Regarding the marks on the wall in No. 9 Miller’s Court, which some see as initials, secret writing, etc.
Dr. Thomas Bond describes the marks on the wall--twice. There is no mystery whatsoever: the thin lines are arterial blood spray.
From Bond’s report, 10 November 1888. HO 49301C/21
“In the Dorset Street case, he must have attacked from in front or from the left, as there would be no room for him between the wall and the part of the bed on which the woman was lying. Again, the blood had flowed down on the right side of the woman and spurted on the wall.”
Bond’s second report, 16 November 1888, sent to Robert Anderson, is even more blatant. MEPO 3/3153. ff. 10-18
“The wall by the right side of the bed & in a line with the neck was marked by blood which had struck it in a number of separate splashes.”
Pretty difficult to talk your way around that one.
Horrifically, Mary Kelly was alive and conscious when attacked. Had she been strangled to death, her heart would have stopped beating, and there would have been no blood pressure. As her throat was cut, she attempted to jerk her head away, and this led to the up and down pattern on the wall. Such patterns are not uncommon in knife attacks when the victim is struggling.
And it is, of course, inconceivable that Bond, writing privately to the Home office and to the Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, would have failed to mention a message written in blood—had there been one.
As for Kelly being throttled, there is no reason to suppose this. Knife wounds frequently leave bruising on the edges, and the arterial spray disproves any suggestion of strangulation.
Now that we have that settled, let me suggest a musical interlude. "F.M." by Steely Dan. "Feed her some hungry reggae..."
Dr. Thomas Bond describes the marks on the wall--twice. There is no mystery whatsoever: the thin lines are arterial blood spray.
From Bond’s report, 10 November 1888. HO 49301C/21
“In the Dorset Street case, he must have attacked from in front or from the left, as there would be no room for him between the wall and the part of the bed on which the woman was lying. Again, the blood had flowed down on the right side of the woman and spurted on the wall.”
Bond’s second report, 16 November 1888, sent to Robert Anderson, is even more blatant. MEPO 3/3153. ff. 10-18
“The wall by the right side of the bed & in a line with the neck was marked by blood which had struck it in a number of separate splashes.”
Pretty difficult to talk your way around that one.
Horrifically, Mary Kelly was alive and conscious when attacked. Had she been strangled to death, her heart would have stopped beating, and there would have been no blood pressure. As her throat was cut, she attempted to jerk her head away, and this led to the up and down pattern on the wall. Such patterns are not uncommon in knife attacks when the victim is struggling.
And it is, of course, inconceivable that Bond, writing privately to the Home office and to the Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, would have failed to mention a message written in blood—had there been one.
As for Kelly being throttled, there is no reason to suppose this. Knife wounds frequently leave bruising on the edges, and the arterial spray disproves any suggestion of strangulation.
Now that we have that settled, let me suggest a musical interlude. "F.M." by Steely Dan. "Feed her some hungry reggae..."
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