Murder in the Dark – a crime of passion?

MURDER IN THE DARK
Who Killed Marin Trdervich
Peculiar Circumstances in Boulder Tragedy

Dead Man’s Mate Talks to “The Sunday Times”

Who was the man dimly seen in the darkness of a Boulder street on Monday night engaged in the act that brought death to 45-year-old Marin Trdervich?

That is what goldfields police and detectives are working day and night to find out. In the meantime, graphic stories have been told by eye-witnesses. Only two minutes’ walk from his camp and very close to a park crowded with people, Trdervich, a Yugoslav machine miner, employed on the Chaffers shaft of the Lake View and Star group, was brutally battered to death.

The murder was witnessed. Edward Kerin, a young Boulder dairyman, said that he saw. a man attacking Trdervich in Piesse street. He saw vicious blows being struck … he gave chase but was unable to catch the assailant, nor did he catch anything but a shadowy impression of the fleeting figure.

THEY SAW THE MURDEROUS ATTACK

Mrs, it. Seabrook, and her daughter. Miss Zelda Seabrook, told a graphic story to The Sunday Times. “My daughter and I were going to the pictures last night Monday night, “and at about 7.45 we heard a scuffle in the dark near the park and saw a man on the ground while another man was leaning over him, giving him several punches.

“I called out ‘YOU DIRTY KAFFIR,”

said Mrs. Seabrook and then explained that she had spent some time in South Africa, hence the expression. “The man then stepped back and kicked the man lying on the ground several times and started to walk away towards the railway station, round the back of the park.

“After going, a few yards he pulled his hat over his eyes and ran”.

“Others were soon in the vicinity and the man on the ground was turned over . . . his face was covered in blood from wounds in the head and face.”

Marin Trdervich

Mrs. Seabrook added that she heard a terrific blow being delivered at first and she thinks that this blow must have knocked Trdervich unconscious. She said that as it was so dark she could not possibly recognise the features of the attacker.

DEAD MAN’S MATE TALKS.

Late Tuesday afternoon the deceased’s mate, Sam Vidakovich, came home from- work on the mines. He is a bogger on the same mine as Trdervich worked and came to this State from Yugoslavia about 10 years ago. He and “Mick” (the murdered man) rented the camp and had been living together as mates for about four weeks. Sam said that the murdered man rarely spoke of himself or his family but he understood that since coming out to Australia Trdervich had been home once to see his people. He had two sons and two daughters.

Mick was a man of quiet demeanor. He was very fond of a Kalgoorlie woman who often came out to the camp and they spent much time together. “I think that Mick used to give this woman a lot of money,” said Sam, “and I know that she liked him a whole lot.”

Marin Trdervich’s camp –  Mirror Perth 25 December 1937, page 1

Describing the fateful Monday, Sam said that he and Trdervich came home from work together and talked about the heat of the day. “About six o’clock. Mick said to me “We will go over for a pot, what do you say?’ but I said I had to go into Kalgoorlie to see a doctor.

“I’ll go over myself,” said Mick,” and he left. “The next I saw of poor Mick,” added Sam, “was when I was coming home to camp. Near the park I heard someone say something about a fight and I saw a crowd gathered. I went over and there was

Poor Mick Lying Dead

“It was a terrible thing, and I often think now that if I had only gone over to the pub with Mick, he would still be alive. I cannot sleep here anymore now. I will go and live at a boarding house.” Mr. Alf Gorringe, a blacksmith on the mines, who lives with his wife in an adjoining camp, informed the reporter ” that about a quarter past seven on Monday right he saw the deceased leave his place and go towards the railway line where he was met by a man and a woman”.

Mr. Gorringe said the deceased commenced to talk with the woman and the man walked on. Then Trdervich left the woman and walked back to his camp and Mr. Gorringe heard nothing about the tragedy till later in the night. He believes he was the last to see him alive apart from his attacker. Many conjectures are being made as to the motive behind the vicious attack on Trdervich, and in some quarters it is believed that jealousy over a woman may have been the cause.

In the meantime, police and detectives are exploring every avenue of inquiry.

Marin Trdervich is buried in the Boulder Cemetery He is registered as TORDEVICH and is in the Roman Catholic Section Grave 571. On January 1, 1938, Joseph JURELJ was arrested and charged with the wilful murder of Marin Trdervich.

Goldfields Observer Kalgoorlie 20 February 1938, page 3

Truth Sydney 2 January 1938, page 12

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MURDER CHARGE
Dalmatian Miner In Court

JOSEPH JURELJ, 50, a Dalmatian miner, was charged at Kalgoorlie Police Court today with the wilful murder of Marin Trdervich, who was killed in Boulder on Monday week. He was remanded in custody for eight days. Jurelj is a trucker in a mine, and has a wife and several daughters in Dalmatia. He is of thin, wiry build, with typical Slavonic features, and appeared in court dressed in a striped grey suit and no tie. Some 40 foreigners waited outside the court, but, strangely enough, the proceedings were not witnessed by the public. The date of the Inquest has not been fixed.

Violet Forrester – The Femme Fatal

Kalgoorlie Miner 18 March 1938, page 4

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DEATH SENTENCE COMMUTED
Jurelj Given Life Imprisonment

Artist’s Impression of Joseph Jurelj

The State Cabinet has decided that the sentence of death, passed on Joseph Jurelj (50), a Dalmatian miner, on February 24, be commuted on February 24, be commuted to a sentence of imprisonment for life, with hard labour. This sentence is one of 20 years, with remissions for good conduct reducing the period possibly to under 15 years. In addition, it is common practice that the sentences of all long-term prisoners are reviewed every five years. Jurelj was convicted of the murder of Martin Trdervich at Boulder on December 20, 1937.