The Bogle-Chandler inquest opened on Thursday, 21 March, 1963, at the City Coroner's Court in George Street North. Presiding over the inquest was the City Coroner, Mr J. J. Loomes. He was assisted by Sergeant Don Goode.
As soon as the inquest had formally opened, Mr E. A. Hunt, a solicitor, sought permission to represent Mrs Margaret Fowler, who had been summonsed to the court.
Sergeant Goode said he had been informed by police that Fowler would be available to appear at any time. Her solicitor explained that Fowler had booked a passage to return to England, but had done so before the deaths of Dr Bogle and Mrs Chandler and so this had done without any intention to deceive.
Mr Loomes accepted that this was the case.
Sergeant Goode then informed Mr Loomes that Mrs Fowler's evidence would probably be necessary,
Sgt Goode: ...but it could cause some anguish and could be unfair to take her as an isolated witness with the whole context of the case divorced from her evidence.
Mr Loomes allowed Fowler to leave the court without giving evidence. According to The Bogle Mystery, the police outside the court tried to shield her from photographers but were not wholly successful. Fowler was not identified by name during the court proceedings but when her photograph appeared in newspapers her name was given.
Meanwhile, Kevin Murray, the barrister appearing on behalf of Geoffrey Chandler, told the coroner that neither police nor the coroner's office had informed Chandler of the inquest date.
Mr Murray: In fact, we were informed by press sources that it was to be held at the Central Court of Petty Sessions. It was only at 9.35am today that I discovered the true location. We were given no information as to what was to happen today. We have been dependent upon the press for information, even on the important matter of obtaining the release of Mrs Chandler's body for burial.
Sergeant Goode told Mr Loomes that police presumably hadn't thought that anyone whom Mr Murray could be representing, would be required in court.
Mr Loomes said he regretted that the information about the court dates had not been passed on to the relatives whom Mr Murray was representing, and that the notification of the signing of the order burial, had likewise not been sent to her relatives. He then asked Mr Murray whom specifically he was representing.
Mr Murray said that he appeared on behalf of Geoffrey Chandler "and other relatives who have a legal interest in the matter."
[There may have been more legal discussion]
Mr Loomes then adjourned the inquest until 7 May. The proceedings had lasted 35 minutes.
The inquest resumed at 10:20am on 7 May 1963, in Court No. 3 of the Central Court of Petty Sessions, in Liverpool Street. Many would-be spectators were turned away.
According to The Bogle Mystery "The court orderly sprang to attention and shouted Silence! The Coroner entered and advanced to his seat under the canopy."
Mr Murray told Mr Loomes that he had complained during the previous session on 21 March that neither he nor Geoffrey Chandler had been kept properly informed when Margaret Chandler's body had been released for burial, but he and Chandler now accepted that the misunderstanding was not the fault of the police or the Coroner's office.
The first witness was Kenneth Oswald Nash. In answer to questions from Sergeant Goode, Nash said that he was a senior technical officer for the CSIRO. Dr Bogle was also employed with the CSIRO and they had known each other for five or six years. He had met the Bogles socially several times since.
Nash said that for some years he had held a New Year's Eve party at his home at 12 Waratah Street, Chatswood. His wife had arranged a similar party late last year. A guest list had been drawn up and Dr and Mrs Bogle had both been invited.
After the invitations had been issued Dr Bogle had contacted him and said that his wife couldn't come as she was nursing their youngest child. Was it alright if he came on his own? Nash had told him: "Of course."
Ken Nash: The invited guests were all friends and chosen for their diversification of interests. They were certainly not all from the CSIRO. They were of different age groups.
Ken Nash said that he had known Geoffrey Chandler professionally for some time, but had only met Mrs Chandler at the CSIRO Christmas party at Murraybank on 21 December. They had not been on the original guest list but at the Murraybank party they had been invited to come.
Sgt Goode: Did you invite them to the party, or did they suggest it?
Mr Murray: I object to that as a leading question.
Mr Loomes: I am not bound by any rules of evidence in this jurisdiction.
Mr Loomes then looked at Ken Nash, in expectation of an answer.
Ken Nash: We extended the invitation.
Ken Nash said that the first guest to arrive at the party was Dr Bogle, at about 9:30pm. He seemed quite calm when he arrived and was "very normal" during the evening.
The bulk of the guests followed shortly after, before the Chandlers arrived at about 10pm. He did not greet the Chandlers when they arrived because he was in the lounge room. He had "supervised the dispensing of all drinks until midnight."
Ken Nash: There had been no great call for liquor from the guests up to that time. I served Dr Bogle and Mr and Mrs Chandler during that period.
Sgt Goode: About how many drinks had you served the Chandlers?
Ken Nash: It would have been or the order of three glasses of beer to Mrs Chandler and perhaps four or five to Chandler. I served Dr Bogle about five glasses of beer.
[At least one question was asked at this point]
Ken Nash: At midnight I made a general announcement that I was retiring from the bar and the guests could look after themselves. At that time all the guests, except one or two, had arrived. The whole of the guests were completely sober. None was affected by liquor, certainly not adversely. Dr Bogle appeared to be in good spirits. He engaged in animated conversation and appeared quite happy.
[At least one question was asked at this point]
Ken Nash: [Bogle had] quite extensive conversations with several people on a wide range of subjects. I suppose if one were to compute it he probably spent more time with men than with the women but one would, of course, have no reason to compute this.
Mr Ward asked if it had been a quiet party.
Ken Nash: We thought it was quite animated. It was not a rowdy or riotous party. The main enjoyment was conversation.
[There may have been further questions asked]
Sgt Goode: Was he [Bogle] the life of the party?
Ken Nash: I don't like that term. It connotes a sense of irresponsibility.
Sgt Goode: I didn't intend that. Was he a man who mixed well and kept people in conversation and kept the party animated?
Ken Nash: He was making an effort to add to the happiness of the other people.
[Some more questions may have been asked at this point, in particular about the Chandlers]
Ken Nash: The Chandlers confined themselves to a small area of the room in which they were standing. They seemed a little retiring, but quite content.
Ken Nash said that the Chandlers did not mix very much.
Sgt Goode: When did you realise that Chandler had left the party?
Ken Nash: I first became aware he was not at the party about 12:10am. I spoke to my wife about it and she did not know he had gone. I next saw him about 3am as supper was being served. The serving of the main dish was almost completed when he returned. I was standing at the door of the dining room taking a plate of food through the servery. I was going to have the food myself when I saw Chandler and I turned and offered it to him. He did not accept, saying "Not at the moment. May I mix myself a drink?" I said "Certainly," and I saw him move towards the bar in another room.
Ken Nash said that for parties he mainly used three rooms of his house. There was a fairly large living room, then an arch leading to a second room, a study-lounge section. The third room was the dining room, which was used when supper was served.
Most of the party was held in the second room, the study-lounge section.
Shortly after he'd seen Geoffrey Chandler go towards the bar from the dining room, he'd seen him come back again. Chandler had sat near Mrs Chandler. Coffee was then served. After coffee he had seen the Chandlers alone in the study.
[Note: The following may all have been said at once by Ken Nash, but more likely it represents a sequence of his answers to questions from Sergeant Goode.]
Ken Nash: I did not speak to them, having no reason to say anything. I did not hear any conversation between them.
When I returned to the study shortly afterwards, Dr Bogle had joined the Chandlers. I observed them casually and I didn't stay in the room.
That was about 3:40am and nobody else was in that part of the house.
About that time, people started to come in, some with their coffee. A Mr and Mrs O'Donnell indicated they were going to leave and I accompanied them outside.
On the front verandah, we checked our watches and it was 3:40. My wife and I saw them into their car and they left about 3:45. We returned to the house a couple of minutes later.
When we went back, I became more conscious of Dr Bogle's presence, because he was sitting on the chaise lounge with Mrs Chandler. Some other people were there, but I don't remember seeing Mr Chandler.
Dr Bogle approached me and asked permission to take home to show his children the sketch he had brought as a contribution for the party. I took it down from the wall and gave it to him. That was about half an hour after we returned to the house, towards 4:20am.
After I gave him his sketch I saw him go out the living room door and turn towards the front door and I assumed he was leaving. To the best of my knowledge, he went out alone.
I saw Mrs Chandler a little later.
Sgt Goode: Are you quite sure it was after Dr Bogle left?
Ken Nash: I think it was.
Sgt Goode: Was Mr Chandler with her?
Ken Nash: No. My wife and I had gone to the front verandah, probably seeing other guests off the premises, when I noticed Mrs Chandler on the steps.
She looked towards us, then turned and walked slowly down the path out the main gate and took 10 or 12 paces to the left. Then we went back inside.
I have no real estimate of the time after I saw Dr Bogle going towards the front door.
It was only a short period because a few people were leaving about that time. I had no more reason to notice them than any other guests.
I am definite that I did not see Mr Chandler at this stage. I did not see him after Dr Bogle went.
Sgt Goode: What is your recollection of the last time you saw Mr Chandler in the house?
Ken Nash: My last clear recollection is at 3:35am, when he was with Mrs Chandler and Dr Bogle. I have no mental image of his movements but I had no particular reason to scrutinise them.
Ken Nash said he didn't know where Dr Bogle's car was parked and nor had he known, at the time, where the Chandlers' car was parked. He had been told something later.
[There may have been further questions asked]
Sgt Goode: Immediately before Dr Bogle left did he appear to have altered in appearance physically from when you first saw him?
Ken Nash: No.
Sgt Goode: His demeanour?
Ken Nash: No.
Sgt Goode: He was the Dr Bogle you normally knew?
Ken Nash: Yes.
Sgt Goode: Anything abnormal about him?
Ken Nash: Nothing.
Sgt Goode: He was completely sober as far as you could see?
Ken Nash: Yes.
Sgt Goode: When you saw Mrs Chandler on the path, as she was leaving, did she appear absolutely normal in every way?
Ken Nash: (after hesitating) Yes.
Nash was asked why he had hesitated.
Ken Nash: I would add something, but it may be completely misleading.
Sgt Goode: It is just an impression you are going to give us?
Mr Murray: I object. This type of material being elicited at this stage, Your Worship should not entertain. It cannot be germane to your inquiry into finding the manner and cause of the deaths of these unfortunate people. It is not evidence and apart from exceptional circumstances where the need for your particular inquisitorial power requires it, you should not allow it.
Mr Ward and Mr Collins both agreed with Mr Murray.
Sgt Goode: This is an inquisition or inquiry. Evidence will be tendered that some little time, in point of hours later, Mrs Chandler was unfortunately found dead. Surely any witness who saw her from the time she left the party until she was found dead is one in which this court is vitally interested. Surely if there were some departure from what this witness saw when she arrived sufficiently significant to form an impression on his mind, Your Worship is entitled to have that.
[There may have been more legal discussion at this point, but Mr Loomes allowed the question.]
Ken Nash explained that he had hesitated because due to his "interests in other planes" (by which he meant that he was a photographer), he remembered thinking that the lighting over the front door would have meant Mrs Chandler, standing at the bottom of the steps, would have been flatly-lit.
Ken Nash: Under the conditions a person may look a little paler than with different lighting.
Sgt Goode: Then any departure from normal could have been accounted for by the lighting. (grinning, to the Bar table) That was much ado about nothing, wasn't it?
Ken Nash said that Mrs Chandler had not been carrying a handbag when she left the house.
Questioned in greater detail about the events earlier in the evening, Nash said that when he and his wife had noticed Geoffrey Chandler was missing, they had noticed Mrs Chandler was also absent. They had looked, and saw her with Dr Bogle standing on the back lawn a few yards from the back door. They were a few feet apart, looking at each other. Ken Nash did not say anything to either of them but turned off the light that illuminated the back lawn.
Ken Nash: I switched the light off purely from the point of view of puckish humour on my part. They returned immediately, within a few seconds.
Nash confirmed that he knew his wife had received a phone call from Mrs Bogle at about 7am on New Year's Day.
Sergeant Goode asked Nash what had happened on 2 January, when he had gone back to work. Nash told the inquest that he'd met Geoffrey Chandler in a passage. Nash said he'd asked Chandler if he knew "how this dreadful thing" had happened. Chandler had said "No." Nash told the inquest he'd said to Chandler: "they were certainly not affected by alcohol." Chandler had agreed with him.
Sergeant Goode then tendered Bogle's sketch and Margaret Chandler's name tag, as exhibits.
In response to a question from Mr Ward, Nash said that Dr Bogle had told him at the CSIRO lab that Mrs Bogle was looking after their baby and could not attend.
Nash confirmed that Dr Bogle had been about to leave for the US to take up a "very special job" involving a specialist area of physics.
He had not told Dr Bogle that the Chandler's had been invited last minute to the New Year's Eve party.
Mr Ward: From your knowledge had the Bogles always been a very happy couple?
Ken Nash: Most happy. They always appeared to have been a contented and friendly couple. He was well liked among his associates, and it had been thought that as his time for working with the CSIRO was drawing to a close the New Year party would be a fitting time to farewell his friends.
Asked by Mr Ward how the Chandlers had been invited to the party, Nash said that he'd asked them if they were doing anything that night. He had then asked them "out of some sense of friendly compassion."
Mrs Nash had then told them the dress code, which was jackets and ties for the men, and a particular type of dress for the women.
On the night of the party, Mrs Chandler had worn a floral dress with little or no jewellery.
Ken Nash was asked how Geoffrey Chandler had been dressed.
Ken Nash: Sandals, casual slacks and some form of long shirt-like object that hung outside his trousers with an open-neck collar, although I had explained at great length that dress for the party was to be a frock-type dress for the women and jackets and ties for the men.
[There may have been further questions asked at this point]
Mr Ward: Did you get the impression that Dr Bogle moved around the party and spent time with each person?
Ken Nash: Yes.
Mr Ward: Did you personally observe him talking to older men and older women at times?
Ken Nash: Very frequently. He had quite an extensive conversation with several people on a wide range of subjects.
Mr Ward: Did you see any undue friendliness between Mrs Chandler and Dr Bogle during the night?
Ken Nash: At no time.
Mr Ward: Did you notice whether Mrs Chandler drank her coffee?
Ken Nash: No. I did not observe Dr Bogle or Mrs Chandler drinking coffee.
During supper, Ken Nash told the inquest, Bogle had sat between of the other male guests. Later he'd sat next to him [Nash]. The Chandlers sat next to each other.
Geoffrey Chandler had not said goodbye when he left.
Sergeant Goode tendered as an exhibit a list of the guests, and confirmed with Nash that there had been a total of 22 people present. During the ten hours of the party they had consumed 12 bottles of beer, 2 bottles of whisky, 1 bottle each of gin and vodka, and 24 bottles of soft drink.
[There may have been further questions asked]
In response to a question from Mr Collins, Nash said that he'd last seen Dr Bogle about 4:30am. This time could have been 10 minutes earlier but probably not later.
He described how Margaret Chandler had passed through the gate and then took "ten or twelve paces to the left."
[There may have been further questions asked]
Sgt Goode: Can you remember a Miss Beavis leaving?
Ken Nash: Not clearly. At the time I observed Margaret Chandler leaving, walking down the front path my memory suggests I was on the front verandah for the purpose of farewelling Miss Beavis.
Sgt Goode: Miss Beavis left at the same time as Mrs Chandler?
Ken Nash: Within a few seconds.
Sgt Goode: And Dr Bogle had gone some time before that?
Ken Nash: Yes.
[There may have been more questions asked before Ken Nash finished giving evidence]
Ruth Iris Nash, the wife of Ken Nash, said she knew Dr Bogle through her husband's job. She also knew Mrs Bogle as they had visited her home. She had not met either of the Chandlers before the Murraybank party. After meeting them at that party she had invited them to the New Year's Eve party. They had not been on the original guest list.
When Dr Bogle had arrived he had seemed normal and "very happy, as always." The Chandlers had arrived at about 10pm.
Mr Chandler had been dressed very casually but other than that there had been nothing unusual about the Chandlers. They'd each had a glass of beer when they arrived.
The Chandlers had remained together for most of the time until midnight. After midnight she had noticed Mr Chandler was missing.
Dr Bogle had circulated with the other guests the whole time.
She and her husband had searched for Mr Chandler when they noticed he was missing. They saw his car was no longer outside the house. They saw Mrs Chandler standing on the back lawn, speaking with Dr Bogle.
Ruth Nash had started to prepare the supper at about 2:30am. She had asked the other woman to help her serve it, and the Cottons left at about this time. Supper was finally served about 2:55am. After she'd returned from saying goodbye to the Cottons she had seen Geoffrey Chandler for the first time since she'd noticed him missing. He was standing in the dining room with his wife. Dr Bogle was also in the room, but on the other side to the Chandlers.
Ruth Nash said she had served Mrs Chandler cold chicken and asparagus. There had been nothing unusual about her. Likewise, there was no change in Dr Bogle's appearance during the period of the party.
She described Mrs Chandler as "a fairly reserved person."
At around 3:45am, Ruth Nash went to see some other guests off. On returning to the lounge room she saw Mrs Chandler and Dr Bogle sitting on a sofa. There were several other people in the room as well.
Shortly after Bogle had left the party, she went to see off another guest, Miss Beavis. She saw Mrs Chandler on the steps of the verandah. Miss Beavis had left, then Mrs Chandler had gone slowly down the path and had stopped on the grass verge of the footpath. She had then turned left and walked across to the footpath. She had not said goodbye. It was about five minutes from the time Bogle left, to the time Mrs Chandler left.
Ruth Nash confirmed that both Dr Bogle and Mrs Chandler remained unchanged in appearance from the time that they arrived at the party, until the time they left.
[There may have been a break for lunch at this point]
Following the lunch adjournment, Mr Loomes said that the press had asked to be able to photograph three of the exhibits. He listened to submission from counsel, before ruling that to allow the exhibits to be photographed would be against precedent, and that therefore the request was denied.
Continuing her evidence, Ruth Nash said that after Mrs Chandler had left it had been more than an hour before the next guest departed. She confirmed that as with the Chandlers, Miss Beavis had been invited at the Murraybank party.
Ruth Nash knew roughly what Bogle's car looked like. After Chandler had arrived in the evening, she hadn't seen his car again.
There had been nothing out of the ordinary about the way Bogle had left. He had made a comment and then waved goodbye.
Mr Ward: How long elapsed between Dr Bogle waving goodbye and you seeing Mrs Chandler on the steps?
Ruth Nash: About five minutes, or one or two minutes longer.
Mr Ward: Did you make any inquiries as to where Mr Chandler had been when you found him missing?
Ruth Nash: No.
Mr Ward: Do you remember seeing Mrs Chandler with a hand bag?
Ruth Nash: No. I don't remember a hand bag at all.
It may have been at this point that Ruth Nash was asked about the colour of the shoes Mrs Chandler was wearing. However, she was unable to remember any details.
She could not say she noticed a change in any of her guests in the course of the evening at her house.
Mr Collins: Did you take particular attention of the conditions of daylight when Miss Beavis and Mrs Chandler left?
Ruth Nash: I was quite conscious of the lights of the house.
Mr Collins: You saw Mrs Chandler walk in an unhurried manner to the car?
Ruth Nash: Yes.
Ruth Nash said it was so light she could see the milkman at the end of the street, about 100 yards away.
Sgt Goode: Do you think you could be mistaken about the time the milkman arrived and the state of daylight when those people left?
Ruth Nash: I saw the milkman quite clearly, whatever time he was there. I thought that was about 5:30am.
Miss Isabella Margaret Beavis, of Coogee, had been an employee at the CSIRO for some years. She knew Dr Bogle and Geoffrey Chandler as fellow employees. She had also met Mrs Chandler.
When she arrived at the New Year's Eve party in her car at about 10:30pm, and saw Bogle and the Chandlers. She noticed Geoffrey Chandler's absence "some time during the evening" between 11pm and midnight, but didn't ask anyone where he had gone. She saw him again at about 3am.
She had supper at about 3am and had then gone to the study-lounge room. In the room she saw Bogle, but not the Chandlers.
Some of the other guests had already left, and she decided to go soon after supper. Just before this she watched Bogle get ready to leave, by crossing the room to say goodbye to Ken Nash. That was about 4am.
Beavis: [this may have been said in response to more than one question] I got my bag from a room and said goodbye to Mr Nash in the study and Mrs Nash at the door. Nobody else left with me. I walked directly to the footpath where my car was parked. I did not notice if Mr Chandler's car was where I saw it when I came to the party. I heard the sound of a car engine starting when I got into my car. I looked to the opposite side of the road and saw Dr Bogle in a car. He waved and tooted the horn and then drove past the front of the house. I went in the opposite direction. I don't remember seeing Mrs Chandler at all after supper. I did not see Mr Chandler after supper. The sky was light at the time I left, but it was still dark. It was about 4am.
She said it was daylight when she arrived home about 45 minutes later. She didn't think she still had her lights on.
She hadn't seen anyone else in Bogle's car as he drove off. Likewise, she hadn't seen anyone on the verandah as she left, except Ruth Nash.
She had probably waved back to Bogle when he'd waved to her.
She didn't notice whether Dr Bogle or Mrs Chandler had had coffee at the supper table. Likewise, when guests had formed a circle at midnight to sing Auld Lang Syne, she hadn't noticed if they'd taken part.
Warren Payten, a CSIRO engineer from Turramurra, told the inquest he had gone to the party with his wife. They had been introduced to other guests "offhandedly, informally."
He had known Dr Bogle for a number or years and also knew Geoffrey Chandler. He had met Mrs Chandler once before. Both Dr Bogle and Mrs Chandler seemed completely normal.
It was at about midnight that he first realised Geoffrey Chandler was missing. He then saw him again at the start of supper, about 3am.
The cup of coffee he was given after supper was too hot, and the room was also stuffy, so he'd decided to go for a walk.
He had seen Geoffrey Chandler's car parked in the road but not Dr Bogle's. He walked to a corner then returned.
Payten was asked about Bogle's condition at the end of the party]
Payten: I would say he was the same as usual, very normal. Mrs Chandler was very quiet and did not speak very much.
Mr Ward: When you went out of the house while your coffee was cooling, was there a group of people in the sitting room?
Payten: I do not remember seeing anyone when I went out, but there were some when I came back. I just remember them as figures.
Mr Ward: Were you missing for five to eight minutes?
Payten: Yes.
Mr Ward: You remember the Rudds or the O'Donnells leaving?
Payten: No.
Mr Ward: Do you remember a group of people leaving shortly after supper?
Payten: I remember a group of people leaving.
Mr Ward: Do you remember Miss Beavis going to the door?
Payten: Yes.
Mr Ward: Was she alone?
Payten: She might have been.
After Payten had finished giving evidence, Mr E. A. Hunt, the solicitor, applied for leave to appear for Margaret Fowler. As with Mr Hunt's previous application on 21 March, Mrs Fowler's name was not mentioned in court.
In addition to his application to appear for Mrs Fowler, Mr Hunt also applied for a copy of Mrs Fowler's statement to police.
Mr Loomes said he would not grant Mr Hunt leave to appear for Mrs Fowler simply because she was a witness to be called, but he did grant him leave to watch her interests. At such stage as she was called to give evidence, or was introduced into proceedings, he would be able to renew his application.
Mr Hunt: Would you give authority to the police to give me a copy of information she furnished?
Mr Loomes: No, I am not prepared to do that at this stage.
END OF THE DAY'S EVIDENCE