| A Ripper Notes Article |
This article originally appeared in Ripper Notes. Ripper Notes is the only American Ripper periodical available on the market, and has quickly grown into one of the more substantial offerings in the genre. For more information, view our Ripper Notes page. Our thanks to the editor of Ripper Notes for permission to reprint this article.
|
 |
Did Kelly Have a Heart?
by Dave Yost
One of the many
controversies within the case of Mary Jane Kelly is whether or
not her heart was taken by her killer. Some have concluded that
the killer not only removed the heart from the chest cavity, but
also took it with him when he left the scene, while others accept
that the heart was merely removed from the body, and some view
all of this as too vague. As with many other aspects within our
world of Jack the Ripper, there seems to be an insufficient
amount of facts, which specifically spell things out for us, (and
sometimes even the facts may appear to be ambiguous), but there
is usually more than enough circumstantial evidence which can be
utilized by either side of the aisle. This one topic is no
different.
On any particular
avenue of research, we are not necessarily aided by the media, as
Paul Begg has rightly pointed out, "There are several
newspaper reports that state that notwithstanding stories to the
contrary, all body parts were accounted for. Other newspapers, of
course, carried stories that parts were missing." While Paul
Begg's statement is very true, one news article found by Stephen
Gouriet Ryan is of interest:
