Горелов Михаил Михайлович (1895-1948)
At the end of 1948 he was found hanged in Prince Edward Park in Sutherland, Sydney.
What is the mystery of Michael Goreloff, 53-years-old White Russian, who was found hanged on December 5 in Prince Edward Park, Sutherland? Who is the mysterious foreign woman who on six occasions called Detective, Tom Dunning and said that Goreloff had been murdered?
The City Coroner , at an inquest this week , was unable to answer these questions, and the police still admit that several aspects of the tragedy are most mysterious ? Goreloff was a bitter enemy of Communists. What purported to be a suicide note was found with his body, but detectives frankly admit that it was worded in such a way that Goreloff would not normally have written it himself except at somebody else's dictation. Undoubtedly the letter was in Goreloff's handwriting— in the Russian language — but there is a strong suspicion that it was written under, duress! It is possible, of course, that, he committed suicide but if he did, friends believe the 'Red' element among the Russians in Sydney were in some way at the back of it. In some quarters it has been stated that recently Goreloff had attended meetings conducted by the 'Red' element in a city cafe, ; where such meetings are held regularly. One assertion made to the police is that Goreloff discovered recently that the 'Reds' had been using him to their own advantage, with the result that he became extremely upset and suicided out of shame.
Goreloff lived happily with his wife at Birtley Towers, Elizabeth Bay. He had come to Australia from Nagasaki, Japan, in 1925 and it was on the ship on, which he came here that he met the girl who became his wife. They were married in Melbourne. He was an outstanding chef and had been employed in that capacity by Repin's cafes at £20 per week. Two days before he disappeared on November 17 — after leaving for work — he was employed as a chef at the Hotel Astra at £20 per week. Police have investigated all angles of the Goreloff tragedy, and they say that all they can do is hazard a guess at which one of the many is correct.
STRANGE NOTE Det. Dunning is an astute : Investigator and in his report to his senior officers he said that he could not find any reason for suicide; nor could he find a real motive for murder. It was suggested to the police that a bitter controversy was raging in the Russian Orthodox Church over Russia's general attitude. This, it was urged, may have had a bearing on the tragedy.
Full contents of the note found with Goreloff's body were: 'Forgive me. I have acted so badly. Tired of life and decided to go to the ether world and live with God. Should be happy. For my death do not blame anybody. — Michael.'
In an overcoat pocket was a will which read: 'I leave everything to my wife.' People who know Goreloff well say that the last line of the note— 'For my death do not blame anybody' — was not as Goreloff would have written it. He was well educated and more probably would have written, 'Do not blame anybody for my death.' The sentence 'For my death do not blame anybody' is what a Russian, or some other foreigner, might be expected to write if his knowledge of the English language was not really good.
The mysterious woman who has telephoned Det. Dunning always declined to meet him. She has a distinct Russian accent, and each time she telephoned the police station she said that Goreloff did not commit suicide, but that he had been killed. She blamed an Englishman or other Russians for the murder. Each time she was asked to meet Dunning she said: 'Oh, no. I will ring you again.' Then she hung up.
In the Russian Community there are two distinct schools of thought: Those who knew Goreloff say he did not suicide, but that he was murdered. Others say he suicided. The widow declares that he had no reason to take his own life, but she added that she did not know of anybody who would want to kill him. She denied he was connected with politics. At the inquest, Robert James Gribble, laborer, told of finding. The body was partly suspended from a tree by a rope tied around his neck to a sapling, Gribble said.
Maria Goreloff, the widow, said she found her husband asleep in bed when she returned from work on November 16. Next naming when she was awakened by the alarm at 6.30 he had gone, apparently taking his white coat, apron and cap. 'On December 16 she said, she had received a phone call from a woman who said in broken Russian, 'I want to tell you that your husband was killed by an Englishman.' The Coroner in recording an open finding said that if Goreloff was going to hang himself he would have chosen something more substantial than a sapling.
Mystery Voice Gave Warning Of Murder (1949, February 6). Truth (Sydney, NSW : 1894 - 1954), p. 8. Retrieved May 19, 2024, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article168879783
......He came to Sydney from Japan 23 years ago. He had been a captain in the Imperial Russian Army and later fought with the forces of Admiral Kolchak against the Red Army in Siberia.
...."With the majority of Russians here, he did not want the Church to enter politics which is what would happen if an appointment to the church was made from Moscow."
MYSTERY DEATH MAY BE LINKED WITH SPLIT IN ORTHODOX CHURCH (1949, February 6). The Sunday Herald (Sydney, NSW : 1949 - 1953), p. 1. Retrieved May 19, 2024, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18463843