Letter sparks Aussie murder probe

Police in South Australia have reopened a century-old murder investigation after a written confession was discovered.

In the letter, written in 1932 before his own death, local undertaker Gustav Maerschel admits to stabbing a wealthy British man during a heated argument.

The letter was found during renovations to a historic house in Birdwood, 50km (31 miles) from Adelaide.

On Monday, police dug up a bone after searching the house for human remains.

In the letter, Maerschel confesses to stabbing an unnamed Englishman in the 1800s and then burying him under a pear tree in the backyard.

"That incident has always been on my conscience but I have told no one," Maerschel wrote in the letter, read out by Det Sr Con Bob Sharpe.

The confession was found hidden behind a mantelpiece during refurbishment work to the house.

Mr Sharpe said: "The letter says that shortly after the gentleman moved here to Birdwood, he had several arguments with an English gentleman, as he calls him, a gentleman from London.

"During one of these arguments, the man from London has taken out a knife and there has been a bit of struggle.

"The fellow writing the letter has taken possession of the knife and stabbed the victim, one stab wound as we believe."

Mr Sharpe said Maerschel wrote that he had not been a suspect in the murder inquiry at the time.

Police cut down the pear tree and dug 1.2 metres (4ft), and found a bone which will be examined by pathologists to determine if it is human.