Bury - Mylett

[Aethelwulf]

Here is a something that I hadn’t previously noticed. This is an extract from the Taunton Courier (26th Dec '88) account of the Mylett case (original newspaper article is on JTR Forums):

“The cord with which the deceased was strangled, it is surmised from the marks, is about the thickness of a bootlace. This would be about the thickness of a sailor’s lanyard, and the peculiar knots described by Doctor Brownfield at the inquest are such that would be made by a sailor.”

Here is the dialogue from Bury’s trial about him purchasing his cord:

Janet Martin – That cord was very like the cord I gave the prisoner. There are knots on it, but I could not say how many were on the other.

Lord Young – The cord you gave him was knotted in the same way, but you did not count the knots?

Janet Martin – Yes

Bury, a proven knotted cord strangler, lived just over a mile from Poplar Street in December 1888. In early December 1888 he sold his horse and cart and was probably no longer visiting Whitechapel – for very good reasons I think, which I can elaborate if anyone is interested.

In the early hours when Mylett was murdered, a short man answering to the name of Bill was on Poplar High Street. Ellen referred to Bury as Bill.

It is also reported that as well as being known in Poplar, Mylett was also known in Bow.

[Abby Normal]

Here is a something that I hadn’t previously noticed. This is an extract from the Taunton Courier (26th Dec '88) account of the Mylett case (original newspaper article is on JTR Forums):

“The cord with which the deceased was strangled, it is surmised from the marks, is about the thickness of a bootlace. This would be about the thickness of a sailor’s lanyard, and the peculiar knots described by Doctor Brownfield at the inquest are such that would be made by a sailor.”

Here is the dialogue from Bury’s trial about him purchasing his cord:

Janet Martin – That cord was very like the cord I gave the prisoner. There are knots on it, but I could not say how many were on the other.

Lord Young – The cord you gave him was knotted in the same way, but you did not count the knots?

Janet Martin – Yes

Bury, a proven knotted cord strangler, lived just over a mile from Poplar Street in December 1888. In early December 1888 he sold his horse and cart and was probably no longer visiting Whitechapel – for very good reasons I think, which I can elaborate if anyone is interested.

In the early hours when Mylett was murdered, a short man answering to the name of Bill was on Poplar High Street. Ellen referred to Bury as Bill.

It is also reported that as well as being known in Poplar, Mylett was also known in Bow.

Interesting Wulf
Nice finding that connection.

In early December 1888 he sold his horse and cart and was probably no longer visiting Whitechapel – for very good reasons I think, which I can elaborate if anyone is interested.

Please do!

[Aethelwulf]

Please do!

No big reveal here, just stuff that I’ve mentioned before I’m afraid. I accept I’ll be in a minority of one with this though!

I know people think that the ripper went to ground or had some sort of breakdown after Kelly, but I think it much more likely he would want to relive the Kelly experience by trying the same thing again, as soon as possible. As I’ve pointed out before, the man that attacked Farmer has some interesting similarities to some of the other descriptions e.g. short to medium height, swarthy, medium/stout build, fair moustache, cut away coat, dark clothing, hard felt hat, neckerchief (one person said he looked like sailor but it’s hard to see why). I think this was a botched attack as described by Farmer. He let her go to sleep then tried to cut her throat. Given the blood spatter on Kelly’s wall, I think this is what he did there as well (i.e not strangled). The difference here I think was the first person on the scene said the room was pitch black, whereas there may have been light from the fire in Kelly’s room. I think in the dark he missed his first go, alerting Farmer, then desperately tried to get her, accounting for the 5 or 6 gaping wounds in her throat that Dr Phillips had to stitch up. I think she ended spending a fair while in hospital in the end. Does not sound self inflicted for a few pennies to me. Whereas the ripper was willing to chance a few screams at 4am going unoticed, 9.30 is more risky.

Anyway, what does this to do with Bury? We get a few extra bits of info on this man that could relate to Bury – carried a whip, so travelling by horse I think; scar on the neck – we don’t know Bury had a scar in 1888 but we do know he had a significant cut on his neck in 1884 as recorded on his police file. I think the neckerchief wearing as described by various witnesses was covering this scar. Interestingly the FBI profile does state that the ripper could have had what was a small physical deformity that although not significant he would have found physiologically crushing. Note Bury’s fuss about having his collar removed. Last point on this guy – Farmer knew him a year previous and had been in some sort of casual and abusive relationship with him – sounds familiar.

If Farmer’s man was the ripper, as well as being seen by various other witnesses, he now had the problem of a survivor and a handful of witnesses who saw him in broad daylight (one getting in a brief fight with him) in his prime hunting ground. I think Bury probably waited a while as not to appear to sus and then sold his horse and cart, started grwoig a beard as opposed to his August 1888 mustcahe only, and never set foot in Whitechapel again. Without his horse, Poplar would have been only a short walk from Bow and full of Bury’s favourite places – pubs. Interestingly, Mylett seems to have been only visiting Poplar and seems she spent a fair amount of time in Bow – perhaps as with Farmer, this wasn’t a random victim. Makes sense in both cases as by Nov/Dec, getting a stranger to trust him could have been an issue.

Basically, a long winded way of saying, the ripper almost got caught and left the immediate area, as other serial killers have done. As to why Mylett wasn’t mutilated, Bury seems to have been using other addresses than Bow. Perhaps without this intermediate stop to clean up and drop of his trophies/write a poison pen, he couldn’t feasibly go back to Bow straight off. If those other addresses were in Whitechapel, they would have been off limits for the potential of being recognised.
Anyway, the knotted cord clue is defo interesting, I think. Perhaps the reporting of a 'Bill' being in the area was the last straw that convonced to leave.

[Aethelwulf]

Talking of Farmer and the botched attempt, and what was almost a botched attempt on Kelly I suspect because of the screams, this sounds familiar - could almost be Millers Court. Ellen was also wearing only her chemise as per Kelly and Farmer and he burnt her clothing:

David Duncan – About three o’clock in the morning of Tuesday 5^th February I had occasion to get out of bed.

Lord Young – And while you were up did anything occur outside that attracted your attention?

David Duncan – Yes. I heard a woman scream three times in distress – desperate. I wakended Ann Johnston, calling her twice, and asked her if she had heard the screams, but she said "No".

Lord Young – Did the screaming stop?

David Duncan – At once.

Lord Young – Did you listen carefully for anymore screams?

David Duncan – Yes. I listened for an hour or more.

Lord Young – No more screams were heard?

David Duncan – No.

[Aethelwulf]

If a knotted cord was selected deliberately in both cases, what would be the point? The only things I can think of are grip for the holder and, rather grimly 'traction' on the throat. If the latter, it strikes me as something that could only be learnt be experience - so how many people had the person that killed Mylett strangled in the past?

Also makes me wonder what exactly Bury meant when he bought the cord - Janet Martin said he unloosed it and said 'that will do nicely'. Was it always meant for Ellen or was he planning on starting up operations in Dundee?

[Aethelwulf]

Dr Brownfield and Dr Phillips' thoughts on stragulation in the C5:

Dr Brownfield

"The question is," he said, "whether there is not another and still more striking point of resemblance. If this murder was the work of the same man the question is whether strangulation is not the beginning of all his operations. Does he strangle or partially strangle them first, and then cut their throats afterwards?"

Then Dr. Brownfield went on to explain why this was likely. "If his object is mutilation," "he said, he could cut their throats so much more cleanly and deliberately. And this would explain, too, how the murderer would be able to do his work without getting covered with blood."

"But, if the other victims had been first strangled would there not be postmortem indications?" - "If he cut along the throat line of the cord he would obliterate the traces of partial strangulation."

Dr Phillips:

With respect to the other murders Dr. Phillips points out that the retraction of the skin following immediately upon severance of the throat would immediately destroy the marks of the cord supposing it to have been first used.

[Aethelwulf]

Here is something some with an open mind on the case may find interesting. It was said of Mylett's cord mark that it passed all the way around the neck apart from couple of inches near the spine, the cord being pulled from the spine to left ear (caused by a cord drawn tightly round the neck, from the spine to the left ear). Brownfield thought the killer had crossed the cord and pulled, accounting for the gap.

Here is the description of the cord mark on Ellen Bury:

• There was a mark of constriction around the neck passing in front between the hyoid bone and the larynx, and maintaining this level all the way round with the exception of almost two inches on the left side of the neck where it tended slightly upwards

Obviously this is by no means conclusive but is another point of simialrity between the Ellen Bury murder and one of the east end victims.

• Suggestion of knotten cord on Mylett as with Ellen
• Similar mark suggests it was done in a similar way

We also have Bury very near Poplar and the reference to 'Bill'.

If any of the known suspects killed Mylett, I think there is a fair chance it was Bury.

[Aethelwulf]

Here is something some with an open mind on the case may find interesting. It was said of Mylett's cord mark that it passed all the way around the neck apart from couple of inches near the spine, the cord being pulled from the spine to left ear (caused by a cord drawn tightly round the neck, from the spine to the left ear). Brownfield thought the killer had crossed the cord and pulled, accounting for the gap.

Here is the description of the cord mark on Ellen Bury:

• There was a mark of constriction around the neck passing in front between the hyoid bone and the larynx, and maintaining this level all the way round with the exception of almost two inches on the left side of the neck where it tended slightly upwards

Obviously this is by no means conclusive but is another point of simialrity between the Ellen Bury murder and one of the east end victims.

• Suggestion of knotten cord on Mylett as with Ellen
• Similar mark suggests it was done in a similar way

We also have Bury very near Poplar and the reference to 'Bill'.

If any of the known suspects killed Mylett, I think there is a fair chance it was Bury.

Something else to consider. Based on the cord mark alone, Brownfield suggested that Mylett's killer had made a study of this form of strangulation. Clealry, based on the type of cord and resulting mark it left, here is a simialrity in the way Bury strangled Ellen. So either Brownfield was wrong and both Mylett's killer and Bury just got lucky in the way they did things, or both had a made a study of strangulation.

[Aethelwulf]

Here is something some with an open mind on the case may find interesting. It was said of Mylett's cord mark that it passed all the way around the neck apart from couple of inches near the spine, the cord being pulled from the spine to left ear (caused by a cord drawn tightly round the neck, from the spine to the left ear). Brownfield thought the killer had crossed the cord and pulled, accounting for the gap.

Here is the description of the cord mark on Ellen Bury:

• There was a mark of constriction around the neck passing in front between the hyoid bone and the larynx, and maintaining this level all the way round with the exception of almost two inches on the left side of the neck where it tended slightly upwards

Obviously this is by no means conclusive but is another point of simialrity between the Ellen Bury murder and one of the east end victims.

• Suggestion of knotten cord on Mylett as with Ellen
• Similar mark suggests it was done in a similar way

We also have Bury very near Poplar and the reference to 'Bill'.

If any of the known suspects killed Mylett, I think there is a fair chance it was Bury.

Something else to consider. Based on the cord mark alone, Brownfield suggested that Mylett's killer had made a study of this form of strangulation. Clealry, based on the type of cord and resulting mark it left, here is a simialrity in the way Bury strangled Ellen. So either Brownfield was wrong and both Mylett's killer and Bury just got lucky in the way they did things, or both had a made a study of strangulation.

There is circumstantial evidence, and there is circumstantial evidence. The non-event sort of circumstantial evidence is e.g. 'is this conversation with a policeman suspicious' or some sort of family lore.

Meaningful circumstantial evidence is thinking about whether it is a coincidence that a cruel, violent murderer that fits the profile of the killer, living a mile or so away from Poplar, who used prostitues, used the same sort of weapon (knotted cord) to strangle a woman in away that produced a near indentical mark all the way around the neck save a couple of inches. Is it a coincidence that based on the ligature mark Brownfield thought Mylett's killer was a skilled strangler and Bury basically did the same thing? Unfortuneately, the only point of reference as to where Bury was in December 1888 is on the 28th when Ellen found him at 5.30 am in Bow (odd time for someone who was employed in name only to be up and about) heading towards a pub and he beat her to the ground. Apparently he had been missing for a number of days. As he'd sold his horse and cart in early December, it is likely he was within walking distance of Bow.

It is far from perfect, but it terms of circumstantial evidence against a suspect for a non canonical victim, I haven't seen anything anywhere near as interesting.

[Aethelwulf]

I note that after 5 pages and 65 posts on the Mylett case by the researchers on JTR Forums (https://www.jtrforums.com/forum/ripp...ett-poll/page5), none of them seem to be aware of the uncanny similarity in weapon and virtually idnetical mark of strangulation inflicted by Bury, a man living a mile distant from Poplar at the time.

[Aethelwulf]

Bury's shortest route to Clarke's Yard.

The question is, how many murderers are we aware of that used a knotted cord to strangle a woman, and do so in a manner as to leave a level mark all the way around the neck apart from a couple of inches, probably by crossing the hands, within a mile of Poplar High Street in Dec 1888?

[Aethelwulf]

Bury's temper in late Dec 1888 (From Steve Earp's copy of the trial notes on his website). I understand this to mean Bury was at home in Bow for Christmas Day and then probably went missing Boxing Day, turning up again early on the 28th.

The third time was in end of December (28th) in Campbell Road (Bow). He had not been home for two nights. She told me (James Martin)—It was from half past five to six o’clock in the morning. I was in a public house and—Prisoner’s wife came in looking for her husband. I then saw him on the Street making for the public house. He looked in at the door and saw his wife and asked “what are you doing here”—and he hit her two or three times on the face and she fell.

As well as Bury's brazen ill treatment of Ellen, when her sister asked why she didn't report him she said 'he is cunning and hides his temper before people'. Ellen's sister also said Bury was always pleasant to her and always pleased to see her. So he could easily have lured victims with his facade of pleasantness IMO.

[Aethelwulf]

Just wondering about these two days Bury was missing nights of 26th/27th, 27th/28th Dec 1888 are there any other cases/attacks anyone knows of?

Bury was clearly in a violent mood around this time, as shown by his brutal unprovoked attack on his wife. Around this time Bury should be taken seriously as a key suspect in the Mylet case - two women strangled with a cord leaving a level mark all the way around the neck apart from a gap of 2-3 inches, in both cases on the left hand side of the neck. One Bury's wife, the other a woman very close to where Bury was living. Perhaps Christmas wasn't a happy time for Bury, which made in lash out - his father died when he was one, his mother when he was four I think, and none of his siblings survived (think that is right). Partly why I was wondering about the supposed case at Christams 87 a couple of months after Bury appears in the records of the East End.

I guess we'll never know - where did he go/what was he up to?