On the night of Wednesday, January 30, 1952, Constable George Howell rode his police bicycle to the Crystal Palace Theatre on Dandenong Road in Caulfield. He had been assigned to investigate and prevent the numerous thefts from cars which occurred in the vicinity. About 10.35 p.m. Constable Howell intercepted a man tampering with a Morris Minor motor car. After a struggle the man ran off and the Constable ran after him. The offender then shot the Constable in the stomach with a sawn-off .22 calibre rifle. Although unarmed and mortally wounded the Constable continued to chase the gunman before collapsing in the centre of Normanby Road. The offender then escaped. Although in shock and terrible pain and lapsing in and out of consciousness he was able to give a description of his assailant to bystanders who assisted him and to police who arrived shortly after. Crucially to the later trial he identified a hat and other items as belonging to the offender. Rushed to the Alfred Hospital for emergency surgery Constable George Howell died in the early hours of February 1, 1952. A skilful investigation primarily based on articles found at the crime scene and information from Constable Howell led to the arrest and subsequent conviction of a well known and active criminal.

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POLICE DRAW DRAGNET TIGHTER ROUND KILLER OF CONSTABLE

The hunt for the man who shot dead Constable George Howell at Caulfield is getting hot. Police have gathered much valuable information which may lead to his arrest.
Scores of armed police, working in twos and threes, made a series of surprise raids last night on suburban haunts and homes of known car thieves.
After a courageous fight for life, Constable Howell died in Alfred Hospital yesterday from the bullet wound he received in the stomach while chasing a car thief on Wednesday night.
Detectives have a fairly accurate description of the killer, and have narrowed the hunt down to the metropolitan area.
The man they are seeking is thought to have been responsible for about nine thefts from parked cars outside the Crystal Palace Theatre since mid-December.
The man was in the act of robbing another car near the theatre, after unlocking it, with a duplicate key, when he was challenged by Constable Howell.
He was fast seen running along Normanby rd., Caulfield, near the railway viaduct where the shooting occurred.
The man has an unusually large head. The hat he dropped while being chased is size 7 1/4.
The hat is one of the best clues in police hands. It is a black "Continental" type "pork-pie" model, several years out of fashion.
The hat has an unusually narrow brim, and a wide black band of a type not seen on modern hats. The bow on the band is ripped, and hanging loosely.
Police also have a set of car thieves' tools dropped by the gunman. These tools have been examined by scientific experts.
Fingerprints have been obtained from cars which had been parked outside the theatre on the night of the shooting, and police have contacted several people who saw the killer running away from the viaduct.
After Constable Hosvell died at 5.40 a.m. yesterday, doctors extracted from his back the bullet which had fatally wounded him. The bullet was of .22 calibre.
Police originally thought the gun used was of a heavy cahbie. Now it is thought to have been a sawed off pea-rifle.
Neither the gun nor the shellcase of the spent bullet has yet been found.
The wanted man's description is: About 26 years, 5ft., solid build, round face, ruddy complexion, large
head; wearing Donegal brown tweed coat over sports clothes.
Interstate police as well as all Victorian police, are watching for a man of this description.
Homicide squad chiefs in Melbourne said last night they had already had valuable aid from the public in their hunt and would appreciate still more help.
The killer dropped with his hat on Wednesday night a leather satchel containing, a screwdriver, a pair of tinsnips for cutting leads to car radios, a broken silver brandy flask with a round hinged top and 13 labeled car keys on a ring.
D24, police radio control, yesterday broadcast a detailed description of the keys to all Victorian police stations. A check will be made on garages and spare parts stores which sell such keys.

- The Argus, Saturday, February 2, 1952

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TRIBUTE PAID TO POLICE CONSTABLE

Six thousand people, many of them aged and in tears, yesterday attended the funeral of Constable George Howell, aged 26, who was fatally wounded by a man he was chasing at Caufield on Wednesday last.
Long before the service commenced, Ewing Memorial Presbyterian Church, East Malvern, was packed.
Thousands, including 500 uniform and plains-clothes comrades, waited in Burkeroad and surrounding streets.
Parked cars stretched for hundreds of yards.
In his funeral oration, Rev. C. T. F. Goy, who was a close friend of Constable Howell, said he was sure everyone shared his mixed feelings of shock, sorrow and righteous anger at the deed which had caused George Howell's death.
He added: "We are apt to take our police force for granted until something like this happens.
"Without that police force, there would be chaos and lawlessness leading to anarchy.
"The police are the guardians of our civil security. In their duty they take grave risks; even make the supreme sacrifice.
"We honor the name of this young man who made the supreme sacrifice in the pursuing of his duty. He has set a splendid example to others."
As it moved away from the church, the cortege was headed by mounted police and the police band, which played the Dead March.
At one stage, the procession was more than a mile long. Burial was at Chelterham Cemetery.

- The Age, February 5, 1952