Who do you think Jack The Ripper could be?

[diggleblop]

Was he a Doctor? Was he royalty? Just a crazed psychotic nobody? What's your theory?

I personally think he was a Doctor of some sort, maybe passed around as a child, an orphan so to speak. Maybe he was abused quite a bit. But definitely someone people of that era would least suspect.

[John DiFool]

(The late) John Fiedler.

[Diogenes the Cynic]

From what I've read, the evidence that he showed a level of knowledge or precision which would be expected from a doctor tends to be greatly exaggerated.

My guess is that he was some unknown weirdo who has probably never tirned up on any of the popular lists of suspects.

[dropzone]

My guess is that he was some unknown weirdo who has probably never tirned up on any of the popular lists of suspects.Since the suspect list included, at one time, pretty much every wierdo who could be a suspect (the London cops cast a wide net) I assume otherwise. However, this is FINALLY a GD I can follow! As a good American I have to support my homeboy, Dr Francis Tumelty. Motive (mysogynist who collected the Naughty Bits of women in pickle jars), means (doctor, but no great surgeon), and opportunity (in the neighborhood at the time in question; murders stopped after he left).

Those of you who need a refresher course, or need to know pretty much everything there is to know about the case, please go to http://www.casebook.org/ . Warning: You may never sleep soundly again. OTOH, ignore the Royal connection because it's too stooopid to consider. The movie "From Hell" is "fun" but, (spoiler) like I said....(/spoiler). OTOH, Mary was so mutilated that (spoiler) the end game could work.(/spoiler) (Parentheses used rather than brackets because anybody who'd want to see it has seen it and why discomfort everybody else?)

[Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor]

He's somebody that was never arrested or suspected by the law or the theorists.

Most likely, he stopped because he was committed to an aslyum or killed, possibly by a relative(s) who learned the truth.

Victorian society encouraged families to hide/bury shameful secrets. If the Ripper's family did learn the truth, you can bet nobody else ever will.

[detop]

Naw, the Queen did it.

[Hamlet]

Naw, the Queen did it.Brian May held them down and Freddie Mercury did them in.

[don't ask]

Surely, it was George W Bush. I'll find the link in a minute.

[diggleblop]

From what I've read, the evidence that he showed a level of knowledge or precision which would be expected from a doctor tends to be greatly exaggerated.



Not arguing at all, but can ya link me to that source stating that his precision slicing and dicing wasn't the work of a Doctor and exaggerated?


I am curiously fascinated by these freaks.

[Revtim]

From what I've read, the evidence that he showed a level of knowledge or precision which would be expected from a doctor tends to be greatly exaggerated.That wouldn't surprise me; for some reason people tend to see surgical precision where there is none, like it cattle "mutilations" for example.

[Lissa]

Not arguing at all, but can ya link me to that source stating that his precision slicing and dicing wasn't the work of a Doctor and exaggerated?

I don't have a link handy, but in the books I've read on the subject, it's been said that crimes could have been committed by anyone who had a general anotomical knowledge, such as a butcher. The parts removed from the victims were basically hacked from their bodies, not surgically removed.



As an aside, what do ya'll think of Patricia Cornwell's theory about the artist?

[Frank]

As an aside, what do ya'll think of Patricia Cornwell's theory about the artist?
Utter nonsense. Ridden throughout with shoddy reasoning, speculative jumps, and denial of evidence. It wasn't Sickert.

[Tapioca Dextrin]

Those of you who need a refresher course, or need to know pretty much everything there is to know about the case, please go to http://www.casebook.org/ .


The Metroplotian Police also have a decent Ripper page (http://www.met.police.uk/history/ripper.htm).

My "favourite" suspect is Aaron Kosminski (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_proposed_Jack_the_Ripper_suspects#Aaron_Kosminski). For me, the biggest thing in his favour is the behaviour of the police. Whitechapel was very heavily policed for a few months after the last murder. Immediately after Kosminski's detention, the police patrols dropped back very quickly.

[Diogenes the Cynic]

Utter nonsense. Ridden throughout with shoddy reasoning, speculative jumps, and denial of evidence. It wasn't Sickert.
I don't think she proved Sickert was the JtR but I think she did make a pretty strong case for him writing some of the Ripper letters (but the letters she connects to him were never regarded as authentic).

[Frank]

I don't think she proved Sickert was the JtR but I think she did make a pretty strong case for him writing some of the Ripper letters (but the letters she connects to him were never regarded as authentic).
That's true. I do tend to believe that he wrote a couple of the letters. Him and every other nutjob in London. OK, so it's not utter nonsense - only 99 99/100% nonsense.

I'm not sure that any of the letters are regarded as authentic anymore. Can't cite that; I'm not sure where I picked it up.

[Wildfire**MM]

It probably was John Pizer (1850-1897).
Pizer was a Polish Jew who worked as a bootmaker in Whitechapel

This was revealed as a fact 7-8 weeks ago in the news


The police didn't wanna reveal who the murder was back then because they where afraid of creating waves of antisemitism and a country where antisemitism already was present

[FinnAgain]

Cite?
The only British info I've found so far is this:



The 'Juwes' writing pointed to Jewish suspects. Sir Charles Warren (Chief of Metropolitan Police) ordered2 the removal of the writing on the wall, seemingly to avoid a confrontation with the immigrant population. There was already unrest caused by the false arrest of one man, John Pizer (see below).

[...]

John Pizer

A Jewish shoemaker - he was a man with access to five inch blades and who owned a leather apron. Pizer not only had a stabbing conviction against him, but also displayed a well known dislike for prostitutes. He unfortunately fitted the description of the suspect 'a short man with a dark beard and moustache and a foreign accent'. Upon his arrest, the press described Pizer as having a 'cruel sardonic look'5. Pizer though, had a solid alibi and he received a compensation payment from the libel courts after his release. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A704567)

No, it's quite obvious that Jack was taken away by the Vorlons and...




..what?

[Least Original User Name Ever]

It was meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

[Eve]

It was meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Why do I picture you twirling your pearls like Bea Lillie when you say that?

I go with John Pizer or Aaron Kosminski. None of the "celebrity suspects" seem to make much sense, evidence-wise.

[Jackmannii]

It probably was John Pizer (1850-1897).
Pizer was a Polish Jew who worked as a bootmaker in Whitechapel

This was revealed as a fact 7-8 weeks ago in the newsI don't know what "news" you saw, but Pizer is one of umpteen possibles discussed in the case over the years without any decent supporting evidence. There are no new revelations about him of which I'm aware.The police didn't wanna reveal who the murder was back then because they where afraid of creating waves of antisemitism and a country where antisemitism already was presentWell, you don't want to risk creating something, especially if it's already present. :rolleyes:

Your theory reeks of fitzschnappel.

Despite all the rumors, I don't believe the Ripper was Kaiser Wilhelm. Means, yes - motive, maybe - but the lack of opportunity is the clincher. Plus it's hard to commit multiple murders or cut up bodies when you've only got one functional hand.

[Contrapuntal]

Your theory reeks of fitzschnappel.Dave Chappel's brother?

[dropzone]

It was meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!If the Boulder police hear that you might get a business class flight for free.

[Menocchio]

Joeseph Barnett (http://www.casebook.org/suspects/barnett.html) is my favorite suspect (although the aforementioned "Dr." Tumblety has some strength, his alleged homosexuality may prove him innocent; as a general rule serial killers kill their preferred sex). He's got a textbook serial killer's profile: traumatic childhood and a speech impediment.

He was also Mary Kelly's jilted lover, which may explain why she got the most thorough working over, how the killer gained access to her room, and why the killings ended after her.

Of course, he's not nearly as exciting as even a uterus collecting faux-doctor, and not nearly as romantic as a royal conspiracy, so he doesn't get the press.

[Enderw24]

Mark Felt.

[FriarTed]

Mark Felt.


Mark Felt What?


I mean, come on, what had Mark felt? hey, Abbbbooootttt!

[Martini Enfield]

Colonel Mustard.

Nah, seriously, I suspect that whoever was actually responsible was either quietly taken away to a lunatic asylum, packed off to one of Britain's far-flung colonies, or more likely the victim of an unfortunate "accident".

Still a fascinating case, though!

[jimmmy]

The Metroplotian Police also have a decent Ripper page (http://www.met.police.uk/history/ripper.htm).

My "favourite" suspect is Aaron Kosminski (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_proposed_Jack_the_Ripper_suspects#Aaron_Kosminski). For me, the biggest thing in his favour is the behaviour of the police. Whitechapel was very heavily policed for a few months after the last murder. Immediately after Kosminski's detention, the police patrols dropped back very quickly.

I remember in 1988 on the 100th Anniversary one piece in a 2 hourish TV Documentary involved two FBI Profilers looking at all the available evidence. They profiled someone very much like Kosminski -- very disorganized, having a hard time fitting into society, being someone who was inches from being Institutionalized -- that always was interesting to me and made me favor Kosminski

[CalMeacham]

The Loch Ness Monster, as dramatized in that overlooked documentary, Amazon Women on the Moon.

[Diogenes the Cynic]

The Loch Ness Monster, as dramatized in that overlooked documentary, Amazon Women on the Moon.
Is it bullshit....or not?

[Tapioca Dextrin]

The actual choices are Truth or Fiction.

[Jackmannii]

I remember in 1988 on the 100th Anniversary one piece in a 2 hourish TV Documentary involved two FBI Profilers looking at all the available evidence. They profiled someone very much like Kosminski -- very disorganized, having a hard time fitting into society, being someone who was inches from being Institutionalized -- that always was interesting to me and made me favor KosminskiExcept that "disorganized" serial killers typically are caught relatively quickly, because they stand out and are poor at covering their tracks.

The Ripper probably had more in common with Albert DeSalvo - a smooth-talking confidence man who was able to maneuver his victims into a fatal situation without anyone noticing.

[Tapioca Dextrin]

Except that "disorganized" serial killers typically are caught relatively quickly, because they stand out and are poor at covering their tracks.


Easy if you have modern police methods. More difficult if you don't even know what a fingerprint is. And don't forget that the 5 killings took place in a little over three months (August 31st to November 9th).

[Eliahna]

I like Francis Tumblety for it.

I read the Patricia Cornwell book, and I think it was a load of crap from start to finish. It was full of such poor reasoning; for instance, Sickert's whereabouts at various times simply isn't known and Cornwell uses that as supporting evidence for her theory - she concludes that the lack of proof that he wasn't in London must mean that he was. This book permanently altered my perception of Cornwell because it is so nonsensical, so badly researched and unbelievable. It is arrogance and ignorance bound together by a web of tenuous conclusions.

[jimmmy]

Except that "disorganized" serial killers typically are caught relatively quickly, because they stand out and are poor at covering their tracks.

The Ripper probably had more in common with Albert DeSalvo - a smooth-talking confidence man who was able to maneuver his victims into a fatal situation without anyone noticing.


Hey I don’t want to claim I can “prove” I am right - I have no idea 120-some-odd years later.

Scotland Yard Officials seem (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,29389-2269526,00.html) to have believed Kominski (or someone very much like him) was a serious and credible suspect* as the Ripper -- the FBI profilers seemed to agree. I agree.

*I understand Sir Melville Macnaughton also suggested two other suspects when talking about Kominski

[Least Original User Name Ever]

Why do I picture you twirling your pearls like Bea Lillie when you say that?

I go with John Pizer or Aaron Kosminski. None of the "celebrity suspects" seem to make much sense, evidence-wise.

Actually, that sentence was punctuated with a prompt straightening of my handlebar mustache.

[diggleblop]

lol