A handy-book of forensic medicine and toxicology / by W. Bathurst Woodman and Charles Meymott Tidy.

Date:: 1877

Credit: A handy-book of forensic medicine and toxicology / by W. Bathurst Woodman and Charles Meymott Tidy. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

1209/1268 (page 1173)

$THE THAMES MYSTERY. the wisdom teeth), and five feet high. There were two distinct fractures of the skull, due to the two bullets. Mr. Larkin, the medical witness, first called, said very properly,* “ One of the bullets had certainly entered during life, the one behind the car.” Question. “ What led you to that conclusion?” Answer. “ The extravasation of blood underneath the scalp for a considerable distance around the wound, having a diameter of about two inches, and also slightly within the skull, following the direction in which the bullet had gone.” The Attorney-General. “ Would either of those shots produce death? Answer. “Yes, not necessarily instantaneously.” He also deposed, that owing to the extravasation of blood in and about the parts, the throat must have been cut either just before or immediately after death. Evidence was given as to her teeth, and also as to a scar on the right leg, by which her parents recognised her. “ It was an elongated scar as big as a shilling, but the puckering or drawn skin was much bigger.” It was such a scar as a burn, say from a red-hot pokei’, would produce.” The bullets were flattened, but had been conical. One weighed 66 grains, one 78, the third 72 grains. The hairs on the shovel were proved by Dr. Bond to correspond with those of the head. “ The throat wounds appeared to be homicidal, as it roust other- wise have been done by a left-handed person.” The gunsmith deposed that the bullets were either No. 320 central lire, or No. 297 rim-fire. This witness produced some revolvers which were suited to the bullets. Mr. Larkin gave it as his opinion that the deceased had had children, partly from the lineal albicantes, partly from the appearance of the uterus [see p. 708, and the “British Medical Journal” for December lltli, 1875, No. 780.] In the so-called “ Thames Mystery ” [see the “Daily Telegraph,” and other newspapers of September 5 to 20 inclusive], fragments of a woman’s body were discovered in various parts of the Thames, from Wandsworth to Woolwich. The legs had been divided into three parts each—thigh, leg, and foot ; the two feet, each 9]- inches long, perfectly corresponded, as did the other parts. The shoulders had been cut by sawing through the clavicle and scapula, and were taken by the police for thighs. The arms had been divided into three. The scalp, face, &c., were skinned; the right and left breasts, the left half of the pelvis, the lungs, Ac., were all dis- covered separately. The mutilation was done unskilfully ; whilst some joints were clearly cut through, other parts were sawn with a fine saw; there were smears of tar on some parts of the body. Enough was found to make it probable that the woman’s age was about forty. There was a scar on the left breast, 3 inches by 2, a light-brown mole on the inner side of the right nipple, a small mole on the right side of the neck ; and a large wound on the right temple caused by a blunt instrument. There was rather short black hair on the head [8 or 9 inches long], and a thin dark moustache. There was a large bruise on the front of the right thigh ; there were blisters, probably from heat and decomposition. On the front and inner surface of the right arm, near the elbow, there was a small scar, but near the right knee a large white scar, two inches in diameter. The surgeon who examined these remains came to the con- clusion that the body had been cut up whilst still warm, and that the bruises were inflicted during life. The height was about 5 feet 3 inches. * The whole of Mr. Larkin’s evidence was good, and was mostly supported by that of Dr. Rond. There was no rebutting medical evidence of any value. 4 F$