MYSTERY OF SKELETONS IN CAVE

Chronicle (Levin), 2 December 1947, Page 5

MYSTERY OF SKELETONS IN CAVE

LuXDOX, Xov. 26. The inystei'y suiToundiiig the diseo\ ery oi tlu' sKclctons of two un- ■ Known lncn 111 ciivc.s ou the slopes oi I uglesbomugii Hill, m'ur Skipton, Vorkshire. ut t'ne eiul Oi' lust Augu.-U iins been (li-epeui'd by ihe discJo.sure ui ihe inquesl this week that a poison phial, similar to that used by Uimuilei will be made to trace tlie poison am and Goering when they coruinitle.i poule th rough the Foreign Ollice. No evidenee of identilication eould be ofl'ered in either case. The police stated that furthor efl'ortone of the skeletons. The lirsl skcletoa suicide, had been diseovered lying near was found by two tranipers on Augusi 21 and the other, in an adjoining cave, a week laler. The entrance to the cave .n which the iirst body was found had been blocked with s'ones. The poison was eontained in an unbroken glass .iinpoule enclosed in a nietal cylinder. A small bottle eontaining cyanide was ilso found nearby. The seeond skeleton was found at the foot o1' a steep drop i and appeared -to liavo beeu washed about by flood-water. One witness, Dr. L. R. Nicholls of the Wakefield Forensie Laboratorv, said lie had never seen anything resembling the poison anipoule in Britain before. Professor 1'. L. Sutiierlaud, Government pathologist, said the nian who had apparently carried the poison phial had died between 1941 and 1945. Xo traces of poison had been found among th • remains. The Ooroner, Mr. S. F. lirown, said it was possible the skeletons were thOse of eneiny agents who had been dropjie I by pavaehute. The jury refurned an open verdiet in the case of oue nian, and expressed the opinion th it in the case of the secon.l rlie deatli might have been caused bv a fall.