Mr James Kelly.. A Serious Jack the Ripper Candidate?

Mr James Kelly.. A Serious Jack the Ripper Candidate?

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Hello ATS,

The case of Jack the Ripper, which I'm sure we all know was a series of incredibly violent, brutal and gruesome murders primarily centered around Whitechapel in London during the late 1800's, has become to be known as the most famous unsolved murder case ever, yet at the same time It has also become by far the most researched murder case of all time. Solving it has been hailed the "holy grail" of detective work in fact...

Well, before I continue with this thread firstly let me state that I'm not looking to discuss and look at the many different suspects of the case, many sources out there cite in excess of 200 of them after all, instead in this thread I want to throw out a rather interesting theory, this is ATS after all, the theory being that the murderer of those 5 prostitutes, the official count reaching 5 but It's very possible there were many more victims at the hands of Jack the Ripper, was actually a relatively well known figure at the time.

The person who I'm throwing out there as Jack the Ripper for further debate and discussion was someone even the police hunted for as the original Ripper, as well as for a previous murder he committed in his life, this man going by the name of Mr James Kelly.

He was a well known figure, someone who was classified as "legally insane", and a proven violent man. Proven as in the months leading up to the Ripper murders he escaped from Broadmoor asylum, where he spent his time after being classified insane, or more specifically as a Paranoid Schizophrenia, which was where he was being held for the very brutal murder of his first wife Sarah Brider.

Kelly, who I believe is a prime suspect for the Ripper murders, can seemingly be placed in London around the time of the murders, as well as other murders in America much later on, and all with a, In my opinion, solid motive for committing such crimes in the first place. James Kelly is someone who seems to perfectly fit the profile of not just a killer.. but the Whitechapel murderer, commonly referred to as Jack the Ripper or the "leather apron."

It's certainly quite possible, maybe even probable that he was indeed the true culprit of these incredibly vicious and almost un-human murders and in this thread I'd like to take the time to show why exactly. I will discuss this theory in the best and most informative way that I feel I can a little bit later on in this thread. For now though I really do feel the need to explain, particularly for those who may not be familiar with this case, what it's all about exactly, why solving it is seen as "the holy grail of detective work" and quite simply put - why it has the gruesome reputation it has today, around 119 years later.

Before I even go onto doing this though, here is a fantastic past thread looking and giving a comprehensive overview (something my thread is not - instead a single theory) of the case of Jack the Ripper and his gruesome murders, this thread coming from one of my all time favourite members of ATS, TheMythLives, this being a thread he wrote in mid 2009: Jack The Ripper: The Case Reviewed.

A great thread there, unfortunately however It seems as though Kelly was not mentioned among the main suspects, this actually being one of the reasons why I felt the need to share this theory with starting a brand new thread in fact. One looking at just Kelly. And upon reading the thread from Myth... I can't help but notice how Kelly would have fit the perfect profile of the killer he went onto discuss and describe, there's even a perfect motive for the way in which he "ripped" up his victims which, I feel, connects Kelly to the case.

Once again though, I'm certainly looking to discuss all this a little bit later on in this thread as I look to discuss this theory of who the most famous killer perhaps in history may really have been in full, but for now here is my brief overview of the case, who it's victims were, when it all occurred and so on..

Thanks for reading thus far.



As this is a relatively long thread here's what is hopefully a helpful guide to what is being discussed in each separate post, this thread being split up into said posts so you don't have to wade through the entire thing to find a single piece of information which may be of particular interest to you. (Posts listed below are not counting this one, the opening post).

First Post..

The Beginning of the murders

- The Case of the Ripper

-- A look at the Known victims, the 'Canonical Five'

--- Mary Ann Nichols

--- Annie Chapman

Second Post..

--- Elizabeth Stride

--- Catherine Eddowes

--- Mary Jane Kelly

Third Post..

-- The Mysterious Letters ‘From Hell’

Mr James Kelly

- A Look At the Life of Kelly

-- Kelly Growing Up

Fourth Post..

-- Meeting his wife, Marriage and Eventual Murder

-- His Imprisonment and Eventual Escape from Broadmoor Asylum

Fifth Post..

-- The Return of Kelly and the "End of Life Confession"

Return of the Ripper

- The Rippers Possible Infiltration of America - Was He Ripping Victims State by State?

Sixth Post..

James Kelly in a Final, Brief Summary

(Orange text above is an active link.)

- The Beginning of the murders -

_________________________________________________________

The Case of the Ripper

The beginning of the murders, in a time where "serial killer" from what I've read was still seen as quite a relatively new and unknown phenomenon, is not fully understood and even today is still constantly debated over. We know of at least 5 murders however which are widely accepted to have been the work of one individual, Jack the Ripper, these being referred to as the "canonical five" (discussed in the next section of this thread).

The first of these known murders began on Friday, 31 August, 1888. However, there are other murder victims we know of which occurred prior to the 31st of this month which seemingly have all the hallmarks of a "ripper murder", one of which occurring at the beginning of August, another as early as the 3rd of April, 1988, this murder, and some that followed it, even going onto appear in the Metropolitan Police investigations at the time - So we at least know that the idea of more ripper victims was at least entertained by some in the police force investigating the case at the time.

This first murder in April however was not the work of one individual, instead a gang of them thus It's safe to assume it was not the original ripper as he worked alone. Presumably it was safer this way. The first serious murder which occurred however, one which is linked quite strongly to the ripper, first occurred in the beginning of August of 1988. Remember, the first murder we can be truly confident in knowing was the work of Jack occurring in late August a few weeks after this suspected case.

It occurred to a prostitute, much like the other ripper victims, by the name of Martha Tabram, and she was attacked by seemingly a lone man in a location around Whitechapel not far away from where the other victims were murdered, the Canonical five as they're known. Tabram was found after being stabbed approximately 39 times in a brutal murder not too dissimilar to the way in which the other ripper victims were found also, although similarities were to be found still. But It's possible this was certainly the early stages of the "career" of this infamous killer.

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The work of the ripper, particularly when looking at the canonical five, all had the same type of wounds in common; deep throat slashes, abdominal and genital-area mutilation, in some cases a complete removal of internal organs (The ripper even sent a piece of kidney to police at one point, a piece which belonged to one of his victims discussed below), and progressive facial mutilations among much more. Even so it seems more than possible that Tabram was indeed a victim of the ripper, as well as some other suspected women at the time.

The series of murders around the Whitechapel area of London, which 2 separate police forces were helping to investigate at the time, officially spanned from late August, 1888 to early November of 1888, but for whatever reason they just stopped. Perhaps the murderer was caught for another crime, as has been suggested by some, or maybe he was just spooked, we may never know..

Some "Ripperologists" argue that one of the above scenarios is why they suddenly stopped; after all we know the attention these killings were receiving was just huge. Even Europe and America was hearing stories of the ripper I believe. At this stage It's unclear what happened exactly, all we know is the murders, at least around Whitechapel, did indeed come to a stop...

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I do have a theory I'd like to throw out there though and it's one which, to me, makes a great deal of sense especially when looking at this character by the name of James Kelly as the original Ripper.. you see if Kelly is the real original ripper, then he certainly didn't stop killing at all, instead, he went to America and "continued his work" so to speak, something which may seem like quite a far-fetched idea at first but there's plenty of evidence to suggest he, the potential ripper, did do this and I'll attempt to show how a little later on in this thread.

For now it must be highlighted that we know for a fact that he did travel to America and shortly after doing so "Ripper styled" killings did indeed occur, particularly to a prostitute by the name of Carrie brown who was brutally murdered , as well as letters being sent to local New York newspapers signed by "Jack the ripper", much like what was seen in London.

For now here is the continuation of my overview of the case, this section being a quick look at the known women involved; the "canonical five", and what happened to each of them exactly.

-- A look at the Known victims, the 'Canonical Five'...

Mary Ann Nichols..

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(Image of the finding of Mary's body)

Mary was the first widely accepted victim of Jack the ripper, although at the time at least 1 woman was claimed to be a victim of his, Martha Tabram - a previous murder victim who was found towards the beginning of August as I previously highlighted. Mary however was towards the end of August, 1888. On the 30th to be exact. Her body was first encountered in the early morning by Charles Cross and Robert Paul who were on their way to work in Buck's Row. They couldn't stick around it's claimed so they went onto inform a police officer by the name of PC John Neil who was then joined by 2 further police officers to investigate the body.

She was split from her husband at the time of her death and was suffering financially, thus she had decided to take up prostitution. Ironic, the job she had taken up to quite literally survive ended up being the very thing which killed her as the ripper sought out prostitutes as his victims.

Mary's injuries included a slit throat, slit from left to right, mutilated abdomen, several more wounds to the abdomen such as incisions across it, and three or four similar cuts on the right side caused by the same knife which was at least 6–8 inches (15–20 cm) long and used violently and downwards. Not much blood was spilt. Most of the wounds, particularly to the abdomen were made after the initial, gruesome death.

It's also said that Mary, like the others, was drunk at the time of her death which was something else Jack sought out in his victims, presumably as they made the easiest targets.

Her neck had been slashed twice, the cuts severing her windpipe and esophagus. She had been killed where she was found, even though there was very little blood on the ground. Most of the lost blood had soaked into her clothing. The body was taken to the mortuary on Old Montague Street, which was part of the workhouse there. While the body was being stripped, Inspector Spratling discovered that her abdomen had been wounded and mutilated. He called Dr. Llewellyn back for a more detailed examination.

The doctor determined that the woman had been bruised on the lower left jaw. The abdomen exhibited a long, deep jagged knife wound, along with several other cuts from the same instruments, running downward. The doctor guessed that a left-handed person could have inflicted these wounds very quickly with a long-bladed knife. Later, the doctor was not so sure about the killer being left-handed.

There have been several theories about how the wounds were inflicted. Philip Sugden makes a persuasive case:

If (the victim's) throat were cut while she was erect and alive, a strong jet of blood would have spurted from the wound and probably deluged the front of her clothing. But in fact there was no blood at all on her breast or the corresponding part of her clothes. Some of the flow from the throat formed a small pool on the pavement beneath (her) neck and the rest was absorbed by the backs of the dress bodice and ulster. The blood from the abdominal wound largely collected in the loose tissues. Such a pattern proves that (her) injuries were inflicted when she was lying on her back and suggests that she may have already been dead.

(Source)

Annie Chapman...

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(Annie, quite obviously, is to the left of this image)

The next known ripper victim was to a woman by the name of Annie Chapman and she was found on the 8th of September, 1888, a week after the previous murder. She was murdered in a way not too dissimilar to Nichols when looking at the injuries sustained as well as the shocking way in which she was gruesomely mutilated literally in the streets of London.

In the inquest into her death, a women testified that at approximately 5:30 a.m. just beyond the back yard of 29 Hanbury Street, Spitalfields, Chapman, struggling financially and after recently taking up the work of prostitution, could be observed talking to a man. By 6.am her body was found. No one in the nearby house, which was full of residents, around 16 I believe, heard any noise of struggle or anything to suggest someone was being harmed in the backyard where Chapman and the ripper were together.

According to the post mortem:

"He noticed the same protrusion of the tongue. There was a bruise over the right temple. On the upper eyelid there was a bruise, and there were two distinct bruises, each the size of a man's thumb, on the forepart of the top of the chest. The stiffness of the limbs was now well marked. There was a bruise over the middle part of the bone of the right hand. There was an old scar on the left of the frontal bone. The stiffness was more noticeable on the left side, especially in the fingers, which were partly closed. There was an abrasion over the ring finger, with distinct markings of a ring or rings. The throat had been severed as before described. the incisions into the skin indicated that they had been made from the left side of the neck. There were two distinct clean cuts on the left side of the spine. They were parallel with each other and separated by about half an inch. The muscular structures appeared as though an attempt had made to separate the bones of the neck. There were various other mutilations to the body, but he was of the opinion that they occurred subsequent to the death of the woman, and to the large escape of blood from the division of the neck.

The deceased was far advanced in disease of the lungs and membranes of the brain, but they had nothing to do with the cause of death. The stomach contained little food, but there was not any sign of fluid. There was no appearance of the deceased having taken alcohol, but there were signs of great deprivation and he should say she had been badly fed. He was convinced she had not taken any strong alcohol for some hours before her death. The injuries were certainly not self-inflicted. The bruises on the face were evidently recent, especially about the chin and side of the jaw, but the bruises in front of the chest and temple were of longer standing - probably of days. He was of the opinion that the person who cut the deceased throat took hold of her by the chin, and then commenced the incision from left to right. He thought it was highly probable that a person could call out, but with regard to an idea that she might have been gagged he could only point to the swollen face and the protruding tongue, both of which were signs of suffocation.

The abdomen had been entirely laid open: the intestines, severed from their mesenteric attachments, had been lifted out of the body and placed on the shoulder of the corpse; whilst from the pelvis, the uterus and its appendages with the upper portion of the vagina and the posterior two thirds of the bladder, had been entirely removed. No trace of these parts could be found and the incisions were cleanly cut, avoiding the rectum, and dividing the vagina low enough to avoid injury to the cervix uteri. Obviously the work was that of an expert- of one, at least, who had such knowledge of anatomical or pathological examinations as to be enabled to secure the pelvic organs with one sweep of the knife, which must therefore must have at least 5 or 6 inches in length, probably more. The appearance of the cuts confirmed him in the opinion that the instrument, like the one which divided the neck, had been of a very sharp character. The mode in which the knife had been used seemed to indicate great anatomical knowledge.

He thought he himself could not have performed all the injuries he described, even without a struggle, under a quarter of an hour. If he had down it in a deliberate way such as would fall to the duties of a surgeon it probably would have taken him the best part of an hour."

(Source)

A gruesome way to die, undoubtedly.

Elizabeth Stride...

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The next victims at the hands of the ripper was a couple of weeks later and was part of the now infamous "double event" which the ripper described in a letter of his to the police, ones he seemingly enjoyed writing to mock and berate them it would appear. Elizabeth stride was murdered on the 30th of September, 1888, the first victim of the double event.

It appears that Jack attacked Elizabeth but was interrupted or spooked somehow and then he had to quickly flee after committing only minor injuries, by his standards, upon her. After he left her body however with nothing a slit throat, with-in walking distance and less than an hour later, Catherine Eddows was attacked and was mutilated unlike what was seek to Stride. Eddows murder was the worst of them all in fact.

These 2 murders sent London, particularly the area around Whitechapel, into panic, many locals seemingly fearing that the ripper was becoming unstoppable, or worse.. he would simply chose not to stop.

Dr. George Bagster Phillips (who also handled the Chapman and Kelly murders) performed the post mortem on Stride. He was also present at the scene and, after examining the body, asserts the deceased had not eaten any grapes. His report is as follows:

"The body was lying on the near side, with the face turned toward the wall, the head up the yard and the feet toward the street. The left arm was extended and there was a packet of cachous in the left hand. The right arm was over the belly, the back of the hand and wrist had on it clotted blood. The legs were drawn up with the feet close to the wall. The body and face were warm and the hand cold. The legs were quite warm.

Deceased had a silk handkerchief round her neck, and it appeared to be slightly torn. I have since ascertained it was cut. This corresponded with the right angle of the jaw. The throat was deeply gashed and there was an abrasion of the skin about one and a half inches in diameter, apparently stained with blood, under her right arm. At three o'clock p.m. on Monday at St. George's Mortuary, Dr. Blackwell and I made a post mortem examination. Rigor mortis was still thoroughly marked. There was mud on the left side of the face and it was matted in the head.;

The Body was fairly nourished. Over both shoulders, especially the right, and under the collarbone and in front of the chest there was a bluish discoloration, which I have watched and have seen on two occasions since.

There was a clear-cut incision on the neck. It was six inches in length and commenced two and a half inches in a straight line below the angle of the jaw, one half inch in over an undivided muscle, and then becoming deeper, dividing the sheath. The cut was very clean and deviated a little downwards. The arteries and other vessels contained in the sheath were all cut through.

The cut through the tissues on the right side was more superficial, and tailed off to about two inches below the right angle of the jaw. The deep vessels on that side were uninjured. From this is was evident that the hemorrhage was caused through the partial severance of the left carotid artery.

(Source)

Catherine Eddowes...

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Catherine Eddowes, as previously described, was murdered on the 30th of September, 1888, the same night as Elizabeth Stride. Eddowes however was the second victim of the night and suffered by far more gruesome injuries than what was seen to stride.

At 1.45 a.m., Eddowes's mutilated body was found in the south-west corner of Mitre Square by police officer Edward Watkins who was on duty at the time in what was a time where police activity had massively increased due to the well known presence of the ripper. Watkins said that he entered the square at 1.44 a.m and then found the body, despite having previously been there at 1.30 a.m. He called for assistance at a tea warehouse in the square where night watchman George James Morris, who was an ex-policeman, was - I believe he also noted seeing nothing unusual at the time.

Eddowes, once again like the other victims, was also drunk at the time of her death. As early as 8:30 in fact she was found and arrested for being drunk in the street. She was only let out a short while before she had her encounter with the ripper.

Dr. Frederick Gordon Brown, London police surgeon called in at the murder, arrived at Mitre Square around 2:00 AM. His report is as follows.

"The body was on its back, the head turned to left shoulder. The arms by the side of the body as if they had fallen there. Both palms upwards, the fingers slightly bent. The left leg extended in a line with the body. The abdomen was exposed. Right leg bent at the thigh and knee. The throat cut across.

The intestines were drawn out to a large extent and placed over the right shoulder -- they were smeared over with some feculent matter. A piece of about two feet was quite detached from the body and placed between the body and the left arm, apparently by design. The lobe and auricle of the right ear were cut obliquely through.

There was a quantity of clotted blood on the pavement on the left side of the neck round the shoulder and upper part of arm, and fluid blood-coloured serum which had flowed under the neck to the right shoulder, the pavement sloping in that direction.

Body was quite warm. No death stiffening had taken place. She must have been dead most likely within the half hour. We looked for superficial bruises and saw none. No blood on the skin of the abdomen or secretion of any kind on the thighs. No spurting of blood on the bricks or pavement around. No marks of blood below the middle of the body. Several buttons were found in the clotted blood after the body was removed. There was no blood on the front of the clothes. There were no traces of recent connexion. When the body arrived at Golden Lane, some of the blood was dispersed through the removal of the body to the mortuary. The clothes were taken off carefully from the body. A piece of deceased's ear dropped from the clothing.

I made a post mortem examination at half past two on Sunday afternoon. Rigor mortis was well marked; body not quite cold. Green discoloration over the abdomen.

After washing the left hand carefully, a bruise the size of a sixpence, recent and red, was discovered on the back of the left hand between the thumb and first finger. A few small bruises on right shin of older date. The hands and arms were bronzed. No bruises on the scalp, the back of the body, or the elbows.
The face was very much mutilated. There was a cut about a quarter of an inch through the lower left eyelid, dividing the structures completely through. The upper eyelid on that side, there was a scratch through the skin on the left upper eyelid, near to the angle of the nose. The right eyelid was cut through to about half an inch.

There was a deep cut over the bridge of the nose, extending from the left border of the nasal bone down near the angle of the jaw on the right side of the cheek. This cut went into the bone and divided all the structures of the cheek except the mucous membrane of the mouth. The tip of the nose was quite detached by an oblique cut from the bottom of the nasal bone to where the wings of the nose join on to the face. A cut from this divided the upper lip and extended through the substance of the gum over the right upper lateral incisor tooth.

About half an inch from the top of the nose was another oblique cut. There was a cut on the right angle of the mouth as if the cut of a point of a knife. The cut extended an inch and a half, parallel with the lower lip. There was on each side of cheek a cut which peeled up the skin, forming a triangular flap about an inch and a half. On the left cheek there were two abrasions of the epithelium under the left ear. The throat was cut across to the extent of about six or seven inches. A superficial cut commenced about an inch and a half below the lobe below, and about two and a half inches behind the left ear, and extended across the throat to about three inches below the lobe of the right ear.

The big muscle across the throat was divided through on the left side. The large vessels on the left side of the neck were severed. The larynx was severed below the vocal chord. All the deep structures were severed to the bone, the knife marking intervertebral cartilages. The sheath of the vessels on the right side was just opened.

The carotid artery had a fine hole opening, the internal jugular vein was opened about an inch and a half -- not divided. The blood vessels contained clot. All these injuries were performed by a sharp instrument like a knife, and pointed.

The cause of death was haemorrhage from the left common carotid artery. The death was immediate and the mutilations were inflicted after death.
We examined the abdomen. The front walls were laid open from the breast bones to the pubes. The cut commenced opposite the enciform cartilage. The incision went upwards, not penetrating the skin that was over the sternum. It then divided the enciform cartilage. The knife must have cut obliquely at the expense of that cartilage.

Behind this, the liver was stabbed as if by the point of a sharp instrument. Below this was another incision into the liver of about two and a half inches, and below this the left lobe of the liver was slit through by a vertical cut. Two cuts were shewn by a jagging of the skin on the left side. The abdominal walls were divided in the middle line to within a quarter of an inch of the navel. The cut then took a horizontal course for two inches and a half towards the right side. It then divided round the navel on the left side, and made a parallel incision to the former horizontal incision, leaving the navel on a tongue of skin. Attached to the navel was two and a half inches of the lower part of the rectus muscle on the left side of the abdomen. The incision then took an oblique direction to the right and was shelving. The incision went down the right side of the vagina and rectum for half an inch behind the rectum.

There was a stab of about an inch on the left groin. This was done by a pointed instrument. Below this was a cut of three inches going through all tissues making a wound of the peritoneum about the same extent. An inch below the crease of the thigh was a cut extending from the anterior spine of the ilium obliquely down the inner side of the left thigh and separating the left labium, forming a flap of skin up to the groin. The left rectus muscle was not detached.

There was a flap of skin formed by the right thigh, attaching the right labium, and extending up to the spine of the ilium. The muscles on the right side inserted into the frontal ligaments were cut through.

The skin was retracted through the whole of the cut through the abdomen, but the vessels were not clotted. Nor had there been any appreciable bleeding from the vessels. I draw the conclusion that the act was made after death, and there would not have been much blood on the murderer. The cut was made by someone on the right side of the body, kneeling below the middle of the body.

I removed the content of the stomach and placed it in a jar for further examination. There seemed very little in it in the way of food or fluid, but from the cut end partly digested farinaceous food escaped. The intestines had been detached to a large extent from the mesentery. About two feet of the colon was cut away. The sigmoid flexure was invaginated into the rectum very tightly.
Right kidney was pale, bloodless with slight congestion of the base of the pyramids.

There was a cut from the upper part of the slit on the under surface of the liver to the left side, and another cut at right angles to this, which were about an inch and a half deep and two and a half inches long. Liver itself was healthy. The gall bladder contained bile. The pancreas was cut, but not through, on the left side of the spinal column. Three and a half inches of the lower border of the spleen by half an inch was attached only to the peritoneum. The peritoneal lining was cut through on the left side and the left kidney carefully taken out and removed. The left renal artery was cut through. I would say that someone who knew the position of the kidney must have done it.

The lining membrane over the uterus was cut through. The womb was cut through horizontally, leaving a stump of three quarters of an inch. The rest of the womb had been taken away with some of the ligaments. The vagina and cervix of the womb was uninjured. The bladder was healthy and uninjured, and contained three or four ounces of water. There was a tongue-like cut through the anterior wall of the abdominal aorta. The other organs were healthy. There were no indications of connexion.

I believe the wound in the throat was first inflicted. I believe she must have been lying on the ground. The wounds on the face and abdomen prove that they were inflicted by a sharp, pointed knife, and that in the abdomen by one six inches or longer. I believe the perpetrator of the act must have had considerable knowledge of the position of the organs in the abdominal cavity and the way of removing them. It required a great deal of medical knowledge to have removed the kidney and to know where it was placed. The parts removed would be of no use for any professional purpose. I think the perpetrator of this act had sufficient time, or he would not have nicked the lower eyelids. It would take at least five minutes.
I cannot assign any reason for the parts being taken away. I feel sure that there was no struggle, and believe it was the act of one person.

The throat had been so instantly severed that no noise could have been emitted. I should not expect much blood to have been found on the person who had inflicted these wounds. The wounds could not have been self-inflicted. My attention was called to the apron, particularly the corner of the apron with a string attached. The blood spots were of recent origin. I have seen the portion of an apron produced by Dr. Phillips and stated to have been found in Goulston Street. It is impossible to say that it is human blood on the apron. I fitted the piece of apron, which had a new piece of material on it (which had evidently been sewn on to the piece I have), the seams of the borders of the two actually corresponding. Some blood and apparently faecal matter was found on the portion that was found in Goulston Street.

(Source)

Mary Jane Kelly..

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And finally the last known victim of Jack the ripper - someone who shares the name with our suspect - She was Mary Jane Kelly. This last murder was also by far the most gruesome murder the ripper had ever conducted. Perhaps the most gruesome murder anyone would ever have the misfortune of coming across in fact. And the reasoning for this was quite simple, Mary, unlike the other victims, was murdered indoors and without the risk of interruption by anyone.

Jack was able to do quite literally anything he wished to do and that... he certainly did so. It was a sickening murder, and almost as if he was enjoying himself, just playing with the body of Mary. This source explains..

Dr. Thomas Bond, a distinguished police surgeon from A-Division, was called in on the Mary Kelly murder. His report is as follows:

"The body was lying naked in the middle of the bed, the shoulders flat but the axis of the body inclined to the left side of the bed. The head was turned on the left cheek. The left arm was close to the body with the forearm flexed at a right angle and lying across the abdomen.

The right arm was slightly abducted from the body and rested on the mattress. The elbow was bent, the forearm supine with the fingers clenched. The legs were wide apart, the left thigh at right angles to the trunk and the right forming an obtuse angle with the pubes.

The whole of the surface of the abdomen and thighs was removed and the abdominal cavity emptied of its viscera. The breasts were cut off, the arms mutilated by several jagged wounds and the face hacked beyond recognition of the features. The tissues of the neck were severed all round down to the bone.

The viscera were found in various parts viz: the uterus and kidneys with one breast under the head, the other breast by the right foot, the liver between the feet, the intestines by the right side and the spleen by the left side of the body. The flaps removed from the abdomen and thighs were on a table.

The bed clothing at the right corner was saturated with blood, and on the floor beneath was a pool of blood covering about two feet square. The wall by the right side of the bed and in a line with the neck was marked by blood which had struck it in a number of separate splashes.

The face was gashed in all directions, the nose, cheeks, eyebrows, and ears being partly removed. The lips were blanched and cut by several incisions running obliquely down to the chin. There were also numerous cuts extending irregularly across all the features.

The neck was cut through the skin and other tissues right down to the vertebrae, the fifth and sixth being deeply notched. The skin cuts in the front of the neck showed distinct ecchymosis. The air passage was cut at the lower part of the larynx through the cricoid cartilage.

Both breasts were more or less removed by circular incisions, the muscle down to the ribs being attached to the breasts. The intercostals between the fourth, fifth, and sixth ribs were cut through and the contents of the thorax visible through the openings.

The skin and tissues of the abdomen from the costal arch to the pubes were removed in three large flaps. The right thigh was denuded in front to the bone, the flap of skin, including the external organs of generation, and part of the right buttock. The left thigh was stripped of skin fascia, and muscles as far as the knee."

The left calf showed a long gash through skin and tissues to the deep muscles and reaching from the knee to five inches above the ankle. Both arms and forearms had extensive jagged wounds.

The right thumb showed a small superficial incision about one inch long, with extravasation of blood in the skin, and there were several abrasions on the back of the hand moreover showing the same condition.

On opening the thorax it was found that the right lung was minimally adherent by old firm adhesions. The lower part of the lung was broken and torn away. The left lung was intact. It was adherent at the apex and there were a few adhesions over the side. In the substances of the lung there were several nodules of consolidation.

The pericardium was open below and the heart absent. In the abdominal cavity there was some partly digested food of fish and potatoes, and similar food was found in the remains of the stomach attached to the intestines."

Dr. George Bagster Phillips was also present at the scene, and gave the following testimony at the inquest:

"The mutilated remains of a female were lying two-thirds over towards the edge of the bedstead nearest the door. She had only her chemise on, or some underlinen garment. I am sure that the body had been removed subsequent to the injury which caused her death from that side of the bedstead that was nearest the wooden partition, because of the large quantity of blood under the bedstead and the saturated condition of the sheet and the palliasse at the corner nearest the partition.

The blood was produced by the severance of the carotid artery, which was the cause of death. The injury was inflicted while the deceased was lying at the right side of the bedstead."

(Source)

-- The Mysterious Letters ‘From Hell’

As the murders were taking place, It's also said that Jack the ripper, the murderer, actually sent multiple letters to the police in what was an effort, presumably, to mock them for failing to capture him, these letters being where we get the name Jack the ripper in the first place - It's the name they were signed with. Whether they're a hoax, one made up by a journalist in order to exacerbate the story, It's unclear, although we do know for a fact that at least some of those sent in were indeed fakes, but there are those others which, to this day, are still discussed and debated over.

Here are the letters seemingly sent by the ripper:

The first is known as the 'Dear Boss' letter.

Page 1:

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Page 2:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/files/img/bk4edcb604.jpg[/atsimg]

The above translates to:

25 Sept: 1888

Dear Boss,

I keep on hearing the police have caught me but they wont fix me just yet. I have laughed when they look so clever and talk about being on the right track. That joke about Leather Apron gave me real fits. I am down on whores and I shant quit ripping them till I do get buckled. Grand work the last job was. I gave the lady no time to squeal. How can they catch me now. I love my work and want to start again. You will soon hear of me with my funny little games. I saved some of the proper red stuff in a ginger beer bottle over the last job to write with but it went thick like glue and I cant use it. Red ink is fit enough I hope ha. ha. The next job I do I shall clip the ladys ears off and send to the police officers just for jolly wouldn't you. Keep this letter back till I do a bit more work, then give it out straight. My knife's so nice and sharp I want to get to work right away if I get a chance. Good Luck.

Yours truly,

Jack the Ripper

Dont mind me giving the trade name

PS Wasnt good enough to post this before I got all the red ink off my hands curse it No luck yet. They say I'm a doctor now. ha ha

The next is potentially the "Saucy Jacky" Postcard which makes reference to the previous "double event" murders as well as the taking of the ear of one of the victims:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/files/img/cw4ed8f9ea.jpg[/atsimg]

This translates to:

I was not codding dear old Boss when I gave you the tip, you'll hear about Saucy Jacky's work tomorrow double event this time number one squealed a bit couldn't finish straight off. ha not the time to get ears for police. thanks for keeping last letter back till I got to work again.

Jack the Ripper

The next one, known as "the letter from hell", quite shockingly came with a piece of human kidney, one of which is said to have belonged to one of his past victims, Catherine Eddowes.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/files/img/av4ed8f386.jpg[/atsimg]

From hell.

Mr Lusk,

Sor

I send you half the Kidne I took from one woman and prasarved it for you tother piece I fried and ate it was very nise. I may send you the bloody knif that took it out if you only wate a whil longer

signed
Catch me when you can Mishter Lusk

The Lusk letter is more difficult to assess. Dr. Openshaw indicated that the kidney belonged to a person suffering from Bright's Disease which, according to testimony given by Dr. Brown, the police surgeon, apparently afflicted Kate Eddowes. The possibility remains that the letter is genuine and the kidney was the victim's, but there is no way to prove it today.

(Sources)

- Mr James Kelly -

_________________________________________________________

A Look At the Life of Kelly

James Kelly, someone who is perhaps overlooked far too often as a potential suspect in the Ripper case, often being excluded from the surprisingly small list of plausible suspects, overall their being in excess of 200 of them at least. Just looking at the Metropolitan Police website on the history of the murders in fact and he isn't even mentioned as a suspect in fact. Such a shame really as, in my opinion anyway, he's not just possibly a suspect.. I think if anything It's highly plausible.

As with throwing out this theory for other members to discuss though, here's a quick look at what kind of man I'm discussing here, how he grew up, how he murdered his first wife, how he spent time in Broadmoor before escaping (Shortly afterwards the murders started occurring) and finally to the time where he handed himself in as an old man in 1927 - The life of Mr James Kelly, known only through scarce records and personal end of life confessions..

-- Kelly Growing Up...

Kelly, from what my research gave me, had something of a troubled childhood. He was seemingly born in Preston, Lancashire, his mother, Sarah Kelly, was a 15 year old at the time of his birth which meant that she couldn't exactly take care of him in the way a mother should. Because of this he was almost immediately put into the care of her mother, who was his grandmother, Teresa Kelly who he went onto believe was his real mother.

14 years later however, as James begins an apprenticeship as an upholsterer, something which involves the keen skill of using a knife which is potentially key for later on in life, his real mother, Sarah, dies leaving behind a small fortune for him which would not become available to him right away, some believe she helped raise this money through the work of prostitution also. It was shortly after this that he was informed that his grandmother, who he believed through out his life was his real mother, was not.

This potentially where he began what appears to be an apparent hatred of women according to some sources and researchers. It certainly seems to have "changed" him in some way or another at least.

A few years after learning of who his real mother was, Teresa, who he believed was his real mother growing up as a child, eventually died also now leaving James without any mother figure in his life. It was around this time, potentially still suffering from the news of his mother, and dealing with their deaths, that James started to "act irrationally" and experience "mood swings" and quite bad "fits of rage." I believe this was also cited at the time by Isaac H. Jones a Liverpudlian pawnbroker who James was working for at the time.

By late 1878, James now 18, he decided to take up his previous line of work, upholsterer, which he previously gave up, and in doing so he decided to move away from the north of England and seek out work in London, particularly in Whitechapel where the ripper murders occurred 10 years later.

1877 - James finishes his education and takes a job in Liverpool with Isaac H. Jones, a pawnbroker. He begins to act irrationally and experience mood swings.

Late 1878 - James decides to quit his job and return to his previous trade as an upholsterer. He also decides to move to London, and applies to the administrators of his trust fund who agree to fund the move. On arrival in London he applies to the East London Upholsterer's Trade Society in Shoreditch for work. They agree to help him find a position, but suggest he takes casual work in the meantime.

Early 1879 - Kelly takes lodgings at 37 Collingwood Street, Bethnal Green with the family of fellow upholsterer Walter Lamb. In the company of Lamb and another friend John Merritt, a 35 year old married cab driver, the formerly devout Catholic Kelly learns the delights of hard drinking and paid sex on the back streets of the East End. He works at a variety of casual jobs in sweatshops all over the district. Eventually he decides to try his luck elsewhere.

1879-1881 - For two years there are only scant details of Kelly's movements. For at least some time he is living in Brighton, and he spends a period serving aboard an American Man-o-war.

Mid 1881 - He returns to London and renews his acquaintance with Lamb and Merritt. He works at a variety of casual jobs and sometimes serves on Continental cargo ships. His drinking becomes heavier than ever and most evenings are spent around Whitechapel and Spitalfields.

(Source)

It appears that Kelly certainly would've known the backstreets around Whitechapel quite well, he even seems to have spent time with prostitutes in this area.. much like Jack the Ripper did so a few years later.

-- Meeting his wife, Marriage and Eventual Murder...

It was late of this year that he was to meet Sarah Brider for the very first time, this being the woman who would later become his wife. Unfortunately though it was also around this time that Kelly's mental instability was worsening, even losing jobs because of it as his employers, such as John Hiron for example, described him as "he was obviously not right in the head" not forgetting Isaac H. Jones citing him as acting irrationality and experiencing mood swings as previously highlighted.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/files/img/ci4eda4d3b.jpg[/atsimg]

(I believe this is an image of a young James Kelly, our potential Jack the Ripper)

Anyway, even despite his personal problems at the time he still grew closer to Sarah, meeting her parents on occasions and even moving in with them:

December 1881 - A few weeks before Christmas he meets Sarah Brider and quickly becomes enamoured of her. Sarah takes him home to meet her family and the pair become an item. Sarah's parents think him a serious and religious young man with good prospects.

March 1882 - Kelly moves into the Brider's house at 21 Cottage Lane, just off the City Road between Shoreditch and Islington, as a lodger. He has to share a room with another man. He cuts down on his drinking and other activities and spends many evenings in the house with Sarah and her parents.

Christmas 1882 - Kelly and Sarah have become increasingly intimate over the year and, after much persistence on his part, she surrenders her virginity to him. The event is a disaster. Despite being sexually experienced, Kelly has only slept with low-class prostitutes and neither one has had any kind of sex education. He is not prepared for how different sex with a virgin will be and finds himself unable to penetrate. He is convinced that Sarah has some kind of deformity and she babbles a story of being interfered with by an uncle by way of explanation. Kelly's former erratic behaviour returns after this and he experiences stronger and stronger depressions and mood swings in the following months. He also returns to his former habits in the East End rather than pressing Sarah further.

February 1883 - Fearful that he will lose Sarah who is growing more distant, he proposes marriage to her. She delays but eventually accepts. However in the meantime Kelly finds he has a venereal disease and, fearful of doctors, resolves to treat it himself.

Due to his disease Kelly sought out treatment in secret, desperately avoiding to inform Sarah or her parents who eventually found out by finding syringes he was using for medication which he had stored away in secret. With being confronted by the whole family shortly afterwards he's said to have just erupted in a complete fit of rage, even going as far as accusing Sarah of being a prostitute, a serious insult in the mind of Kelly, and infecting him with the disease he was now suffering from.

This being potentially where James grew his severe hatred for prostitutes. Paranoid, he also accuses her and her family, who was pressuring him into setting a date for a wedding with Sarah, of being after nothing but his inheritance money.

The day after it was Sarah's birthday and so Kelly made attempts to make up for his actions the day before, however he is stood up by her after waiting to take her out after he returned from work that day, she once again ignores him later on after they meet at home around 9 o clock that evening. James once again falls into a state of rage at her and in doing so runs into the room where Sarah was and drags her out of it and into the kitchen. He then grabs a nearby kitchen knife and threatens to stab her if she refuses to tell him exactly where she had been, Kelly obviously paranoid once again:

Monday June 18th 1883 - Sarah's birthday. Filled with remorse at his outburst of the night before Kelly resolves to take her out on their return from work. Kelly waits for her but she does not return until 9 o'clock, over an hour later than usual. Ignoring Kelly she goes into the parlour and tells her mother she is unwell. Kelly runs into the parlour and drags Sarah into the kitchen screaming abuse at her. Then he pulls a carving knife from a kitchen drawer and threatens to stab her unless she tells him where she has been. She claims to have gone to get some quinine to help him with his problems. Kelly calms down instantly and collapses in a chair crying.

Thursday June 21st 1883 - Sarah returns home from work at around 8pm and says she is going back out to meet Kelly. An hour later he appears without her. Mrs Brider asks where she is and he tells her that he saw her on the other side of the road and did not cross to her. Then he snaps at her that no woman will ever master him and he goes out again.

Kelly was becoming much worse as of late, falling into fits of rage much more often and far too easily. Upon an incident where Sarah breaks away from Kelly seemingly after an argument she runs to her room and locks herself inside to escape him, this resulting in him once again falling into a fit of rage and pure anger eventually breaking down the door to get to her. She says she no longer wants to live him and she no longer wants to see him again which then causes Kelly to once again break down in tears and beg her for forgiveness.

After she refuses to forgive him however his anger returns, this time though he grabs her, throws her to the floor and pulls out a pocket knife he had in his possession and he begins to stab her in the neck. It's said It was like he was trying to burrow into her with his knife and even his own hands, almost like an animal.

He throws Sarah's mother across the room, as she obviously saw what happened and attempted to stop him attacking her daughter, and instead of trying to make an escape, he runs to his room and locks himself in, presumably bursting into a state of tears like before.

The police, as well as a doctor, arrived shortly afterwards and Kelly was immediately arrested for what he had done. Sarah however was taken to a nearby hospital but she went onto die from her injuries around 3 days later, Kelly at the time still begging for forgiveness through letters. He was originally charged with attempted murder but with Sarah's death this changed to murder and Kelly now faced the death penalty in August of that year. At the same time he still didn't seem to quite understand what he had done wrong..

-- His Imprisonment and Eventual Escape From Broadmoor Asylum...

Kelly’s behavior exhibited such insanity that it is not hard to believe him as the Ripper himself. On the morning of June 22, 1883, Kelly was charged with attempted murder. The charge was later changed to murder when Sarah died at half past ten on June 24. Kelly did not believe he would be sentenced to death because he believed that God had a mission for him (Casebook). This mission could possibly be to rid London of the women he thought so little of throughout his whole life. He was set to be executed on August 20, 1883 but on the 17th he was reprieved and was sent to Broadmoor Asylum (Eddleston 217). He started out on Block four of the asylum with the suicidal and quite mad. Kelly did not respond to treatment and felt that he had done nothing wrong, further showing his insanity and lack of remorse for his actions. He kept to himself and was considered a quiet young man with signs of religious mania (Tully 52). His lack of contact with woman was the likely reason for his somewhat good behaviour in the asylum because women were the spark that ignited his insanity.

(Source)

Kelly was charged with murder on the 25th of June, 1883, and was sentenced to Broadmoor prison, as was highlighted above, the disease he believed he had received from the work of prostitution ending up causing him to argue insanely with Sarah which then resulted in her death and his own imprisonment - It's possible this was the reasoning behind Kelly's murderous spree and war against Prostitutes later on in life, assuming Kelly really is Jack the ripper of course.

As the above source also highlighted, it appears that while serving time in Broadmoor, Kelly was a model prisoner, particularly with the lack of women around him. He was sentenced to hang on the 20 of August, something that didn't seem to concern him as he believed he was on a "mission from god" and would be saved from death - which of course did occur as on the 7th of August, 13 days before he is set to hang, Dr W. Orange, superintendent of Broadmoor, conducts an examination and concludes that Kelly is legally insane, or to be specific a "Paranoid Schizophrenic."

His life was spared. He was then moved to Broadmoor asylum, while he was here he once again was not bothered by any women and thus became something of a role model prisoner. Even being handed a violin and making his way to play in the prisons Asylum band.

If, for example, Kelly believed the mission from god was one to rid the world of prostitutes for example, which isn't out of the question given the circumstances which led him to be where he was, then the fact he was certainly saved would only confirm for himself that he was indeed on a mission and quite literally had to carry it out. There was one problem though... he was in prison. Thus, he worked up a plan to escape along with the help of prison inmate George Stratton.

On the 23rd of January, 1888, months before the ripper murders first began, Kelly and Stratton head off together seemingly for band practice as both were involved with the asylum band at the time, and both had their instruments with them, however in the months leading up to the escape they both fashioned themselves a set of keys which they would use for the daring escape, I believe spending months on it.. as the story goes anyway.

Stratton locks up after him and keeps the keys to make his own escape at a later date. Kelly then climbs the six foot wall of the prison garden to freedom. His escape is not noticed until the inmates are called for bed at 7.30. An anonymous note in Kelly's Broadmoor file indicates that John Merritt was also seen in the neighbourhood of Broadmoor on the day of the escape which may suggest that he helped him escape somehow.

-- The Return of Kelly and the "End of Life Confession"...

Little is actually known about the exact whereabouts of Kelly in the aftermath of his rather dramatic escape from Broadmoor asylum in 1888. This makes is that little bit more difficult to determine, conclusively that is, whether he could've even been in London at the time of the killings which if he was gives this theory much more creditably, In my opinion. It does seem however that he did at least travel there at some point after his escape though, as well as staying for a while.

At the very least we know for a fact that shortly after the murders first began in Whitechapel Sarah's parents, Sarah the murdered wife of Kelly remember, had their home raided by police and they were subsequently questioned about the possible whereabouts of Kelly and I believe their residence was also searched for clues.

So we know for an absolute fact that the idea of James Kelly being behind the murders thus was also the infamous Jack the Ripper was at the very least seriously considered by those in the police force who were desperately looking for him at the time.

How can we determine where Kelly may have been however? Well, after making a disappearance in 1888, little is known about what he did, where he went and so on. Despite there being a relatively well known and large man hunt for him, which is where he originally "gained his fame", but all to no avail of course. That is until 1927 where he quite literally turned up on the doorsteps of Broadmoor asylum and all apparently of his own free will.

An old, frail, dying man.. but a man alive still. And still capable of giving something of a confession to explain his whereabouts all those years.

In this "confession", nothing is ever 'admitted' It would seem, but even so I personally believe, as do some other researchers from what I've read, that Kelly was dropping some pretty serious hints which may tie him to the Ripper case. For example In the "End of life confession", Kelly himself claims that, and in his own words remember, “I have been on the warpath since I left Broadmoor.” Of course this once again is going from what I've read and from what I've seen in various documentaries - So It's unclear exactly what context this is used in unfortunately.

[removed at member request]

He also supposedly says in his letter that he had problems with society such as “all kinds of skank”, not forgetting he claimed in 1888 that he would be saved from death with the help of God, this after being handed a death sentence for murdering his first wife, and that he was given a "mission" - of course I'm making nothing but assumptions here but It's possible he believe his mission was to literally rid the world of this, as he called it, "Skank."

This I believe potentially backed up by his actions in America which I've explained in the next section of this thread... he was literally going from place to place, perhaps "cleansing" them in his own deranged eyes.

Well I theorize that due to his mental instability, his own claim of being on a warpath, and his obvious dislike of prostitutes, It's becoming clearer that he should at the very least be seen as a major suspect for the original Jack the Ripper, someone who has yet to be revealed even well over 100 years after the murders first occurred. At the very least Kelly, as a suspect, should be considered much more than he already is.

Anyway, the murders around Whitechapel seemingly came to a stop after the death of Mary Kelly, for whatever reason. However, this may have been the end of the killing spree in London, yes, but even so the killings may have continued..

- Return of the Ripper -

_________________________________________________________

The Rippers Possible Infiltration of America

Whether James Kelly really is Jack the Ripper, I don't know, there is after all well over 200 different suspects in this case, some others fitting the profile almost perfectly. Fortunately though this thread is not a discussion of those but instead a discussion solely on Kelly.

In regards to the Ripper, well, nobody knows for sure who the name of this murderous character really is, all we can do unfortunately is speculate. Either way, it would seem that his murderous rampage around Whitechapel would come to a stop late on in 1888.. but as was mentioned, this doesn't seem to be where the killings from this man stopped still.

They may have continued in America of all places, more famously to a woman by the name of Carrie Brown in New York...

Continuing the trend of looking at Kelly however, it must be asked if he can be tied into the murders which then went onto sweep across America, literally state by state and the answer is very much so, yes. You see according to Kelly's own "confession" where he highlighted a great deal of his movements, particularly movements after the Whitechapel murders came to an end, he claimed to have travelled to America on a German steamer, the Zaandam, to New York via Rotterdam in January of 1892...

The Murder of Carrie brown, in what was a particularly gruesome murder, occurred in April of the same year.. Kelly arriving just in time for the murder to take place it would seem.

Why is she linked to the Jack the Ripper murders some may ask though? Well, we know for a fact that Carrie Brown was working as a prostitute at the time of her death, this on the night of the 23rd of April, 1892, this being something well known. She was also found to be very badly mutilated, almost gutted by her murderer, and in a way very similar to the ripper murders previously in London a few months before. Much like what was seen to Mary Kelly in fact, the most gruesome Whitechapel case.. as well as more anomalies, such as a mysterious letter to a new york paper sent just before the murder supposedly signed Jack the Ripper.

Known fondly by her acquaintances as "Old Shakespeare" due to her tendency to recite her favorite poet's sonnets after a few drinks, Carrie Brown checked into the East River Hotel, on the southeast corner of Catherine Slip and Water Streets, with a man between 10:30 and 11:00 on the night of April 23rd. Her lifeless body was discovered lying on the bed the next morning, naked from the armpits down, according to the night clerk who found her. Her body was mutilated, and she had been strangled, but there are few details known about her injuries. The details of the autopsy were played down a great deal by the press, and all that we can know for sure is that there were 'cuts and stab wounds all over it.' The doctor who performed the autopsy, named Jenkins, is said to have thought that the killer had attempted to completely gut his victim. Other than that, the exactness of her injuries remain a mystery.

(Source)

This tied in with the fact that James Kelly, a ripper suspect, was in the same city at the same time.. I think it's quite plausible indeed that he was responsible and at the very least should be considered. Like he himself seemingly said years later.. he was on a "warpath."

The New York newspaper is seemingly the key to all of this. The killing had all the trademarks of a ripper slaying, yes, and Kelly even traveled to America and was in the same city just in time for the killings but It's still not enough really. The fact he's said to have wrote to a local newspaper warning them about his presence, and then the victim is found, which if true, gives this story and this theory by far more credibility.

Unfortunately information about it is frustratingly hard to come by. But!, I did come across an interesting documentary called 'Jack the Ripper - In America' which discusses the possibility of the Ripper making his way over to the U.S., presumably in order to escape the media coverage of the killings here in the UK, coverage which was absolutely huge at the time, and moving to America to continue the crusade against Prostitutes certainly would've made his "job" by far easier to do.

This documentary also seriously considers that James Kelly, the man I'm highlighting in this thread, was the original Jack the Ripper, and they also go into some detail on this New York newspaper, their story about the ripper prior to the murder as well as much more on Kelly.

Here it is and It's certainly worth a watch:











From the above documentary It's claimed that in James's end of life confession he also claimed to visit states such as Baltimore, Texas, LA, New Jersey and many more locations. In the above documentary It's also claimed Ripper-type murders can also be found and tied to Kelly in these states he visited at the time he is said to be there.

- James Kelly in a Final, Brief Summary -

_________________________________________________________

At one point in time I believe the FBI even went to the trouble of creating something of a murder profile for Jack the Ripper, It's as follows:

White male, aged 28 to 36, living or working in the Whitechapel area.

In childhood, there was an absent or passive father figure.

The killer probably had a profession in which he could legally experience his destructive tendencies.

Jack the Ripper probably ceased his killing because he was either arrested for some other crime, or felt himself close to being discovered as the killer.

The killer probably had some sort of physical defect which was the source of a great deal of frustration or anger.

Here is another FBi report found on the official FBI website looking at everything relating to the Ripper, from what he may have looked like to what his motives would be.

Anyway, when looking at the above killer profile, looking at just this alone, it seems James Kelly can fit almost perfectly. At the time of the killings for example he was around 28 years of age as the profile suggests - the profile made from witness statements etc. We also know for certain that he was living around Whitechapel at some point, even buying the time of local prostitutes for example.

We also know he was an upholsterer and would've had easy access to very sharp knives, and ones he undoubtedly would've used and "honed his skills" with every single day. In regards to him being caught however, I don't believe It's very likely. But as was mentioned previously in this thread from looking at his end of life confession he does explain to us that he boarded a ship to America and went onto live under the name John Miller while there.. He also went into hiding in the immediate aftermath of his Broadmoor escape so we know he's capable of simply disappearing like this. Someone escaping a crime by moving to America and then changing their name was also something that certainly wasn't uncommon at the time.

Could this theory really be correct though, could Kelly really be the infamous Jack the Ripper as we know today? Well, It's possible in my opinion, possible at the very least. We know for a fact that this man was capable of murder, even murder of those he loved and who was closest to him all the while in a stage of intense rage at very minor things. We know for a fact he was mentally unstable, this instability leading him to murder in the first place, we know he was certainly not a dumb man, his escape from prison showing signs of him being someone who plans smart and extensively. He also evaded capture right up until he chose for authorities to get hands on him by giving himself up in 1927.

James also seemed to have quite a keen sense of hatred for women, and particularly prostitutes. This perhaps due to his experiences with his first wife Sarah and the fact that he was given a venereal disease by prostitutes, something which went onto ruin his short marriage and lead to him committing murder and eventually jail, effectively ruining his life thus a motive.

As I come to this thread however I can't help but stress that there is many other suspects for Jack the Ripper, well over 200 of them in fact, albeit it much fewer plausible suspects. In this thread however I chose, on purpose, to focus solely on just one of them,.. James Kelly. I did so as I felt he was a very plausible Ripper candidate, someone who fits the profile perfectly, can be placed in the, or near the locations of the murders, at the time they took place, not forgetting a plausible motive.

I understand there is other plausible candidates however, such as Francis Tumblety for example, maybe even Aaron Kosminski, and in posting this thread I hope others who know this case well choose to come forward and bring them up for discussion and comparison with Kelly. ATS has always been a fantastic place for the serious discussion of conspiracy theories and I strongly believe when members work together a lot can be achieved so because of this I hope a good discussion can come out of this thread and I hope to either have my theory confirmed for me, or to come across a much more plausible candidate than Kelly.

Anyway, thanks to those who took the time to read this full thread and I look forward to any serious replies.

reply to post by Rising Against


Wow.. Rising Against, again you have put a massive amount of work and research into your thread.. I'm going to read through it now, but you get stars and flags purely for research and presentation (plus I know your a level headed guy and you usually make a very good point)

Members like yourself are a credit to ATS.. Well done..

Serious reply number 1! EDIT: Okay Number 2!

Amazing thread once again RA!

I’m glad that you have brought Kelly into this actually...especially the idea that he just chose another country to do it in eventually. In my mind, he’s a big big suspect of this case. If we look at his family situation and as you mentioned, where he grew his hatred of prostitutes (from Sarah)...pretty...coincidental.

Your quotes from “The Return of Kelly and the "End of Life Confession" (from Kelly’s words) actually rather show that he potentially was the Ripper since there wasn’t any other big murders around that time known...he may actually be talking about the Ripper Deaths...hmm, I think we need to find a comprehensive list of all the murders in that year in that location.

I must say though, some pretty big ones out there too like Francis. Need his case as well...chop, chop to it then Haha, I’ll try to find some information and post it here.

Great one RA

wow very nice and informative post, thank you for that! F+S

Amazing research

Well done Rising Against S&F im at work right now, will read throught it when i get home, i did a project on the Ripper back in High School, ill see if i can contribute abit when im at home Looks very interesting to say they least.

What you need to do is go ahead and 'reserve' the additional post spaces quickly and just type something like 'reserved post' on each of them.

Then when you get to that place you can 'edit' the post and put in your information.

At least that's what I do when I know I will need 3-4 slots to make the thread opening.

wow amazing the work you put into this, I'm already hooked on this thread, I just read the first part and just wanted to leave a post saying this is awesome, thank you for your hard work and an interesting thread! S&F!! :-) and what a scary figure Jack the Ripper is, just looking at that cloak and hat sends shivers up my spine.

reply to post by WiseThinker

Well done Rising Against S&F im at work right now, will read throught it when i get home, i did a project on the Ripper back in High School, ill see if i can contribute abit when im at home Looks very interesting to say they least.

You did a project on it? Awesome!

I've not been looking into this case for too long really so It would be great to hear the thoughts and opinions of those who have done to be honest. James Kelly is, in my opinion, one of the most underrated candidates from what I have read thus far but I know there's quite a few other very plausible candidates still so I really do look forward to hearing what you have to say a little bit later on if you choose to reply again.

reply to post by BlackPoison94


A lot of the information I found about Kelly, particularly his time in America, can be found in the documentary I added to the bottom of this post here. There's some information about Carrie Brown there, the newspaper headlines in various different states speculating over the Ripper as well as a lot more about his time there. You should check it out. If anything It's at least interesting.

I must say though, some pretty big ones out there too like Francis. Need his case as well...chop, chop to it then

Haha, I’ll try to find some information and post it here.

You haven't done a new thread for a while, I'll leave Francis to you.

Looking forward to any info you add to this thread as well btw!

Great Post, but you officially freaked me out, as I looked at the thread title and seen my father's name haha.

Originally posted by GoldenObserver
Great Post, but you officially freaked me out, as I looked at the thread title and seen my father's name haha.

Oh, my baaaaad.

Hope you enjoyed the read though.. just ignore the title and stuff if you can.

reply to post by Rising Against


Good thread.

You really had me going, I enjoyed it and I was starting to warm to the idea that this man was Jack. He ticks a lot of boxes.

However, I will need to see this end of life confession and study it in greater depth. For someone who was quite open about his prejudices and mission I would have thought such a confession would have been more indicative of his crimes.

Maybe he was humbled in his old age.

Thank You!

Bump

Elf

reply to post by Rising Against


That aged photo of Kelly is actually of cannibal Albert Fish.

Just letting you know...

Other than that, intriguing thread!