Baby

The body of a newly-born male child was found at St David’s Station in Exeter on 1 November 1946.

It had been strangled with tape that had been tied tightly round its neck after birth.

The body was found wrapped up in a brown paper bag and put in a bin. The police said that they thought that the body had been placed there by someone alighting from a train.

The pathologist that carried out the post-mortem said that its cause of death was asphyxia. The doctor said that he thought that the child had been killed shortly after birth and that it had not been dead for more than 24 hours. He said that he thought that the child had probably lived for minutes.

The doctor noted that the thyroid bone in the throat was broken which he said was always the case when someone was throttled.

The child had weighed 5lb 3oz and it was noted that there were no signs of premature birth.

When the tape was examined, it was found to be a strong linen tape of not less than two feet although it was noted that it had only been wound round the child’s throat once.

The name of a company that was found on the paper bag was noted to be one that had branches in other parts of the country, but not Exeter, although it was also noted that they had a big postal service.

A verdict of murder by person or persons unknown was returned.