Dvaowlot - Unexplained Events, Paranormal, True Crime

The Canonical Five: Mary Jane Kelly

April 02, 2023

Mary Jane Kelly is who is known as Jack the Ripper’s 5th and final canonical five victim, however, there is much less information known about her upbringing compared to the other four women. 

It is believed by many that the information we do know about Mary Kelly is embellished, with her having fabricated details that are known about her early life. 

The man Mary Kelly had most recently been living with before her murder was named Joseph Barnett, and he later claimed Mary had told him she was born in Limerick, Ireland around 1863 and her family had moved to Wales when she was a child. 

Supposedly Mary Kelly had told an acquaintance that she had been disowned by her parents, but she was close with her sister. It was said from Joseph and Mary’s landlady that she had come from a somewhat wealthy, good family. Joseph also claimed Mary confirmed she had seven brothers and at least one sister. 

Mary’s landlord, a man named John McCarthy claimed she had received mail from Ireland, but not regularly. It was also believed that Mary was illiterate, as Joseph claimed she would ask him to read her the newspaper reports of the Jack the Ripper killings. 

Though it’s been reported Mary had blonde or red hair, she went by the nickname of “Black Mary” suggesting she actually had quite dark hair. She also had blue eyes and some claimed to have known her as “Fair Emma.” It is estimated that Mary stood at about 5′7″ tall, and some said she was quite attractive. 

On November 10, 1888, the day after her murder,

the Daily Telegraph

described Mary as “tall, slim, fair of fresh complexion, and of attractive appearance.” 

In 1879, at around the age of 16, Mary married a coal miner named Davis or Davies who ended up getting killed 2-3 years later in a mining explosion. After this, Mary lived with a cousin in Cardiff, and this is where it is believed she started being involved in sex work. 

In 1884, Mary left Cardiff and moved to London, where she worked as a domestic servant while lodging in Crispin Street, Spitalfields. In 1885, it’s believed she moved to the district of Fitzrovia. 

Mary eventually began working in a high class brothel in the West End of London, becoming one of the most popular girls. She did quite well for herself and bought expensive clothes and hired a carriage at this time. Supposedly Mary had met a client named Francis Craig who took her to France, but she returned to London two weeks later, not having liked the France life. 

It is believed that in 1885 Mary Kelly began drinking heavily. She moved around quite a bit lodging with different women and different men around this time. 

It was on April 8, 1887, that Mary Kelly met Joseph Barnett, with the pair agreeing to live with each other after only knowing one another for a day. They lived in George Street, and soon a place called Little Paternoster Row, but were evicted for not paying rent and of drunk and disorderly conduct. 

In early 1888, the two moved into 13 Miller’s Court, a single room a the back of 26 Dorset Street, Spitalfields. Mary had lost her key to the door, so she would bolt and unbolt the door from outside, putting her hand through a broken window by the door. A neighbour claimed Mary had broken the window when she was drunk, and a man’s coat often was used to act as a curtain. 

It was said by Mary’s friend Lizzie Albrook, that Mary was sick of how she was living in 1888 and wanted to go back to Ireland. Her landlord said that she was a quiet woman when she was sober but very noisy when drunk. When Mary was drunk she often could be abusive to people, and was nicknamed “Dark Mary.” 

Joseph lost his job as a fish porter in July 1888 due to committing theft, and because of this, Mary turned back to sex work. Mary would often let other sex workers sleep in their room at night when it was really cold because she did not have it in her to refuse them shelter. 

It is believed that on October 30, 1888, Joseph moved out as him and Mary got into a fight about a sex worker named Julia sharing their room with them. Between November 1 and November 8, Joseph visited Mary almost everyday, sometimes giving her money. 

The last time Joseph visited Mary was between 7-8 pm on November 8, 1888. Joseph claimed Mary was with her friend, Maria Harvey and that he did not stay long. He also apologized to Mary for not having any money to give. It is reported that both Joseph and Maria left Miller’s Court at the same time. 

Joseph went back to his lodging house and played cards, falling asleep around 12:30 am. Before Joseph left Mary that night, her friend Lizzie Albrook also visited. Lizzie claimed Mary was sober. 

In the evening, Mary reportedly had one drink in the Ten Bells public house with a woman named Elizabeth Foster. Later on, Mary was seen drinking with two other people at the Horn of Plenty pub on Dorset Street. 

A sex worker named Mary Ann Cox, who also was a resident of Miller’s Court claimed to have seen Mary going home drunk with a stout, ginger haired man, around the age of 36 at 11:45 pm. The man was wearing a black bowler felt hat, had a thick moustache, had blotches on his face and was holding a can of beer.

Mary Ann actually had spoken to Mary Kelly, they both said goodnight. Mary Kelly then entered the room with the man. Mary Ann heard her singing the song, “A Violet from Mother’s Grave.” She was still singing when Mary Ann left her place at midnight, and when she returned an hour later around 1 am. 

Elizabeth Prater lived in the room directly above Mary Kelly. She reportedly went to bed at 1:30 am, and the singing had stopped. 

A man named George Hutchinson who knew Mary, claimed he had met up with her around 2 am on November 9, 1888 on Flower and Dean Street. Mary had asked George for a loan of sixpence, though he claimed to be broke. George said Mary Kelly walked toward the direction Thrawl Street when she was approached by a man of “Jewish appearance.” 

The man was looked to be about 34-35 years old and George said he was suspicious of him because while it did seem like Mary knew him, his appearance made him look suspicious in that particular part of town. It was also said that this man made an obvious effort to disguise his looks from George, having his hat covering over his eyes as he passed. 

George provided police with a very detailed description of said man, and told them he had overheard Mary talking with the man, complaining she had lost her handkerchief, and the mysterious man gave her a red one that he had. George heard Mary say to the man, “Alright my dear, come along. You will be comfortable.” And then the two walked into 13 Miller’s Court with George following them, though George never saw either one of them again. 

A laundress named Sarah Lewis also claimed she had been walking in the area to meet up with friends around 2:30 am, when she noticed two or three people standing near the Britannia pub, among the people was a nicely dressed young man with a dark moustache and he was talking to a woman. 

Both the man and woman appeared to be drunk and there was a poorly dressed woman standing near them. Opposite from Miller’s Court, Sarah said she saw a stout looking shorter man standing at the entrance to the courtyard. Sarah also saw an obviously drunk woman with a man further up the courtyard. 

Mary Ann returned to her room around 3 am that morning and claimed she did not hear or see any light coming from Mary Kelly’s room at the time. She did think she heard someone leaving at around 5:45 am. 

Elizabeth Prater who lived in the room above Mary Kelly and Sarah Lewis who was sleeping at 2 Miller’s Court that night both reported hearing a faint cry that said “Murder!” between 3:30 and 4 am, but didn’t do anything about it because this was common to hear cries in the area. Sarah Lewis said it was only one scream so she did not think much of it. She also claimed she did not sleep that night and heard people coming and going out of the court throughout the night. 

Elizabeth Prater said she left her room at 5:30 am to walk to the pub for a drink, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. 

On the morning of November 9, 1888, Mary’s landlord sent his assistant to collect the rent. Mary herself was 6 weeks behind, owing 29 shillings. Shortly after 10:45 am, the assistant knocked on her door but got no response. He tried to then turn the handle, but the door was locked. He looked through the keyhole but did not see anyone in the room. 

Using the broken window, he peered inside the room and found Mary Kelly, completely mutilated lying on the bed. She was estimated to have died 3-9 hours before she was discovered. 

The assistant ran to tell the landlord, and then went to inform the police. The assistant immediately told the police it was the work of Jack the Ripper. A surgeon came to look at the body, and police gave orders to prevent anyone from entering or exiting the yard (I know, impressive for 1888 police work.) 

Bloodhounds were sent in, but it appeared to be impractical. It appeared that women’s clothing had been burning, and authorities believed Mary Kelly’s clothes were burnt by the murderer to provide light so they could see what they were doing. 

Joseph Barnett identified Mary Kelly’s body, he could only identify her by the ear and her eyes due to the severe mutilation. 

The mutilation done to Mary Kelly was the most extensive of all of the Whitechapel murders, with many believing it’s due to the fact that the Ripper had more time to commit this one in a private setting. 

During the autopsy it was noted that it most likely took 2 hours to perform all of the mutilations on Mary’s body, the death was further estimated to have occurred between 2 to 8 am. 

Her body was found lying naked in the bed, her head turned on the left cheek. Her legs were left wide apart, the whole surface of the abdomen and thighs were removed and her abdominal cavity was emptied (but later said there was food found in it). Her breasts were cut off, her face was hacked beyond recognition, gashes occurring in all directions. Her ears were partly removed. 

Her neck was cut through the skin and her other tissues were cut down to the vertebrae. Her air passage was cut at the lower part of the larynx. Her heart was taken. There was also blood splatters on the wall, lining up with her cut throat.

She had a superficial cut on her thumb, which some believe was caused while she tried to defend herself from her attacker. 

It was believed during the autopsy that Mary Kelly had been killed from a slash to her throat, and the mutilations were performed after she had died. It was not believed that the murderer had any medical knowledge. 

The inquest into Mary’s death began on November 12, 1888. After testimony, the jury had a short deliberation and the verdict was that Mary Kelly had been murdered by a person or persons unknown. 

Police did house to house questioning trying to get answers as to who murdered Mary Kelly. A few people claimed to have seen Mary on the morning of November 9, after she had supposedly been murdered, though police could not find anyone to corroborate those sightings, as well as the descriptions of Mary didn’t match. 

On November 10, 1888, Mary’s murder was linked to four other murders: Mary Ann Nicholas, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, and Catherine Eddowes. There was also an offender profile made, which stated the killer was an eccentric person, who was in an extreme state of satyriasis while performing the mutilations on Mary and the four previous victims. 

There were no other similar murders after Mary Kelly’s and a lot of people believe she was the final victim of Jack the Ripper. Most believe these Whitechapel murders ended due to the killer dying or going to prison. 

Over 100 years after the Whitechapel murders, two authors named Paul Harrison and Bruce Paley theorized that Joseph Barnett, Mary’s partner, had actually murdered her during a jealous rage. They took the theory farther, stating that perhaps Joseph also murdered the other 4 canonical five, trying to scare Mary from engaging in sex work. 

Others believe Joseph did kill Mary, but only Mary and had tried to make it look like a Jack the Ripper killing to avoid being captured. The fact that Mary was found lying naked on her bed, with her clothes folded on a chair leads many to believe that her killer was someone she knew or who she thought was a client. 

Some people do not believe Mary Kelly was a victim of Jack the Ripper at all. Mary was assumed to be around 25 years old, much younger than the other victims who had all been in their 40′s. Also, her mutilations were more extensive than the other four, she was killed in a private location and her murder occurred 5 weeks from the previous killings which had all occurred within a month. 

In 1939, author William Stewart theorized that Mary might have been killed by a midwife, “Jill the Ripper” in which Mary was going to have an abortion. Stewart believed perhaps the midwife had burned her own clothes, putting on Mary’s and that’s why people the next morning believed they saw Mary after she had been killed. 

Mary Kelly was buried on November 19, 1888 in St Patrick’s Roman Catholic Cemetery in Leytonstone. None of her family members could be found to attend her funeral. The inscription on her grave reads, “In loving memory of Marie Jeanette Kelly. None but the lonely hearts can know my sadness. Love lives forever.” 

Mr. Cruel

August 18, 2021

Mr. Cruel is an unknown serial child rapist from Australia who was responsible for three attacks on young girls in the northern and eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria. He is also the prime suspect in the abduction and murder of another girl named Karmein Chan. 

Mr. Cruel is unidentified and all of his attacks and potential murder have been unsolved due to this. He was given the name by The Sun newspaper, after police had described a serial home invasion rapist in November 1987 as “super cool and super cruel.” At that time police believed the same person was responsible for three rapes: a woman in 1985, a girl in 1987 and another woman in 1987.

It is believed he began his attacks on August 22, 1987 in Lower Plenty where he had broken into a family home around 4am, armed with a knife and a gun. Mr. Cruel then tied the parents by their hands and feet and locked them in a wardrobe. He cut the phone lines, raped the 11 year old daughter and tied the son to a bed. 

The next attack occurred on December 27, 1988 in Ringwood where he broke into the back door of a house around 5:30am, again armed with a knife and a handgun. Mr. Cruel bound and gagged the parents in the home and demanded money. He took the 10 year old daughter, Sharon Willis and put tape over her eyes, a ball gag in her mouth and abducted her. However, Mr. Cruel never kept his victims for good. He later released Sharon 18 hours later and left her by Bayswater High School. 

The third attack by Mr. Cruel occurred on July 3, 1990 in Canterbury where he broke into a house at 11:30 pm and tied and gagged 13 year old Nicola Lynas. He covered her eyes with tape, disabled the phones and looked for money. He then took Nicola to another house and molested her for 50 hours before he released her at a power sub-station in a suburb known as Kew. 

On April 13, 1991, in Templestowe, a man who was armed with a knife abducted 13 year old Karmein Chan, who had actually gone to the same school as Nicola. Karmein was found about a year later with 3 gunshots to the head. No one knows for sure if Mr. Cruel was responsible for Karmein’s death, since he had never been known to kill any of his victims before. The case remains unsolved.

Though we are unsure of Mr. Cruel’s identity, police believe he is a very intelligent person who carefully planned out all of his attacks, probably having watched the families and the victims before attacking. Mr. Cruel has never left any forensic tracings behind, and had his face covered at all times during each attack. The above picture is the only sketch they have of him, given by Nicola, one of the victims. He was also described as having a soft-spoken voice, his behaviour was calm and not rushed as at one point he had stopped to eat a meal during one of the attacks. Mr. Cruel apparently would threaten to kill his victims with a large hunting knife or a handgun. 

There is a reward of $200,000 for any information on two of the abductions. In April 2016, police upped the reward from $100,000 to $1,000,000 for any information that could lead to the arrest and conviction of Mr. Cruel in the 1991 murder of Karmein Chan. 

It is believed that Mr. Cruel may have videotaped or taken photographs of his attacks and police believe that if he is still alive he probably has kept the tapes and photos, as well as collect child and maybe even swap child pornography. Police believe that he probably communicates with children using chat lines and collects porn through the internet. 

Mr. Cruel’s MO was always the same in home invasions and with the three attacks on victims, as these victims had all described their attacker in the same way. He would bathe all his victims carefully, with one of them saying it was almost “like a mother washing a baby.” During one attack, he had taken a second set of clothes from the victim’s home to dress her before he released her. In another attack, he had left the girl dressed in garbage bags so the police could not test her original clothing. 

Two of Mr. Cruel’s victims provided the police with details of the house they were kept while they were abducted. Both had been shackled to a bed with a rough neck brace and one told police she could hear planes landing, which police believe meant that the house was on one of the flight paths to Melbourne Airport. 

Police searched 30,000 homes and interviewed 27,000 suspects over the attacks, costing $4 million. There has been some evidence of the crime scenes that have been lost, including tape that was used to bind one of the victims. 

In April 2016, before the 25th anniversary of Karmein Chan’s murder, the Victoria Police released a 1994 dossier (nicknamed the Sierra files) to the Herald Sun newspaper which had details about the case that had never been released to the public before. The dossier, with the FBI, had contained information about 7 possible suspects. They had attempted to contact these suspects to varying degrees. The reward for any information has been increased to $1,000,000.

The Cannibal House — This is the house of Armin Meiwes, a notorious German cannibal. In 2001 at the age of 39, Meiwes searched for a volunteer to be “slaughtered and consumed” on a website called The Cannibal Café. Bernd Brandes, a 43-year-old from Berlin, responded to the advertisement. The two met on March 9th, 2001, in Meiwes’ house in a small farming village near Rotenburg, Germany. After Brandes consumed sleeping pills and alcohol, Meiwes amputated Brandes’ penis with a knife. They attempted to eat the penis which was fried with spices and wine; however, this plan failed as it was too burned. Just after, Meiwes poured Brandes a bath (in the bathtub featured above), where he lay bleeding for three hours. Eventually, Brandes was dragged upstairs to the slaughter room where he was killed after Meiwes slit his throat. The body was hung on meat hooks and was later hacked into pieces. This entire gruesome ordeal was filmed on a two-hour long videotape.

Over the next 10 months, Meiwes consumed approximately 20 kgs (44 lbs) of Brandes’ flesh and stored body parts in his freezer. Eventually, Meiwes longed for another victim, and placed more advertisements on the internet. In December 2002, police arrested Meiwes in his home after receiving a phone call from a man who was concerned by the new ads. Meiwes was convicted of manslaughter in January 2004, and was sentenced to eight years in prison, as it was ruled that Brandes was a voluntary participant in the killing. In May 2006, this sentence was revised to life imprisonment for murder due to a retrial. Meiwes conducted several interviews in prison, and has stated that he believes there to be approximately 800 cannibals in Germany. He has since become a vegetarian and is reportedly feeling sorry for his crimes. 

Cursed Petrified Wood

The Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona has always attracted people with its beautiful fossilized logs of trees that existed over 200 million years ago. Even though it is prohibited to take specimens from the park, people nonetheless steal pieces of petrified wood all the time. But what has also been reported, as far back as the 1930′s, is that those who take anything from the park are equally cursed with bad luck. The museum at the park has an entire room dedicated to the confessions from these thieves, usually written as letters sent to the park along with the pieces of petrified wood that were stolen. There is also a “Conscience Pile” of fossils that sits at one of the entrances to the park, where countless thieves have quietly returned the fossils they stole. The rocks are not put back in the park, and merely sit as a monument to the curse of the petrified wood.

Saponification is the process of the human body partly or completely turning to soap. The fatty tissue and the liquid from putrefaction gradually form into adipocere, which is also known as grave wax. This process can happen to embalmed and non-embalmed bodies. It is most common with those who are overweight. The photograph above is of “The Soap Lady” who is housed at the Mutter Museum. She is entirely composed of grave wax.

Neighbor's motion camera caught this. She couldn't think of a natural explanation. She cried for four hours and waited outside her house for husband to return.

“ Okmulgee, Oklahoma fire crews say they had a bizarre lightning strike call at the Oxford Apartments overnight. They say lightning came through the vent in the roof and struck the toilet, shattering it.“

I will accept precisely one form of toilet humour and it is jokes about these three pictures.

On 15 July, 1974, 29-year-old Christine Chubbuck informed co-workers that she was going to read a newscast to open her talk show, Suncoast Digest, which wasn’t something she normally did. Her guest for that day’s show sat in the studio while Christine went and sat down at the news anchor’s desk. 

The cameras began rolling and Christine began reading from her news report. She covered a news article on a local shooting in a restaurant. She then began reading a piece on suicide. During the reading, she explained that she would be declared dead within eleven hours and followed this by saying: “In keeping with Channel 40’s policy of bringing you the latest in blood and guts, and in living color, you are going to see another first: an attempted suicide.” 

She then produced a .38 revolver that she had concealed throughout the news report and shot herself in the head. The entire thing had been aired and members of the public began to ring 911 while others rang the station asking if it was fake. 

Christine was rushed to hospital but was declared dead 14 hours later.

The Cape Intruder

June 06, 2022

Cape Elizabeth is a small town in Maine, US, with a population of around 9,535 in 2020. Cape Elizabeth was known to be a desirable place to live, however, in 2005, the residents became terrified of an unidentified man who watched them as they slept. 

In 2005, what was described as a young man began to sneak into people’s homes in the area, watching them sleep. The strange part was that this man would never break or steal anything from the homes, he didn’t attack or touch anyone, just simply watched them sleep. 

Victims of the man who was dubbed “The Cape Intruder” or “Cape Trespasser” claimed they would wake up to find him standing over their beds, but he would flee the scene before they could catch him or even get a great look at him. 

A police sketch of the man came out, and many believed he was in his 20′s. The police received several calls from various people claiming they believed to know who the Cape Intruder was. Two of the people who called in actually named the same man, but after a while the incidents stopped. One police officer said that everyone who called in seems to think the sketch looks like someone they know or have seen around. 

While the Cape Intruder was active, a neighbourhood watch group would set up on Mitchell Road, where multiple houses had been targeted by the strange man. 

The Cape Intruder was never caught, and the incidents stopped suddenly. The case remains unsolved.