An inquest into the deaths of Dr Bogle and Mrs Chandler was opened on 21 March 1963 at the City Coroner's Court. It was adjourned, then reopened on 7 May 1963 at the Central Court of Petty Sessions. Overseeing proceedings was the city coroner, Mr J. J. "Jack" Loomes. He was assisted by Sergeant Don Goode. The families of Dr Bogle and Mrs Chandler were represented by, respectively: Mr W. D. T. Ward, assisted by Mr N. J. N. Atwill, for the Bogle family; Mr A. D. Collins for the brothers and parents of Margaret Chandler; and Kevin Murray, assisted by Mr J. Birney, for Geoffrey Chandler.
Fifty witnesses were called, of whom 48 gave evidence. The inquest sat for 14 sitting days 26, and 63 exhibits were tendered. Ruth Nash gave evidence on the first day then continued to attend each day of the hearing. Also present each day was Dr Bogle's father, Mr J. S. Bogle.
Apart from the deaths of Dr Bogle and Mrs Chandler, the inquest into their deaths was the most high-profile news event associated with the case. Almost everything that is publicly known about the case came to light during the hearing.
The transcript of the inquest held by the NSW Coroner's Office is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act. In consequence, the account on this site has been compiled from publicly available sources: chiefly The Bogle Mystery by Stafford Silk, So you think I did it by Geoffrey Chandler, and newspapers of the time: The Age from 22 March, 8 May, 9 May, 10 May, 11 May, 14 May, 15 May, 16 May, 17 May, 18 May, 22 May, 23 May, 24 May, 25 May, 28 May and 30 May 1963; and the Sydney Morning Herald from 9 May, 10 May, 11 May, 14 May, 15 May, 16 May, 17 May, 18 May, 22 May, 23 May, 24 May, 28 May and 30 May 1963. Both newspapers are currently owned by the Fairfax group but in 1963 they were owned separately.
Please note that this account of the inquest necessarily contains omissions and errors. The coroner's own observations when presenting his finding were that the evidence amounted to almost 250,000 words. This account runs to about 72,000, meaning that it contains no more than about 30% of the evidence given.
Author's note: Where there does exist coverage of what was said, different sources often give different versions of exactly the same remarks, usually agreeing on what was said but not the exact wording. In each case I have tried to use the most plausible version.
For stylistic consistency, court staff and lawyers are referred to using titles but witnesses are referred to without titles.