Son investigated over ‘hammer horror’ attack on wealthy couple

Was the murder motive a family quarrel, a forbidden romance, or a financial scandal that reached all the way up to the premier?

Jack Saywell, a key suspect in the brutal attack of his parents in 1932 with a claw hammer, later became a famous racing car driver.

When one of Sydney’s wealthiest couples was brutally attacked with a claw hammer as they slept, it launched one of the biggest unsolved murder mysteries in Australian history.

But was the motive for the so-called “hammer horror” a family quarrel, a forbidden romance, or a financial scandal that reached all the way up to the NSW premier?

Police suspected the couple’s 20-year-old son, Jack Saywell, who later found fame as a racing car driver, but the case collapsed amid conflicting evidence.

The story is told in the latest episode of the free In Black and White podcast on Australia’s forgotten characters, with crime historian Michael Adams, host of the Forgotten Australia podcast:

Adams tells the story in his new book, The Murder Squad.

In 1932, Claude and Adeline Saywell were battered in their Bellevue Hill bedroom with a claw hammer from their own garden shed.

The maid discovered the horrific scene when she headed upstairs with tea and toast.

“She knocks on the door, there’s no response, she opens the door and the room is covered in blood,” Adams says.

Mr Saywell died from his injuries. Incredibly, his wife survived, but was left brain damaged and unable to identify the killer.

The Murder Squad book cover.

Crime historian Michael Adams.

One theory was Jack Saywell killed his Protestant parents because he wanted to wed his Catholic girlfriend.

“They had actually said to Jack, you know, if you marry a Catholic, we will disinherit you, which is a big deal when your parents are loaded,” Adams says.

Another possible suspect was a “foreign hawker” who was enraged after Mrs Saywell slammed the door on him that day.

Former NSW premier Jack Lang.

The case was a sensation in the press.

An intriguing third possibility was the murder was a revenge hit related to the “tin hares scandal”, which reached all the way to then premier Jack Lang’s office.

At the 11th hour, Mr Lang had awarded Mr Saywell’s firm a lucrative licence to run tin hare greyhound racing, at the expense of another company that was expected to prevail.

Police found a bloody singlet hidden in Jack’s locked desk, a size 7 slipper print in the garden, and the murder weapon nearby, but the investigation ultimately hit a dead end.

“The coroner had to return an open verdict … and it would go down as a mystery,” Adams says.

To listen to the interview, search “In Black and White” on the Apple Podcasts app or Spotify, or go to heraldsun.com.au/ibwpodcast.