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Trawling through OB trials I was surprised to find this degree of violence used by the partner of the murdered women, and the case did put me in mind of Mary Kelly's murder:
'I am a divisional surgeon of police—on the afternoon of 28th November, I was sent for to a house in King's-head-court, between 4 and 5 o'clock; when I came in the basin with the head was standing on the table; that was the first thing I examined—the eyes were not open at that moment—I found three bruises on the head, there was no fracture of
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the scull; I think they were such wounds as might have been inflicted with a blunt instrument, such as a pair of tongs or a poker—I then felt the body of the woman that was lying in the room; it was still warm—I can't say exactly how long the woman had been dead, but I should think about six or eight hours—the head was completely severed from the body—it was a clean cut with a sharp instrument—it was not done with one cut—there were no wounds at the side of the neck—there was a circle round; the integuments were cut all round first—I have no doubt that the body must have been quite still at the time, in order to have been cut as I found it—the blows given on the head must have stunned the woman, and I think the head must have been cut off almost immediately afterwards—I am led to that conclusion by the dilated state of the pupils of the eyes, and coagulation of the blood, and the sheets of the arteries having retracted—there was also a wound on the lower part of the abdomen, and the bowels were, partially protruding—the wound commenced in the left groin, and was carried across the abdomen to the right groin—I do not think that wound would cause immediate death—I think it was done after death; it might ultimately have caused death—I think that death was immediately caused by the severing the arteries—I have seen a razor that has been produced—the head might have been severed with such an instrument as that—there was a small portion of steel found imbedded in the muscles of the neck, and close to the bone—this is it (producing it)—it is a small speculse of steel—there are several small notches in the razor—the bones were not violently severed—the incision was made right through the articulations of the bones—I have seen the trousers that the prisoner had on that morning—there was blood on them—I afterwards saw a poker, and a pair of tongs; one leg of the tongs was besmeared with blood—I was at the police-court on the following day, the 29th—the prisoner said something to me there; that was before the witnesses had been examined, before the case had been introduced to the court at all—he stated that he wished to have a private conversation with me—he hesitated to speak because the inspector was there—I said, "Oh, you may consider the inspector nobody, of course, as he must be here," and then he spoke, and in a very familiar manner he said "I suppose you are quite aware, Sir, of what is going on in my inside; I have had some substance there for a long time, and have been examined by several doctors"—I said, "Does it affect you much now? he said, "No, not just now, but it does sometimes affect my liver a good deal"—he could not think what it was; it was like a ball or a tumour full of wind—he said something else about steam, but I did not catch what it was—I examined him at the station with reference to the state of his mind; I led him as it were, into a conversation—I did not wish him to know that it was an examination; that was on the evening of the 28th—I did not come to any conclusion as to the state of his mind—he was perfectly rational—there was no difference whatever in his manner the next day, the 29th.
Cross-examined. Q. Apparently perfectly rational, you mean, I suppose? A. Apparently, certainly—I know that the most insane persons sometimes have the appearance of perfect sanity, so as almost to deceive medical men—the prisoner told me himself during the conversation, that he had been in a lunatic asylum for some months—a person who has been insane at one time is very liable to a sudden recurrence of insanity, especially if there be any exciting cause—the period of a lucid interval varies in duration from hours to weeks, and months and years—there is no doubt that the notion of a tumour, or something full of wind, was a delusion; but I was not aware
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when he told me that, that that had been one of his illusions in the asylum, and therefore I did not think much of the conversation until I heard Dr. Dixon's statement—it is generally stated to be one of the peculiar features of homocidal mania, that the person afflicted with it, commits violence on his nearest and dearest relations.'
'I am a divisional surgeon of police—on the afternoon of 28th November, I was sent for to a house in King's-head-court, between 4 and 5 o'clock; when I came in the basin with the head was standing on the table; that was the first thing I examined—the eyes were not open at that moment—I found three bruises on the head, there was no fracture of
See original
the scull; I think they were such wounds as might have been inflicted with a blunt instrument, such as a pair of tongs or a poker—I then felt the body of the woman that was lying in the room; it was still warm—I can't say exactly how long the woman had been dead, but I should think about six or eight hours—the head was completely severed from the body—it was a clean cut with a sharp instrument—it was not done with one cut—there were no wounds at the side of the neck—there was a circle round; the integuments were cut all round first—I have no doubt that the body must have been quite still at the time, in order to have been cut as I found it—the blows given on the head must have stunned the woman, and I think the head must have been cut off almost immediately afterwards—I am led to that conclusion by the dilated state of the pupils of the eyes, and coagulation of the blood, and the sheets of the arteries having retracted—there was also a wound on the lower part of the abdomen, and the bowels were, partially protruding—the wound commenced in the left groin, and was carried across the abdomen to the right groin—I do not think that wound would cause immediate death—I think it was done after death; it might ultimately have caused death—I think that death was immediately caused by the severing the arteries—I have seen a razor that has been produced—the head might have been severed with such an instrument as that—there was a small portion of steel found imbedded in the muscles of the neck, and close to the bone—this is it (producing it)—it is a small speculse of steel—there are several small notches in the razor—the bones were not violently severed—the incision was made right through the articulations of the bones—I have seen the trousers that the prisoner had on that morning—there was blood on them—I afterwards saw a poker, and a pair of tongs; one leg of the tongs was besmeared with blood—I was at the police-court on the following day, the 29th—the prisoner said something to me there; that was before the witnesses had been examined, before the case had been introduced to the court at all—he stated that he wished to have a private conversation with me—he hesitated to speak because the inspector was there—I said, "Oh, you may consider the inspector nobody, of course, as he must be here," and then he spoke, and in a very familiar manner he said "I suppose you are quite aware, Sir, of what is going on in my inside; I have had some substance there for a long time, and have been examined by several doctors"—I said, "Does it affect you much now? he said, "No, not just now, but it does sometimes affect my liver a good deal"—he could not think what it was; it was like a ball or a tumour full of wind—he said something else about steam, but I did not catch what it was—I examined him at the station with reference to the state of his mind; I led him as it were, into a conversation—I did not wish him to know that it was an examination; that was on the evening of the 28th—I did not come to any conclusion as to the state of his mind—he was perfectly rational—there was no difference whatever in his manner the next day, the 29th.
Cross-examined. Q. Apparently perfectly rational, you mean, I suppose? A. Apparently, certainly—I know that the most insane persons sometimes have the appearance of perfect sanity, so as almost to deceive medical men—the prisoner told me himself during the conversation, that he had been in a lunatic asylum for some months—a person who has been insane at one time is very liable to a sudden recurrence of insanity, especially if there be any exciting cause—the period of a lucid interval varies in duration from hours to weeks, and months and years—there is no doubt that the notion of a tumour, or something full of wind, was a delusion; but I was not aware
See original
when he told me that, that that had been one of his illusions in the asylum, and therefore I did not think much of the conversation until I heard Dr. Dixon's statement—it is generally stated to be one of the peculiar features of homocidal mania, that the person afflicted with it, commits violence on his nearest and dearest relations.'