MJK Murder Oddities

[Ben]

I can't see how the jets could have projected left and onto the killer under any circumstances, Ben, given the configuration of that room.

Agreed. I ought to clarify; when I referred to "options", I mentioned all physically possible scenarios. We know from crime scene evidence that the blood didn't spurt left.

All that is mentioned is the top right-hand corner of the bed, and the floor beneath.

I think he was talking about the largest concentration, Gareth. There can't have been no blood traces of any description elsewhere, and from pictorial evidence, it is possible to pinpoint obvious blood stains directly behind the neck area.

Best regards,
Ben

[Sam Flynn]

The majority of the aterial spray - the worst of it - had to end up somewhere, and generally speaking the options were right, left (onto the killer) or directly up into the air.

Right, and slightly upwards or directly downwards, depending on the angle of the head when the jets emerged. Short of a Linda Blair/Exorcist scenario, I can't see how the jets could have projected left and onto the killer under any circumstances, Ben, given the configuration of that room.

And, again, it's not just about arterial spray, but the subsequent "floppy" squirts and ooze after the stronger jets had died down. All that is mentioned is the top right-hand corner of the bed, and the floor beneath. We don't even have mention of blood being found beneath the body, as noted in other cases.

[Ben]

If Kelly had been positioned centrally or to the left of the bed, that "secondary flow" would have been significant enough to have saturated the midline of the mattress, and not just the top right-hand corner.

True, but bear in mind that Phillips specified that "large" quantities of blood were concentrated in the top-right area, i.e. not precluding the possibility of "lesser ooze" ending up closer to the head in the centre of the bed (note the dark patches directly behind the neck in the photo). The majority of the aterial spray - the worst of it - had to end up somewhere, and generally speaking the options were right, left (onto the killer) or directly up into the air.

Thinking about it, there can't have been no blood at all between the saturated corner and the middle of the blood, especially if she was moved from the corner to the middle, as mooted earlier. It's a safer bet that Phillips was talking about the concentration of blood resulting from the initial cut. It wasn't as if there were many options on a small bed anyway, and the distance between the middle and the right parts of the bed must have been negligible indeed. Alternatively, if she was curled up in bed and facing the partition already, there was really no distance at all between head and wall.

Best regards,
Ben

[Sam Flynn]

But that would surely have resulted from the arterial spray being directed that away, Gareth, without the head and body needing to be there.

It's not just about arterial spray, though - it's about the more flaccid jets and the "ooze" that follows them. If Kelly had been positioned centrally or to the left of the bed, that "secondary flow" would have been significant enough to have saturated the midline of the mattress, and not just the top right-hand corner. Remember, also, that the initial arterial jets don't come out as "bullets", but in a continuous arc. Such arcs would tend to sag in the middle due to gravity, falling short of the splash zone and soaking into the bed at any point between the corpse and the end of the jet.

Given that only the top right-hand corner of the bed and the floor beneath it are reported as having been soaked in blood, it's a fairly safe bet that this is where Kelly's head was positioned during and after the cut to the throat, and that it remained there at least until the blood flow had stopped sufficiently for the killer to proceed.

there's certainly no reason to suppose she had to be lying next to anyone when the attack commenced.

There certainly isn't, and on that we're agreed. She could equally have been sitting on the bed or angled across it, and cowering towards the top right corner.

[Ben]

But the top right-hand corner of the mattress, and the floor beneath, was drenched with blood, Ben

But that would surely have resulted from the arterial spray being directed that away, Gareth, without the head and body needing to be there. If the force of the blood spraying in that direction was sufficient to strike the nearby wall, it was sufficient to pool on the floor beneath and saturate the bedding on the right side. If Kelly sensed her attacker, she may have turned towards the wall in blind instinct, but there's certainly no reason to suppose she had to be lying next to anyone when the attack commenced.

[Ben]

then a cut to the right side of the throat would have automatically directed the jets of blood away from him.

Absolutely, Gareth, and it may well have occured that way, at least at first "cut". I only suggested a "tilting" movement because we know the killer tended to go in for extensive throat cuts. But yes, if the cut commenced on the right side (as it would have done with the killer approaching from the left side of the bed), the blood would naturally spurt away from him and end up where it did.

Best regards,
Ben

[Sam Flynn]

If you hold a water pistol in the middle of the bed and fire to the left, some of the water contained therein will undoubtedly hit the left side of the bed. The water pistol itself didn't need to be on the left side of the bed, and I'd apply the same principle to Kelly and the blood patterns.

But the top right-hand corner of the mattress, and the floor beneath, was drenched with blood, Ben, which - coupled with the blood having struck the partition in a number of separate splashes - indicates that the greater bulk of the blood-loss occurred when the head and neck were positioned towards the upper right-hand quarter of the bed.

[Sam Flynn]

I think if the head was too close to the partition, the arterial spray would have deflected onto the killer.

If the right side of the neck were facing the partition (which it clearly was) and the killer was approaching from the left side of the bed (which he clearly must have, there being no room on the right), then a cut to the right side of the throat would have automatically directed the jets of blood away from him. As far as I can see, Ben, it's as simple as that. There's no reason to suppose that the head was "too close" to the partition either: a gap of a six to twelve inches would have been sufficient to prevent much "splashback".

[Ben]

I think if the head was too close to the partition, the arterial spray would have deflected onto the killer. If you hold a water pistol in the middle of the bed and fire to the left, some of the water contained therein will undoubtedly hit the left side of the bed. The water pistol itself didn't need to be on the left side of the bed, and I'd apply the same principle to Kelly and the blood patterns.

Kelly was only wearing a chemise. This must suggest she was killed while in bed with her assailant.

Oh no, WM. Not at all. They were simply her nightclothes, and no indication that she was ever in bed with her assailant.

[Sam Flynn]

The pool of blood directly under the right side of the bed tends to suggest her head was close to the edge of the bed at the moment her throat was cut.

I agree, WM. Furthermore, the undersheet between Kelly's legs is "rucked up" to a large extent, which might indicate that the body was dragged from the right side of the bed to the left at some point.

[Sam Flynn]

The posture of Kelly's corpse is not consistent with the established pattern.

There was no established pattern in the victim's posture, WM - a comparison of the Chapman and Eddowes murders quickly confirms that to be the case. Eddowes' right leg was bent with the left leg extended - but this was not the case with Chapman, whose legs were drawn up with both feet resting on the ground. Chapman had one arm over her breast and one by her side, whilst both Eddowes' arms were splayed out, "swing-wing" style, away from the body. Eddowes' head was inclined towards her left shoulder, Chapman's to the right.

Once the victim is rendered unconscious the killer can dominate the scene by laying the body out as is his preference.

Why should we believe that the killer was "laying out" the body according to a "preference", rather than just moving parts of it in an ad hoc manner to allow the mutilations to take place?

[Mitch Rowe]

Details such as these make this particular killing a significant departure from the previous so-called JtR killings. This killer had no reservations about being interrupted with Kelly, he was taking all the time he needed, we should perhaps contemplate "why?"

I dont see any significant departure between MJK and Annie Chapman. Compare Phillips report on AC and Bonds report on MJK. Notice we have someone literally opening up the belly area by cutting flaps of skin off. This indicates to me that JTR assumes he had time with both murders. Compare these two with injuries received by Eddowes. Maybe JTR didnt bother to move MJKs body to match ACs body because it might have made noise or just to hard to do that. In any case we have a person cutting flaps off belly and that is a significant departure from any other murder case I have ever studied.

[The Good Michael]

If she was facing the partition and her throat was cut there, and if she was then pulled across the bed to her left side of the bed, it can suggest aan also left-handed killer, as presumably, space was needed on the killer's left side.
It can also point to ambidexterity which is very, very rare with regards to blade use. Even the Florentine style of fencer favors one hand over another, no matter how practiced. This also could point to someone who wanted to see what he was doing, and moved the body closer to the light.

Cheers,

Mike

[Ben]

Hi WM,

The pool of blood directly under the right side of the bed tends to suggest her head was close to the edge of the bed at the moment her throat was cut.

All it suggests is that the blood was directed that way, and that could have been acheived by a simple tilt of the neck and head in the desired direction, without the body or head needing to be right where the blood was found. In other words, if you have a head in the centre of the bed but facing the wall, you'll still end up with a contentration of blood on that wall and in that corner (and pooling beheath as it did in Kelly's case) simply on account of the blood spurting in that direction. There's evidence of similar behaviour at earlier murders, with Chapman's bloodflow from the neck being deflected onto the nearby fence and away from the killer. Grusome stuff, I'm sorry.

He didn't need to position her body on the far side, unless, she was already there.

Agreed 100%. He didn't need to position her body on the far side. She didn't need to be on the far side for the blood to have ended up where it did. He simply needed to direct the bloodflow away from him, and that wouldn't have necessitated moving the body itself to a different location. It just meant he had to tilt the head away from him.

[Wickerman]

Absolutely, but I don't think the victim was at the far side of the bed when the throat was cut.....

The pool of blood directly under the right side of the bed tends to suggest her head was close to the edge of the bed at the moment her throat was cut.

......She was probably lying relatively central the bed when her killer commenced the attack, and was simply repositioned after the initial incapacitation to direct arterial spray away from himself and his clothes. Either that, or she was facing that direction anyway.

Kelly was only wearing a chemise. This must suggest she was killed while in bed with her assailant. Isn't it normal etiquette for the female to take the side next to the wall? This is where all the sheets were badly blood-stained, on the right-side against the partition. Phillips observed her body had been pulled across the bed after her throat was cut.

I understand your point about directing arterial spray, but you need not be at arms length to achieve this. The killer crouched over Nichols, Chapman & Eddowes and only needed to cut the side of her neck away from him.
Likewise then Kelly's killer could have crouched over her and still cut her throat on the 'away' side, whether in the center of the bed or not. He didn't need to position her body on the far side, unless, she was already there. And she would be already there if her killer was beside her when the attack began.

Her body was posed the wrong way round, and he had all the time in the world to position her the right way around. The way she was left might be consistent with a left-handed killer - just a suggestion..