Mary Jane was murdered between 09.00 and 10.30 am

[Wickerman]

Im sorry Wickerman but I cannot agree. You see if you leave bacon or ham out in the kitchen, after a very short time the edges curl and harden. Sorry to be crude but MJK was so cut up I think within a very short time hardening would be evident. I don't get why officialdom would want to keep the TOD ambiguous, but to me it looks like that's what s happened.

Tissue drying out (your bacon breakfast), is not what Rigor Mortis is.
Rigor is the result (among other things) of a buildup of lactic acid. The same acid that causes cramp in muscles when you exercise.

Remember, your bacon/ham has already been entirely drained of blood. MJK lost blood certainly, but the body had not been hung & drained as meat is for the consumer. The muscle & tissue was still wet with blood so would take much longer to dry out as compared with the example you offered.

[miakaal4]

Im sorry Wickerman but I cannot agree. You see if you leave bacon or ham out in the kitchen, after a very short time the edges curl and harden. Sorry to be crude but MJK was so cut up I think within a very short time hardening would be evident. I don't get why officialdom would want to keep the TOD ambiguous, but to me it looks like that's what s happened.

[Wickerman]

I'm assuming that what was done to Kelly would have had some effect on the behaviour of the corpse after death. Difficult surely to estimate how rigor mortis is going to behave when bits of the body are draped around the room and the whole torso has been basically filleted and left wide open........

That's correct, the body dissected as it was is less likely to stiffen as all the parts, the limbs & torso would cool rapidly thereby possibly delaying the onset of rigor.
Algor mortis, the temperature of the body, would be of no help for the same reason. Livor mortis, the settling of the blood in the lower extremeties can give an indication of ToD, but most of the blood would have run out on the floor, or soaked into the mattress.

You will recall, the inquest did not arrive at a time of death. We can assume with reasonable confidence that Dr. Phillips would have been unable to provide this important detail. You may remember, Dr Bond had already offered a Time of Death only based on digestion evidence, more to do with the timing of when she last ate. Take it or leave it.

[Abby Normal]

I'm assuming that what was done to Kelly would have had some effect on the behaviour of the corpse after death. Difficult surely to estimate how rigor mortis is going to behave when bits of the body are draped around the room and the whole torso has been basically filleted and left wide open. That might have taxed even the trained SOCO types of today. The fact remains that Maxwell is the only person who remembers seeing Kelly that morning. No one at the pub where she bought her 'hair of the dog' remembers seeing her. And it's not like she was a newcomer to the district that nobody knew yet. Given that the murder was discovered that morning and the identity of the victim was widely known, you'd expect witnesses would come forward sharpish if only because there was the likelihood of a drink or two and a few bob from a reporter interested in an 'I Was The Last To See Mary Jane Alive' story.

yup. because she never went out again after blotchy. he was either the ripper, or the ripper came to her place after he left.

[Chava]

I'm assuming that what was done to Kelly would have had some effect on the behaviour of the corpse after death. Difficult surely to estimate how rigor mortis is going to behave when bits of the body are draped around the room and the whole torso has been basically filleted and left wide open. That might have taxed even the trained SOCO types of today. The fact remains that Maxwell is the only person who remembers seeing Kelly that morning. No one at the pub where she bought her 'hair of the dog' remembers seeing her. And it's not like she was a newcomer to the district that nobody knew yet. Given that the murder was discovered that morning and the identity of the victim was widely known, you'd expect witnesses would come forward sharpish if only because there was the likelihood of a drink or two and a few bob from a reporter interested in an 'I Was The Last To See Mary Jane Alive' story.