June 1996
The woman generally believed to have been the first Ripper victim, Polly Nichols, was found with her throat severed and extensive abdominal mutilation on the night of her death. It was originally stated that there was found only "a wine glass and a half" of blood near the body, and yet such a violent wound should have caused much more blood spillage than that. At the time of the inquest, the idea that she was killed elsewhere and then dropped where she was found was thrown about, but was soon discarded. If she was killed there, why was there so little blood? Conversely, if she was indeed killed elsewhere, why did doctors abandon the idea, and furthermore, of what importance would that fact be?
1.
Date: Sun, 2 Jun 1996 21:13:05 -0700
From: wolvie@sprynet.com
As has been pointed out by Rumbelow and others the lack of blood can be explained simply in the fact that she (Polly Nichols) was already dead at the time that the Ripper began to use his knife. She, as well as most of the victims showed signs of strangulation before the throat was ever cut. If she was dead before she was cut, the blood would ooze out instead of squirting out in large jets, as would be the case if she had been alive. In short, she was killed on the spot where she was found.
2.
Date: Mon, 03 Jun 1996 15:03:03 -0400
From: Michael Rogers
Since none of the other victims appear to have been moved, the chances that Nichols was murdered elsewhere and dumped in Bucks Row are pretty slim. Why would the killer do that? It's not like the body was hidden at all. At this point who's to say how much a "wine glass and a half" really is anyway? Could be a little, could be a lot. Maybe a fair amount of the blood soaked into Nichols's clothes or her hair. The whole question of how much blood was there seems fairly irrelevant.
3.
Date: Tue, 04 Jun 96 13:47:00 -0700
From: Paul Emmitt
All things point to Polly being killed where she was found. One, that's how the Ripper works. Two, there was more blood than a toast and a half because Thain, who picked up the corpse, said Polly's back was covered with blood, and Llewellyn, who did the post mortem, said blood had flowed into the abdominal cavity. These facts along with others offered by Sugden--no blood trail, no noise of a vehicle, Polly's clothing not disarranged, Polly not dead or JUST dead when first found--make it a pretty safe bet that all the work was done on the spot. Isn't the moved/carriage theory just a Knight "vehicle" anyway?
4.
Date: Wed, 5 Jun 1996 16:45:46 +-1000
From: Dennis Stocks
Yes, Llewellyn initially made the comment about the volume of blood (THE TIMES, 3rd September), but changed his mind once he had begun the autopsy, simply on the basis that he found that the blood from Nichols' abdominal mutilations had flowed into her abdominal cavity, and that the blood from her throat had been absorbed by her dress, bodice and ulster.
Helson and Abberline agreed she had died where she was found. It is likely that Cross had scared her attacker away. Recall that Neil had seen no one there at 3:15. Her injuries are also consistent with prior strangulation.
If she had been transported there, Charles Cross (first to discover the body) heard no sounds of a vehicle. Remember that at 3:40 Robert Paul touched her breast and thought he detected movement. Five minutes later PC Neil found her right arm warm about the elbow and, despite the abdominal injuries, the loss of blood and the exposure of her leg's to the cold air, Llewellyn discovered warmth in her body and legs soon after four and concluded that she had not been dead for more than half an hour. If she was carried there, where were the drips of blood along that track? OK there were a lot of slaughterhouses in the area, but it all seems carrying conspiracy too far.
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