The association of Ned Kelly tattoos with suicide and homicide in a forensic context-a confirmatory prospective study

Abstract

Ned Kelly, an iconic figure in contemporary Australian mythology, was a bushranger (outlaw) who was executed in 1880 for the murder of a serving police officer, Constable Thomas Lonigan. Kelly is often commemorated by tattoos which depict his armour and helmet or his alleged last words of "Such is life". A study was undertaken from January 1, 2011, to December 31, 2020, at Forensic Science SA, Adelaide, South Australia, of all cases with such tattoos. De-identified case details included the year of death, age, sex and cause and manner of death. There were 38 cases consisting of 10 natural deaths (26.3%) and 28 unnatural (73.7%). The latter included 15 cases of suicide (39.5%), 9 accidents (23.7%) and 4 homicides (10.5%). Of the 19 suicides and homicides, there were 19 males and no females (age range 24-57 years; average 44 years). The number of suicides in the general South Australian forensic autopsy population in 2020 was 216/1492 (14.5%) which was significantly lower than in the study population in which 39.5% of cases were suicides (2.7 times higher; p < 0.001). A similar trend occurred for homicides which accounted for 17/1492 in the general forensic autopsy population (1.1%), significantly lower than in the study population which had 10.5% homicides (approximately 9.5 times higher; p < 0.001). Thus, in the select population referred for medicolegal autopsy, there appears no doubt that Ned Kelly tattoos are associated with suicides and homicides. While this is not a population-based study, it may provide useful information for forensic practitioners dealing with such cases.

Keywords: Homicide; Manner of death; Ned Kelly; Suicide; Tattoos.

Fig. 1

A photograph of Ned Kelly taken in 1880 A (National Archives of Australia, Public Domain) and a woodcut of his trial in Melbourne B (State Library of Victoria, Public Domain)

Fig. 2

A quite sophisticated fine line tattoo depicting Kelly with his alleged last words (A) and a fine line portrait (B)

Fig. 3

A primitive outline of Kelly’s helmet that he used at the Glenrowan siege (A), contrasting with tattoos with text and no images (B)

Fig. 4

A tattoo of Kelly with skulls, one of which has a bullet hole in the cranium (A), one with his skeletonized head being revealed as his helmet is being removed (B) and another with a backdrop of the Eureka flag which is now used for racist purposes (C). In the final tattoo, the burning cross of the Eureka flag has been carefully positioned to suggest the crucifixion of a martyr or the flaming cross of a crusader (D)

Fig. 5

Augmentation of “Such is life” with an expletive (partly covered)