Cutting position?

[lynn cates]

position

Hello Christer.

"Does this mean that Chapman's head was resting in the recess between the stone steps and the fence? Thatīs how I read things."

Pretty much how I read it too. Of course, it seems that her head is just beyond the steps from the house. It seems to me that he was directly behind her and near the end of the steps. He may have strangled her there and cut her throat before laying her down.

This time the blood spatters were there to indicate position.

Cheers.
LC

[Errata]

I don't think she could be in that little recess. I think that when saying she was between the steps and the fence it was more of a division thing. Like if you divided the yard up by a line from the steps, and then fence was another line, she was between those two lines, not those two structures. Chandler and Phillips commented that she was in fact in front of the steps, not beside them. Davis says she was in the recess, but unless they moved the fence before the site photos were taken, I really don't think there is three feet between the steps and the fence. It looks like maybe a foot and a half.

Even so, if her attacker was right handed, he couldn't have been facing the rear of the house. She was so close to the wall he would have been banging against it the entire time.

[Fisherman]

Scott Nelson:

"He sat on the top step using part of his body to keep the door from being pushed open."

You think so? But that precaution would have been abandoned as he cut away at the stomach, right? And would he be able to carry the cut all the way down the right side of Chapmanīs neck from such a position?

A very interesting suggestion at any rate. Thanks!

The best,
Fisherman

[Scott Nelson]

He sat on the top step using part of his body to keep the door from being pushed open.

[Fisherman]

Lately, I have been bothered by a detail in The Chapman case. It revolves around the position in which she was found. As always, one sometimes cannot make heads or tails of what was said, and so I would appreciate your input on this thing.

Letīs first try and establish where Chapman was found:

Sugden: "The body of a woman ... lay ... between the steps and the wooden fence ...Her head was towards the house..."

Dr Phillips: "The head was about 6 in. in front of the level of the bottom step..."

Chandler: " I saw the body of a woman lying on the ground on her back. Her head was towards the back wall of the house, nearly two feet from the wall, at the bottom of the steps, but six or nine inches away from them. "

James Kent: " ... standing on the top of the back door steps, I saw a woman lying in the yard between the steps and the partition between the yard and the next. Her head was near the house, but no part of the body was against the wall."

John Davis: "There was a little recess on the left. From the steps to the fence is about 3 ft. There are three stone steps, unprotected, leading from the door to the yard, which is at a lower level than that of the passage. Directly I opened the door I saw a woman lying down in the lefthand recess, between the stone steps and the fence."

Does this mean that Chapmans head was resting in the recess between the stone steps and the fence? Thatīs how I read things. If so, how did the killer perform the cut to the throat? The blood spurt on the fence clearly tells us that Chapman was cut at the spot where she was found.

We also know that the cut(s) to Chapmans neck had been carried "entirely around". For this to have been accomplished, the best guess is normally that the cutter performs his work from a position behind the victim. But this seems not to have happened in the Chapman case - if her head was in the recess, it would leave the killer a very awkward stance on the stone steps to work from, something that seems very unrealistic.

Question: Given Chapman īs position - how did the killer perform the cut to the neck? What position was he himself in as he delivered it?

All suggestions welcomed!

The best,
Fisherman