Unsolved Jack The Ripper

[Subprime]

Here's the documentary on Charles Allen Lechmere (aka Cross) who found the body of Polly Nichols in Buck's Row which was discussed above...

 

[GreyCrow]

Directed here by the HH Holmes thread.

Love me some Jack. Have seen many different theories, and like all good(bad) Ripperologists I do have favourites. The Macnaghten Letters are a terrible injustice on a group of people.

The Press/Media interference also has muddied the waters. Imagine Damian Barrett sending emails to the police claiming to be from Mark Thompson!!

The Nathan Kaminsky timeline is interesting

 

[Total_Juddshanks]

Directed here by the HH Holmes thread.

Love me some Jack. Have seen many different theories, and like all good(bad) Ripperologists I do have favourites. The Macnaghten Letters are a terrible injustice on a group of people.

The Press/Media interference also has muddied the waters. Imagine Damian Barrett sending emails to the police claiming to be from Mark Thompson!!

The Nathan Kaminsky timeline is interesting

I think the biggest problem with Macnaghten's suspects- Kosminski and Druitt in particular- is they are founded in Victorian notions about the kind of person you'd have to be to commit that sort of crime- ie that you'd have to be visibly mentally unstable or your mind would have to 'give way' after the full blown mutilation of the victim in Millers Court.

130 years later we know that simply isn't the case and may actually be fairly unlikely- there have been plenty of serial killers including slasher types, who seem pretty much functional and are visibly sane- given the apparent medical knowledge, his ability to avoid detection and his success in talking prostitutes into dangerous situations even in the middle of the murder scare, I think it is far more likely he was Bundy/Sutcliffe/Milat style psychopath rather than the gibbering loon or suicidal doctor Scotland Yard seemed to be looking for.

With that in mind it wouldn't shock me if they were committed by someone who was never on the police's radar, and consequently will never be solved.

That said, as someone who was objectively a) a psychopath b) murderous and c) a doctor who d) lived in London at the time, George Chapman is probably the most plausible of the commonly raised suspects- at least he is someone we know legitimately did like killing women.

 

[Wallaby]

Going to be in London in a couple of weeks.
Am i doing a Ripper tour? You bet! There's even a night one (now, if they can arrange some fog as well........)

 

[GreyCrow]

I have tried to work out why Jack the Ripper. OK maybe because of the ripping of flesh but I think it's deeper. A Ripper could also be an abortionist

There were high-rip gangs walking the streets in the 1870s and 80s mostly Liverpool the name was also synonymous with mayhem



But I prefer the abortion theory.

 

[BlueE]

How about geographical body positioning theory? Mapping Murder? OMG. Am I turning into Dan?

"Jack the Ripper was very familiar with the Whitechapel area and had significant reasons for being there … but was a transient visitor."


This is a truncated video but Canter writes more with support for Michael Maybrick as Jack.
Also http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/jack-the-ripper-revealed-they-all-love-jack-bruce-robinson

 

[Opine]

Forensic scientists say they have finally unmasked Jack the Ripper using DNA evidence; identifying Aaron Kosminski, a 23-year-old Polish barber, as the ripper. While the claim was originally made a few years ago, they have only recently published their findings for peer review. The peer response appears to be mixed.

From the limited material I've read since the announcement, peer objection appears to be founded on likely contamination of the shawl from which the DNA was extracted. In any case, the same suspect was purportedly identified as the ripper in the notations one of the detectives involved in the case; in which he he noted that Kosminski was positively identified by a witness who refused to testify.

Interestingly, both the silk shawl and the witness relate to the same victim; namely, Catherine Eddowes.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...tity-jack-ripper-scientists-claim/3206856002/

 

[Elmer_Hauser]

Forensic scientists say they have finally unmasked Jack the Ripper using DNA evidence; identifying Aaron Kosminski, a 23-year-old Polish barber, as the ripper. While the claim was originally made a few years ago, they have only recently published their findings for peer review. The peer response appears to be mixed.

From the limited material I've read since the announcement, peer objection appears to be founded on likely contamination of the shawl from which the DNA was extracted. In any case, the same suspect was purportedly identified as the ripper in the notations one of the detectives involved in the case; in which he he noted that Kosminski was positively identified by a witness who refused to testify.

Interestingly, both the silk shawl and the witness relate to the same victim; namely, Catherine Eddowes.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...tity-jack-ripper-scientists-claim/3206856002/

https://www.science.org/content/article/does-new-genetic-analysis-finally-reveal-identity-jack-ripper

 

[Wallaby]

If you read the (quite detailed) article, the key phrase comes at the end - that the test they have performed can only 'exclude' people - it can't reliably point to someone unless we have their exact DNA to compare it with.

So all that happened is the Kosminsky hasn't been ruled out. But the DNA on the shawl (the authenticity of which is still in doubt) could have come from one of thousands of possibles.

But - more fun stuff to talk about, analyse, argue about and keep the Ripper Industry going. Which is not a bad thing - it's a good story.

 

[FIGJAM]

Does it rule out Francis Tumblety?

One thing is for certain; there were a huge amount of whack jobs around during that era!

 

[RichmondVFA]

Have never really closely followed this case but reading some articles over the weekend Aaron Kosminski seemed more like someone who may have been psychotic. Could he have really commited these crimes without attracting any attention at the time?

 

[Sqotty from office works]

So another book gets headlines and sells.
But the truth is nothing has been solved except a writers bank balance

 

[rdhopkins2]

https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/news-life/we-may-finally-know-the-true-identity-of-jack-the-ripper-after-137-years-of-mystery/news-story/14f22046597546a64113567752d972c9

What’s to say the suspect didn’t have relations with the victim before her hideous demise.

The killer wearing gloves etc leaves no DNA. Or too far fetched for that era? You’d think there would be DNA evidence present as it’s not like she was shot from a distance.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

How many times as this guy been “revealed” as JTR? Feels like half a dozen.

I mean it might be him, but it’s nothing new.

 

[revo333]

I have tried to work out why Jack the Ripper. OK maybe because of the ripping of flesh but I think it's deeper. A Ripper could also be an abortionist

There were high-rip gangs walking the streets in the 1870s and 80s mostly Liverpool the name was also synonymous with mayhem

View attachment 501172

But I prefer the abortion theory.

After one of the murders a letter was sent to a newspaper claiming to be from the murderer and the letter was signed 'Jack The Ripper'

 

[revo333]

The rest is history podcast is currently doing a series on Jack the Ripper so I'm deep into it at the moment but they haven't got to who were the main suspects yet although the royal connection has been mentioned a few times already.

 

[GreyCrow]

After one of the murders a letter was sent to a newspaper claiming to be from the murderer and the letter was signed 'Jack The Ripper'

I know that - but why? Why did he/she feel the need to add Ripper. Thats what I was trying to answer

 

[Leon Higgins]

I think Allen Lechmere is really the only suspect that has any real evidence associated with him.

The rest of the suspects are either fanciful or simply looking for the closest weirdo and blaming it on them.

Ripper was a highly organised psychopath and was not psychotic. A psychotic suspect would have been found at the scene of the crime.

 

[Leon Higgins]

I know that - but why? Why did he/she feel the need to add Ripper. Thats what I was trying to answer

Difficult to know whether Ripper wrote any of the letters. Ripper was an invention of the press. Same as the daily mail.

 

[SaintsSeptember]

I think Allen Lechmere is really the only suspect that has any real evidence associated with him.

The rest of the suspects are either fanciful or simply looking for the closest weirdo and blaming it on them.

Ripper was a highly organised psychopath and was not psychotic. A psychotic suspect would have been found at the scene of the crime.

Dexter....1888.

 

[Ostins_Park]

Can anyone recommend a good modern JTR documentary that looks at the case from the perspective of modern psychological and criminological science?

Most doccos just repeat the well worn story over and over.

For instance, modern geo profiling of offenders would suggest the perp is either from, or had a very close association with, the Whitechapel area.

 

[SaintsSeptember]

Can anyone recommend a good modern JTR documentary that looks at the case from the perspective of modern psychological and criminological science?

Most doccos just repeat the well worn story over and over.

For instance, modern geo profiling of offenders would suggest the perp is either from, or had a very close association with, the Whitechapel area.

Not sure , it could be like the guy in Perth who was targeting the Swanbourne area, because of the nightclubs there. If it was the 1970's Kings Cross would be the goto spot .

 

[Finney]

Philip Sugden's book on the case is the only decent one. He's not pushing a suspect, and he was the only professional historian to write about the case.

 

[Finney]

Oh, and a great fictional version is "From Hell", by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell.

 

[rocker_oz33]

So many TV shows and Movirs came from this case.Yet so much unknown.