JtR FINAL Victim Body to be exhumed

[RockySullivan]

I donīt think that there will be any exhumation.

If there was, my hunch is that it will prove impossible to tell which bones belong to which person.

I have grave doubts about the suggested identification of Kelly.

... but if it all comes together, if they find Kelly and if they provide her with an identity, then it will be one of the greatest leaps forward in Ripper research, opening up huge opportunities for further research.

I think your right. It's a front the author knows they won't be able to locate kellys bones

[pinkmoon]

What will happen is that the author will claim (after selling a load of books) that he can only prove his case if he is allowed to dig mary up but he will tell us that the nasty authorities won't allow it so it's their fault not his that this can't be solved.

[Errata]

I think your right. It's a front the author knows they won't be able to locate kellys bones

Unless she was buried with a bunch of other women hacked to death by knives, the have a pretty good chance of figuring out which bones are hers. They only need to find one bone with knife marks on it to assemble her complete skeleton. Her skull, ribs, pelvis, and one femur should all have blade marks on them. If she was wrapped in a shroud, then all her bones will be in that shroud. If not, it's still a pretty simple series of DNA tests.

Unless the argument is that she isn't in that grave at all, they can locate her bones. The question is whether or not it's a good enough reason to disinter her.

[RockySullivan]

Is her marker accurate? If they dig once and the grave turns out to be in the wrong spot, are they going to keep digging?

[Errata]

Is her marker accurate? If they dig once and the grave turns out to be in the wrong spot, are they going to keep digging?

Well, I doubt they are digging her up merely to confirm her location, so yeah. I bet if they don't find her they keep digging.

[Natasha]

I think, as others have said, that it may be possible to identify which bones belonged to MJK by the extent of the injuries to the bones.

Forgive me prosecutor, but I'm a bit cynical as to your claims as to being a relation as you have stated that you will wait to see how the book sales go before going ahead with the exhumation dna etc. Why not do all this first before making these claims?

Also just out of interest do you have any pictures of EWD?

[Dane_F]

The biggest issue will be finding the correct grave location. I couldn't imagine, having found the correct location finding the body would be very hard since its in a clearly marked casket which had a brass plate naming MJK.

I thought that was the issue Prosector had mentioned when he talked to the people who take care of the graveyard, along with possibly no DNA being able to be collected. I could be wrong however.

[Livia]

I don't think it's unreasonable for Dr Davies to try and
make some money in order to defray the costs involved
in an exhumation and dna testing.

He's probably already spent a small fortune in researching
his family and the other people involved in the EWD story:
the Edwards, the Vane-Tempests, the Maundrells, the MacLeods,
the Craigs and the Weston-Davies.

He's going to have to pay for his own dna to be tested,
the remains to be tested (one of the stipulations of the
permit to exhume is a signed contract with a reputable
dna lab). He'll have to hire someone with expertise in using
a geo-phys metal detector type device, pay the cemetery
for the grave opening, hire someone with archaeological
expertise to properly handle the remains and a videographer
to record the experience and then rebury the remains
once the project is completed. It will be like producing
a Time Team episode on a smaller scale.

I wish him the best of luck and I hope he finds an
answer to what he's been looking for, one way or
another.

[Robert]

Well said, Liv.

[richardnunweek]

Absolutely...a lot of expense , and effort, maybe for nothing..?
I however wished that the author, had not expressed the book sales, as to whether, or not, he will proceed with the digging , for it has fuelled many nagging doubts.
Regards Richard.

[GUT]

Absolutely...a lot of expense , and effort, maybe for nothing..?
I however wished that the author, had not expressed the book sales, as to whether, or not, he will proceed with the digging , for it has fuelled many nagging doubts.
Regards Richard.

I agree Richard, to say DNA will prove it and I'll do the DNA if the book sells well, just isn't right. In my opinion.

[Sally]

Did Dr Davies actually say that he would proceed with the exhumation only if the book sales were good enough? I thought he said that should anybody demonstrate subsequent to publication, that EWD could not be MJK then he wouldn't go ahead since it would be pointless. But perhaps I'm wrong about that?

[Robert]

I can't remember exactly what he said, but it makes sense to wait and see if anyone can find EWD in the records after 1888.

[GUT]

The quote in a paper here was

"I will proceed with the exhumation depending on the reaction to the book".

[Robert]

Well, that might mean that he'll do it if he can afford it, or he won't do it if hardly anyone cares, or he won't do it if someone disproves his theory...