UK UK - Jack the Ripper, London 1888, East End, in and around Whitechapel District UNSOLVED

[wfgodot]

Omnibus Ripper thread here: http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...nd-around-Whitechapel-District-UNSOLVED/page6

 

[Migmuu]

Several years ago I watched a tv program (no idea what it was) that went over the theories and suspects. I remember them talking about how London Police detective Donald Swanson had visited an asylum outside of London shortly after the last murder. Kozminski had recently been admitted there. Shortly thereafter the investigation pretty much shut down mysteriously. Sounds like Swanson had indeed solved the case and for whatever reason ( there could be plenty) kept it internal.

I was reading that it could have had to do with the fact that Kosminski was a Polish Jew. This was in the 1880s when anti-Semitism and xenophobia - but especially anti-Semitism - were widespread in Europe, and the UK was no exception.

The theory states that Scotland Yard was (understandably) concerned that, if the killer was revealed to not only be an immigrant but a Jew as well, it would whip up even more anti-immigrant and anti-Jewish sentiment and possibly lead to violence against the Jewish immigrant community in the area. Which, sadly, makes sense.

You'd think someone would have uncovered all that, though. Or that maybe Scotland Yard would have revealed the identity of the killer all these years later now that the major players are all dead and anti-Semitism isn't nearly as prevalent as it used to be.

Although, I do have a theory for that last part:

It's kind of gross, but many tourists go to Whitechapel simply because of the legend and mystique of Jack the Ripper. We all know the reason why the legend has withstood 125+ years literally just boils down to the fact that this guy was never caught.

I'm going to pull a number out of my butt and say that 80% of Americans only know what Whitechapel is because of the Ripper murders. Hell, the third sentence of its Wikipedia article says that the distict is "best known for the infamous Jack the Ripper murders".

Do you understand how much money local shops, tour guides etc. have made off of people who come to Whitechapel for the Jack the Ripper legend/mystique? They've made a lot, not just from the tourists who come in but from the authors, TV producers, journalists and other Ripperologists who stay for days or weeks to research before doing their book/movie/articles. Seriously, there are dozens of articles online for choosing the best Jack the Ripper tour - so it's obviously lucrative enough to have multiple companies competing.

I really think that, if Scotland Yard had the killer's identity down, the reason why it hasn't been revealed at this point is this: By the time the major players had died and anti-Semitism (mostly) became a relic of the past and it was safe to reveal the identity, Jack the Ripper had become such a lucrative thing that Scotland Yard didn't want to jeopardize that. Once you reveal who the Ripper really was, you strip away all that legend and mystique and the 'boring' truth will come out that it wasn't a charming genius or famous author or part of the royal family. And then there goes the Jack the Ripper "industry".

ETA: I don't think it's some big conspiracy where people are making money off of it and know who the killer was all along. I think it was just that, by the time Scotland Yard was deciding on whether to release the killer's identity, they thought about it and decided to just leave it so they wouldn't jeopardize the whole industry. This theory, of course, hinges on whether they've known who it was all along.

 

[Migmuu]

For the record, I'm not totally convinced that Kosminski was undoubtedly the Ripper. The DNA evidence sounds compelling, but people have brought up some very valid concerns about it and I wouldn't take it as fact until it's been verified independentlty. There have been too many "I solved the Ripper case!!! (btw buy my new book)" stories over the years to get excited about this, imo

 

[missgulfsouth]

I didn't notice blood on that shawl, either. And considering it's alleged age, and that it belonged to a prostitute on the dirty streets of Whitechapel, it sure appeared to be in good condition! I do question a policeman who would take evidence from the most heinous murder series in history and offer it as a gift to his wife. And their ability to keep it hidden it away for generations, when they might have sold it for thousands? I'm not buying it.

 

[wfgodot]

Sheer tosh. Next solution, please.

 

[wfgodot]

WS Ripper suspect serial killer 'Mad Fred' Deeming's skull found in Melbourne?

 

[Donamena]

I didn't notice blood on that shawl, either. And considering it's alleged age, and that it belonged to a prostitute on the dirty streets of Whitechapel, it sure appeared to be in good condition! I do question a policeman who would take evidence from the most heinous murder series in history and offer it as a gift to his wife. And their ability to keep it hidden it away for generations, when they might have sold it for thousands? I'm not buying it.

I agree, it would have been grimy & loaded with blood. I can't remember where she would have gotten such an expensive item. I would never want something like that brought home, as the policeman did. But it appears to be in reasonable shape. Wasn't there something about this 10 years ago or so? That there wasn't enough DNA on it to get a profile. It would have had dirt, particulates from the horrid air then, body fluids from her customers, & blood???

I don't remember the manner of her death, how bloodied it was. Wouldn't there have been splatter? JMO

 

[wfgodot]

Daily Mail:

Claim that Jack the Ripper has been unmasked by DNA evidence as a Polish immigrant barber is WRONG, say experts

‣ DNA experts claim analysis which unmasked Jack the Ripper was wrong
‣ They have identified an 'error of nomenclature' in scientist's analysis of DNA
‣ Error could be down to putting decimal point in wrong place, experts say
‣ Identity of notorious killer still a mystery 126 years after string of murders

 

[wfgodot]

(Gosh, I'm shocked -- not -- btw.)................^^^^^

 

[hot cawfeee]

I remember Patricia Cornwell's book on the case---she concluded that an artist -Sickert/Seikert iirc killed all the women.
This is interesting tho......case closed I guess

 

[wfgodot]

Before it's all said and done, we each of us will be named persons of interest in the Ripper matter.

Jack the Ripper was Whitechapel meat cart driver, claims criminologist (Daily Mail)

⁍ Dr Gareth Norris believes Charles Allen Lechmere could be a suspect
⁍ Lechmere's early route to work coincided with Ripper killing locations
⁍ He was also found leaning over one of the victims - Polly Nichols
⁍ Dr Norris predicted killer would have been local and walk streets in early
...hours without suspicion making Lechmere a strong 'person of interest'

 

[STANDREID]

Lechmere (aka Cross) has been mentioned as a suspect for some time now. A 2007 article in Ripperogolist suggested such and I'm not even sure if that was the first time it came up.

 

[Ausgirl]

I thought for a moment this was the Pinchin St torso (from sept 10 1889) -- but nope. It happened in Portsmouth. No mention of it just being a torso, and all the stuff about innards placed in "classified heaps" and "in the room" - sounds more like Mary Kelly but the wrong place and year.

http://trove.nla.gov.au/static/ndp/...98-3-1416644195428/article150621998-3-001.jpg

 

[Little Jedi]

I thought for a moment this was the Pinchin St torso (from sept 10 1889) -- but nope. It happened in Portsmouth. No mention of it just being a torso, and all the stuff about innards placed in "classified heaps" and "in the room" - sounds more like Mary Kelly but the wrong place and year.


*** http://trove.nla.gov.au/static/ndp/...98-3-1416644195428/article150621998-3-001.jpg***

:denied:
**404 Not Found**

:tantrum: ~ You really are teasing me this week - lol ~

 

[Ausgirl]

lol!!!!! here's the text:

LONDON, September 18th 1889.

Another shocking murder has been discovered, which tends to confirm the impression that the terrible miscreant known as "Jack the Ripper" is again at work.

In this instance the scene of the crime is Portsmouth. It was committed in a house occupied by immoral women at that seaport, and the victim was of thesame class as the woman murdered in Whitechapel belonged to.

In almost every respect this murder bears a very strong resemblance to those attributed to "Jack the Ripper." The body had been, dreadfully mutil- ated, and in such a manner as to leave no doubt as to the person who committed the deed possessing consider able anatomical knowledge. Besides this, a surgeon's knife was left in the room.

The mutilation seems to have been carried on with great deliberation and , thoroughness. The whole of the internal organs had been removed and placed in classified heaps in the room. It would appear, however, that before the murderer had quite completed his horrible work he was disturbed, and left in great haste, for, in the room, in addition to the surgeon's knife, there were found a watch and chain, which are believed to have belonged to the murderer. Some of the internal organs are missing. There are indica-tions that the murder had been committed a day or two before the remains were discovered.

 

[wfgodot]

Perhaps one of the more misleading surmises about Jack as well -- considerable anatomical knowledge as compared to whom?

William Gull? Francis Tumblety? Neil Cream? John Williams? That tonsorial Pole, Mr. Aaron Kominski? A kosher butcher in Whitechapel? A whittlin' first mate on a Russian trawler down the docks on the tidal Thames?

Now, if only we could make him out to be left-handed too.... ..(j/k)

 

[Ausgirl]

heheheh.... them's fighting words in some corners of the net, wfgodot. In the wake of this latest massive non-event, the whole Lechmere thing is running hot atm around the Ripper sites. E-punches are being thrown. It's not pretty.

I don't think Jack had any special medical knowledge or skill. Gut enough people (and or animals) and I'd suppose you'd figure out where stuff was sooner or later. Really, he just 'ripped' and rummaged around until he found what he wanted.

The report I pasted above *might* be a hoax sent from London to Aus. It sure spread around these parts quickly, hitting urban and rural papers across the country within a few days. But I've yet to find reference to any crime like this in Portsmouth at that time. Or at all...

What makes me suspicious (aside from the apparently total non-reportage on the other end) is exactly that -- the surgeon's knife left behind. If that actually had happened, imagine what an uproar there'd have been...

.. unless it was all hushed up in the media, as part of a certain conspiracy that shall remian nameless because otherwise that may make a certain connoisseur of corgis very cross and hey Diana made her cross didn't she and look at what happened to *her* so probably best to say nothing more about it.....until I speak to my publisher.
hone:

 

[wfgodot]

Well..."association handcuffs," perhaps. Interesting little IBT article, nevertheless:

Jack The Ripper Handcuffs Go On Sale in Global Bidding War

---
The shackles belonged to a Victorian policeman who found the killer's fourth victim Catherine Eddowes several minutes after he killed her in 1888.

Other items are also going under the hammer for the first time, including PC Edward Watkins' truncheon, whistle and cover from his notebook.
---

more at link

 

[STANDREID]

I wonder who the "at least five times more" killings are. Kelly for sure then probably McKenzie and Coles but the other two? Whitehall, Pinchin, Jackson, Brown? Whitehall was found after Eddowes but indications were that she was killed prior.

 

[Migmuu]

Scientist Who Claims to Have Identified Notorious Killer Has 'Made Serious DNA Error'

Basically, Dr. Louhenainen cited a rare genetic mutation called 314.1C as proof the DNA belonged to Catherine Eddowes. However, it turns out that the mutation in question is actually 315.1C, which is found in 99% of people with European ancestry.

Whooooops