Case 184

Gay Gibson

*** Content Warning: sexual assault ***

Early on the morning of October 18 1947, a stewardess working on the ocean liner Durban Castle discovered something strange. The cabin belonging to an actress named Gay Gibson was empty. The ship was searched from top to bottom but no trace of Gay was found. Initially presuming the young woman had accidentally gone overboard, the captain ordered that the ship be turned around and the surrounding waters searched.

But soon a witness came forward that turned the case on its head. Call buttons in Gay’s cabin had been pushed in the middle of the night, summoning a night watchman. Upon arriving at the cabin, he saw another person inside – a deck steward by the name of James Camb. This sighting would launch a string of revelations and result in one of Britain’s most notorious murder trials.

CREDITS

 

Casefile Presents

 

EPISODE:

Research & writing – Erin Munro

Creative direction – Milly Raso

Narration – Anonymous Host

 

MUSIC:

‘Flatline intro’ and ‘Come play with me’ intro and outro – www.dl-sounds.com

Audio production – Mike Migas 

Scoring – Mike Migas and Andrew Joslyn

 

OTHER:

Logo and website design – Paulina Szymanska

 

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RESOURCES

 

BOOKS

Death of an Actress – Antony M. Brown

 

NEWSPAPER ARCHIVES

Ship’s steward charged with murder – The Guardian

Steward’s case near jury – The Kansas City Star

A passenger is missing at sea! – The Honolulu Advertiser

The steward and the stunner – The New York Daily News

Was it murder on the high seas? – St Louis Post-Dispatch

Ship steward slammed door leaving imprint as slayer – The Winnipeg Tribune

“Pushed girl’s body through porthole” – The Sydney Morning Herald

Steward tells how he pushed girl from ship – Chicago Tribune

 

ARTICLES

The Porthole murder – The Investigator

 

DOCUMENTARIES

The Porthole Mystery

 

WEBSITES

Cruise Ship Deaths

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