Kelly's Coiffure

[The Good Michael]

Continuing along the path of, "Why didn't the Ripper seem to touch the hair?",
while looking closely at Kelly's photo, and upon regarding her possible circumstances on the evening before and early morning of her death, I am made to wonder if JTR didn't actually dress her hair. With at least one, and possibly several sexual activities having been performed, plus possible rain, and with her getting undressed and being, possibly inebriated, it's seems to me that her hair is unusually full looking. Everyone knows that accumulation of grit, grime, and oils in one's hair causes it to flatten out and look lanky. Perhaps Kelly spent time before going to bed working on her hair and was then killed rapidly while lying in bed. If no blood flew on her head, and if there was no struggle, her bedtime hair preparations could account for the fullness, but I don't think that's accurate. I also think that the way it was formed on her head and shoulders was a dead (pun) giveaway to Barnett that it was she who had been slaughtered. I think it looked lifelike to him. So, do we have a killer with a hair fetish?

Your call.

Mike

[perrymason]

Hi GM,

Since when were we on a path that involved victims hairstyles?

Ive thought about the same thing with respect to Mary Jane, and I think a probable answer is in her hairs length. It was said to be waist length, and yet we see little of it, because its all down her back and she is lying on it. Perhaps causing the hair to appear puffed...or inflated, or poofed, or whatever is appropriate...but like "coiffed".

In my long hair days, I remember the weight of the head when lying flat caused ...I dont know, moguls?..bumps....the hair was lifted from the scalp by the sleeping position.

I think that might be Mary Janes hair dilemma, and I do think she was sleeping before dying.

Cheers mate.

[bolo]

Kelly's hair must have been wet or damp from the rain. Damp long hair curls up and becomes more voluminous during drying even if you comb it before going to bed, maybe this could explain the "full" look of her hair.

[The Good Michael]

Kelly's hair must have been wet or damp from the rain.

Aha! You're saying she went out again then, eh?

Understood, but it looks just perfect in the front and a nice framing of a featureless face. It just feels too good to me.

Cheers,

Mike

[perrymason]

Kelly's hair must have been wet or damp from the rain. Damp long hair curls up and becomes more voluminous during drying even if you comb it before going to bed, maybe this could explain the "full" look of her hair.

Hi bolo,

That could be true, except that the hair looks brushed, not having dried wet and "curly", and we dont know that her hair did get wet at all that night, I dont recall seeing it was raining at 11:45pm on the 8th...when she arrived home.

Cheers.

[Chava]

Gosh, Jack the Ripper's hair salon. What are we gonna call it? 'Curl Up And Dye'?

[bolo]

perrymason, Mike,

damp air is enough, doesn't have to be full rain, I have long hair myself and experience this quite often. The relative humidity in Kelly's badly heated room alone could have caused her hair to curl up, specially at that time of year. She may have left the room one more time after blotchy-faced man. According to The Facts, it started to rain around 1 pm and it still was raining hard at 3 pm when Mary Cox returned home, if Mary left inbetween these times there's a good chance that her hair got soaking wet... but then there is my problem with Hutchinson's testimony which of course is entirely off-topic...

Bond also mentioned that she must have been moved from the right side of the bed to the middle by the murderer. This was done when she already was dead or in her final throes so this too could have led to her hair getting "fluffed up" in some way.

Chava,

I'd opt for "little barbershop of horrors - get your fluff'n'slash here..." . . .

[perrymason]

I see where you're coming from bolo...but I have a way you can deal with Hutchinson's account of Mary Jane about to be covered in Astrakan...discard it, just like the investigators themselves did.

Thats why I said she came home on Nov the 8th.

Cheers

[Sam Flynn]

Quite

Now, about Mary's hair... it certainly looks neat, from what I can make out. There may even be a hint of a "pony-tail" there, but that could be my eyes deceiving me.

[Robert]

Looks like poor Aaron's had it - he was a hairdresser.

He raised his knife to commence the mutilations and said, "I think I can promise madam a transformation."

[j.r-ahde]

Hello you all!

What can I make of the crime scene photo;

1. If we believe some of the contemporary illustrations, she had a fringe. So, in that case it has been wiped upwards, obviously before the face-slashing started.

2. At least to my (far-sighted !) eyes the hair seems to go along her right elbow.

Just some thoughts!

All the best
Jukka

[Blackkat]

Anyone know some of the religious or ancient meanings of women and hair? The covering, not cutting it, etc. Anything that Jack may have believed and therefore the hair was off limits, or even sacred?

[Christine]

Anyone know some of the religious or ancient meanings of women and hair? The covering, not cutting it, etc. Anything that Jack may have believed and therefore the hair was off limits, or even sacred?

Hair has meant a heck of a lot of different things in different cultures. The Bible is full of references to how a person should or shouldn't wear his or her hair.

The most likely hair thoughts relevant to Jack would probably be late Victorian, but the Old Testament says numerous things to the effect of "Jews shouldn't wear their hair like those other people we don't like." These sorts of commandments are why some Jews wear long side curls.

The New Testament says women should wear their hair long, but cover their hair in church, which is believed to be a reference to the habit of women of that time covering their hair in public but going bare-headed in private homes. Many church services were held in private homes. However, the exact meaning of that passage is in dispute. It also says men should have short hair and women who transgress should have their heads shaven.

Countless religious traditions have cut the hair, not cut the hair, etc. I don't see any obvious reasons why he wouldn't have cut Kelly's hair, but I don't know every mystical tradition of human sacrifice either...

[mariag]

He probably didn't cut her hair because it would have made such a godawful mess, flying around and sticking to everything , whith all that blood everywhere. He'd never have got it off himself.

[Blackkat]

Christine, Thanks for your response much appreciated!

mariag - good point!