Halifax Slasher

Kelley recounted that a Halifax teenager was arrested for staging her own attack.

“a teenage girl in Halifax was arrested for providing a false report after she was found to have tied herself up and torn her clothing”

Morbid: Phantom Stalkers: The Halifax Slasher and The Hammersmith Ghost (Jul 20, 2026) · Listen from 49:05

Kelley quoted Scotland Yard's Detective Sergeant saying people were cut but no slasher was involved.

“certainly 15 persons did actually receive slashes, but the police are now satisfied that no one who has been termed the slasher was concerned”

Morbid: Phantom Stalkers: The Halifax Slasher and The Hammersmith Ghost (Jul 20, 2026) · Listen from 48:13

Kelley explained that near-simultaneous reports from distant towns made a single attacker, or even three, implausible.

“it would have been impossible for one man or really even three to get across town so quickly”

Morbid: Phantom Stalkers: The Halifax Slasher and The Hammersmith Ghost (Jul 20, 2026) · Listen from 46:23

Kelley highlighted that James Leonard received the same one-year hard-labor sentence for cutting dresses as Smith did for a killing.

“and that this man who cut a couple dresses was sentenced to that, you really got to sit with that”

Morbid: Phantom Stalkers: The Halifax Slasher and The Hammersmith Ghost (Jul 20, 2026) · Listen from 33:43

Urquhart disagreed that multiple slashers were unlikely, citing criminal pairs such as the Hillside Stranglers and Leopold and Loeb.

“It's not, in my opinion, it's not that unlikely. Like, men are nuts”

Morbid: Phantom Stalkers: The Halifax Slasher and The Hammersmith Ghost (Jul 20, 2026) · Listen from 46:41