TASSELL’S PRIDE – THE QUEENSLAND RACING ATROCITY THAT REMAINS UNSOLVED 43 YEARS ON

02/07/15 Certain things stick in your mind forever. Some of the atrocities one sees hears or reads about, never go away. A young 20-year-old woman like Sharron Phillips vanished off the face of the earth one night in May 1986 when her car broke down on Ipswich Road. She was never seen again. She’s just one of scores of similar mysteries that we encounter along this journey called life. And the fact that there is never a conclusion to the mystery defies belief. Imagine if she was our sister, daughter, or granddaughter, one would never get over it without a person or persons being convicted. But away from the plethora of human tragedies, there’s one racing atrocity though that has always bugged the hell out of me. I turn 60 in 2015 but as a 15YO teenager attending Maryborough Boys High School in September 1971 the entire town was reeling in shock when news broke that some pathetic excuse for a human had sexually attacked the most promising pacer in the trotting city – Tassell’s Pride. Trotting in Maryborough was near and dear to me. I even went on and married the daughter of the man who used to be the gatekeeper at the track for Saturday meetings. I’d been taken to the trots in that city on the odd occasion when my parents would give me a Saturday afternoon off milking or ring-barking trees, or allied duties at their dairy farm. It was like winning Lotto if I could go to the Maryborough trots with the wonderful man who I dubbed “my second father”. He introduced me to a chap named Stan Tappenden, a diminutive man who wore many hats. Stan was the resident racecaller, local television personality and newspaper trotting man in the city. Stan stood right beside me when I called trots at the now defunct Maryborough showgrounds track as a 12YO kid in 1967 so that if I got into strife in a call, he could take over in an instant. So by the time I was a 15YO I knew all the Maryborough pacers. Some years ago on this website I wrote the tragic story of the Maryborough mare Tassell’s Pride being attacked by a person or persons unknown with a broken beer bottle and bleeding to death. Quite a long time after I’d written the story, a harness racing historian contacted me to advise me that he kept copious newspaper clippings of the day and he told me my story was “not factually correct”. He told me whilst various newspaper articles had stated the mare was attacked with a broken bottle, that was not what the autopsy revealed to be the cause of her death. So today I will reproduce newspaper articles that were written at the time of the vile attack, by the late Stan Tappenden - and others - and these articles will relay to my readers the turn of events that ended with the death of the top Maryborough mare. To set the scene, in April of 1970, Stan Tappenden writing in “The Queensland Trotter and Pacer” wrote the following: Local harness racing fans will watch with great interest the doings of one of our young horses, Tassell’s Pride, when she steps out in Brisbane early in April. The three-year-old daughter of Hanover Garrison-Tassell Green, is showing a ton of potential in Maryborough and has already won eight races here. Owned by Mrs Fay Gees and raced on lease by Mrs Margaret Taylor, Tassell’s Pride seems destined to prove a very handy horse. A bit on the small side, this doesn’t apparently limit the size of her heart, and here is a young lady who just doesn’t know how to give in. For a three-year-old she shows a ton of commonsense insofar as her actual racing is concerned. She is trained by Bernie Taylor, husband of the lessee, and Bernie has been in charge of the driving department in all of her wins. How she shapes up in the city remains to be seen, but I’ll miss my guess badly if she doesn’t do well, especially against her own age group.   In November 1970, again in “The Queensland Trotter And Pacer” Stan Tappenden wrote: A very successful partnership ended on October 24 when Mrs Margaret Taylor’s lease of Tassell’s Pride expired and the horse was handed back to her owner Mrs Fay Gees. Mrs Taylor, in association with her husband Bernie, who did the training and driving of the mare, had won 17 races with the game little Tassell’s Pride during the 12 months she had her under lease. Mrs Taylor gave her a few runs under the lights at Albion Park but she ran into Margate Boy and a couple of other topnotchers and failed to open her winning account at Headquarters. However, I believe that had Mrs Taylor allowed her to remain in Brisbane, she would eventually have won at The Park. Mrs Taylor, one of our youngest owners, got more fun from watching Tassell’s Pride (a real family pet and hobby horse) win in Maryborough than by allowing her to remain in Brisbane with the possibility of a win there.   So as you can see from Stan Tappenden’s second article Tassell’s Pride “won 17 races” in “12 months”.   Ten months later, on 1/9/71, in the local Maryborough daily newspaper the Maryborough Chronicle, the following was written in an article entitled “Vicious assault on city-bred trotter”: The five-year-old Maryborough-bred and owned trotter, Tassell’s Pride, may have to be destroyed because of a vicious assault of a sexual nature made on the mare in the early hours of yesterday morning. The malicious attack, believed to have been made with a broken, sharp bottle, inflicted serious internal injuries to the animal. The veterinary surgeon, who has been attending the mare at her home stables in Maryborough, says that if there are no signs of improvement in the animal within the next two days it would have to be destroyed. But the fact remains that whichever way the verdict goes the young mare’s racing career is finished. Late yesterday morning, Tassell’s Pride’s owner, Mr Tom Gees, said that if the mare could be saved he would not be racing her again. He said that he would probably put her out to stud, but if the injuries are too severe she may not even make the grade there. Mr Gees said that the assault on the animal was made sometime between midnight and daylight yesterday morning. “She was in a really bad way when I arrived here this morning”, he said. He said that when he had discovered that Tassell’s Pride had been damaged he had called in the veterinary surgeon who had injected the animal which was in “a lot of pain”. The injections had later taken effect and the mare appeared to be in less pain. Mr Gees described the assault as vicious and said, “I think someone must be a shilling short to do something like this.” He said this was the second time that Tassell’s Pride had been similarly assaulted. About 12 months ago the horse had been internally injured when assaulted by a person who used a tin can as an offensive article. This offence had occurred at about the same time as two mares had been assaulted in a sexual manner at Churchill Mines. Both of these mares had died as a result of detonators being used inside tin cans. He described Tassell’s Pride as a good natured, quiet mare and said that it was a pity that she had not been more temperamental with this kind of person. He said that owners of mares in the Maryborough district should be warned about this “sick kind of person” being at large in the community so they could take adequate precaution against similar offences being committed. Mr Gees said that Tassell’s Pride was due for two starts in Maryborough on Saturday. In her last five starts she had gained three places and a win and showed promise of a good racing future. He estimated that during her 18-month career she had won between $800 and $1000 in stake money. The five-year-old, which would have been worth at least $1000 in the open market anywhere, was not insured. Mr Gees said that he did not think it was necessary to insure the mare “as you just don’t expect these kinds of things to happen in a small place like Maryborough.” Tassell’s Pride was bred in Maryborough by Mr Gees. She was sired by New Zealander Garrison Hanover over Tassell Green. Mr Fred O’Brien of 245 Cheapside Street, Maryborough, as owner of one of the two mares which died at Churchill Mines following detonator explosions described yesterday’s attack on Tassell’s Pride as brutal. He said that only “a sadistic type person” would do this kind of thing and that the person “should be traced and locked up”. Mr O’Brien said that the spate of attacks on mares that had taken place in the Maryborough area over a 12-month period could have been made only by sexually perverted people who were “not fit to live at large in the community.” He felt that people who gave vent to sexually sadistic tendencies in this manner were a potential threat to the women of the community. Late yesterday afternoon Inspector J.V. McCarthy, of the Maryborough police, said that the matter had been reported (to police) and that inquiries were being made.   In a Maryborough Chronicle article that was written sometime between 2/9/71 and 11/9/71, it was stated in an article entitled “Trotter has improved”: The five-year-old Maryborough-bred and owned trotter, Tassell’s Price, may not have to be destroyed. Tassell’s Pride, which was due for two starts at the Maryborough Raceway tomorrow, was internally damaged when maliciously assaulted in a sexual manner during the early hours of Monday morning. The veterinary surgeon attending the mare said yesterday afternoon that the horse would not be destroyed in the immediate future, but its fate would not be known for another two or three weeks. He said that he had operated on the mare and inserted a plastic tube to drain fluid from the bladder. The operation had been successful, but the animal was “still a very sick horse”. The surgeon said that Tassell’s Pride’s future depended on her body’s reaction to the tube and the ability of the damaged tissue to heal. He said that her condition had improved since the operation on Tuesday afternoon. If Tassell’s Pride survived the next two to three weeks there was no reason to believe the injuries would affect her future racing career or breeding potential.   In a Sunday Sun article on Page 6 on 12/9/71 entitled “No soft soap for a fiend” the following was written: A trotting mare died in Maryborough last week. Not much news value in that, you might say – until you realise that mare died from the fiendish brutality of some human. Yes, Tassell’s Pride died because some fiend savagely attacked her with a broken bottle. She was a quiet animal, a good trotter who had won about $2000 in stakes. She couldn’t defend herself. A popular local trotter, Tassell’s Pride, was the sadist’s third victim in less than 12 months. The maniac has killed only mares. Male horses in the same yards as the victims were not molested. Meanwhile, Maryborough families are terrified that the mutilator’s twisted mind could turn to women or children. Many women are refusing to go outside their homes alone. Here’s hoping that somewhere, somehow the culprit is tracked down. And here’s hoping that he comes before a court that is fully seized with the enormity of his crime. A massive lesson should be handed out to this culprit but there’s good prospect that he will be given a kindly bond because someone has managed to impress the court that he is really just a maladjusted individual for whom we should all feel sorry. An awful lot of learned malarky flows from our courts these days. Little wonder so many people are saying it is harder to get into jail these days than it is to get out.   The Maryborough Chronicle at the same time wrote in an article entitled “Tassell’s Pride dies in agony”: Tassell’s Pride, the Maryborough trotter which was subjected to a vicious assault of a sexual nature a week ago, died early yesterday morning from injuries it had suffered. The five-year-old mare was found lying down in agony at about 6.30 a.m. yesterday and died shortly afterward. The assault on Tassell’s Pride was discovered last Tuesday morning when the mare was found in a lot of pain. It was believed she had been assaulted with a broken bottle. The mare, owned by Mr Tom Gee, had won between $800 and $1000 in stake money and was due for two starts last Saturday. It was worth at least $1000 and was not insured. Tassell’s Pride was similarly assaulted about 12 months ago and was internally injured when a tin can was used as an offensive article. After a post mortem had been conducted on the dead mare, the following article entitled “Brass rod pierced trotter’s bladder” was written in the Maryborough Chronicle: A post mortem on the body of the Maryborough trotter, Tassell’s Pride, had located a 10-1/2 in long brass rod which had pierced the horse’s bladder, Maryborough detectives said yesterday. The mare was subjected to a sexual attack last week and died early on Monday morning from injuries it had suffered. Detectives have taken possession of the rod, which is 1/4in in diameter and are continuing investigations into the attack. Tassell’s Pride, owned by Mr Tom Gees, was worth at least $1000 and was not insured. The body of the mare was burnt after the post mortem. Letters to the Editor of the Maryborough Chronicle poured in over the atrocity. One that appeared in that city’s newspaper was written by a female under the nom de plume of “Animal Lover” and entitled “Death of trotter” it read: Sir – I feel I must write this letter. I’m so furious. Having read in the Chronicle this morning of the death of the trotter, Tassell’s Pride, I’d like to ask what is being done about apprehending this fiendish person or people? One wonders just what kind of maniac we have living in our midst. Ask any of the local residents around that locality and they’ll tell you there has been a person seen sneaking around in the early morning hours. If I were called to pass judgment on the culprit you can rest assured it would be the severest I could think of. I’m not a horse owner, just an animal lover and a woman at that, but my punishment would be very effective – “ANIMAL LOVER.”   As has been written numerous times in the aforesaid text, Tassell’s Pride was owned by the Gees family. Some years ago, about 2011, I went to the Gees’ family home and asked if Mr Tom Gees would do a story with me, but his daughter told me that her father was in poor health and didn’t wish to discuss the topic. I respected the family’s wishes and thanked them and had no option but to walk away. But “Tom Gees Family” wrote the following letter to the Maryborough Chronicle soon after the mare’s death in 1971 and it was publicly displayed in the Maryborough Chronicle.  It read, in a letter to the Editor, entitled “Thanks To Vet”. Sir – Kindly allow us a little space to express our appreciation and thanks to the veterinary surgeon for the hard work and devotion to duty, kindness to both human and animal life at a time when, through the actions of some persons, we were subject to a cruel blow in the loss of a valuable and irreplaceable family pet, Tassell’s Pride. What a better world it would be if there were more men like him and fewer heartless brutes about. Here’s hoping that God will place the right judgement on both types. – TOM GEES FAMILY, Cheapside Street. So the human excrement that committed this atrocity to Tassell’s Pride walks free in our community to this day - in a crime that has never been solved. But at least the full story of what happened just on 44 years ago in Maryborough has today been brought to public account via newspaper and harness racing magazines of the day. We as a community can only hope that the human excrement that inflicted the slow painful death on Tassell’s Pride suffers a similar fate when their time comes to depart the mortal coil. “They” say “only the good die young”, so if that saying is true, then the perpetrator or perpetrators of this heinous act are probably still in our midst.
02/07/15 Certain things stick in your mind forever. Some of the atrocities one sees hears or reads about, never go away. A young 20-year-old woman like Sharron Phillips vanished off the face of the earth one night in May 1986 when her car broke down on Ipswich Road. She was never seen again. She’s just one of scores of similar mysteries that we encounter along this journey called life. And the fact that there is never a conclusion to the mystery defies belief. Imagine if she was our sister, daughter, or granddaughter, one would never get over it without a person or persons being convicted. But away from the plethora of human tragedies, there’s one racing atrocity though that has always bugged the hell out of me. I turn 60 in 2015 but as a 15YO teenager attending Maryborough Boys High School in September 1971 the entire town was reeling in shock when news broke that some pathetic excuse for a human had sexually attacked the most promising pacer in the trotting city – Tassell’s Pride. Trotting in Maryborough was near and dear to me. I even went on and married the daughter of the man who used to be the gatekeeper at the track for Saturday meetings. I’d been taken to the trots in that city on the odd occasion when my parents would give me a Saturday afternoon off milking or ring-barking trees, or allied duties at their dairy farm. It was like winning Lotto if I could go to the Maryborough trots with the wonderful man who I dubbed “my second father”. He introduced me to a chap named Stan Tappenden, a diminutive man who wore many hats. Stan was the resident racecaller, local television personality and newspaper trotting man in the city. Stan stood right beside me when I called trots at the now defunct Maryborough showgrounds track as a 12YO kid in 1967 so that if I got into strife in a call, he could take over in an instant. So by the time I was a 15YO I knew all the Maryborough pacers. Some years ago on this website I wrote the tragic story of the Maryborough mare Tassell’s Pride being attacked by a person or persons unknown with a broken beer bottle and bleeding to death. Quite a long time after I’d written the story, a harness racing historian contacted me to advise me that he kept copious newspaper clippings of the day and he told me my story was “not factually correct”. He told me whilst various newspaper articles had stated the mare was attacked with a broken bottle, that was not what the autopsy revealed to be the cause of her death. So today I will reproduce newspaper articles that were written at the time of the vile attack, by the late Stan Tappenden – and others – and these articles will relay to my readers the turn of events that ended with the death of the top Maryborough mare. To set the scene, in April of 1970, Stan Tappenden writing in “The Queensland Trotter and Pacer” wrote the following: Local harness racing fans will watch with great interest the doings of one of our young horses, Tassell’s Pride, when she steps out in Brisbane early in April. The three-year-old daughter of Hanover Garrison-Tassell Green, is showing a ton of potential in Maryborough and has already won eight races here. Owned by Mrs Fay Gees and raced on lease by Mrs Margaret Taylor, Tassell’s Pride seems destined to prove a very handy horse. A bit on the small side, this doesn’t apparently limit the size of her heart, and here is a young lady who just doesn’t know how to give in. For a three-year-old she shows a ton of commonsense insofar as her actual racing is concerned. She is trained by Bernie Taylor, husband of the lessee, and Bernie has been in charge of the driving department in all of her wins. How she shapes up in the city remains to be seen, but I’ll miss my guess badly if she doesn’t do well, especially against her own age group.   In November 1970, again in “The Queensland Trotter And Pacer” Stan Tappenden wrote: A very successful partnership ended on October 24 when Mrs Margaret Taylor’s lease of Tassell’s Pride expired and the horse was handed back to her owner Mrs Fay Gees. Mrs Taylor, in association with her husband Bernie, who did the training and driving of the mare, had won 17 races with the game little Tassell’s Pride during the 12 months she had her under lease. Mrs Taylor gave her a few runs under the lights at Albion Park but she ran into Margate Boy and a couple of other topnotchers and failed to open her winning account at Headquarters. However, I believe that had Mrs Taylor allowed her to remain in Brisbane, she would eventually have won at The Park. Mrs Taylor, one of our youngest owners, got more fun from watching Tassell’s Pride (a real family pet and hobby horse) win in Maryborough than by allowing her to remain in Brisbane with the possibility of a win there.   So as you can see from Stan Tappenden’s second article Tassell’s Pride “won 17 races” in “12 months”.   Ten months later, on 1/9/71, in the local Maryborough daily newspaper the Maryborough Chronicle, the following was written in an article entitled “Vicious assault on city-bred trotter”: The five-year-old Maryborough-bred and owned trotter, Tassell’s Pride, may have to be destroyed because of a vicious assault of a sexual nature made on the mare in the early hours of yesterday morning. The malicious attack, believed to have been made with a broken, sharp bottle, inflicted serious internal injuries to the animal. The veterinary surgeon, who has been attending the mare at her home stables in Maryborough, says that if there are no signs of improvement in the animal within the next two days it would have to be destroyed. But the fact remains that whichever way the verdict goes the young mare’s racing career is finished. Late yesterday morning, Tassell’s Pride’s owner, Mr Tom Gees, said that if the mare could be saved he would not be racing her again. He said that he would probably put her out to stud, but if the injuries are too severe she may not even make the grade there. Mr Gees said that the assault on the animal was made sometime between midnight and daylight yesterday morning. “She was in a really bad way when I arrived here this morning”, he said. He said that when he had discovered that Tassell’s Pride had been damaged he had called in the veterinary surgeon who had injected the animal which was in “a lot of pain”. The injections had later taken effect and the mare appeared to be in less pain. Mr Gees described the assault as vicious and said, “I think someone must be a shilling short to do something like this.” He said this was the second time that Tassell’s Pride had been similarly assaulted. About 12 months ago the horse had been internally injured when assaulted by a person who used a tin can as an offensive article. This offence had occurred at about the same time as two mares had been assaulted in a sexual manner at Churchill Mines. Both of these mares had died as a result of detonators being used inside tin cans. He described Tassell’s Pride as a good natured, quiet mare and said that it was a pity that she had not been more temperamental with this kind of person. He said that owners of mares in the Maryborough district should be warned about this “sick kind of person” being at large in the community so they could take adequate precaution against similar offences being committed. Mr Gees said that Tassell’s Pride was due for two starts in Maryborough on Saturday. In her last five starts she had gained three places and a win and showed promise of a good racing future. He estimated that during her 18-month career she had won between $800 and $1000 in stake money. The five-year-old, which would have been worth at least $1000 in the open market anywhere, was not insured. Mr Gees said that he did not think it was necessary to insure the mare “as you just don’t expect these kinds of things to happen in a small place like Maryborough.” Tassell’s Pride was bred in Maryborough by Mr Gees. She was sired by New Zealander Garrison Hanover over Tassell Green. Mr Fred O’Brien of 245 Cheapside Street, Maryborough, as owner of one of the two mares which died at Churchill Mines following detonator explosions described yesterday’s attack on Tassell’s Pride as brutal. He said that only “a sadistic type person” would do this kind of thing and that the person “should be traced and locked up”. Mr O’Brien said that the spate of attacks on mares that had taken place in the Maryborough area over a 12-month period could have been made only by sexually perverted people who were “not fit to live at large in the community.” He felt that people who gave vent to sexually sadistic tendencies in this manner were a potential threat to the women of the community. Late yesterday afternoon Inspector J.V. McCarthy, of the Maryborough police, said that the matter had been reported (to police) and that inquiries were being made.   In a Maryborough Chronicle article that was written sometime between 2/9/71 and 11/9/71, it was stated in an article entitled “Trotter has improved”: The five-year-old Maryborough-bred and owned trotter, Tassell’s Price, may not have to be destroyed. Tassell’s Pride, which was due for two starts at the Maryborough Raceway tomorrow, was internally damaged when maliciously assaulted in a sexual manner during the early hours of Monday morning. The veterinary surgeon attending the mare said yesterday afternoon that the horse would not be destroyed in the immediate future, but its fate would not be known for another two or three weeks. He said that he had operated on the mare and inserted a plastic tube to drain fluid from the bladder. The operation had been successful, but the animal was “still a very sick horse”. The surgeon said that Tassell’s Pride’s future depended on her body’s reaction to the tube and the ability of the damaged tissue to heal. He said that her condition had improved since the operation on Tuesday afternoon. If Tassell’s Pride survived the next two to three weeks there was no reason to believe the injuries would affect her future racing career or breeding potential.   In a Sunday Sun article on Page 6 on 12/9/71 entitled “No soft soap for a fiend” the following was written: A trotting mare died in Maryborough last week. Not much news value in that, you might say – until you realise that mare died from the fiendish brutality of some human. Yes, Tassell’s Pride died because some fiend savagely attacked her with a broken bottle. She was a quiet animal, a good trotter who had won about $2000 in stakes. She couldn’t defend herself. A popular local trotter, Tassell’s Pride, was the sadist’s third victim in less than 12 months. The maniac has killed only mares. Male horses in the same yards as the victims were not molested. Meanwhile, Maryborough families are terrified that the mutilator’s twisted mind could turn to women or children. Many women are refusing to go outside their homes alone. Here’s hoping that somewhere, somehow the culprit is tracked down. And here’s hoping that he comes before a court that is fully seized with the enormity of his crime. A massive lesson should be handed out to this culprit but there’s good prospect that he will be given a kindly bond because someone has managed to impress the court that he is really just a maladjusted individual for whom we should all feel sorry. An awful lot of learned malarky flows from our courts these days. Little wonder so many people are saying it is harder to get into jail these days than it is to get out.   The Maryborough Chronicle at the same time wrote in an article entitled “Tassell’s Pride dies in agony”: Tassell’s Pride, the Maryborough trotter which was subjected to a vicious assault of a sexual nature a week ago, died early yesterday morning from injuries it had suffered. The five-year-old mare was found lying down in agony at about 6.30 a.m. yesterday and died shortly afterward. The assault on Tassell’s Pride was discovered last Tuesday morning when the mare was found in a lot of pain. It was believed she had been assaulted with a broken bottle. The mare, owned by Mr Tom Gee, had won between $800 and $1000 in stake money and was due for two starts last Saturday. It was worth at least $1000 and was not insured. Tassell’s Pride was similarly assaulted about 12 months ago and was internally injured when a tin can was used as an offensive article. After a post mortem had been conducted on the dead mare, the following article entitled “Brass rod pierced trotter’s bladder” was written in the Maryborough Chronicle: A post mortem on the body of the Maryborough trotter, Tassell’s Pride, had located a 10-1/2 in long brass rod which had pierced the horse’s bladder, Maryborough detectives said yesterday. The mare was subjected to a sexual attack last week and died early on Monday morning from injuries it had suffered. Detectives have taken possession of the rod, which is 1/4in in diameter and are continuing investigations into the attack. Tassell’s Pride, owned by Mr Tom Gees, was worth at least $1000 and was not insured. The body of the mare was burnt after the post mortem. Letters to the Editor of the Maryborough Chronicle poured in over the atrocity. One that appeared in that city’s newspaper was written by a female under the nom de plume of “Animal Lover” and entitled “Death of trotter” it read: Sir – I feel I must write this letter. I’m so furious. Having read in the Chronicle this morning of the death of the trotter, Tassell’s Pride, I’d like to ask what is being done about apprehending this fiendish person or people? One wonders just what kind of maniac we have living in our midst. Ask any of the local residents around that locality and they’ll tell you there has been a person seen sneaking around in the early morning hours. If I were called to pass judgment on the culprit you can rest assured it would be the severest I could think of. I’m not a horse owner, just an animal lover and a woman at that, but my punishment would be very effective – “ANIMAL LOVER.”   As has been written numerous times in the aforesaid text, Tassell’s Pride was owned by the Gees family. Some years ago, about 2011, I went to the Gees’ family home and asked if Mr Tom Gees would do a story with me, but his daughter told me that her father was in poor health and didn’t wish to discuss the topic. I respected the family’s wishes and thanked them and had no option but to walk away. But “Tom Gees Family” wrote the following letter to the Maryborough Chronicle soon after the mare’s death in 1971 and it was publicly displayed in the Maryborough Chronicle.  It read, in a letter to the Editor, entitled “Thanks To Vet”. Sir – Kindly allow us a little space to express our appreciation and thanks to the veterinary surgeon for the hard work and devotion to duty, kindness to both human and animal life at a time when, through the actions of some persons, we were subject to a cruel blow in the loss of a valuable and irreplaceable family pet, Tassell’s Pride. What a better world it would be if there were more men like him and fewer heartless brutes about. Here’s hoping that God will place the right judgement on both types. – TOM GEES FAMILY, Cheapside Street. So the human excrement that committed this atrocity to Tassell’s Pride walks free in our community to this day – in a crime that has never been solved. But at least the full story of what happened just on 44 years ago in Maryborough has today been brought to public account via newspaper and harness racing magazines of the day. We as a community can only hope that the human excrement that inflicted the slow painful death on Tassell’s Pride suffers a similar fate when their time comes to depart the mortal coil. “They” say “only the good die young”, so if that saying is true, then the perpetrator or perpetrators of this heinous act are probably still in our midst.
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