{"id":24484,"date":"2018-03-13T10:37:17","date_gmt":"2018-03-13T10:37:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/?p=24484"},"modified":"2018-03-13T10:37:17","modified_gmt":"2018-03-13T10:37:17","slug":"marked-murder-bernard-vancuylenburg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/marked-murder-bernard-vancuylenburg\/","title":{"rendered":"MARKED FOR MURDER by Bernard VanCuylenburg"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\">MARKED FOR MURDER by Bernard VanCuylenburg<\/h1>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;\">The author of &#8220;above&#8221; has given us a &#8220;new name&#8221;, one that I accept with pride. &#8221; The A team&#8221; consists of,\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;\"> a)\u00a0\u00a0 the writer of &#8220;Marked for murder&#8221;himself. The name\u00a0Bernard VanCuylenberg, whose &#8220;Sigiriya-Sagas&#8221; have already been read, and thoroughly enjoyed by more than 20,000 members, plus many others, I suppose, of\u00a0eLanka, the &#8220;Premier&#8221; Website for Lankan\/Aussies, in particular, owned and &#8220;operated&#8221; in Sydney, Aust. by <\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;\"> b)\u00a0\u00a0 Neil Jayasekera, whose &#8220;Internet- expertise&#8221; is amply obvious, &amp;, in addition, runs a &#8220;tight Ship&#8221; with<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;\"> c)\u00a0\u00a0 &#8220;Yours truly&#8221;, taking on the role of 1st Lieutenant, <\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;\"> 58 years after leaving the Royal Ceylon Navy, to come to Australia, just to join another &#8220;Force&#8221; The &#8220;A&#8221; Team.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 From &#8220;reports&#8221; we have been getting, Bernard&#8217;s &#8220;Sigiriya Saga&#8217;s&#8221; have been read and thoroughly enjoyed by everyone who has taken the trouble to ingest what I would term &#8220;superb writing&#8221;. Hopefully, our readers out there, will not only read &#8220;our stuff&#8221;, they will then take the trouble to &#8220;comment&#8221;. We can NEVER get enough of &#8220;praise&#8221;, but if you are in a bad mood, and your comments are likely to be &#8221; rotten&#8221;, take them with you &amp; go &#8220;jump into the Yarra&#8221;.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It was rather difficult to find the relevant video for this particular &#8220;title&#8221; but, your 1st Lieutenant does not wish to be &#8220;keel-hauled&#8221; Sir, so I have come up with a favourite &#8220;Country-Star&#8221; of mine, Gene Watson to sing\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;\">&#8220;Ceylon&#8221;?, couldn&#8217;t have picked a better place to die&#8221;!<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;\"> Please listen to Gene, folks, there is none better, and I would know thousands of girls who would &#8220;die&#8221; for him.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;\">Desmond Kelly<\/span><\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> <span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;\"> Star of eLanka<\/span><\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> <span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;\"> (Editor-in-Chief).<\/span><\/strong><br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #00ccff;\">MARKED FOR MURDER by Bernard VanCuylenburg<\/span><\/h1>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/tUpGWkU6kbw?rel=0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">The sylvan surroundings, bracing climate and majestic mesmerizing landscapes of the\u00a0 tea estates\u00a0in\u00a0 the plantation districts of Sri Lanka specially in the hill country, are an inspiration to the poet, artist, and\u00a0philosopher. But beneath this facade\u00a0 of nature at her very best, lie tales of dark secrets and\u00a0 murder most foul, four of which I shall set down in this article. The four cases depicted\u00a0are factual to the last detail. Perhaps one that became famous for all the wrong reasons was the\u00a0 &#8216; The Whitehouse Murder &#8216; which took place in 1949. It was the English Bishop Reginald Heber who once said that &#8220;Every prospect pleases and only man is vile&#8230;&#8230;.&#8221; In the beautiful hill country with its desolate valleys, hills of carpeted green, and flora of every description, every prospect was pleasing to the point of spiritual intoxication, but only man proved to be vile as other human beings were marked for murder&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;<\/span><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">Mr. Bruce Whitehouse was the Superintendent on Madampe estate, Rakwana. Every month he travelled to\u00a0 Colombo to collect the staff\/labourers\u00a0wages. On these trips he always followed a set routine. Having collected the wages from the National &amp; Grindlays Bank, he would visit\u00a0 the Colombo Swimming Club for drinks and sometimes lunch, after which he drove back to Ratnapura. Mrs.Whitehouse usually accompanied him on these trips. Unknown to Mr.Whitehouse, his trips to Colombo and back were meticulously chartered and studied by none other than the\u00a0 kingpin of the underworld in Colombo at the time\u00a0 &#8211; a veritable Al Capone of the day &#8211;\u00a0 the notorious and much feared &#8220;Laathara Baas &#8220;. This worthy gentleman was responsible for many crimes, murder included, and had fallen foul of the law on several occasions, but thanks to a slick lawyer, he\u00a0always evaded being put away for life. &#8220;Laathara Baas&#8221; and his cronies were particularly interested in the trips Whithouse made to Colombo and back due to the large sum of money he carried on the return trip.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">The criminal network was so well organised that they knew the exact day he would leave the estate. It\u00a0 transpired later that on the return journey, he was\u00a0 followed to Ratnapura on a few occasions by a car which kept its distance, in order to ensure that the murderous plan these thugs had in mind would succeed when it was eventually\u00a0carried out. On that fateful day, true to form Whitehouse followed the script.&#8221;Humourous&#8221; is a word I do not care to use considering the events to follow, but into this drama comes\u00a0 the humble\u00a0 tomato !\u00a0Mr.Whitehouse had a fondness for tomatoes, and sometimes during these visits he would go to the Pettah market and purchase a sack or two of the best tomatoes to take back to his bungalow. On the day in question he did just that, and three sacks of tomatoes were placed in the boot of his car,\u00a0side by side with the bags of cash. Now it happened that the bags of tomatoes bore a close resemblance to the bags of cash stacked side by side, and the odd mix played an important part in this sordid tale as would be seen later. So dear reader, steel\u00a0\u00a0yourself for the action down the track, or in this case, along the Colombo &#8211; Ratnapura road. As usual on this day Whitehouse was followed to the bank, to his club, and then to the Pettah market\u00a0 &#8211; and from there to Ratnapura. In the vehicle trailing him were &#8220;Laathara\u00a0 Baas&#8221; himself and three of his hoodlums with intent to waylay the car at a designated spot, and steal the cash.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">Unaware that they were being followed Mr.&amp; Mrs.Whitehouse drove on, until at a sharp curve near the old bridge on the Ratnapura road\u00a0a vehicle suddenly overtook theirs and blocked the road. Mr.Whitehouse slammed on the brakes, and before he could\u00a0even begin to think, &#8220;Laathara Baas&#8221; and two of\u00a0 his sidekicks,fully armed and masked,\u00a0thrust a gun in his face demanding that he hand over the cash. If they thought that Whitehouse was an easy target, they thought\u00a0 wrong.\u00a0To their surprise he put up a defiant struggle, attempting to grapple with the thugs. It was three against one, and proved\u00a0futile. Incensed at being thwarted, the thugs responded inthe manner best known to them\u00a0\u00a0 &#8211; they shot Mr.Whitehouse at point blank range, and while his\u00a0horrified wife watched, opened the boot and took four bags of cash, making a quick getaway. Not quite\u00a0! &#8211; In their haste, thinking that the gunshot would by now attract some unwelcome attention,\u00a0they had taken two bags of tomatoes along with two bags of cash, leaving the rest of the bags in the boot. Mrs.Whitehouse meanwhile,\u00a0&#8211; full marks to this gallant lady, took the wheel and cradling her mortally wounded husband in her lap drove the car to the Palmgarden estate factory from where they attempted to get medical attention which was of no avail because Mr.Whitehouse died a few minutes later&#8230;&#8230;..<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">The full\u00a0 force of the law, and the best detectives worked on the case, which resulted in the arrest of &#8220;Lathara&#8221; Baas and his henchmen aftert three weeks. Following a trial which gripped the nation, &#8220;Laathara Baas&#8221; and his\u00a0 cronies went the way that all &#8220;good&#8221; criminals go. He and three of them were hung at the Welikade jail,\u00a0 while\u00a0 one got a life sentence and died in prison.\u00a0To this day, the bend in the road where this gruesome murder was committed is known as &#8220;Thakkali Wanguwa&#8221; (Tomato Bend). I have seen it and in fact on one occasion stopped\u00a0 awhile at this bend attempting to visualise in my minds eye the horrible events as they happened that awful day in 1949. Unfortunately not many are aware of this spot because the\u00a0 last book on this murder went out of print over fifty years ago, and with the passage of time events like this tend to\u00a0be shrouded in the mists of memory.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">In 1941 the Nuwaraeliya district was rocked by one of the most brutal murders which belied the bucolic charm of mountains\u00a0 valleys hills and dales,and life in those salubrious climes. I refer to the murder of Mr.George Pope, the Superintendent of Stellenberg Group, Pupuressa. There is a direct link to Carolina Group on which my Dad planted,\u00a0which I shall mention at the end of this episode. Mr.Pope was ever the strict disciplinarian and as tough as they came. He managed the estate with an iron fist, and woe betide anybody who stepped out of line. During this period, trade unions were formed on many plantations, and one day a group of labourers\u00a0met him and requested permission to form a trade union on Stellenberg. Not only was their request refused, but they were soundly berated and threatened with dire consequences as far as their employment on the estate was concerned, if they\u00a0 persisted with this demand.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">Dismayed at the manner of the refusal in what seemed to them\u00a0a\u00a0 reasonable request, and angered by the manner in which they were addressed,\u00a0the labourers held the matter in abeyance, and for awhile life on Stellenberg went on. Mr.Pope\u00a0\u00a0used to visit the\u00a0 Superintendent of the adjoining estate at least twice a month for dinner, and the latter would return the visit. He had a standing order that whenever he returned to the estate late at night, the tea maker on night duty or the factory officer had to telephone his bungalow and inform the bungalow appu to keep the garage doors open no sooner he passed the factory. On the night in question, Mr.Pope went\u00a0 over for the usual dinner rendevouz, and left very late. Driving along the road to his bungalow, a fair distance\u00a0 before the factory, the headlights of his car picked out some obstruction on the road which made it impossible for him to pass. It turned out to be the trunk of\u00a0 a tree, and if\u00a0 &#8211; there&#8217;s always an IF\u00a0 in cases like this &#8211;\u00a0 he had fined tuned his antenna it would have told him that something was not quite right. Call it bravery\u00a0 or foolhardiness, but he stopped the car, went upto the tree trunk and attempted to dislodge it giving him just enough room to pass. The labourers who had laid this trap were hiding in the tea bushes armed with pruning knives. No sooner did he reach the trunk and attempt to move it, they attacked him in a fury of pent up anger with the pruning knives, holding nothing back. On that dark lonely road, in the dead of night he was literally hacked to pieces not by one, but by six men who fled the scene having committed this dastardly deed. George Pope lay on that road of death, the flesh ripped from his body, his life blood slowly draining away.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">Meanwhile the bungalow appu, anxious that &#8216;The Master&#8217; had still not returned as it was now almost 1.00 AM, telephoned the\u00a0factory and expressed his concern to the tea maker, Mr.Ludowyke. Alarmed at this phone call, Mr.Ludowyke organised a band of labourers and armed with &#8220;pandans&#8221; to light their way, went along the road leading out of the estate. Imagine their horror at finding Mr.Pope in a pool of blood breathing his last. The labourers\u00a0 cleared the road and Mr.Ludowyke drove the car to the factory the dying Mr.Pope by his side. He summoned the dispenser and then arranged for the wounded man to be taken\u00a0 to hospital. To no avail. Having tenuously clung to life,Mr.Pope breathed his last in a scene straight out of hell.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">Events took a quick turn after this. The Police were\u00a0 informed, and I dont know about the wheels of justice grinding slowly because in this case the opposite was true. They came to Stellenberg with all speed and in the early hours of the morning commenced their inquiries. Fate lent\u00a0 them a helping hand almost immediately because at the scene of the murder\u00a0 they found a door key to a line room.\u00a0At muster that\u00a0 morning, six labourers were missing and could not be found anywhere,including the would be union leader, Ramasamy Weeraswamy. Pieces of the jigsaw began falling into place when the key found at the scene fitted the door to his line\u00a0 room. He and the other five\u00a0 suspects had absconded. The police then threw all their resources into a search which encompassed most of the plantations in the area and before long, one by one, the five suspects were arrested\u00a0 &#8211; except for the union leader. He evaded the law for almost five months and seemed to have vanished. The Police had by then printed &#8216;Wanted&#8217; posters of the man\u00a0for distribution, which were circulated as far as Kandy. There is a lesson to be learned here. Never take anything or anybody for granted, least of all the humble\u00a0 barber with his scissors, comb and machine in his dingy saloon, unlike the fancy hairdressing saloons and\u00a0 boutiques of today. One such barber among many ran a small barber shop in Kandy with his assistant. One morning a\u00a0 scruffy looking character sauntered in\u00a0looking the worse\u00a0 for wear requesting a hair cut and shave. His unkempt hair and beard did not concern the barber for that was his trade. What he noted was the filthy state of the mans\u00a0shirt\u00a0 and sarong. He proceeded with the shave first, and then began the haircut. And this is where Alfred Hitchock could relate, or rather depict what followed with his sense of the dramatic like a scene in one of his classic movies, leaving the viewers biting their nails,\u00a0and digging into their arm rests, in jaw dropping suspense.\u00a0As he began cutting this customers hair, the face before him in the mirror accelerated his heartbeat as if he was walking a treadmill. Because, in the drawer of his little table at the back\u00a0 of the saloon there was a poster of the &#8216;Wanted&#8217; man handed out by the police\u00a0sometime ago. At the time of distribution the suspects hair was not long and resembled the face in the mirror before him !<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">Full credit to Captain Cool for not flinching or losing his nerve at this discovery. Politely telling his unsuspecting\u00a0client that he had to answer a call of nature, he asked his assistant to continue where he had left off, went to his room, checked the poster, and having scrutinized it once more went to the tailors shop next door and used their telephone to inform the police. Five heavily armed constables led by an Inspector made their way to the saloon, and the wanted man &#8211; the union leader, Ramasamy Weeraswamy\u00a0&#8211; meekly surrendered, realising that escape this\u00a0 time was impossible.\u00a0The long search of five months had\u00a0 ended. The case was heard by one of the finest Judges of the\u00a0 time, Justice Soertsz. Five of the accused, the union leader included were sentenced to be hung and kept their date with the hangman. The other\u00a0 accused was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment when it was conclusively proved that he had no direct link to the\u00a0 murder, but had aided and abetted the accused in plotting Mr.Pope&#8217;s murder. One of the names of the accused was\u00a0 Iyan Perumal Velaithen. I cannot recall the others after all these years. And here&#8217;s the &#8216;Carolina\u00a0 connection&#8221;. The Superintendent who succeeded George Pope was Arthur Doudney. Twenty years later he became\u00a0my Dad&#8217;s boss on Carolina Group. And George Pope, before\u00a0 he took charge of Stellenberg was Superintendent of Watawala\u00a0 Estate, Watawala, the estate just past Carolina, on the road to\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">Hatton. And there this story ends.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">Kenilworth Estate, Ginigathena can be reached from\u00a0 the Nawalapitiya &#8211; Hatton road, or travelling from Colombo, on the Yatiyantota &#8211; Hatton road.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">On any of these roads, it is the first estate before Carolina Group.\u00a0In the late thirties, the Superintendent was Mr.Roberts. Over a\u00a0 period of time after some careful scrutiny of the books, Mr.Roberts found that the chief clerk had misappropriated funds from the office to the tune of Rs.2000\/=. He summoned the man to his office who when confronted with the evidence, made a full confession. In normal circumstances this would have warranted an instant dismissal, but Mr.Roberts decided\u00a0 to give his chief clerk another chance to wipe the slate clean. He set a deadline, giving him a period of one month to return the money by a certain day. If the money was not returned the police would be informed. It was a magnanimous gesture, one to which the culprit readily agreed. Came the\u00a0 designated day and Mr.Roberts entered his office, summoning the chief clerk expecting the money to be returned. Unknown\u00a0 to him, this man had hidden the estate gun, fully loaded behind the office door. No sooner had\u00a0Mr.Roberts entered and sat at his desk, the clerk in a flash took the gun from behind the door and shot Mr.Roberts dead at point blank range. The clerk then turned the gun on himself and committed suicide.\u00a0The Managers bungalow was close to the factory and Mrs.Roberts\u00a0hearing the gunshots, thought\u00a0 that a pig was shot on the estate farm which happened\u00a0 to be in the vicinity. That was the tragic end of a Superintendent who paid the price for his act of kindness,\u00a0giving another human being a chance to redeem himself.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">Finally, there was the murder of the chief clerk, and the tea maker, both on the same night on Galboda Group, Galboda in 1954. Galboda was just past Mt.Jean division on Carolina Group. A young lad who had just left Ananda College having passed his exams, boarded the train from Colombo Fort, and after the arduous journey alighted at Galboda station and made his way to the office to report to the manager, an Englishman Mr.Andrew Murray. Somasiri had secured the position of junior clerk and was to commence work the next day. He was introduced to the chief clerk who would be his immediate superior. He settled in well and in time showed much promise. But soon the chief clerk in a spirit of fun, began to play some practical jokes on him and before long the situation got right out of hand and most of the office staff had a laugh at young Somari&#8217;s expense. On occasion the tea maker joined him. The lad bore this all in silent resignation, not wishing to retaliate in any manner lest he risked losing his job.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">One night the tea maker had a dinner party at his house and invited the chief clerk, and\u00a0some office staff, including young Somasiri. Their aim was to ply him\u00a0 with liquor and amuse themselves. Somasiri being one of the staff could not refuse the invitation, and reluctantly accepted. Unknown to anyone, he had gone to the estate blacksmith a few days before,\u00a0and requested him to make a\u00a0knife which he said he needed for his kitchen. This transpired in the inquest which followed, and it was remarked how strange it was that\u00a0the blacksmith did not have the least suspicion or\u00a0 doubts\u00a0about Somasiri&#8217;s unusual\u00a0request. On that fateful night, liquor flowed freely and before long the fun began with young Somasiri the whipping boy. He bided his time until his patience ran out. The chief clerk was the first victim. Pulling out the knife concealed inside his jersey (or Jumper) he\u00a0 stabbed the chief clerk through the chest with such force that the blade went right through the mans chest, and through the rear of the cane chair on which he was seated,according to\u00a0eyewitness evidence at the trial.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">The tea maker was the next victim. Retrieving the knife from the chief clerks mangled chest, he plunged it with full force into the tea makers stomach. You are talking of a youth of 21 years against men in their forties. These liquor sodden men did not stand a chance against their intended &#8220;victim&#8221; who was in the prime of his youth. . Most of those present fled in fear, and Somasiri stood beside the bodies of his victims and would not let anyone near. Nobody could approach him as he kept brandishing the blood soaked knife,\u00a0 threatening anybody who dared approach him with a similar fate.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">Meanwhile, \u00a0Mr.Andrew Murray, the Superintendent of Galboda was notified. He made his way to the scene and on seeing his boss, Somarisi calmed down. Mr.Murray in his usual gentle manner tactfully spoke to him, and convinced him\u00a0 to lay down the knife. Before long, thanks to Mr.Murray, the situation was brought under control.The police arrived, and when the case went to trial the accused was sentenced to twenty years imprisonment. Many witnesses testified in his favour highlighting the treatment he had received at the hands of the deceased. This evidence was what saved him from the gallows, and the defence had a strong case. It was remarked during the trial that such behaviour by grown up mature men such as the deceased persons, towards a novice starting out on lifes road was inconceivable.\u00a0I was ten years old at the time and can still remember recoiling in horror when I heard Mum and Dad discussing this case with some visitors. News of this crime spread through the plantations, and on a cold dark night, must have been the topic of conversation in front of many a blazing fire in the halls of\u00a0a far away estate bungalow.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">Many years ago I found myself in the Ratnapura cemetery. As is my wont, I proceeded to read the epitaphs on the tombstones until I came across one I have never forgotten. It read &#8221; Sacred to the memory of H.G.Ross, shot and fatally wounded on Galboda Group, Ratnapura, 17th April\u00a0 1937&#8243;.\u00a0 My\u00a0efforts in finding out the details of this murder were unsuccessful.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">Perhaps in the dead of night\u00a0on\u00a0an\u00a0estate somewhere,\u00a0one still hears\u00a0the plaintive voices of these victims, mingled with the howling wind as they appear in a ghostly re-enactment of these tragic events of long ago&#8230;&#8230;.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-23997 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Bernard-VanCuylenburg-e1520937199613.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"240\" height=\"175\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\"><strong>Bernard VanCuylenburg.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MARKED FOR MURDER by Bernard VanCuylenburg The author of &#8220;above&#8221; has given us a &#8220;new name&#8221;, one that I accept with pride. &#8221; The A team&#8221; consists of,\u00a0 a)\u00a0\u00a0 the writer of &#8220;Marked for murder&#8221;himself. The name\u00a0Bernard VanCuylenberg, whose &#8220;Sigiriya-Sagas&#8221; have already been read, and thoroughly enjoyed by more than 20,000 members, plus many others, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":24486,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"aside","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,3043],"tags":[3749,3746,3745,3747,3748,3750],"class_list":{"0":"post-24484","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-aside","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-articles","8":"category-bernard-vancuylenburg","9":"tag-andrew-murray","10":"tag-bishop-reginald-heber","11":"tag-marked-for-murder-by-bernard-vancuylenburg","12":"tag-mr-bruce-whitehouse","13":"tag-mr-ludowyke","14":"tag-the-superintendent-of-galboda","15":"post_format-post-format-aside"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.7.1 (Yoast SEO v25.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>MARKED FOR MURDER by Bernard VanCuylenburg<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The sylvan surroundings, bracing climate and majestic mesmerizing landscapes of the\u00a0 tea estates\u00a0in\u00a0 the plantation districts of Sri Lanka specially in the hill country, are an inspiration to the poet, artist, and\u00a0philosopher. But beneath this facade\u00a0 of nature at her very best, lie tales of dark secrets and\u00a0 murder most foul, four of which I shall set down in this article.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"MARKED FOR MURDER by Bernard VanCuylenburg\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The sylvan surroundings, bracing climate and majestic mesmerizing landscapes of the\u00a0 tea estates\u00a0in\u00a0 the plantation districts of Sri Lanka specially in the hill country, are an inspiration to the poet, artist, and\u00a0philosopher. 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