Bio

Kieran Patrick Kelly was born on March 16, 1930, in Rathdowney, County Laois, Ireland. His name is written as Kieron Kelly or Kieran Patrick Kelly. He later became known by the nickname “Nosy Kelly.” Kelly moved from Ireland to London as an adult. He was a homeless, alcoholic drifter and laborer in south London.

The case around Kelly is unusually difficult because his confirmed criminal record is much smaller than the number of murders later attributed to him. Legally, he was convicted in 1984 of killing two men: Hector Fisher and William Boyd. After Boyd’s death, Kelly allegedly confessed to several additional murders. Later claims grew much larger, with some reports alleging that he may have killed up to 31 people. Those claims remain disputed, and British Transport Police stated in 2015 that the alleged Underground killings would be difficult to substantiate without further evidence.

More recent investigative work has treated the larger victim-count claims cautiously. The Irish News reported that journalist Robert Mulhern’s book investigated claims that Kelly killed up to 31 people, but it also noted that Kelly was legally found guilty only of Hector Fisher’s murder and William Boyd’s manslaughter.

Murder Story

Kieran Kelly’s first confirmed murder conviction involved Hector Fisher, an elderly homeless man whose body was found in a Clapham churchyard on Christmas Day 1975. The supplied case material states that Fisher had been stabbed repeatedly around the head and neck and had last been seen alive on Christmas Eve. Kelly was questioned during the original investigation, but police did not have enough evidence to charge him at that time.

In June 1977, Maurice Weighly was found dead in Soho. The supplied profile states that his body had been mutilated and that Kelly was charged with the murder after he and another transient were found nearby with blood on their clothing. Kelly was acquitted after the reliability of the main prosecution witness was attacked at trial. Because of that acquittal, the Weighly case should be listed as an alleged or disputed killing, not a confirmed conviction. The Independent later described Weighly as one of the murders attributed to Kelly in public claims, but the broader Underground and multiple-murder allegations remained difficult to prove.

In 1983, Kelly was again in police custody after being arrested for robbery or public drunkenness. While in a holding cell, he killed another homeless man, William Boyd. The Independent reported that Kelly killed Boyd by stamping on his head and strangling him with socks, while the supplied profile states he crushed Boyd’s skull and used a ligature made from stockings and shoelaces.

After Boyd’s death, Kelly reportedly confessed to other killings during police questioning. The Irish News states that while being questioned over Boyd’s killing, Kelly confessed to more than 10 murders, including claims that some victims had been pushed into the path of London Underground trains. Later, former police officer Geoff Platt claimed Kelly could have been responsible for up to 31 murders, but those claims have been challenged by later research and remain unproven.

In June 1984, Kelly was convicted of the murder of Hector Fisher and the manslaughter of William Boyd. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. Kieran Kelly died in prison in England in 2001.