John Kelly - Eddowes' partner

[Elias]

Hi all,

I was just wondering if John Kelly has ever been seriously considered as Ripper suspect.

She claimed to have cut short the hop-picking trip because she knew who Jack was, did she suspect something after being with him? Also, isn't it from Kelly alone that we believe she said she was going to her daughters, even though she had been ignored by her daughter for some time and didn't even know where she lived, him also using this excuse as to why he didn't worry about her safety until the Monday after her death? Also, her being seen by Lawende putting her hand on a man's chest "in a friendly way, not as if it push him away", could imply that she knew, and was at ease with the man.

I'm not going to claim I've got any further reason to suspect him, he just strikes me as one of the more suspicious people to be directly involved in the murders, and I'm aware there's plenty of conjecture, why would she be with Kelly near Mitre Sq for example, as I say, I just wondered if he has been seriously considered.

[anna]

An interesting thought Elias,
But they come accross as a close couple who share and work things out together..so why does she tell Wilkinson what she suspects,and not Kelly.
If he harboured some thoughts of killing her,why not do it while they are away,when he could return with some made up story of why she is not with him.
Surely,to kill and mutilate her would have to mean he harboured hatred towards Kate and we don't see that at all...he retires to bed early upset..and I feel his concern earlier for her safety and his reaction after,reflect their close relationship and nothing else.
Her's on the other hand,of getting lost all afternoon,being drunk,arrested while impersonating a fire engine are just....Kate!...THEN it occurs to her that she might have upset the caring Mr Kelly!!!!!

[Mitch Rowe]

Problems...
Both Kelly and Lawende appeared at the inquest.
Its doubtful Kate ever said she knew who JTR was.

[Ben]

Both Kelly and Lawende appeared at the inquest.

Although judging from the sketch in Sugden's book, it appears Kelly did have the whole loose-fitting jacket and neckerchief look going on.

[j.r-ahde]

Hello MItch!

Problems...
Both Kelly and Lawende appeared at the inquest.
Its doubtful Kate ever said she knew who JTR was.

Because the hype, so to say, had begun at about that time, probably everyone in the East End had their own presumptions about him!

How seriously any of them can be taken, is another question!

All the best
Jukka

[Jon Guy]

Hi Elias

Kelly seems to have an alibi in Deputy Lodging House Keeper, Wilkinson , who spoke at the inquest :

I saw Kelly in the house about ten o'clock on Saturday night. I am positive he did not go out again.

[Elias]

Hi Elias

Ke lly seems to have an alibi in Deputy Lodging House Keeper, Wilkinson , who spoke at the inquest :

I saw Kelly in the house about ten o'clock on Saturday night. I am positive he did not go out again.

Cheers Jon, pretty much puts that to bed! Just one last point, didn't he tell the inquest that he had been told she had been imprisoned, which obviously contradicts what he initially said about thinking she was at her daughters?

[Victor]

And he'd need to get a new pair of boots!

[Jon Guy]

Cheers Jon, pretty much puts that to bed! Just one last point, didn't he tell the inquest that he had been told she had been imprisoned, which obviously contradicts what he initially said about thinking she was at her daughters?

Hi Elias

This is what Kelly said to the Coroner :

(Coroner) Did you make any inquiry after her? - I heard she had been locked up at Bishopsgate-street on Saturday afternoon. An old woman who works in the lane told me she saw her in the hands of the police.

I am assuming "the lane" means Petticoat Lane, which was just around the corner from where she was found drunk on the footway.

Aside from the Wilkinson alibi, I`m sure the couple were away hop picking when the Chapman murder occured ?

[Dan Norder]

I was just wondering if John Kelly has ever been seriously considered as Ripper suspect.

He was offered up as one of an author's top three or four suspects in a recent book... so seriously by that author, but not by anyone else as far as I know.

As already mentioned, though, he's one of the people who fails what's probably the most important criteria in advancing a suspect. If the person can be proven to have been nowhere near the East End on the night of an undisputed Ripper murder, then he clearly was not Jack the Ripper.

[anna]

Hi all,
Just a small detail to question here,
But upon reading Kelly's statement in the above post.
Wasn't Eddowes arrested at 8 in the evening and taken to Bishopsgate St,and not in the afternoon as Kelly states.
Unless of course,with their hours being what they were,perhaps eight in the evening seemed like late afternoon to him.