Duration of the inquest into the death of Mary Jane Kelly (?)

[SirJohnFalstaff]

Hello Jon, I was merely pointing out that the hastiness of the inquest also had behaviour aspect from the coroner himself.

[Wickerman]

To diagnose a behavioural condition would require a broad analysis of Macdonald's inquests. An isolated case here and there may not give a true impression.

[SirJohnFalstaff]

well, he did had that "reputation", according to Wise.

[Hunter]

Where Macdonald did fail, in my opinion is, with Scotland Yard. Their investigation requires them to have the time of death established. Collecting evidence in pursuing the Hutchinson suspect is pointless if Kelly died about 1:30 am., before he appeared on the scene.
Likewise, pursuing the Blotchy suspect is questionable if Kelly was murdered roughly four hours after Blotchy arrived.

Hi Jon,

That would have more to do with the police investigation and not the coroner's inquest, which mainly was to establish cause if death and the identity of the victim. Like many government entities, there were some gray areas. All through the 19th century there was an ongoing battle between the police/ magistrate and the longer established coroner over jurisdictional procedure. Even though both were coroners, Macdonald represented the former and Baxter the latter.

If Macdonald made any mistakes, one was the composition of the jury. There was much confusion over the district itself when East Middlesex was split, and the fact that he only had 3 over minimum meant if he lost some and couldn't maintain 12 ( especially if there was and adjournment) his inquest would be nullified. He was trying to be more frugal expense wise than Baxter, who would commonly summon 18 to 24 jurors.

The other would be the victim's identity where Macdonald did not wait until a family member came forward to firmly establish identity beyond acquaintances. Langham had waited several days to start his Eddowes inquest so the victim could be properly identified and Baxter until his third session with Stride's -- even though she was mistakenly identified by a bogus relative early on.

As I wrote on this same subject on the other site -- different styles of coroners. Macdonald, beyond his minimal legal requirements, was going to leave it to the police and magistrates Court should someone eventually be charged.

The only thing this is frustrating for is Ripperologists, who rely more on inquest than the sparse internal police files.