MJK inquest - all above board?

[spyglass]

Hi all,
Guessing this has been covered many times, but rather not go hunting through all the threads.
So, was the MJK inquest and procedure all above board, or does it leave some big questions?

Regards.

[MysterySinger]

At least two questions for me:
Who was Mary Jane Kelly?
Who killed her?

[spyglass]

At least two questions for me:
Who was Mary Jane Kelly?
Who killed her?

Well I'm with you on that, and my ludicrous theory I'm putting together might reveal ....who didn't kill her.
stay tuned.

[MysterySinger]

Bring it on.

[GUT]

At least two questions for me:
Who was Mary Jane Kelly?
Who killed her?

Yep.

[Pierre]

Hi all,
Guessing this has been covered many times, but rather not go hunting through all the threads.
So, was the MJK inquest and procedure all above board, or does it leave some big questions?

Regards.

Why would it not have been all above board?

Regards, Pierre

[spyglass]

Why would it not have been all above board?

Regards, Pierre

I'm referring to the arguments about who jurisdiction the inquest should have been held in, and who should be leading the inquest.
Also the criticism by the press on how quickly it was all wrapped up.

regards

[Joshua Rogan]

The Star 10th Nov has some details about why the inquest was held where it was;

WHO WILL HOLD THE INQUEST?
The removal of Kelly's body to the Shoreditch mortuary is likely to lead to some complications through the intersection of the local boundaries and the jurisdiction of the two coroners for the newly-formed divisions of Eastern Middlesex. Spitalfields, although within the Whitechapel district for all local purposes, is within the North Eastern Division of Middlesex, and is therefore under the jurisdiction of Dr. Macdonald. All the other portions of Whitechapel remain under the jurisdiction of Mr. Baxter, so far as coroner's inquests are concerned. The Hanbury-street murder, which occurred in Spitalfields, took place in the open air, and it being incumbent on the police to remove the body, they naturally conveyed it to the local mortuary in Old Montague-street. But in the Dorset-street case, there was no duty cast upon the police to remove the body from the house where it was found, and the coroner's officer for the district being communicated with, he was obliged to take it where he could. If he had taken it to Old Montague-street, it would have gone from his control, so he took it to Shoreditch, which is within his district. It remains to be seen whether the Shoreditch Vestry will be content to afford mortuary accommodation in such instances of a neighboring district not within their parish, to oblige the coroner or his officer, but it is pretty certain when it comes to a question of parochial burial, the relieving officer will be found in a difficulty as to whether he is justified in incurring the expense for the Shoreditch ratepayers. This difficulty may be got over by removing the body back again to Whitechapel, and placing it in the Old Montague-street mortuary, so as to throw the cost of the burial upon the Whitechapel Board of Guardians. Here again another difficulty arises, because the body will come into Mr. Baxter's district, who, according to the state of the "Coroner's Quest Law," will be obliged to hold another inquest, if only a formal one.

The inquest on the body has been definitely fixed for Monday next, at eleven a.m., at the Shoreditch Town Hall, before Mr. Macdonald, the coroner for the district.

[spyglass]

Hi Joshua,
Thanks for that.
Blimey we do make things complicated when it comes to bureaucracy.
Seems straight forward then, however many didn't seem convinced.

Regards

[GUT]

I'm referring to the arguments about who jurisdiction the inquest should have been held in, and who should be leading the inquest.
Also the criticism by the press on how quickly it was all wrapped up.

regards

It was certainly held in the right jurisdiction.

Was it wrapped up too soon?

A better question is, "What would be achieved by prolonging it?"

[DJA]

Perhaps if Jack the Ripper was the Medical Officer on the St. Leonard, Shoreditch, Vestry Board along with Thomas Stevenson,you might view things differently.
The latter was the Toxicologist and Forensic Chemist in the Pimlico Mystery,Lambeth Poisoner and the George Chapman and Maybrick cases.Small world
I believe that Mary Ann Kelly was a 27 year old local who was baptized at St.Leonards.Quite possibly the same one in custody in the 1881 Census.

[DJA]

That should have read 29 year old at the Whitechapel Infirmary in 1881 Census.