George Bagster Phillips - Mary Jane Kelly

Mary Jane Kelly

Together with Dr Thomas Bond, Phillips examined the remains of Mary Jane Kelly on 9 November 1888. At the inquest, Phillips reported:

"I was called by the police on Friday morning at eleven o'clock, and on proceeding to Miller's Court, which I entered at 11.15. I found a room, the door of which led out of the passage at the side of 26, Dorset street, photographs of which I produce. It had two windows in the court. Two panes in the lesser window were broken, and as the door was locked I looked through the lower of the broken panes and satisfied myself that the mutilated corpse lying on the bed was not in need of any immediate attention from me, and I also came to the conclusion that there was nobody else upon the bed, or within view, to whom I could render any professional assistance. Having ascertained that probably it was advisable that no entrance should be made into the room at that time, I remained until about 1.30p.m., when the door was broken open by McCarthy, under the direction of Superintendent Arnold.

On the door being opened it knocked against a table which was close to the left-hand side of the bedstead, and the bedstead was close against the wooden partition. The mutilated remains of a woman were lying two-thirds over, towards the edge of the bedstead, nearest the door. Deceased had only an under-linen garment upon her, and by subsequent examination I am sure the body had been removed, after the injury which caused death, from that side of the bedstead which was nearest to the wooden partition previously mentioned. The large quantity of blood under the bedstead, the saturated condition of the palliasse, pillow, and sheet at the top corner of the bedstead nearest to the partition leads me to the conclusion that the severance of the right carotid artery, which was the immediate cause of death, was inflicted while the deceased was lying at the right side of the bedstead and her head and neck in the top right-hand corner".

This was only general evidence. The coroner, Dr Roderick MacDonald, had told the jury that they would hear Dr Phillips' full post mortem report at "the adjourned inquest" - clearly indicating that there would be a further session, as had happened with the previous victims. However, after hearing a few more witnesses, he said that he did not know if the jury wished to bring in a verdict - all they had to go was agree on the cause of death, "leaving other matters in the hands of the police" and there was no point in continually going over the same matters. The jury conferred quickly, then said that they wished to bring in a verdict of "Wilful murder against a person or persons unknown." MacDonald then closed the inquest. Consequently, the coroner had not complied with the legal requisite that the length, breadth and depths of all wounds to the deceased must be recorded and, with conflicting evidence having been given to the inquest, the time of death had not been established. Phillips had conferred in private with the coroner before the hearing opened, something he had wanted to do at a previous inquest but had been refused.