22nd March 1926

Missing banker is discovered in a Jersey cave

Authorities were initially baffled by the discovery of a man in the Pirate Cave at Corbiere in April 1926. It was only a month later that they could say who he was and how he had come to land there. He was Emil Stiller, a Glaswegian banker, formerly manager of the Anglo-Austrian Bank, who had gone missing from his London home on 22 March 1926.

A gruesome discovery

His body, which showed every sign of having been lying in the cave for several days, was discovered by Edward Newton, who was holidaying in Jersey from his home in Greenwich. Described as being about 70 years old, the victim was determined to have died of a heart affliction, and probably expired in situ as it would have been impossible for him to have been washed up to the level he was at by the tide. The only clue police had was a Glasgow bootmaker’s address sewn into his shoes.

Inquiries on the mainland eventually helped identify Stiller which, although not good news for his relatives, will at least have brought them some certainty. They had offered a reward of £20 for any information on his whereabouts, giving a brief description which included that the former banker spoke with a foreign accent and, after slipping over in the winter, had been suffering headaches.

Stiller was said to have become absent-minded, suggesting that the fall had been more serious than his relatives had imagined, and may have contributed to his death in the cave after an unknown period spent sheltering there.