A headless corpse, a dodgy investigation, a bloody axe and a family in turmoil.

But this tale of mystery and deceit is much closer to home.

The story of a headless body found floating in a creek at Tocal will be brought to life during the Tales of Tocal – The Mystery In The Creek.

Performed by the cast and crew of Upstage Youth Theatre, the play tells the story of the discovery of the body and the drama that followed.

“In 1874 a headless corpse was found floating in Webbers Creek on the Tocal Homestead estate,” director Andrew Coates said.

“Story has it that a young stockman went down to the creek for a drink and he came across the body. The corpse had been there for six weeks and no one, to this day, knows who the person was.

“This was news that really rocked the colony.”

Mr Coates, who also wrote the play with his wife Ann Croger, said there are many interesting aspects of the story including the level of seniority involved in solving the crime.

“There was a doctor from Maitland, who was basically the head surgeon in the Hunter, was called in to perform the autopsy and he did that very quickly and the body was buried straight away,” Mr Coates said. “And at one point the body was exhumed for investigation, but the identity of the body was still not determined.”

Members of an Irish family living on the estate had been implicated in the murder.

“They were implicated because an axe was found in their hut with blood on it and they also had blood on some of their clothes so they spent several months at Maitland Gaol without being charged,” Mr Coates said. “When I first read about the murder I knew it would lend itself to a play, especially at this location.

“What I found difficult was treading the line between the history side of it and also making it entertaining, so we’ve added a few characters and twisted history a little bit.”

The body is buried in Paterson cemetery.

❏ The Mystery In The Creek opens on Friday, February 17, and ends on Saturday, February 25. For tickets phone 4939 8901.