloids started reporting on the H Higherex tablets that Margaret
Chandler had purchased in the days before her death, members of the public began speculating that she could have
brought them with her to the party where she and Gilbert Bogle took them together
in some kind of suicide pact. Maybe the reason her handbag hadn't been found at the scene was
because she ditched it to get rid of the evidence. But testing of Margaret and Gilbert's
tissue samples came back negative for any sign of the drug in either of their systems. Jeffrey Chandler clarified that
the reason police couldn't find Margaret's handbag was because she hadn't been carrying one at all on the
night that she died. She'd left it at her parents' house at the last minute after deciding
that it clashed with her outfit. Whatever poison had killed the pair, it hadn't been in Margaret's
possession. Loved ones of the deceased insisted there was no way either of them would have taken their own
lives. Gilbert was a happy, popular, and welladjusted man who had great career satisfaction and loved his wife and
children. Not only was he looking forward to his upcoming move to America to work with
the Bell Telephone Company, but before offering Gilbert the position, Belle had conducted a thorough background check
into his personal life. They found nothing to suggest he was in any way suicidal, depressed, or
mentally [Music] ill. Similarly, Margaret's medical history revealed no such concerns.
Although some of Margaret's loved ones had noticed a change in her personality and appearance since giving birth to her
second child, they were adamant she would never voluntarily leave her two sons without a mother.
Jeffrey admitted he'd been neglecting Margaret's needs and that their otherwise happy marriage had been at a
lull, but he said her encounter and potential leazison with Gilbert Bogle had seemingly reinvigorated
her. On Friday, January 11, 10 days after Gilbert and Margaret's bodies were found, a team of police divers returned
to Lane Cove for a second attempt at searching the river for clues. Dawning special equipment, they launched
themselves into the murky water, but it was still too dark to see anything. They used their hands to crawl
along the muddy river floor, feeling for a syringe, bottle, anything that could account for the two mysterious
deaths. Nothing was found. [Music] While police weren't prepared to rule any theory out, the fact that Gilbert
and Margaret barely knew each other made the idea of a suicide pact highly unlikely. Given that neither showed any
signs of wanting to end their own lives and had zero history of violence, it seemed equally improbable that one would
have killed the other before killing themselves. Yet, the fact that both of their bodies
had been so carefully covered up sparked debate about who could have done such a
thing. Some investigators thought that if the pair was murdered, a killer would have dragged their bodies a few meters
off the track instead of leaving them out in the open. The precise way in which Gilbert's
clothes were placed over his body ruled out the possibility that he'd covered himself up.
However, Margaret was a trained nurse, and some wondered whether she could have covered Gilbert's body to keep him warm
before stumbling to the riverbed where she pulled the broken beer cartons over herself. Others thought this made no
sense. If Margaret wanted to cover herself, wouldn't she have pulled her rumpled dress back on instead of using
dirty, weathered pieces of cardboard? After considering all possible scenarios, investigators
unequivocally agreed that a third person had been involved. Not necessarily as a
perpetrator, but at the very least, someone else had been present at the scene and had covered the bodies up,
perhaps to preserve their dignity. Detectives asked anyone who had been at Lane Cove on New Year's morning
to come forward. One man who identified himself only as Mr. Roberts called to say he'd seen Dr.
Bogle's Ford Prefect parked near Fuller's Bridge at around 4:30 a.m. with a woman
inside. He hung up the call before providing any further information and the call couldn't be traced.
4 days later, the same man called back after his car, a Ford Escort, had been identified as being in the area at the
time in question. This time, he identified himself as Kenneth Shalley. Shalley provided an in-person
statement in which he said that he'd arrived at the Lancove River around 4:00 a.m. on January 1.
He claimed he often went there to look for plants for his garden, but under pressure from the police, he cracked and
admitted he was really there to spy on couples having sex. Shelley said that at around 4:30
a.m., he'd been walking along Lady Game Drive, which runs parallel to the river,
when a Ford Prefect matching the description of Gilbert Bogle's car passed him and stopped halfway off the
road. A man and woman were in the front seat. Shelley locked eyes with the man who he later identified as Gilbert Bogle
and noted that he looked very pale. He also got the impression that Gilbert was about to say something to
him but then stopped. Shalley kept walking and when he returned half an hour later, the
prefect was gone. He continued on and found it was now parked near Fuller's Bridge with no one
inside. Shalley got into his car and drove along the dirt track where Gilbert's body was later
found. He didn't see Gilbert or Margaret, but he did claim to see a tall, well-built man with long blonde
hair who jumped out of the bushes and then disappeared down the riverbank. Kenneth Shelley vehemently denied being
the one who covered up the two bodies. Although investigators found him to be a suspicious character, they
thought he was likely telling the truth. Shalley only had one arm, and it seemed highly improbable that he could
have placed the clothes so precisely over Gilbert Burgle's body in the way they were.
Weeks passed and the mysterious case remained in the headlines as the tabloids continued to discuss various
theories. Despite the ongoing speculation, there still hadn't been any breakthroughs in the
investigation. By the third week, the police put out another call for anyone who had been near Fuller's Bridge in the
early morning hours of January 1 to come forward. One tipster reported having seen a green
and white Ford sedan parked in the area. After this detail was broadcasted by the
media, the owner of the car presented himself as Eddie Batiste. Eddie was a Greyhound trainer
who claimed he'd passed over Fuller's Bridge just after 4:30 a.m. on New Year's Day.
He said he'd driven along the upper bush track of the Lanc Cove River where he parked his car and then took his dogs
for a walk to the golf course. Eddie claimed he never went on the lower bush track where Gilbert Bogle
and Margaret Chandler's bodies were found. He recalled seeing a Ford Prefect parked near Fuller's Bridge, but claimed
he didn't see either of its occupants. Detectives were a little suspicious of Eddie. If he had nothing to hide, they
wondered why it took him 3 weeks to come forward. They considered whether Eddie's
greyhounds had actually sniffed out the two bodies, and Eddie had felt compelled
to cover them up to protect their modesty. Inquiries with those who knew Eddie revealed that he was known to be a bit
of a prude, while his son also claimed that Eddie had arrived home on New Year's morning in an agitated
state. But Eddie firmly denied having ever seen the two bodies, and police had no evidence to prove otherwise.
Like everything else in the case, his potential presence at the scene became yet another unfounded
supposition. By the end of the investigation's first month, toxicologists had conducted tests on all
the standard poisons available in Australia, checking everything from aphrodesiacs to weed killers to carbon
dioxide and eliminated each one. They moved on to the rarer poisons, enlisting help from international police
forces such as Interpol and Scotland Yard. It was speculated that the pair could have been bitten by a venomous
creature such as a funnel web spider. Every possibility was seriously considered, but eventually in mid-March,
the families were given the go-ahad to proceed with funerals for their loved ones.
Gilbert was buried in a northern Sydney cemetery while Margaret was cremated 2 days
later. By late April, 4 months had passed, and rigorous testing of Margaret and Gilbert's organs, tissue, and blood
samples, as well as swabs of their skin, and clothing, had revealed nothing to indicate the presence of any poisonous
substance. Investigators had interviewed over 200 people, and still no answers had come to
light. The only thing left to do was hold an official coronial inquest. In May 1963, the inquest
commenced in what was then known as Sydney's Central Court of Petty Sessions. Curious members of the public lined up
outside the courthouse, hoping to get one of the 50 seats available in the public gallery so they could catch a
real life glimpse of the people who had filled their newspapers for the past 4 months. Over the next 3 weeks, the court
heard from close to 50 witnesses, including Jeffrey Chandler, Pamela Logan, Ken and Ruth Nash, and an array
of investigators and analysts who had been involved with various aspects of the case. The collective hope was that a
seemingly insignificant fact would be dropped that would solve the mystery of how Gilbert and Margaret had died once
and for all. Witnesses appeared in chronological order, starting with the New Year's Eve
party, before moving on to the discovery of the bodies, the official police investigation, the toxicology testing,
and so on. 63 exhibits were tended and dissected. Witnesses were cross-examined and carefully probed, and any criticisms
were openly debated. Tensions were high at the end of the month as the coroner, Jack Looms,
presented his findings. Looms declared, quote, "Every person I felt could give any information
as to the deaths of these unfortunate persons has been summoned to appear. A mass of evidence in addition
to the scientific and medical evidence has been presented. One would like to think that no stone
has been left unturned. Despite all this, the coroner said he was no closer to ascertaining
the manner and cause of Gilbert and Margaret's deaths than he was before the inquest
started. Forensic pathologists still couldn't even determine exactly how the pair had died.
All Looms could say for sure was that the two had suffered from acute cardiac failure associated with anoxia and
pulmonary edema. In other words, their hearts had stopped beating and they'd stopped
breathing, but it couldn't be determined why or even in what order those two things happened.
Coroner Looms clarified that it wasn't his role to theorize or provide an opinion unless it could be supported by
evidence, nor was it a court of morals. He commended the investigative efforts, stating, quote, "Everything
humanly possible has been done. There is one thing, however, I feel I can say with absolute certainty, and that is
that each of these unfortunate persons died an unnatural death. But as to the manner or cause, I am unable to
[Music] say. The lack of answers brought by the inquest left everyone who had been
following the case in a state of shock and only added to the public's speculation and growing fears that a
murderer could be on the loose. A press conference was called in which the police commissioner reassured
the public that the investigation was ongoing and that a new team of detectives would take over to review the
case with fresh eyes. One week later, a letter arrived at the police station from a Brisbane-based
zoologologist who introduced a new theory. Dr. Robert End worked in a lab that specialized in conis geographers, a
highly venomous species of predatory cone snail. After reading about the Bogle Chandler case, Dr. Andine believed the
pair showed symptoms that were akin to being poisoned by Konis geographers and he suggested that someone with this
knowledge could have used the species as an unsuspecting murder weapon. Police looked into Dr. Endane's
theory and discovered something unexpected. His research assistant was a young woman named Claraara Bry.
Despite living in Queensland, Claraara had a surprising connection to Jeffrey and Margaret
Chandler. She was married to Bilberry, the friend of Jeff, who Margaret had once had an affair
with. She was also an expert on Konis geographers Venom. Detectives flew to Queensland to
interview Claraara Bry. She said that despite their toxicity, she didn't believe it was possible to
kill someone with a cone shell. Doing so would require the venom to be stabilized, extracted, and then
injected. It wouldn't be toxic if it was mixed into a drink or eaten. But for the investigative team,
suspicions were officially aroused. Even more so after they contacted the airlines and discovered that a passenger
by the name of G. Chandler had flown from Sydney to Brisbane just weeks before New Year's Day
1963. Samples of the toxin were taken back to Sydney to test against Margaret and Gilbert's tissue
samples. It was a suspenseful 10-day wait before the results of the toxicology test were
delivered. There was no match. While the case remained in the headlines and various scientists, medical
professionals, and concerned members of the public continued to come forward with their own theories and suggestions
about what could have killed the pair. Nothing of note was uncovered. In the years that followed, detectives
continued to seriously consider every possibility. But eventually, the chief toxicologist ran out of viable tissue
samples to test against, and the case ran cold. Conspiracy theories continued to
thrive over the following two decades, with the case becoming somewhat of an urban legend, but the truth of the
matter remained unknown. Then in the late 1980s came a potential breakthrough. At the time of Gilbert
Bogle and Margaret Chandler's deaths in 1963, there had been some whispers that the two could have been experimenting
with the psychedelic drug lysurgic acid dialomide, more commonly known as LSD, and accidentally overdosed.
Some thought they could have taken the drug willingly or that someone could have slipped it into their
drinks. Some tabloids even incorrectly claimed that several guests at the Nash's New Year's party had been
frequent users of LSD when in reality the party had been a relatively sober event.
The possibility that Margaret and Gilbert could have overdosed on LSD was never given much weight due to the fact
that LSD had never caused any known overdoses. While people had died using the drug, this was typically due to
misadventure, such as jumping from heights while under its influence, not as a direct result of the drug itself.
Furthermore, LSD wasn't even considered an illegal substance at the time. It was mostly used for scientific
and medical research rather than as a recreational drug, and it wasn't readily available.
Gilbert Bogle's lab at the CSRO had been searched following unfounded speculation
that he could have been manufacturing the drug himself, but nothing used in the production of LSD was found and
toxicology tests revealed no trace of LSD in either of the deceased systems. Then in 1987, an inmate at a British
prison asked his girlfriend to sneak a capsule of LSD in and transfer it to his mouth via a
kiss. She granted his request, but the man accidentally swallowed the capsule, which was estimated to be around 400
times the usual dosage. He subsequently died, making him the first person on record to have taken
a lethal overdose of LSD. A scientist who examined the man realized he'd read about similar
symptoms before in the Bogle Chandler case and he suspected they could have fallen victim to a similar
overdose. He believed that the reason toxicology testing returned a negative result was that the proper testing
techniques were not available at the time. LSD is a synthetic drug and when extracted from the body and exposed to
sunlight, it decomposes before it can be identified in any physical test. Instead, testing needs to be done
in a dark room, a fact that the pathologists who conducted the autopsies on Gilbert and Margaret hadn't been
aware of. In 1989, an article in the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper by award-winning journalist Philip Nightly
sensationally claimed, quote, "New scientific evidence has broken one of Australia's most baffling
homicides. Today, the cause of death can be confidently established. The couple overdosed on LSD."
The article reported that the New South Wales Health Department's Division of Forensic Medicine agreed that an LSD
overdose was the likely cause of the pair's deaths. Nightly wrote that Gilbert Bogle
and his colleagues had been creating the drug at the CSRO labs and their deaths had been part of a government cover up
to conceal this fact. He stated that the CSRO staff had been using LSD as quote a party drug for
sexual debauchery in which wife swapping was not unusual and that Gilbert had brought a supply of the drug to the New
Year's Eve party. He and Margaret took it to heighten their sexual awareness without
knowing the safe amount for consumption and subsequently overdosed and died. In reality, there was nothing to
substantiate this theory. Colleagues of Gilberts fiercely denied that he would have had any access
to or interest in LSD, while Jeffrey Chantler said he didn't even know about LSD at the time, and Margaret wouldn't
have been interested in such a thing. But the theory persisted and in 1996 a renowned American forensic toxicologist
claimed he had advanced equipment that could detect if LSD was present in Gilbert and Margaret
systems. Relic tissue samples were sent to the United States where they were subject to new forensic
techniques. A first test indicated the presence of LSD. Sydney newspapers were quick to declare
that the mystery had finally been solved once and for all. Yet, a second, more sensitive test was conducted, and this
one came up negative. It was yet another in a long series of red herrings. In 2004, Australian filmmaker Peter Butt
began looking into the Bogle Chandler case for a possible documentary. Having followed the case
for 20 years and already read everything that was publicly available, Peter wrote
to the New South Wales Police requesting access to the full case files. While he waited for a reply,
something occurred to him that had never crossed his mind before. As a school boy, Peter remembered
learning that mangroves produce gases, including the potentially toxic hydrogen sulfide. Low concentrations of hydrogen
sulfide are detectable by the human nose thanks to its offensive stench of rotten
eggs. But as concentrations increase, the gas overcomes the alactory receptors in the nose that are responsible for
picking up odors and it can no longer be detected. At low levels, the gas is harmless. But as concentrations
increase, it can be as deadly as hydrogen cyanide. Once hydrogen sulfide reaches a level of
300 parts per million, it can cause fluid to build up in a person's lungs, leading to dizziness, clumsiness, and
diarrhea. At 700 parts per million, it paralyzes the respiratory center, causing rapid unconsciousness, and
death. Over 800 parts per million, and all it takes is one or two breaths for a person to die instantly.
Peter But recalled that hydrogen sulfide is heavier than air and will linger in open spaces close to the ground if the
air is cool and still, just like it was in the early morning hours of New Year's
Day, 1963. Although it had been the peak of summer, the week following Christmas Day had
been the coldest on record for this time of year, and mornings around Lanc Cove had been dank and
misty. His curiosity aroused, Peter visited the site at Lanc River where Gilbert Bogle and Margaret Chandler had
died and saw that mangroves lined the waterway, their aerial roots sticking out of the mud in a way Peter likened to
dead man's fingers. It occurred to him that the answer to this 41-year mystery could
have been sitting in front of everyone's face this entire time. Peter But began researching the river's
history and discovered that the once thriving waterway began to lose favor with visitors around the late 1930s due
to its increasingly polluted state. Growing industrialization and the construction of a sewer line along the
river had proved to be environmental hazards with increasing sediment prompting the spread of mangrove swamps.
Green weeds thrived in the waterway with fish and eels dying by the truckload. By 1939, local residents
started complaining that the river smelt like rotten eggs, particularly in the early morning
hours. Similar complaints cropped up year after year until 1947 when residents started reporting that the
stench was impacting their health. Not only was it causing vomiting and breathing difficulties, but some
residents noted that it was causing the paint on their homes to peel off. Health inspectors from the Lane
Cove Council investigated the matter at the time, but couldn't find the cause of
the problem. They assumed it was likely a combination of rotting algae and industrial waste.
A marine scientist was tasked with investigating the matter further. He collected samples over
several months and determined the odor was actually hydrogen sulfide. A 5 km stretch of the riverbed
from Fuller's bridge to the rivermouth was saturated with it. It wasn't just a result of the
mangroves, but chemical action in the water caused by decaying marine life and increasing industrial pollution from the
factories that disposed of their waste fluid directly into the river. The hydrogen sulfide levels were
at their highest about 400 m from the Lancove Weir, right near where Gilbert Bogle and Margaret Chandler had died.
The New South Wales police refused Peterbart access to the case file on the basis that the case was still open. But
when he explained his theory that the two could have been poisoned by hydrogen sulfide, they agreed to make a rare
exception. As Peter looked through all the scientific and forensic evidence, he was
shocked to discover that several gases had been considered and tested by toxicologists in the Bogle Chandler
case, but not hydrogen sulfide. The gas was only mentioned once during a 1971 review of the case when it was
ruled out based on various factors, including that there was no obvious source of the gas and that even if there
were, it wouldn't kill two people in an open environment. Peter But began reaching
out to various experts, including Dr. Thomas Milby, an American forensic toxicologist specializing in poisonous
gases who had served on the World Health Organization's hydrogen sulfide committee. Dr. Milby had investigated
over a 100 cases involving hydrogen sulfide poisoning and was well aware that the gas was capable of killing
people out in the open if the environmental conditions were right. He was so intrigued by Peter's theory
that he flew to Sydney to see the Lancave death scene for himself. Environmental awareness had led
to improvements in the river and the hydrogen sulfide levels in the mud were no longer at dangerous levels, but the
waterway still suffered from neglect and pollution. If hydrogen sulfide had been released
from the river bottom on New Year's Day 1963, Dr. Milby told Peter that the B-shaped depression in the riverbed
where Margaret and Gilbert lay would have been the worst place to be. The private spot they'd chosen was
at water level between the bank and a small mangrove swamp where in the cool still air high concentrations of the gas
could accumulate and get trapped. breathing heavily during a sexual encounter. The gas could have overcome
them very suddenly and they could have found themselves suffocating. Quickly overcome with
delirium and desperate for air, Margaret could have grabbed Gilbert's underwear by mistake before stumbling down the
riverbank where she collapsed. Dr. Milby studied the autopsies and concluded to Peter. I saw nothing in either report
that would, in my opinion, exclude the possibility of hydrogen sulfide as being the culprit that killed
them. Dr. Milby explained that hydrogen sulfide poisoning isn't easy to detect during an autopsy because it produces no
characteristic abnormalities other than fluid in the lungs, congestion of the internal organs, and small purple spots
on the skin. If no other cause of death is found, the only telltale sign of hydrogen sulfide poisoning is a greenish
or purple color in the blood. But this doesn't always occur, and nothing in either of the autopsies had mentioned a
discoloration to the blood. Peter then made contact with the chief toxicologist who had worked on the
Bogle Chandler case, Viven Mani, without making any mention of his new theory. Viven agreed to talk Peter
through every step of his testing process. He recalled each detail meticulously,
concluding that he found nothing in either Gilbert or Margaret's tissue samples except
caffeine. He then told Peter something he'd only ever discussed with his superior. One thing I am certain of, he
said. They both died of the same thing. I base this on the appearance of their blood. Both their bloods had a
distinctive purple coloration. Viven said he tried to find a reason for the discoloration, but careful analysis
hadn't brought him any closer to the answer. He was a little skeptical upon learning of Peterbart's hydrogen sulfide
theory until Peter looped him in on a detail he'd never been privy to before. Nobody had ever informed Vivien about
the semen found on Gilbert Bogle's body and a jacket that proved the two were engaging in a sexual act before they
died. This meant he'd been investigating all manners of poison that didn't fit the timeline or circumstances, including
that they could have been suffering the effects of a poison when they'd arrived at the river.
Annoyed that this information had been kept from him, Viven researched the hydrogen sulfide theory for
himself, he told Peter that if Gilbert and Margaret went to the riverbank with the intention of having sex, it was
highly unlikely they would have drank from the river or eaten anything before lying down together.
That meant that whatever had killed them was present in the depression where they
lay and it acted very swiftly. The only sensible explanation was that while they were in close
contact with one another, they'd positioned their faces near a heavy concentration of a very toxic gas.
Viven told Peter that if he'd known about their sexual interaction 42 years ago, he would have attributed the purple
color of their blood to something like hydrogen sulfide. And quote, "The case would have been over in a
[Music] week." Peter But revealed his findings in a television documentary titled Who
Killed Dr. Bogle and Mrs. Chandler? and later in a book and podcast series dedicated to the
case. After the documentary was first aired by the Australian Broadcasting Commission in 2006, two people contacted
Peter who claimed to have been at Lane Cove on New Year's Day 1963. They both recalled just how
heavily polluted and putrid smelling the water had been. One of their dogs had rolled in the mud,
and the stench of rotten eggs was near impossible to remove. But another curious revelation
came before the documentary even aired. After seeing the film advertised, a woman named Lorraine Blackwood
contacted Peterbart with something to get off her chest. Lorraine was 11 years old at the
time that Gilbert and Margaret died. She told Peter that a few days after the mysterious deaths, she was exploring an
area of bushland about 5 km from the death scene with her sister and some other boys when they found a woman's
cream colored handbag next to a storm water drain. Inside was some makeup, a handkerchief, and two bottles of white
pills prescribed to a Mrs. Margaret Chandler. Lorraine claimed she bought the bag home and her mother panicked.
Not wanting to get involved in the notorious case, she hid it in the garage before getting rid of it
entirely. Margaret's husband, Jeffrey Chandler, had told police that Margaret didn't bring a handbag with her to the
Nash's party, leaving this detail supplied by Lorraine up for debate. But for Peter Butt, the most
compelling aspect of Lraine's story was the location where the handbag was supposedly found.
It was opposite the home of the nephew of Eddie Batiste, the Greyhound trainer who police suspected might have covered
the bodies of Margaret and Gilbert and not far from where Eddie himself lived. Eddie Batiste had died in 1976,
but Peter tracked down his children who agreed that their father probably wouldn't have told the police if he had
seen the bodies. His daughter described him as a very secretive man, while his son said he was a moralist who had an
aversion to the side of bare human flesh. Eddie Batist's obituary was published in the magazine National
Greyhound News, and it stated that he was the one who had found Margaret and Gilbert's
bodies. He had allegedly told this to a close friend. Whether Eddie really was the one who
covered the bodies remains unknown. The enduring mystery of the Bogle Chandler case has become somewhat
of folklore among Australians familiar with the story. But as coroner Jack Looms stated at the inquest in
1963, one can never lose sight of the fact that the deceased, whoever it may be, is someone's mother, someone's
father, someone's sister, or someone's brother. And very often, the ones left behind are the ones to suffer or find
their reputation damaged. Looms acknowledged he'd found it incredibly difficult to balance the need
for answers with his desire to protect the privacy of those involved. If indeed the pair did die by
hydrogen sulfide poisoning, then the personal lives of many were publicly aired and their reputations tarnished
for no reason. Gilbert Bogle's wife, Viven, avoided the public attention by promptly moving to
New Zealand, with the press once describing her as the unknown living victim of the tragedy. But others were
also affected. Ruth Nash, the co-host of the fateful New Year's Eve party, died on
New Year's Day 1974. Two years later, on New Year's Day 1976, her husband Ken shot
[Music] himself. Jeffrey Chandler sacrificed his privacy by releasing a book about the
case in 1969 titled So You Think I Did It. Jeffrey wanted to set the record straight about various elements of the
case, including his seemingly emotionless reaction upon being told that Margaret was dead.
Jeffrey explained that he'd been disgusted by the way police had pushed a newspaper article in his face rather
than delivering the news with humanity. He wrote, "Whatever their reasons or motives, the manner of the
revelation dealt me a blow of such shocking cruelty I can find no words to describe it. I sat there in the station
waiting, the children half asleep beside me. Nobody explained anything. From that point on, he was
determined not to give them the reactions they so obviously wanted. Jeffrey later told filmmaker
Peter Bart that both he and his two sons suffered quite severe psychological and
emotional damage arising from this event. In the prologue of So You Think I Did It, Jeffrey wrote, "This book is written
for my sons to get the record straight." Margaret longed for her children and went through much to give them birth.
She looked forward to glorious years of enjoyment with them. Instead, she was cruy
deprived. They too. Our eldest has a cloudy memory of his mother. Our youngest nothing. My sons deserve something
better than the fragmented facts and wild speculations that accompanied their mother's
death. I want my sons to know the truth because the truth is the one thing that cannot harm them.
Prior to his death in 2009, Jeffrey agreed that Peterbut's theory about hydrogen sulfide poisoning seemed like
the most realistic explanation. Many other scientists and investigators agree. This possibility was bolstered
further in 2012 when a retired psychologist from CRA contacted Peter But with another surprise revelation.
He claimed that back in 1965, a young woman he'd met through a chance encounter confided in him that she'd
been at Lane Cove on New Year's morning 1963 and had seen a man and woman whom she believed to be Gilbert Bogle and
Margaret Chandler having sex on the riverbank. They'd stopped all of a sudden with Margaret grabbing her
throat, making a strangling noise, and staggering off while Gilbert rolled away.
The air rigged of rotten eggs. The woman who claimed to have witnessed this initially thought the
pair were on drugs and she left the scene, becoming dizzy and stumbling as she did
so. When she heard about the Bogle Chandler deaths in the following days, she was too afraid to come forward
because she hadn't been alone on the river. She'd been with her female partner, and
the pair didn't want their relationship outed as same-sex relationships were frowned upon at the
time. In 2016, Peter Butt made a public appeal for this woman or her partner to come forward and make an official
statement, but they never did. The truth about exactly what happened to Gilbert Bogle and Margaret
Chandler on that riverbank will likely never be known for certain. With no viable blood or tissue
samples left to test, everything is circumstantial. As one reporter for the Sydney Morning Herald once
stated, "In many ways, the answers are lost in another time, another place, a different country.
So many things have changed. [Music] [Music] Whatever.

When the bodies of Doctor Gilbert Bogle and Margaret Chandler were found along the banks of Sydney’s Lane Cove River on New Year's Day 1963, scandal and suspicion erupted. The two were married - but not to each other - raising immediate questions of foul play. Yet as investigators peeled back the layers of this bizarre case, they found themselves tangled in a mystery far stranger than anyone had imagined.

CREDITS Narration – Anonymous Host Research & writing – Elsha McGill Creative direction – Milly Raso Production and music – Mike Migas Audio editing – Anthony Telfer

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Brief Summary

The episode investigates the unsolved deaths of Gilbert Bogle and Margaret Chandler, exploring theories of poisoning and environmental factors.

Key points

A Distressing Discovery. Michael McCormack finds a man lying face down by the river, initially thinking he's just drunk.
The Shocking Truth. Two bodies are discovered near each other, raising questions about their deaths.
The Mystery Deepens. Detectives uncover the identities of the deceased, linking them to a New Year's Eve party.
Suspicious Circumstances. Detectives question Jeffrey's alibi as they uncover conflicting details about the night.
Lead on Poisoning. Detectives discover a potential lead involving dog medication that could have been misused.
The Media Sensation. The case became a media frenzy, scandalizing Sydney with tales of affairs and murder plots.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

What they were dealing with was a double homicide.

Detectives suspect a more sinister cause of death.

9:44WatchApr 26, 2025

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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