It sometimes happens that the man who finds the body becomes the chief suspect and thats exactly how it was with Samuel Dodds, who worked at the Harbour Estate on Belfast Docks. On Tuesday, June 28th, 1955, Dodds went to the timekeepers office and finding it locked let himself in with his own key.
Inside he discovered the timekeeper, Samuel Stranix, 54, lying on the floor badly injured. By the time an ambulance arrived he was dead.
There didnt seem to be any motive, but the man who found the body was duly charged. The evidence was all circumstantial, and wasnt nearly enough to convince the jury, who after a six-day trial found Dodds not guilty.