POLICE PUZZLED
"mercury in body
Successive autopsies on the body of James Ragen, aged 65, are filling columns of American newspapers as police try to discover who killed him. Ragen, owner of a lucrative racing news information service, was shot by gangsters and promoters of a rival news agency. Ragen appeared to be near recovery and then died suddenly. Main events since then are: The first autopsy revealed enough mercury in his body “to kill three men’’; the coroner received a threat from the men who shot Ragen not to prosecute the mercury inquiry, Ragen's widow and sons received a card with a yellow canary painted on it—gangland’s advice that Ragen had been killed because he “squealed” on them. Ragen’s body was guarded each night in the cemetery because gangsters attempted to steal it to prevent further examination. A second autopsy is" not yet complete, but -a mercury tube has been discovered in the body. It is stated that this was ineserted as part of the treatment, and was of such a type that it did not allow mercury to enter the blood stream. Acting on the assumption that the other mercury was administered secretly by gangsters, police are interrogating the hospital staff.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/BPB19461021.2.10
Bibliographic details
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Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 10, Issue 40, 21 October 1946, Page 3
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203POLICE PUZZLED Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 10, Issue 40, 21 October 1946, Page 3
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