Evidence

[ghoulstonstreet]

Evidence is the one thing that is sadly lacking in this case, due to time, careless storage and unprincipled people who took souvenirs. But I would like input from you folks who know, about the whereabouts of items that could still exist. Here's a short list:
The kidney sent to Lusk
The piece of apron
The letters
Anything saved from Kelly's room
Negatives of the photos
Prints from the negs
Stamps tested by Cornwall's people
Anything saved from the victims: cachous, clothing, combs, whatever

[JTRSickert]

Hey ghoulston. Here are some possible answers to your queries.

1. Lusk kidney-according to the letter (if it was from the killer), it was eaten. If not, the killer most likely kept it as a trophy. Also, there's the unlikely scenario of it being sold on the black market.

2. The piece of apron may have been destroyed once it was determined to be of little or no value once the case was closed. Or, someone ( a copper) may have kept it as a rather gruesome souvenir.

3. Most of the stuff in Kelly's room (the clothing, for example) was burned in the fire to illuminate the room while the killer used the light to see so he could mutilate the body.

4. More and more photos of people, places, and things related to this case are turning up all the time. So, if negatives weren't destroyed it's possible they are laying around somewhere, either in some individual's possessions or stored in one or 2 other archives

5. Since most of the letters are considered to be hoaxes, they present little if any worth as "evidence." However, I do not deny they are fascinating and 1 or more is possible to have come from the killer. Most are stored in the London Public Records office and the Scotland Yard archives. Also, new authentic letters keep surfacing so many others may be kept away in private residences.

That's all I can think of regarding some of the questions you had.

[ghoulstonstreet]

Thanks for your input. Probably some do gooder decided to throw away the apron years later, if it was kept by someone as a souvenir. Same with the partial kidney sent to Lusk (the uneaten part). But Ironically, if any of these things were shoplifted and remain in someone's private collection, that is the best possible place for them if they can now be returned, such as the photos and documents were.

[mklhawley]

Thanks for your input. Probably some do gooder decided to throw away the apron years later, if it was kept by someone as a souvenir. Same with the partial kidney sent to Lusk (the uneaten part). But Ironically, if any of these things were shoplifted and remain in someone's private collection, that is the best possible place for them if they can now be returned, such as the photos and documents were.

...and DNA evidence is so close, yet so far. We could, with permission, exhume bodies of suspects in order to attain DNA, but there is nothing to match it with.

Didn't one of the victims have syphilis, and might that have been transmitted to JTR? I'm not sure if homosexual relationships can transmit syphilis, and if not, it would certainly be a shock if Tumblety's body had it.

Sincerely,

Mike

[kensei]

With the various items in Mary Kelly's room, apart from her clothes I'm assuming most of it belonged to her landlord John McCarthy- the furniture, perhaps even the painting of "The Fisherman's Widdow" on the wall. Tenants lived in the room after Mary and presumably used the same stuff. Perhaps someone has a record of what became of everything in McCarthy's estate after his death.