Detective Sergeant
Alexander H PITMAN
YEAR OF DEATH
1926
JURISDICTION
Western Australia
DETAILS OF DEATH
Detective Sargeant Pitman and Detective Inspector John Joseph Walsh were members of the Gold Stealing Squad at Kalgoorlie when they surprised William Coulter and Phillip Treffene at their illicit smelter 27kms south of the town. They shot the detectives and tried to stuff their bodies into a gold furnace but, discovering it was too small, went to the Cornwall Hotel and collected a sway and a carving knife. On returning to the smelter, they cut up the bodies, incinerated them and dumped them down a mineshaft. Born Rokewood, Victoria in October 1872.
