Such is life: Ned Kelly and his bones. Source: Herald Sun
Ned Kelly's tibia with a bullet hole. Source: Supplied
The Kelly Gang. Source: HWT Image Library
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Local folklore have bushranger Ned Kelly drinking at The Vine. Copy picture. Source: HWT Image Library
NED Kelly's body may have been used for scientific experiments soon after he was hanged.
Scientists believe Kelly's largely missing skull and saw marks on his damaged spine and arm bones point to a post-mortem dissection to research the effectiveness of hanging and to find out how gunshot wounds heal.
The skeleton - known simply as "case 3081" until DNA, medical records and an exhaustive historical investigation confirmed Kelly's identity - still contained some of the 28 gunshot wounds sustained in his capture.
Monster 8mm lead shots lodged in his femur would have left the once-strapping outlaw a sickened shadow of his former self.
The bullet-riddled leg bones also indicate Kelly was shot partially from behind, at a 45 degree angle.
Gunshot wounds to the skeleton's lower right leg, right foot and left elbow matched Kelly's medical records.
They backed up DNA evidence that was a one-in-1000 match to his great-grandnephew Leigh Olver.
Having painstakingly identified the mystery of Kelly's remains, the scientists and doctors at the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine further examined the bones and have raised even more question.
Institute director Prof Stephen Cordner said it wasn't possible to tell if there had been a more extensive post-mortem examination of the body because most of its skull was missing.
"The reason for looking at the back of the upper part of the neck would be the effects of hanging and or the dislocation of the cervical spine. That is what would cause instantaneous death," he said.
Prof Cordner said post-mortem examinations of hanged prisoners were not unknown at the time.
"We've seen marks on some of the other prisoners, but not all of them," he said.
One piece that did not fit the Kelly jigsaw was that "case 3081" appeared older than Kelly, but Prof Cordner had a simple explanation.
"The wear and tear on the skeleton is a little more than would be expected on a 25-year-old today, but such was Ned's life."
Scientists are now left trying to identify the skull - long thought to be Kelly's - which kicked off the forensic investigation.
Two years ago West Australian farmer Tom Baxter handed in the skull that was stolen from Melbourne Gaol in 1978.
The skull had been on display next to Ned Kelly's death mask and the name "E Kelly" was inked on the side.
As forensic scientists began examining the skull, a team of experts expanded the investigation and attempted to identify Kelly's remains among 34 unidentified people exhumed from Pentridge Prison in 2009.
Anthropologists conducted a biological profile of the skeleton, which showed that the ancestry, age, sex and stature were all consistent with the known facts about Kelly.
Forty-seven DNA samples from the 34 unidentified remains and a skull fragment were sent to a DNA lab in Argentina for testing. Only one, case 3081, matched Mr Oliver.
HOW THE MYSTERY WAS SOLVED
- 11 November, 1880: Ned Kelly is hanged at Old Melbourne Gaol
- 1929: The bushranger's remains are among those transferred from Old Melbourne Gaol to Pentridge Prison.
- November 11, 2009: Farmer Tom Baxter hands a skull into the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine believed to be one stolen from the Old Melbourne Gaol in 1978 where it had been on display next to Ned Kelly's death mask. It is inscribed on the side with 'E.Kelly.'
- 2009: Remains are exhumed from Pentridge Prison.
- August 4, 2011: The Herald Sun reveals forensic experts want to exhume the brother of a Jack the Ripper suspect in their bid to identify Ned Kelly's skull.
- September 1, 2011: Forensic experts identify Ned Kelly's remains but exclude the skull as belonging to Ned Kelly.
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