Mary J

Mary Jane Kelly

The time and place of Mary Jane Kelly’s birth are not officially known, but she was approximately 25 on November 9, 1888, when she died (much younger than the other victims) and she claimed to be born in Limerick, Ireland (moving soon to Wales). Most of what is known about her life comes from what she told to Joseph Barnett, with whom she lived, but it is assumed that at least some of it was embellished or flat-out made up. She arrived in London in 1884 and Barnett claims she worked in a high-class brothel in the West End. Kelly was described by a woman named Elizabeth Phoenix as "one of the most decent and nice girls you could meet when sober"(1) but she grew rather noisy and quarrelsome when drunk. She met Barnett in April 1887; they both lived in a lodging house in Spitalfields (the district neighboring Whitechapel). On their second meeting they arranged to live together. In February or March 1888, they move to 13 Miller’s Court, where Kelly was found murdered. In August or September of 1888, Barnett lost his job and Kelly returned to prostitution. Barnett left her, but visited every day. Kelly complained bitterly about the life of a streetwalker, and a friend claims that Kelly wouldn’t have been soliciting the trade if the utmost need weren’t there.

On the evening of her murder, Barnett was visiting, but left at 8:00 PM. There are no confirmed sightings of Kelly for the next three hours, but she supposedly drank at a pub with a respectable looking young man at 11:00 PM. From 2:00 AM to 3:00 AM, a man named George Hutchinson saw Kelly with a man carrying a small parcel in his left hand. He described him as "Jewish looking," respectable, and in his 30’s. This is the last confirmed sighting of Kelly, although two witnesses claim to have seen her at 8:00 AM and 10:00 AM, hours after the estimated time of death.

Kelly was subjected to the gravest mutilations of all the victims. She was cut in a most brutal manner, yet there was an odd orderliness to the crime; not only were her clothes folded up and placed neatly on a chair, so were her stomach and thighs, on the table beside her. One may infer that due to the private nature of this murder – in her home, with a great deal more time available – the Ripper could take extra measures that he couldn’t take on the streets. Also, this was the last of the murders, and although some historians believe that serial killers never stop killing, others argue that many just cease altogether, and the Ripper may have decided that this would be his last murder, and folded everything up accordingly.

Click here to read a description of the body of Mary Jane Kelly from the post-mortem performed by Dr. Thomas Bond.

(1) http://www.casebook.org/victims/mary_jane_kelly.html?show=2

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