The Night She Died

[Sam Flynn]

I don't see why it should be considered a "far greater probability" that she encountered her killer as a client on the streets...

I think the fact that she was a known street-whore might have something to do with it, Ben, allied to the fact that it can be proven she brought at least one man home with her on the night she died.

The alternatives - the "breaking-and-entering" and the "doorstepper" theories, if you like - require some extra je ne sais quoi to make them work - for example, "Jack knew enough about her in advance to know that she'd be sleeping on her own", "Jack knew her well, and hence she'd have been unfazed when he turned up unannounced", or "Jack didn't know her, but just happened to strike it lucky when he chose Kelly's room".

Seen in that light, the "street-whore who picked up a customer and brought him back to her room" scenario would seem to have the upper-hand in terms of likelihood, based as it is on two demonstrable (and straightforward) biographical facts rather than happenstance and conjecture.

[Robert]

Chava, I don't think we get that kind of spurting in any other murder. Add to that the murder cry, the fact that the throat was cut from the wrong side, and the fact that she seems to have put up a struggle, however brief, and I'd say that Jack wasn't on top form with this one.

[Sam Flynn]

Re. "the wrong side", Rob - as he seems to have made his move whilst she was on the bed, it would have been tricky to have cut her anywhere else.

[Ben]

Hi Gareth,

allied to the fact that it can be proven she brought at least one man home with her on the night she died.

That's true, although strictly speaking, we don't know if that individual was a client or casual drinking acquaintance. Certainly, there are many prostitutes who prefer to keep their living space seperate from their working space, and there's a case to be made that Mary Ann Cox, at least, was one such prostitute.

It has been argued extensively that the "went out again and procured a client" premise also requires the added je ne sais quoi of having Kelly venture out again, despite the lack of any reliable evidence that she did. Not that I'd wish to get bogged down in that point since it entails more kudzu than the entire state of South Carolina.

The intruder/doorstepper hypothesis would only necessitate some from of prior surveillance outside the crime scene, and considering that we've evidence of serial killers resorting to precisely that sort of tacitc and crime scene evidence of someone (of strictly unproven identity!) apparently doing just that, I don't think that's too great a stretch.

All the best,
Ben

[Robert]

Hi Gareth

Yes, of course, but I myself am a creature of habit and like doing things with my "usual" hand in the usual way. I wouldn't have liked having to switch to backhand for the throat cut. The main thing, I think, is if she'd got up naked to let him in, and he'd attacked her while she was still standing, then why not lay her down the other way round?

[Robert]

Hi Ben

Why couldn't it have been a nutter walking in, or maybe someone who thought he could reach the shed that way?

[Ben]

Hi Robert,

That's another possibility, certainly, and when we remind ourselves of Richard Trenton Chase and his grisly ilk, certainly not one without precedent.

[Chava]

...and we're still left with someone 'looking up the court' at 2.30 am. I, too, am going to avoid Kudzu. But one could construe that person as a lookout making sure that whatever is going on at #13 is going on privately. Or one could construe that as someone making sure the coast is clear before he walks in on Kelly.

I'll tell you this, the Kelly murder doesn't just have kudzu, it's got enough Spanish moss to entangle us for days! Anomaly upon anomaly.

[Sam Flynn]

The intruder/doorstepper hypothesis would only necessitate some from of prior surveillance outside the crime scene

Indeed, Ben - and criminals of all types (not just "serial killers", NB) do just that. However, prior surveillance requires either (a) something to draw the killer's attention to the venue - such as, for example, his seeing her on the street and tracking her home; (b) specific targeting of the victim, as in a "domestic" or "jealous lover" scenario; or (c) sufficient knowledge of the victim to know where she lived and that she'd be alone.

In other words, these pre-reqs of the "intruder/doorstepper" hypotheses need a fair sprinkling of whiffle-dust before they can overtake "known street-whore takes client home" in the probability stakes.

[Ben]

Hi Gareth,

As far as option (a) goes, I'd argue that it requires no more external factors or whiffle-dust to be in place than the assumption that he noticed Kelly out on the streets. If he was on the prowl and in search of prostitutes to kill, it follows logically that he must have been in a position to be drawn to any situation that allowed for a victim to be dispatched, and noticing a prostitute on the streets takes no more "effort" than noticing one going into a small hovel.

The "prostitute takes client" home premise is weakened, in the minds of some, on the grounds that we have no reliable evidence that she ventured out again after 1.00am. Interminable debates have often ensued as a consequence, and there's certainly nothing hugely improbable about Kelly venturing out again, but I'm inclined to see their point. On balence, I believe that the intruder premise is just that bit closer to the "null hypothesis".

All the best,
Ben

[Sam Flynn]

The "prostitute takes client" home premise is weakened, in the minds of some, on the grounds that we have no reliable evidence that she ventured out again after 1.00am.

Quite so, Ben - but that pales somewhat when one considers the fact that there is no evidence at all that anyone broke in or doorstepped her. Indeed, the "prostitute takes client home" premise is at least supported by Mary's "prior form" on that night and - I dare say - on many other nights during her tawdry career. It also receives some oblique support from Jack's behaviour of finding his quarry on the street and scuttling off with her to a nearby enclave to do the dirty deed.

[Ben]

Quite so, Ben - but that pales somewhat when one considers the fact that there is no evidence at all that anyone broke in or doorstepped her.

I'd say the fact that she was found murdered in her room coupled with the evidence of someone skulking fixatedly outside her room shortly before her murder would more than qualify as circumstantial evidence on that score, Gareth, and the behaviour of other serial killers also lend weight to it. Jack's later form must have been conditioned to a large extent by the increasing police presence on the streets, which could easily have prompted him to revise his tactics.

Since we know he was capable of revising the venue type, I'd say he was equally capable of altering the way in which he approached the venue.

Best regards,
Ben

[Sam Flynn]

I'd say the fact that she was found murdered in her room coupled with the evidence of someone skulking fixatedly outside her room shortly before her murder would more than qualify as circumstantial evidence

Point of order: nobody was seen outside her room shortly before her murder, but I take your point, Ben... albeit in terms of someone being seen on 'tother side of Dorset Street staring up the Court.

However, there's a significant leap from that to suggesting that he later broke in or doorstepped Mary Kelly. What if she simply went out looking for another punter and he ambled nonchalantly up to her when she did? Remember that Mrs Cox was still out touting until 3AM, and that Chapman "got hers" as late as 5:30 in the morning.

the behaviour of other serial killers also lend weight to it.

... other criminals, Ben. Beware of "Buckaroo"

[Ben]

What if she simply went out looking for another punter and he ambled nonchalantly up to her when she did?

That would seem a perfectly viable explanation to me, Gareth. I'm just hesistant in according it "more probable" status over the intruder premise. Pre-crime loitererers and "peepers" such as Bundy and Rader turned out to be killers who, it would it later transpire, used that loitering time in order to gauge the opportune moment to enter and strike.

other criminals, Ben.

Duly noted, Gareth. I only mentioned the fact that the criminals were fellow "SKs" for specificity's sake.

All the best,
Ben

[Sam Flynn]

That would seem a perfectly viable explanation to me, Gareth.

Cheers, Ben - at least the idea of a loiterer accosting a re-emergent Kelly has the virtues of being congruent with the facts, whilst not requiring the deus ex machina of a "break-in/doorstepping" event, simultaneously not being offensive to either pro- or anti-Hutch arguments. It's about the only scenario I can think of that would achieve that triple accolade