"X person wasn't violent in the asylum ergo not capable" has always bothered me so much. Many of the most famous serial killers weren't violent either at home or in prison. It's just not something that should ever be put on a list to rule someone out as a suspect. There's nothing to me to suggest JTR was a raving lunatic. He knew how to evade.
...and they're certainly not all lunatics. Back then they had a broader understanding of the term and a broader number of reasons why someone would be institutionalised. It's just bad history and bad psychology.
excellent point, Tara. similarly, we are now coming to learn that it is possible for appalling killers to stop and simply live out the remainder of their lives, quietly, in anonymity.
God Bless Mr Fido. One of the very first people to make me want to be a detective and investigate things instead of just accepting what I've been told. RIP a true gent.
I urge anyone hesitant to read Martin Fido's book because they don't agree with his assessment of Cohen to rethink that decision. The great majority of the work is factual examination of the killings, the victims, and the effects on the community. It's a wonderful resource.
You do know that all these experts are only giving their opinion don't you? There is no actual evidence against ANY suspect and we will never know who JtR was.
@@adoculos4521 my comment still stands. I didn't say anyone knew who JtR was. I said that even if you disagree with Fido's theory regarding Cohen his book is filled with FACTS of the case, eg, information on the crime scenes, the victim's lives, the area of Whitechapel, etc. Therefore it's worth reading. The Cohen hypothesis takes up a rather small portion near the end of the book.
It has been my experience that men who target women exclusively for their violent tendencies rarely are willing to be violent towards men or people in authority. Kosminski’s relatively peaceful behaviour once incarcerated isn’t exculpatory in my opinion.
Most serial killers in prison are extremely calm and some even refer to them as pleasant. Fakers like Charles Manson for example tried hard to appear violent in prison for his reputation. So I agree with you completely. A lot of people who study the Ripper tend to ignore the tendencies of Serial killers we actually caught.
In some more modern instances once incarcerated serial killers have proven themselves to be very adept at convincing medical staff that they are fine and no longer a threat. People like kemper, unterweger and shawcross were released only to kill again after convincing everyone that they had reformed.
I really like Steven! I agree. I think Kosminski is the ripper. He just fits too well. Something I just read that I don't think they mentioned is that we have at least multiple lines of evidence favoring Andersons suspect being identified with Aaron Kosminski. The first is the known naming of Kosminski by Macnaghten and Swanson. This seems to confirm that there is no mis spelling going on. They meant to write kosminski. The second one is that Andersons suspect is described as going insane due to years of indulgence in solitary vices, and Aaron Kosminski is described by the asylum as being a self abuser. Both of these are euphemism for excessive masturbation which was believed to cause insanity. So the masturbation issue links Andersons suspect with Aaron Kosminski, and Swanson linking Andersons suspect with a Kosminski. We have Aaron being the only Kosminski at the asylum. We also have Macnaughtens naming of Kosminski as a suspect. So I think we can say that Aaron Kosminski was the Anderson suspect and that both Swanson and Anderson were convinced he was the ripper. For me, that is telling. Because the two men who probably knew the most about the case were confident about their suspect, even indicating that he had been IDd by a witness and then ceased killing. To me, this is probably the best evidence out of any suspect.
This killer planned everything he did & chose his victims. And was never caught. Not the work of any nutter. George Klosowski changed his name to George Chapman. Hung in 1903, look him up.
I think quite a lot of statements are heresay though. Other than the shawl (which might not even have belonged to the victim and might not even have had his DNA on it) there is no solid evidence linking him to any of the crimes.
It's never ever for the victims. Have you ever seen they cover the victims. That wouldn't make for good entertainment. There are however few exceptions but that's how it is.
Having spent a career doing psychometric tests on people, knowing criminal psychology and working with offenders of all degrees of seriousness, I'll concede that there's a real chance that Kosminsky killed Stride, but the one thing I can guarantee is that the man who killed Stride didn't kill Kelly. I'd say the Police had proper reason to believe Kosminsky given witness evidence killed Stride, but that has all the hallmarks of a disorganised, angry, unplanned attack, almost domestic if you like, a victim and perpetrator known to each other with possibly a history of verbals and fimiliarity and a lack of control from the killer. That's what the circumstances and MO suggest. The other killings were entirely different. I'd suggest that the Police had enough evidence to pin the Stride killing on Kosminsky and then ascribed it to the series of similar, but different murders. and were happy to have a prime suspect. The Kelly murderer is a different psychology altogether.
Do you believe the Kelly murder was a natural escalation due to the opportunity of having privacy and a few hours? Many believe it too violent to be Jack, but to me it seems what Jack would do in that situation, given he was able to disembowel his victims in just 10 or 15 minutes in al alleyway.
you make sense and give a coherent case. these guys ramble and seem more befuddled than really sure. there’s not one piece of real evidence in the whole video. thanks for your comment. actually learned something. have a good day :) 🌷🌱
Why isn't anyone connecting the Ages of the first 4 victims, all killed outdoors. Mary Kelly being only 25 but she had her own room yet was in peril of being turfed. All 5 were drinkers. I think this was a very well thought out crime & Mary Kelly was the hell on earth crime for the killer who knew he had a place where he could take his time for ultimate shock value. It was said that he had the fire going, burning her clothes so he could see better. BS, he was burning some of his Own clothes & some of hers to cover that up. I believe the friend of hers who said he saw him with her & saw them go in her door could have recognised him & that's why he stopped after that murder. I don't believe the killer was some mental maniac who needed to go into an asylum, he Planned everything he did. No-one ever heard a scream, that alone says a whole lot about the planning. Why dismiss Severin Klosowski/George Chapman just because he poisoned women. He poisoned Three, watching their horrific suffering, he was a fn sadist. How very interesting to know that after the separation from the Polish wife he met & married in England, the next woman's name was Annie Chapman & he took that surname. He was 30, she was 39 when they met. Hmm. She, who was a big drinker. He got away with poisoning her & so, he had a new MO & continued with his drinking, his violence, his womanising & bumping off partners who pissed him off. Obviously he was a very devious but charming sociopath, the main thing was, he was an Anglo then, not a KLOSOWSKI. One witness had already picked up on a likeness to a Jewish looking man & one had picked up a European accent. The torn off piece of Eddowe's apron with blood & faeces was dropped in the archway of the building where mostly Jewish families lived. There shouldn't have been a reason for the apron to have been so dirtied up as it was found. Who the hell would carry such a disgusting piece of evidence anywhere but more than that, there's the piece of evidence that would have got him the death penalty if caught with it. He was Very sure of where all the beat coppers would be for their rounds. And each time. He was trying to pin the crime on that race knowing about the anti-Semitism & that was going on Before the suspicion of one as a sadistic woman killer. He was training to be a surgeon in Poland since he was 15 years old & 4.5 years into that & married, he took off for England, abandoning that career prospect, family & his wife. Why? That could be the clue, the victimology as a whole is the key to who.
I think either Joseph Barnett or Francis Thompson killed Kelly. The suspicious ex and the violent and intelligent psychopath, who was lodged nearby. Both had opportunity.
Jacob Levy was the Ripper. We know the City Police watched someone in Butchers Row . We also know that the suspect had been confined to a private asylum for a short time which Jacob had been sent to an asylum during his jail sentence. One thing that has always been a question in my mind is why the connection has never been made to Greenfield St? Jacob's first butcher shop was there, Isaac Kosminski 's tailor shop was there and Pizer worked as a slipper maker there. They probably all knew each other and were partners in crime. Jacob was the Ripper, who sent Aaron Kosminski to kill Liz Stride while he waited for Catherine Eddos in Mitre Square.
What I want to understand is were the people submitted to these institutions medicated as this could help explain why Aaron Kominski didn’t show aggressive traits while incarcerated
I'm not sure what level of medication they had. But another thing is that the deterioration of Kosminski may have been so much as to make him incapable of being violent. Perhaps his sickness went from obsession with killing to hearing voices after he got in the asylum
There were no medications for mental illness back then, no proper diagnosis even, it was all termed insanity, a catch all for everything from Schizophrenia to dementia to menopause. What was often done to patients was a frontal lobe lobotomy procedure, essentially brain damage. The physicians back then thought it was the cure, only because patients were so damaged by the procedure, they could no longer act violently.
is it possible that they possibly knew it was one of these guys but they knew he would be in an asylum for the rest of his life so they put a lid on it because they wanted to avoid the anti-semitic riots that would most likely be the result if the thruth came out? are there any indications of that? i know there have been similar cases like that, where the powers in charge decide not to pursue the matter further because it is deemed that the risk of the damage of the truth emerging is too great? even very current cases which i wont get into *cough*twitterfiles*cough*.
There is much to suggest that the police did not know who the ripper was. Not at the time and not afterwards. I do not regard memoirs, marginalia and off the cuff conversations with journalists as real proof of anything except their frustrations. At the time certain trusted officers in the Met and the City police also helped fulfil roles that involved matters of national security. I am not implying that Special Branch (for instance) ever directly looked into the murders but I am of the opinion that someone at the Home Office would have asked their opinion. I don't think they knew either.
A closer contemporary analogy might be that of Muslim Grooming Gangs. My u/standing has always been that Schwarz did positively identify Kosminski and as discussed in the vid, wouldn't testify against him for religious reasons. The Police then have a positive ID of their prime suspect but insufficient evidence to prosecute. Hence dumping him quietly in a lunatic asylum and the murders stop. Maybe David Cohen was a John Doe for Kosminski?
One of your best videos yet! I’ve always thought Martin Fido’s research was some of the finest ever undertaken on this case-he was a real pioneer in this regard. I’m still not sure what to make of the Kaminsky-Cohen-Kosminski theory, but it sure seems as though a link has been missed somewhere along the line.
Great thanks again for another awesome video, although I can't believe JTR would be a jew he'd of stood out like a sore thumb. I believe Charles Allen Lechmere aka Cross was the Ripper, so many time's Lechmere was overlooked by almost everyone, he worked and lived all his life around Whitechapel and knew every back Alley including the double event that took place not far from where he lived with his mother, and yet Lechmere keeps getting ignored. My I've looked at many books and theories delved into many Libraries too look for that 💡 moment, one documentary on Channel 5 gave me that 💡 moment when the name popped up Charles Allen Cross who lied at the 1st enquiry and again lied too PC Mizen I feel it had too be someone who worked and lived in the area and perhaps someone who took multiple routes too and from work, Lechmere got away with it due too the lack of understanding a Serial Killer and also the News papers at that time they put wild theories about someone who was famous,foreign looking, perhaps someone from across the pond or a member of Queen Victoria's Royal Family, no one wanted JTR too be a working man a family man from a broken home but he is and my what a way to get away with it didn't stand out in the crowd he blended in fitted in and he knew it....
@@deancordery5935 Quite a few people lied. Some were in the wrong place at the wrong time such as George Hutchinson for instance. Some were in it for the money such as Pearly Poll and others just wanted to please their editors. Being a liar does not make anyone a more likely suspect and Lechmere being the first to come across the body is not proof of anything except his bad luck. He certainly didn't appear to be trying to profit from the situation unlike some of the others I have mentioned. There is a ton of research from those proposing Lechmere as a candidate and some of it is of a very high standard. Yet for all their efforts it doesn't amount to anything except proof of their own diligence. Take away his discovery of the body and there is nothing. Not a single scrap.
@Robert Smith But, Lechmere was at a crime scene, matter of fact standing "Where the woman was" a dead body. His lying about everything else makes him more suspicious. No one else can place a suspect at a crime scene. Best suspect by far.
Excellent. One of the best pieces of online media I have seen or heard in regards to Kosminski or Cohen. As to the lack of known violence from Kosminski; serial killers need not be violent out with their murders. For instance there is not much violence committed by Dennis Rader other than his known murders.
There is actually more proof Aeron was violent. A letter now in UK and brought by a carpet fitter from a Australia is by the Vicar who knew the family. He mentions enough to show Kosminski is the one.
A very interesting and enjoyable discussion. One point I'd like to make is that at the time of the murders and to a lesser extent nowadays, a suspects viability was judged chiefly on whether he exhibited 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯ly violent behaviour. Of course, in more recent times the science of psychological profiling has shown us that a serial killer is rarely 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘭𝘺 violent and more often than not, their public persona is that of a "normal," quiet, even gregarious individual. Also, and in my opinion, the most useful piece of information to come from the psychological profiler has been the discovery that rather than being openly violent, 𝘢𝘭𝘭 serial killers exhibit a lack of 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘺 ! For me, this fact alone represents a huge fly in the ointment in terms of Ripper "candidacy", for any of the contemporaneous suspects put forward by the various police officials back in the day .
Does anyone know if they could deduce which type of knife was used in the murders? I've heard that they could. So if that's the case it shouldn't have been hard for the coroner to determine that Elizabeth Stride and Eddowes was killed using the same type of blade?
If the coroner thought of looking at things like that, and was educated enough about that type of thing... yes, it is possible. I wonder if something like that was in a coroner's report? It would be very interesting to know.
'... the Jewish law Mesirah which actually forbade Jews from giving up another Jew to Gentile law.' 40:10 That did not apply in a case of murder, nor to a case in a country under the rule of law.
That was great. I still find the suspects named by Mcnaughten on the response of the Cutbush relative in the Police etc strange. But only Kosminsky was a possible suspect on the list. All confusing.
as a completely new person to this theory, it sounds awfully befuddled to me. if i were a juror, i’d have go not guilty. you haven’t proven anything to me. and that they’re both Jewish is a little suspect. of course, i’m living now, not back then. Jews were probably suspected because they were Jewish - foreigners. the English seem to always suspect foreigners. (i get this kind of thing from Agatha Christie novels and other writings about that time period in England.)
As you said there is no evidence that Cohen had a brother to be released to but later on you say that Aaron Kosminski was released into the care of his brother. That suggests to me all 3 of of them (Cohen, Kaminsky and Kosminski) are all the same person.
Names, particularly in the working classes but not exclusively, were notoriously nebulous in Victorian Britain (and probably in a lot of places). When you go through Census records of the time it is extremely common to see surnames misspelt, second names used instead of first names in 1 year and then either switched in the following census or missing altogether. It really doesn't surprise me that an "Aaron Davis Cohen" could then appear as a "David Cohen", he could easily have gone by both or it might just be a case of whoever happened to be writing it down and the same can be said for "Kosminski/Kaminsky" - many people couldn't read to double check the spelling anyway, especially if they weren't even native English speakers. All that being said, I'm not sure I'm buying the "David Cohen = Jewish John Doe" argument, that seems strange to me. As far as I know "John Doe" itself was not even used in the 18th/19th century in the same way we use it today - as in applying it as a name for the unidentified came later I believe, although it may have been in use that way by the end of the 19th century I guess. It was more typically used as a fictitious plaintiff in legal cases (and still is in certain situations, just like Richard Roe is used as a fictitious defendant in order to argue principle, in the same way as you would say "the people versus"), so it doesn't make sense that, in his actual criminal case, the name "Aaron Davis Cohen" would be used because, if David Cohen was a Jewish variant of Richard Roe, the criminal case would be THE place where it would appear that way
Waltert Sickert was 28 the perfect age remember the lady that said she saw someone with a parcel the night of Mary Kelly's murder and he looked liked a foreigner and Walter Sickert I think spoke 6 or more languages and definitely had a light German accent and he always loved going to the shows and was into performing wore fake mustaches
We should not dismiss aaron as jtr based on his lack of violent behaviour in his private and institutionalized time, just think of todays serial killers, most of them are as calm as a plant, they display no emotion or erractic behaviour, even the ones serving life on prison, they dont go about harming offices or imates, but the opposite, you would not even say they were capable of such atrocities by watching their behaviour
While 'David Cohen', seems the more plausible between he and Kosminski, neither seem viable candidates. Whoever JTR was, he was older, more experienced, cunning and, above all, fitted in, able to convince the victims to go with him. Someone between 28-42, had a profession or reason to travel during the night, so able to prey on women who'd been drinking. I don't buy Stride as a Ripper victim either - too many people around.
19:30 ... Swanson making annotations in his personal copy of Anderson's book "for himself but nobody else". Agreed, so why did he feel compelled to initial them D.S.S., unless - perish the thought! - someone _other_ than Swanson wanted to convince us that the marginalia were genuinely his? It would be interesting to know if there are other (non Ripper related) marginalia in the book, and if they were similarly initialled.
Your channel has some of the most enjoyable and knowledgeable discussions I've seen on JTR. Fido's investigations and findings are worthy of attention and brought some new information to the subject and so stand out from all the other garbage that throws up a new name every month.
Ha anyone ever had the theory that there was more than one Jack, not intentionally? Example is he double event might have been a mad coincidence where for example Kosminsky killed the first victim, there was no interruption and that’s just how he did it, without mutilation - while half a mile away Lechmefe was getting busy on the second victim that night and doing what the ripper did best:…… I don’t believe there was 2 people in suspicious circumstances called Kosminsky and ‘being returned to brothers care’ separately says it was the same person to me?
You can't place logic onto the actions of a homicidal sociopath. 3 tines you repeat the Strude/Eddows double murder, despite the clear explanation that the Ripper was interrupted and wanted to get his work done, then found Eddows. Why is that so difficult to grasp?
So sad to learn of Martin’s passing. I first became interested in Jack the Ripper after watching a documentary you (Richard) and Martin were featured in. I must have been in my early teens and Martin was so well read and passionate about the subject.
That's what I thought Steve.. Once he's been seen he finishes Stride, thinking he could be caught or the coppers brought over any second.. Then heads towards Bishops gate... One can't sit on the fence forever!!
Very good topic. I had also heard the name Nathan Komenski as a suspect but he isn't mentioned much. Don't know if he had a lot of reasons for suspicion as Aaron.
From what I slightly recall it's Kaminsky and he's the brother of David Cohen/Aaron Kaminsky. It's either that or he's the brother of the famous Aaron Kosminski. It's really hard to keep track of, there's a lot of talk of mixing them up, but I'm pretty sure it's the brother of Cohen/Kaminsky, the outwardly violent patient.
I don't think we will ever know who JTR was. Honestly, I don't think he was ever interviewed and if he was interviewed it wasn't by the cops. It was probably one of those nosy newspapers. I think JTR has never had any involvement with the police. I also think that he was just a average WASP. I don't think it was Nathan. Nathan seems way too out of control. JTR seems to be very much in control. I'm willing to guess that he was married, had a stable job and had his own home. As far as why I think he "stopped" killings. I think his wife may have given birth. Some serial killers have been known to slow down or stop their activity during life changes. So, maybe he had a job change or his wife gave birth.
Yes, the police were as clueless as they were nearly a hundred years later in Yorkshire. Back then they actually thought serial killers were outwardly mad and not the outwardly normal personalities we now know them to be.
@@jimlewis2395 I wouldn't say he's a new suspect at all. You mention no evidence against Lechmere, I'd argue Lechmere has the most evidence against him, and unlike any other suspect, Lechmere can be placed at the scene of Polly Nichols murder at the time of death. I'm sorry but any other suspect doesn't come close to Lechmere.
I agree with what you folks are saying about Lechmere. I find him extremely plausible. There were a number of conflicting details in his account of events the night of Polly Nichols’ death. He claims to have been concerned about the woman he allegedly found lying in Buck’s Row. But after fellow cart-man Robert Paul got involved, something changed and Lechmere (aka Charles Cross) suddenly no longer wanted to do anything but summon a policeman. Maybe he got spooked, but I think it was much more than that. I found Paul’s reaction to be more natural than Lechmere’s. Neither of the men saw any blood to indicate that she had just been murdered. They thought she might be dead, but they weren’t sure despite checking for a pulse. I think if she was dead, it could not have been longer than 15 minutes. Lechmere claimed to Paul and to the coroner’s inquest that he was running late for work but also claims he was searching for a tarpaulin to use in his profession. But I ask myself: why would he search for a tarp he may never find if he’s already running late? Would it not be more logical if he had searched for a tarp the previous night and taken it home with him and had it ready for work the next day? I’ll never know, I wish Lechmere were alive and could be questioned about these things and give himself a chance to clear up the confusion. Until that confusion is resolved, I have to look at him with very suspicious eyes and take his testimony with a grain of salt.
I am sorry to tell you all this but neither of these men are Jack the ripper, the cops back then had NO CLUE what a serial killer was or how to catch one. This is the only man that fits in every way and was seen at Mary Kelly's murder site one hour before she was killed. he has done what we would expect him to do he involves himself into the case and he did it for two reasons one is he was seen by Sara Lewis and had she not seen him we would never know who Jack was and knew he had to give reason why he was there and the second was to know what cops knew. this man gave his statement three days after his friend Mary Kelly was killed big red flag. now the few who have studied serial murder will see that his statement shows his Ego and boy is it big but before i get into that this man lived alone and on Commercial street he was 5'7 with a stout build was 28 years old with brown hair and brown mustache. this man was named George Hutchinson his statement showed he not only knew Mary Kelly but he had been listening to what was being said and written about him and we see this in his statement when the people were saying it was a Jew he gave them the writing on the wall when they said he was a doctor he sent them the kidney when they said he looked like a sailor he made sure to say the man last seen with Mary Kelly gave her a red handkerchief and thats because he had one on when he was seen talking to Kate Eddowes before her murder and they said it was red. When they say he is a Rich Toff down slumming, he gives them the made-up man seen with Mary Kelly. Why would a man follow a friend that asked him for money and then wait 45 minutes in a light rain on a cold night when cops were out in force looking for the Ripper to see if they came out Answer? He was stalking her! We know he knew two of the victims and that is very important because again the few of us who have studied serial murder know that if they kill a known victim they will always cover or destroy the face and sometimes the body to depersonalize the victim. only two victims had this done to them Kelly and Eddowes and he knew both.we believe he wrote at least two of the letters the from Hell letter and the first letter dated on the 17th Sept. and this is the letter that he gives his trademark name Jack the Ripper. anyway we found lots of red flags and they all point to him as the ripper, We are trying to find where he went when he left London in 1891 he we can find that we will find more ripper murders.
I’ll always find it fascinating that despite being so concerned about violence against the Jewish community in whitechapel, the top level police at the time seemed to very much fall into their own prejudices and did exactly what the graffiti said - blamed the Jews. The only interesting thing about Kaminsky is that he was a boot maker, and it was theorized the knife used in the murders was a shoemakers knife or a cork knife.
That was the claim, I have found nothing official to support that view. And of course he appeared in court before he was committed to the Asylum.as Aaron Davis Cohen. That suggests David Cohen was not a John Doe.
@@stevenblomer7738 Agreeed. Also, if officials actually _did_ use "David Cohen" as an alias for a male Jew, I'd expect to have seen a lot more "David Cohens" in the records. I've got a spreadsheet of every admission to the Whitechapel Infirmary from 1885-89 (a total of ~4,000 records) and there's only _one_ David Cohen in there, and guess who he is? (Clue: he was admitted in early December 1888 and listed as "insane").
If one picks up a chair and holds it like a lion tamer, it may not be seen as violent, but if one picks it up and holds it over their head to bash someone with, that can be pretty violent. I’ve seen people pick up folding chairs and do damage with them, I would imagine whatever chair was picked up was a sturdy as hell wooden chair… Idk, picking up something to bash someone with is pretty violent. But whomever “Jack” was, he may not have even seemed like a violent person to those he knew in everyday life.
Why isn't anyone connecting the Ages of the first 4 victims, all killed outdoors. Mary Kelly being only 25 but she had her own room yet was in peril of being turfed. All 5 were drinkers. I think this was a very well thought out crime & Mary Kelly was the hell on earth crime for the killer who knew he had a place where he could take his time for ultimate shock value. It was said that he had the fire going, burning her clothes so he could see better. BS, he was burning some of his Own clothes & some of hers to cover that up. I believe the friend of hers who said he saw him with her & saw them go in her door could have recognised him & that's why he stopped after that murder. I don't believe the killer was some mental maniac who needed to go into an asylum, he Planned everything he did. No-one ever heard a scream, that alone says a whole lot about the planning. Why dismiss Severin Klosowski/George Chapman just because he poisoned women. He poisoned Three, watching their horrific suffering, he was a fn sadist. How very interesting to know that after the separation from the Polish wife he met & married in England, the next woman's name was Annie Chapman & he took that surname. He was 30, she was 39 when they met. Hmm. She, who was a big drinker. He got away with poisoning her & so, he had a new MO & continued with his drinking, his violence, his womanising & bumping off partners who pissed him off. Obviously he was a very devious but charming sociopath, the main thing was, he was an Anglo then, not a KLOSOWSKI. One witness had already picked up on a likeness to a Jewish looking man & one had picked up a European accent. The torn off piece of Eddowe's apron with blood & faeces was dropped in the archway of the building where mostly Jewish families lived. There shouldn't have been a reason for the apron to have been so dirtied up as it was found. Who the hell would carry such a disgusting piece of evidence anywhere but more than that, there's the piece of evidence that would have got him the death penalty if caught with it. He was Very sure of where all the beat coppers would be for their rounds. And each time. He was trying to pin the crime on that race knowing about the anti-Semitism & that was going on Before the suspicion of one as a sadistic woman killer. He was training to be a surgeon in Poland since he was 15 years old & 4.5 years into that & married, he took off for England, abandoning that career prospect, family & his wife. Why? That could be the clue, the victimology as a whole is the key to who.
Regardless of it was Kosminski or this Kamnisky fellow. The police proved they had no clue about anything. Sent to an asylum and died shortly thereafter. Well Kosminski didn't even close to die shortly thereafter. So even if it was Kosminski (which is possible) the police still mixed him up with this Kaminsky fellow. So either way they really made fools of themselves. Who can't seperate two people from each other? Kosminski and Kaminsky sounds similar. But when your job happens to be to solve cases one could at the very least demand you can tell two people apart.
It’s so interesting that Schwartz’s account says that Broad-Shoulders was walking down Berner Street alone and then met Stride at the Yard before immediately blitz attacking her. If Broad-Shoulders is the Ripper, then it’s not how you’d expect the Ripper to ingratiate himself with his victims. Had he been stalking her, or did he lash out at any prostitute he saw in a yard? Then why pick prostitutes to kill if not for their willingness to go with him? Or is it just that only prostitutes would be out at the time he hunted? Or are some of the victims unfairly labelled as prostitutes? Did he think he was alone on the street and would have acted differently if Schwartz wasn’t there? Or was he seen more regularly than we realise and witnesses in the East End were just unwilling to go to the police? And I know it’s not always helpful to think this way, but should Schwartz be a suspect? Did he realise he was seen by Pipeman who did chase him, so Schwartz reported it before Pipeman had a chance to do it, putting Pipeman closer to the perimeter of suspicion than himself, but inventing Broad-Shoulders to give him leeway in a he said/he said argument. Could Israel just’ve identified Kosminksi as the killer to close the case, but refused to testify so he didn’t become too prominent and have his story questioned? The more I think about this, the more fantastical and unlikely it sounds 😂
If Schwartz was the witness, and Kosminsky was the attacker, then why did kosminsky use an anti semitic slur when he himself was a Jew? He could have done I suppose, but it makes me think the witness was more likely to be one of the Lawender group perhaps.
But the part about him dying soon after is pretty major.. this would be like me saying today: "yeah Christiano Ronaldo was the suspect when he played at Man United but he died shortly after". Dude is still alive, it's a pretty major mistake then
Israel Schwartz identified Kosminski, but wouldnt go to court against him because he was a fellow Jew. Robert Anderson stopped just short of naming him, stating it served no pulic interest to do so, as hed alreqdy been committed to an asylum. Donal Swanson actually named him. Why keep foing over it? Jack The Ripper was Aaron Kosminski. Case closed.
Could a man of poor means and that young actually pulled off dodging the police with that much skill with the tight timeframes of the murders? Could he have lured these middle aged women off to dark shadowy areas to kill them? I'm just not sure, and if he was mad from syphilis I feel like it would have been much harder to pull off without getting caught. It makes sense it was him, but I have some doubts too.
As has often been mooted, the killer having possibly been seen and frustrated badly needed to satisfy himself and so fled away from the area. He then perhaps manged to compose his superficial demeanour targeting the first suitable victim he came across.
Great video! In my opinion, I don't think an extremely violent lunatic would have been capable of the killings. I would take someone like Ted Bundy. Violent, but reserved and meticulous.
I don't think much meticulousness was required. He simply had to ask the prostitutes to accompany him down a side street/alley, slice them up, then run off.
Why? All the Ripper had to do was ask a woman to join him on a walk to the side of a street, kill them and run off. The biggest lunatic could do that. Some act like the ripper was this genius murderer. He really was not, the fact he killed 4 women in the open for anyone to see should tell you enough. In fact it makes the Cohen theory more likely. A smart man would not be stupid enough to kill someone out in the open for any passenger to just catch him, let alone 4 times
I feel that this line is undoubtedly the correct jigsaw puzzle, there is just 1 piece frustratingly missing. One day we may find some material that gives a complete name. Everything else should then start to fall in place.
Interesting that fellas I always wondered about the Parnell scandal running along side the killing spree. I never got my head around it either.. I think we'd need to know who Mary Kelly was for a start to delve into her Irish links Old Anderson goes on about all this subversion stuff throughout his book then breaks the theme to mention this Polish Jew who I always felt got wangled with the witness and suspect I think he's lying but for what ends I don't know. Whether he knew more and painted it over with lies is hard to say.. Good old Anderson ha... Littlechild also says Anderson " only thinks he knows" in summing up his own letter to Sims, which just clouds over the mystery even more... I find his reply to the Jewish Chronicle interesting before he wrote his memoirs but again he's cryptic in it... If they knew they also knew how to keep a secret haha
For both Steve and Richard..whilst I take your point about what Martin said that anybody who wants to put forward a new suspect needs to dismissl Anderson first..don't we also need to put another person within the very small period beween Nicholls having her throat cut and Lechmere being there when the wounds were fresh and starting the bleed? Paul is far enough behind Lechmere not to see his activity and also audible enough for Lechmere to hear him coming and back away from the body. Kosminsky may well have been seen around the vicinity of the Stride murder, but there's every possibility, given the carelessness of it and the MO, that it wasn't a Ripper killing. Another thing that puzzles me about the Stride incident is that Schwartz says that someone, most likely the killer shouts "Lipski" at him, clearly a racial slur as Schwartz was of obvious pyhsical Jewish looks....how likely is it that Kosminksy, another Jew is going to use an anti-semitic slur against another Jew? Very unlikely I'd say. Anyone who shouts Lipski at Sshwartz is going to be an English, indigennous resident. The Stride killing is at a different time and with a different MO to all the other killinhs. Kosminsky 'might' have killed Stride, I have my doubts, but I have even more doubts that he was responsible for the others, expecially the Kelly nurder.
In another video on the killing of Stride with Steve and Richard, he mentioned that "Lipski" also sounded like the Polish "Go away" or so. Then this could indeed come from a Jew. But I believe that the street graffiti was from the Ripper and I doubt that Kosminski could have written it.
a few years back i came across a programme that spoke of the mortuary attendant being a likely suspect and the theory did appeal to me, does anyone know of any further information on this?
Henry(NL): A certain M.J.Trow is the author of 2 books detailing his theories that: 1. A mortuary attendant was JtR and… 2. That the same individual was also responsible for the ‘Thames Torso Murders’. Or at least for some of them. I DO HOPE I’VE GOT THIS RIGHT! It has been a while since I read this 😔👍.
Plz explain what does he mean Kosminski was only known as a suspect after 1991 & Cohen late 80's. I watched the 100 year anniversary on Jack the Ripper in 1988 presented by Sir Rich Attenborough with a panel of law experts FBI, etc & they all came to the conclusion Kosminski was the ripper. So in a nutshell he was known as a prime suspect way before 1991. Or am I sitting the pot miss.
Not 1991 but 1891, the year of Sir Melville Macnaghten's Memorandum, in which MJ Druitt, Michael Ostrog and "Kosminski" were suggested - and only suggested, mind you - as potential suspects.
Intrigued by the person that was treated for syphilis- in some circumstances it can get into the brain and totally change personality. Interesting stuff. Loved it!👍👍❤❤
I think the seaside home was Joseph Hyam Levy's retirement home on the coast. They probably broke the law by removing Jacob from Stone , hence( with great difficulty) to be identified by Joseph Levy. I believe some sort of agreement was made between JHL and the police not to reveal Jacob's real name so as not to dirty the Levy family name. Also if a Kosminski helped Jacob in any way he would also be guilty and if they were never sure who Jacob was they called him Kosminski.
I also want to add that If we could find out when Aaron Kosminski 's headstone was erected in Plaschett cemetery we may find out it is actually Jacob in that grave, buried under Aaron's name.
I've enjoyed both times that I've seen Blomer on this channel. He seems very knowledgeable and when something is circumstantial he makes it clear and doesn't try to pass it off as fact like a couple other 'Ripperologists'.
I always was fascinated about the writing on the wall. It never made sense that someone would write those words on a wall and not be of the Jewish faith. Jews have always been viewed as interlopers throughout history in Europe, hence immigrating enmasse in the 19th and 20th Centuries....and so many immigrants entering London must have experienced antisemitism, being pariahs, etc. Therefore, a person of said faith seems like a glaring clue.
I really don’t think that message has anything to do with the murders. I believe the piece of Catherine Eddowes’ apron was a genuine clue, but I don’t see the connection between the two. It could be a complete coincidence that it landed underneath that enigmatic message. You’ve got to remember that Whitechapel was part of Victorian London, the most populous city in the British Empire at that time. Also remember that bias and prejudice against any racial outsider was as common back then as it is today. The Jewish communities had moved into that part of London to escape persecution in Czarist Russia and Eastern Europe. When they did that, they competed with many of the locals for jobs, making the economy of the area even worse than it already was. This, I think, is part of the reason why the Jewish community were notoriously hated in Whitechapel. Finally, remember that not everyone living in Whitechapel had a decent education. Whoever wrote that bizarre message was probably a person of poor education who was really frustrated over the current political situation and was expressing their feelings in a way that was not really clear to understand. The killer also knows by this point that the police are already looking among the Jewish community for the perpetrator of these murders, because of the whole “Leather Apron” episode. What if the killer is deliberately trying to throw blame on the Jews for this crime so that he can walk away completely undetected? I’m sorry, but I really don’t think that the Ripper was a Jew at all (despite the police having suspicions of that). I think he probably dropped that handkerchief there deliberately because it was a Jewish boarding house and the bizarre message written by somebody else was too much of a temptation. Here’s a bit of circumstantial evidence that to my mind proves the Ripper probably was not a Jew. Annie Chapman was killed on a Saturday, which is the Jewish Sabbath. The murderer, if he is a Jew, may excuse himself for breaking God’s law regarding the sixth commandment (‘Thou shalt not kill’), but failing to keep the Sabbath is strongly discouraged, and I think even less reverent Jews of the time would have been superstitious about violating that day.
I don't quite get why Anderson entitled his memoir "The Lighter Side of My Official Life." Does he mean that the rest of it was secret? It is not clear.
I've always taken it to mean the lighter(-hearted) side of his official life... not that the book is a laugh a minute, mind you! However, since Anderson was a serious-minded, religious and even sanctimonious man, it may have seemed lighter-hearted to him.
Most interesting. However, the police didn't have any real idea who JTR was and assumed, as per the thinking of the time, he must have been a lunatic/somebody who ended up in an asylum. Nowadays we know different. Serial killers tend to be outwardly normal, even respectable. The police back then were as clueless as they were nearly a hundred years later in Yorkshire. JTR was almost certainly none of the suspects fingered by any policeman.
RIP to Martin Fido. He had charisma and brilliance that will never be equalled
Agreed Fido was brilliant Total class act
Richard is his equal both brilliant narrators
"X person wasn't violent in the asylum ergo not capable" has always bothered me so much. Many of the most famous serial killers weren't violent either at home or in prison. It's just not something that should ever be put on a list to rule someone out as a suspect. There's nothing to me to suggest JTR was a raving lunatic. He knew how to evade.
He, like so many of them, hated women, not random people in prison. They're not all ASPDs who can't control their temper.
...and they're certainly not all lunatics. Back then they had a broader understanding of the term and a broader number of reasons why someone would be institutionalised. It's just bad history and bad psychology.
excellent point, Tara. similarly, we are now coming to learn that it is possible for appalling killers to stop and simply live out the remainder of their lives, quietly, in anonymity.
It's likely the inmate would be doped up as well..
Try Severin Klosowski, changed his name to George Chapman & as such - hung in 1903. @@Charles-oo8bq
Kozminski Kominski and Cohen sounds like a firm of solicitors 😃
A good one at that
Retainer ok
They re in the same building as dewey cheatham and howe
Definitely more of an accounting firm since they are all jooz
I thought they were the three astronauts in hibernation, along for the ride with Bowman & Poole in 2001: A Space Odyssey…😅
The first time I heard of David Cohen was from Martin Fido. His JTR series on YT is brilliant. RIP Martin. As always, great job Rich!
Martin Fido is a delight and a gift to ripperology
God Bless Mr Fido. One of the very first people to make me want to be a detective and investigate things instead of just accepting what I've been told. RIP a true gent.
I’m loving this series of interviews with different authors about their varied and all interesting respective theories. Thanks very much 👍
I urge anyone hesitant to read Martin Fido's book because they don't agree with his assessment of Cohen to rethink that decision. The great majority of the work is factual examination of the killings, the victims, and the effects on the community. It's a wonderful resource.
You do know that all these experts are only giving their opinion don't you? There is no actual evidence against ANY suspect and we will never know who JtR was.
@@adoculos4521 my comment still stands. I didn't say anyone knew who JtR was. I said that even if you disagree with Fido's theory regarding Cohen his book is filled with FACTS of the case, eg, information on the crime scenes, the victim's lives, the area of Whitechapel, etc. Therefore it's worth reading. The Cohen hypothesis takes up a rather small portion near the end of the book.
Fido is an excellent researcher and an even better writer and narrator. I have been a fan of his work for years!
@@adoculos4521 Well. There is a ton of circumstantial evidence against Charles Allen Lechmere. He's the best suspect by far.
It has been my experience that men who target women exclusively for their violent tendencies rarely are willing to be violent towards men or people in authority. Kosminski’s relatively peaceful behaviour once incarcerated isn’t exculpatory in my opinion.
Most serial killers in prison are extremely calm and some even refer to them as pleasant.
Fakers like Charles Manson for example tried hard to appear violent in prison for his reputation.
So I agree with you completely. A lot of people who study the Ripper tend to ignore the tendencies of Serial killers we actually caught.
In some more modern instances once incarcerated serial killers have proven themselves to be very adept at convincing medical staff that they are fine and no longer a threat. People like kemper, unterweger and shawcross were released only to kill again after convincing everyone that they had reformed.
I really like Steven!
I agree. I think Kosminski is the ripper. He just fits too well.
Something I just read that I don't think they mentioned is that we have at least multiple lines of evidence favoring Andersons suspect being identified with Aaron Kosminski.
The first is the known naming of Kosminski by Macnaghten and Swanson. This seems to confirm that there is no mis spelling going on. They meant to write kosminski.
The second one is that Andersons suspect is described as going insane due to years of indulgence in solitary vices, and Aaron Kosminski is described by the asylum as being a self abuser. Both of these are euphemism for excessive masturbation which was believed to cause insanity.
So the masturbation issue links Andersons suspect with Aaron Kosminski, and Swanson linking Andersons suspect with a Kosminski. We have Aaron being the only Kosminski at the asylum. We also have Macnaughtens naming of Kosminski as a suspect.
So I think we can say that Aaron Kosminski was the Anderson suspect and that both Swanson and Anderson were convinced he was the ripper.
For me, that is telling. Because the two men who probably knew the most about the case were confident about their suspect, even indicating that he had been IDd by a witness and then ceased killing.
To me, this is probably the best evidence out of any suspect.
This killer planned everything he did & chose his victims. And was never caught. Not the work of any nutter. George Klosowski changed his name to George Chapman. Hung in 1903, look him up.
I think quite a lot of statements are heresay though. Other than the shawl (which might not even have belonged to the victim and might not even have had his DNA on it) there is no solid evidence linking him to any of the crimes.
Wish we knew who done it not for historical reasons but for the victims
It's never ever for the victims.
Have you ever seen they cover the victims. That wouldn't make for good entertainment.
There are however few exceptions but that's how it is.
Having spent a career doing psychometric tests on people, knowing criminal psychology and working with offenders of all degrees of seriousness, I'll concede that there's a real chance that Kosminsky killed Stride, but the one thing I can guarantee is that the man who killed Stride didn't kill Kelly. I'd say the Police had proper reason to believe Kosminsky given witness evidence killed Stride, but that has all the hallmarks of a disorganised, angry, unplanned attack, almost domestic if you like, a victim and perpetrator known to each other with possibly a history of verbals and fimiliarity and a lack of control from the killer. That's what the circumstances and MO suggest. The other killings were entirely different. I'd suggest that the Police had enough evidence to pin the Stride killing on Kosminsky and then ascribed it to the series of similar, but different murders. and were happy to have a prime suspect. The Kelly murderer is a different psychology altogether.
Do you believe the Kelly murder was a natural escalation due to the opportunity of having privacy and a few hours? Many believe it too violent to be Jack, but to me it seems what Jack would do in that situation, given he was able to disembowel his victims in just 10 or 15 minutes in al alleyway.
you make sense and give a coherent case. these guys ramble and seem more befuddled than really sure. there’s not one piece of real evidence in the whole video. thanks for your comment. actually learned something. have a good day :) 🌷🌱
Why isn't anyone connecting the Ages of the first 4 victims, all killed outdoors. Mary Kelly being only 25 but she had her own room yet was in peril of being turfed. All 5 were drinkers. I think this was a very well thought out crime & Mary Kelly was the hell on earth crime for the killer who knew he had a place where he could take his time for ultimate shock value. It was said that he had the fire going, burning her clothes so he could see better. BS, he was burning some of his Own clothes & some of hers to cover that up. I believe the friend of hers who said he saw him with her & saw them go in her door could have recognised him & that's why he stopped after that murder. I don't believe the killer was some mental maniac who needed to go into an asylum, he Planned everything he did. No-one ever heard a scream, that alone says a whole lot about the planning.
Why dismiss Severin Klosowski/George Chapman just because he poisoned women. He poisoned Three, watching their horrific suffering, he was a fn sadist. How very interesting to know that after the separation from the Polish wife he met & married in England, the next woman's name was Annie Chapman & he took that surname. He was 30, she was 39 when they met. Hmm. She, who was a big drinker. He got away with poisoning her & so, he had a new MO & continued with his drinking, his violence, his womanising & bumping off partners who pissed him off. Obviously he was a very devious but charming sociopath, the main thing was, he was an Anglo then, not a KLOSOWSKI.
One witness had already picked up on a likeness to a Jewish looking man & one had picked up a European accent. The torn off piece of Eddowe's apron with blood & faeces was dropped in the archway of the building where mostly Jewish families lived. There shouldn't have been a reason for the apron to have been so dirtied up as it was found. Who the hell would carry such a disgusting piece of evidence anywhere but more than that, there's the piece of evidence that would have got him the death penalty if caught with it. He was Very sure of where all the beat coppers would be for their rounds. And each time. He was trying to pin the crime on that race knowing about the anti-Semitism & that was going on Before the suspicion of one as a sadistic woman killer.
He was training to be a surgeon in Poland since he was 15 years old & 4.5 years into that & married, he took off for England, abandoning that career prospect, family & his wife. Why? That could be the clue, the victimology as a whole is the key to who.
I think either Joseph Barnett or Francis Thompson killed Kelly. The suspicious ex and the violent and intelligent psychopath, who was lodged nearby. Both had opportunity.
I believe David Cohen was the Ripper per Martin’s research. It makes so much sense to me.
He may well be.
Martin made a 3 or 4 part audio presentation on the murders. It’s really entertaining. Spoiler alert, you know who he names as the killer.
Exactly
Try to grasp that it is only an opinion as no actual evidence exists to identify who JtR was.
Do you believe all opinions without actual evidence?
Not a jot of evidence for the theory.
Always Very Interesting Guests and Interesting Discussions. Thanks Richard
Just sounds very racist,
Jacob Levy was the Ripper. We know the City Police watched someone in Butchers Row . We also know that the suspect had been confined to a private asylum for a short time which Jacob had been sent to an asylum during his jail sentence. One thing that has always been a question in my mind is why the connection has never been made to Greenfield St? Jacob's first butcher shop was there, Isaac Kosminski 's tailor shop was there and Pizer worked as a slipper maker there. They probably all knew each other and were partners in crime. Jacob was the Ripper, who sent Aaron Kosminski to kill Liz Stride while he waited for Catherine Eddos in Mitre Square.
youre right the ripper did reside on Greenfield st
I've never believed the murders to be done by 1 person maybe 2 or 3 independent murderers
Add Jacob Levy to these two.
What I want to understand is were the people submitted to these institutions medicated as this could help explain why Aaron Kominski didn’t show aggressive traits while incarcerated
Good point
I'm not sure what level of medication they had. But another thing is that the deterioration of Kosminski may have been so much as to make him incapable of being violent. Perhaps his sickness went from obsession with killing to hearing voices after he got in the asylum
I mean people were doing cocaine for mild headaches pretty much so who knows what they used on actual insane people
There were no medications for mental illness back then, no proper diagnosis even, it was all termed insanity, a catch all for everything from Schizophrenia to dementia to menopause. What was often done to patients was a frontal lobe lobotomy procedure, essentially brain damage. The physicians back then thought it was the cure, only because patients were so damaged by the procedure, they could no longer act violently.
is it possible that they possibly knew it was one of these guys but they knew he would be in an asylum for the rest of his life so they put a lid on it because they wanted to avoid the anti-semitic riots that would most likely be the result if the thruth came out? are there any indications of that? i know there have been similar cases like that, where the powers in charge decide not to pursue the matter further because it is deemed that the risk of the damage of the truth emerging is too great? even very current cases which i wont get into *cough*twitterfiles*cough*.
There is much to suggest that the police did not know who the ripper was. Not at the time and not afterwards. I do not regard memoirs, marginalia and off the cuff conversations with journalists as real proof of anything except their frustrations. At the time certain trusted officers in the Met and the City police also helped fulfil roles that involved matters of national security. I am not implying that Special Branch (for instance) ever directly looked into the murders but I am of the opinion that someone at the Home Office would have asked their opinion. I don't think they knew either.
A closer contemporary analogy might be that of Muslim Grooming Gangs. My u/standing has always been that Schwarz did positively identify Kosminski and as discussed in the vid, wouldn't testify against him for religious reasons. The Police then have a positive ID of their prime suspect but insufficient evidence to prosecute. Hence dumping him quietly in a lunatic asylum and the murders stop. Maybe David Cohen was a John Doe for Kosminski?
Exactly right. Pro bono
One of your best videos yet! I’ve always thought Martin Fido’s research was some of the finest ever undertaken on this case-he was a real pioneer in this regard. I’m still not sure what to make of the Kaminsky-Cohen-Kosminski theory, but it sure seems as though a link has been missed somewhere along the line.
Great thanks again for another awesome video, although I can't believe JTR would be a jew he'd of stood out like a sore thumb. I believe Charles Allen Lechmere aka Cross was the Ripper, so many time's Lechmere was overlooked by almost everyone, he worked and lived all his life around Whitechapel and knew every back Alley including the double event that took place not far from where he lived with his mother, and yet Lechmere keeps getting ignored.
My I've looked at many books and theories delved into many Libraries too look for that 💡 moment, one documentary on Channel 5 gave me that 💡 moment when the name popped up Charles Allen Cross who lied at the 1st enquiry and again lied too PC Mizen I feel it had too be someone who worked and lived in the area and perhaps someone who took multiple routes too and from work, Lechmere got away with it due too the lack of understanding a Serial Killer and also the News papers at that time they put wild theories about someone who was famous,foreign looking, perhaps someone from across the pond or a member of Queen Victoria's Royal Family, no one wanted JTR too be a working man a family man from a broken home but he is and my what a way to get away with it didn't stand out in the crowd he blended in fitted in and he knew it....
@@deancordery5935 Quite a few people lied. Some were in the wrong place at the wrong time such as George Hutchinson for instance. Some were in it for the money such as Pearly Poll and others just wanted to please their editors. Being a liar does not make anyone a more likely suspect and Lechmere being the first to come across the body is not proof of anything except his bad luck. He certainly didn't appear to be trying to profit from the situation unlike some of the others I have mentioned. There is a ton of research from those proposing Lechmere as a candidate and some of it is of a very high standard. Yet for all their efforts it doesn't amount to anything except proof of their own diligence. Take away his discovery of the body and there is nothing. Not a single scrap.
@@vespasian606 Exactly!!!!!!! Thank you
If a suspect can't be placed at a crime scene, it's not a very good suspect. They don't even know who this "Phantom" man was.
@Robert Smith But, Lechmere was at a crime scene, matter of fact standing "Where the woman was" a dead body. His lying about everything else makes him more suspicious. No one else can place a suspect at a crime scene. Best suspect by far.
roaming lunatic - isnt that just another way of saying british.
Ooh, hurtful, Tom!
Excellent. One of the best pieces of online media I have seen or heard in regards to Kosminski or Cohen. As to the lack of known violence from Kosminski; serial killers need not be violent out with their murders. For instance there is not much violence committed by Dennis Rader other than his known murders.
There is actually more proof Aeron was violent. A letter now in UK and brought by a carpet fitter from a Australia is by the Vicar who knew the family. He mentions enough to show Kosminski is the one.
It was Lee Harvy Oswald and he acted alone...
I've got an excel spreadsheet of all the suspects im trying to use to see which closely matches the supposed facts about the killer.
A very interesting and enjoyable discussion.
One point I'd like to make is that at the time of the murders and to a lesser extent nowadays, a suspects viability was judged chiefly on whether he exhibited 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯ly violent behaviour.
Of course, in more recent times the science of psychological profiling has shown us that a serial killer is rarely 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘭𝘺 violent and more often than not, their public persona is that of a "normal," quiet, even gregarious individual.
Also, and in my opinion, the most useful piece of information to come from the psychological profiler has been the discovery that rather than being openly violent, 𝘢𝘭𝘭 serial killers exhibit a lack of 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘺 !
For me, this fact alone represents a huge fly in the ointment in terms of Ripper "candidacy", for any of the contemporaneous suspects put forward by the various police officials back in the day .
Brilliant watch guys 👏
Does anyone know if they could deduce which type of knife was used in the murders? I've heard that they could. So if that's the case it shouldn't have been hard for the coroner to determine that Elizabeth Stride and Eddowes was killed using the same type of blade?
If the coroner thought of looking at things like that, and was educated enough about that type of thing... yes, it is possible. I wonder if something like that was in a coroner's report? It would be very interesting to know.
I think now based on the medical reports they could tell you likely if it was a big knife or a small surgeon knife.
Excellent food for thought there and RIP Martin Fido a true researcher and Ripper scholar.
'... the Jewish law Mesirah which actually forbade Jews from giving up another Jew to Gentile law.'
40:10
That did not apply in a case of murder, nor to a case in a country under the rule of law.
This video is academic. Very informative.
Glad you think so!
Great interview! Very interesting indeed! Many thanks :)
That was great. I still find the suspects named by Mcnaughten on the response of the Cutbush relative in the Police etc strange. But only Kosminsky was a possible suspect on the list. All confusing.
as a completely new person to this theory, it sounds awfully befuddled to me. if i were a juror, i’d have go not guilty. you haven’t proven anything to me. and that they’re both Jewish is a little suspect. of course, i’m living now, not back then. Jews were probably suspected because they were Jewish - foreigners. the English seem to always suspect foreigners. (i get this kind of thing from Agatha Christie novels and other writings about that time period in England.)
Indeed there was very persistent antisemitism at that time.
As you said there is no evidence that Cohen had a brother to be released to but later on you say that Aaron Kosminski was released into the care of his brother. That suggests to me all 3 of of them (Cohen, Kaminsky and Kosminski) are all the same person.
Names, particularly in the working classes but not exclusively, were notoriously nebulous in Victorian Britain (and probably in a lot of places). When you go through Census records of the time it is extremely common to see surnames misspelt, second names used instead of first names in 1 year and then either switched in the following census or missing altogether. It really doesn't surprise me that an "Aaron Davis Cohen" could then appear as a "David Cohen", he could easily have gone by both or it might just be a case of whoever happened to be writing it down and the same can be said for "Kosminski/Kaminsky" - many people couldn't read to double check the spelling anyway, especially if they weren't even native English speakers. All that being said, I'm not sure I'm buying the "David Cohen = Jewish John Doe" argument, that seems strange to me. As far as I know "John Doe" itself was not even used in the 18th/19th century in the same way we use it today - as in applying it as a name for the unidentified came later I believe, although it may have been in use that way by the end of the 19th century I guess. It was more typically used as a fictitious plaintiff in legal cases (and still is in certain situations, just like Richard Roe is used as a fictitious defendant in order to argue principle, in the same way as you would say "the people versus"), so it doesn't make sense that, in his actual criminal case, the name "Aaron Davis Cohen" would be used because, if David Cohen was a Jewish variant of Richard Roe, the criminal case would be THE place where it would appear that way
Waltert Sickert was 28 the perfect age remember the lady that said she saw someone with a parcel the night of Mary Kelly's murder and he looked liked a foreigner and Walter Sickert I think spoke 6 or more languages and definitely had a light German accent and he always loved going to the shows and was into performing wore fake mustaches
THE COPS KNEW.
We should not dismiss aaron as jtr based on his lack of violent behaviour in his private and institutionalized time, just think of todays serial killers, most of them are as calm as a plant, they display no emotion or erractic behaviour, even the ones serving life on prison, they dont go about harming offices or imates, but the opposite, you would not even say they were capable of such atrocities by watching their behaviour
While 'David Cohen', seems the more plausible between he and Kosminski, neither seem viable candidates. Whoever JTR was, he was older, more experienced, cunning and, above all, fitted in, able to convince the victims to go with him. Someone between 28-42, had a profession or reason to travel during the night, so able to prey on women who'd been drinking. I don't buy Stride as a Ripper victim either - too many people around.
19:30 ... Swanson making annotations in his personal copy of Anderson's book "for himself but nobody else". Agreed, so why did he feel compelled to initial them D.S.S., unless - perish the thought! - someone _other_ than Swanson wanted to convince us that the marginalia were genuinely his? It would be interesting to know if there are other (non Ripper related) marginalia in the book, and if they were similarly initialled.
Your channel has some of the most enjoyable and knowledgeable discussions I've seen on JTR. Fido's investigations and findings are worthy of attention and brought some new information to the subject and so stand out from all the other garbage that throws up a new name every month.
Ha anyone ever had the theory that there was more than one Jack, not intentionally? Example is he double event might have been a mad coincidence where for example Kosminsky killed the first victim, there was no interruption and that’s just how he did it, without mutilation - while half a mile away Lechmefe was getting busy on the second victim that night and doing what the ripper did best:……
I don’t believe there was 2 people in suspicious circumstances called Kosminsky and ‘being returned to brothers care’ separately says it was the same person to me?
WOW!!!! The Jewish suspects just keep coming.
According to the FBI great and profiling David Cohen certainly was your Man
You can't place logic onto the actions of a homicidal sociopath. 3 tines you repeat the Strude/Eddows double murder, despite the clear explanation that the Ripper was interrupted and wanted to get his work done, then found Eddows. Why is that so difficult to grasp?
I'm 100% certain Cohen was the Ripper
Assuming that the piece of apron was eventually discarded or lost by the Police?
So sad to learn of Martin’s passing. I first became interested in Jack the Ripper after watching a documentary you (Richard) and Martin were featured in. I must have been in my early teens and Martin was so well read and passionate about the subject.
After reading the Talmud, a Cohen, a Ski, a Stein and a Berg of some sort being the killer would not surprise me.
Clear as mud. Ha ha!
Though the section on the men who were running the case, without any prior policing experience, was very interesting.
Mr Jones, Who do you think Jack the Ripper was? 👍
I try not to think, Jamie!
It was Maybrick
That's what I thought Steve.. Once he's been seen he finishes Stride, thinking he could be caught or the coppers brought over any second.. Then heads towards Bishops gate... One can't sit on the fence forever!!
Maybrick was the Ripper…
Case closed
Why?
Someone very like David cohen would be Aaron kosminsky
Is it possible that Aaron Kosminski could have lived to 1919 if he had contracted Syphilis in 1888?
Typically you die after about 16 years if untreated.
The ADL has said this is simply anti-Semitic 😩😵💫🤣
Very good topic. I had also heard the name Nathan Komenski as a suspect but he isn't mentioned much. Don't know if he had a lot of reasons for suspicion as Aaron.
From what I slightly recall it's Kaminsky and he's the brother of David Cohen/Aaron Kaminsky. It's either that or he's the brother of the famous Aaron Kosminski. It's really hard to keep track of, there's a lot of talk of mixing them up, but I'm pretty sure it's the brother of Cohen/Kaminsky, the outwardly violent patient.
@@88mphDrBrownThey don't know who he was. Absurd suspect that can't even be named correctly.
I don't think we will ever know who JTR was. Honestly, I don't think he was ever interviewed and if he was interviewed it wasn't by the cops. It was probably one of those nosy newspapers. I think JTR has never had any involvement with the police. I also think that he was just a average WASP. I don't think it was Nathan. Nathan seems way too out of control. JTR seems to be very much in control. I'm willing to guess that he was married, had a stable job and had his own home. As far as why I think he "stopped" killings. I think his wife may have given birth. Some serial killers have been known to slow down or stop their activity during life changes. So, maybe he had a job change or his wife gave birth.
Yes, the police were as clueless as they were nearly a hundred years later in Yorkshire.
Back then they actually thought serial killers were outwardly mad and not the outwardly normal personalities we now know them to be.
Most of your expectations of the real Jack the Ripper point to Charles Allen Lechmere.
@@infamousaudio409 No evidence for Lechmere whatsoever NOTHING!!!! Its a new and dumb theory, that only the most gullible of people will fall for
@@jimlewis2395 I wouldn't say he's a new suspect at all. You mention no evidence against Lechmere, I'd argue Lechmere has the most evidence against him, and unlike any other suspect, Lechmere can be placed at the scene of Polly Nichols murder at the time of death. I'm sorry but any other suspect doesn't come close to Lechmere.
I agree with what you folks are saying about Lechmere. I find him extremely plausible. There were a number of conflicting details in his account of events the night of Polly Nichols’ death. He claims to have been concerned about the woman he allegedly found lying in Buck’s Row. But after fellow cart-man Robert Paul got involved, something changed and Lechmere (aka Charles Cross) suddenly no longer wanted to do anything but summon a policeman. Maybe he got spooked, but I think it was much more than that. I found Paul’s reaction to be more natural than Lechmere’s. Neither of the men saw any blood to indicate that she had just been murdered. They thought she might be dead, but they weren’t sure despite checking for a pulse. I think if she was dead, it could not have been longer than 15 minutes. Lechmere claimed to Paul and to the coroner’s inquest that he was running late for work but also claims he was searching for a tarpaulin to use in his profession. But I ask myself: why would he search for a tarp he may never find if he’s already running late? Would it not be more logical if he had searched for a tarp the previous night and taken it home with him and had it ready for work the next day? I’ll never know, I wish Lechmere were alive and could be questioned about these things and give himself a chance to clear up the confusion. Until that confusion is resolved, I have to look at him with very suspicious eyes and take his testimony with a grain of salt.
I am sorry to tell you all this but neither of these men are Jack the ripper, the cops back then had NO CLUE what a serial killer was or how to catch one. This is the only man that fits in every way and was seen at Mary Kelly's murder site one hour before she was killed. he has done what we would expect him to do he involves himself into the case and he did it for two reasons one is he was seen by Sara Lewis and had she not seen him we would never know who Jack was and knew he had to give reason why he was there and the second was to know what cops knew. this man gave his statement three days after his friend Mary Kelly was killed big red flag. now the few who have studied serial murder will see that his statement shows his Ego and boy is it big but before i get into that this man lived alone and on Commercial street he was 5'7 with a stout build was 28 years old with brown hair and brown mustache. this man was named George Hutchinson his statement showed he not only knew Mary Kelly but he had been listening to what was being said and written about him and we see this in his statement when the people were saying it was a Jew he gave them the writing on the wall when they said he was a doctor he sent them the kidney when they said he looked like a sailor he made sure to say the man last seen with Mary Kelly gave her a red handkerchief and thats because he had one on when he was seen talking to Kate Eddowes before her murder and they said it was red. When they say he is a Rich Toff down slumming, he gives them the made-up man seen with Mary Kelly. Why would a man follow a friend that asked him for money and then wait 45 minutes in a light rain on a cold night when cops were out in force looking for the Ripper to see if they came out Answer? He was stalking her! We know he knew two of the victims and that is very important because again the few of us who have studied serial murder know that if they kill a known victim they will always cover or destroy the face and sometimes the body to depersonalize the victim. only two victims had this done to them Kelly and Eddowes and he knew both.we believe he wrote at least two of the letters the from Hell letter and the first letter dated on the 17th Sept. and this is the letter that he gives his trademark name Jack the Ripper. anyway we found lots of red flags and they all point to him as the ripper, We are trying to find where he went when he left London in 1891 he we can find that we will find more ripper murders.
Although I'm a lechmere man I do agree Hutchinson is suspicious
I’ll always find it fascinating that despite being so concerned about violence against the Jewish community in whitechapel, the top level police at the time seemed to very much fall into their own prejudices and did exactly what the graffiti said - blamed the Jews.
The only interesting thing about Kaminsky is that he was a boot maker, and it was theorized the knife used in the murders was a shoemakers knife or a cork knife.
Was the name David Cohen not given to Jews in the same way John Doe is given?
Yes, it was
That was the claim, I have found nothing official to support that view.
And of course he appeared in court before he was committed to the Asylum.as Aaron Davis Cohen.
That suggests David Cohen was not a John Doe.
@@stevenblomer7738 Agreeed. Also, if officials actually _did_ use "David Cohen" as an alias for a male Jew, I'd expect to have seen a lot more "David Cohens" in the records. I've got a spreadsheet of every admission to the Whitechapel Infirmary from 1885-89 (a total of ~4,000 records) and there's only _one_ David Cohen in there, and guess who he is? (Clue: he was admitted in early December 1888 and listed as "insane").
If one picks up a chair and holds it like a lion tamer, it may not be seen as violent, but if one picks it up and holds it over their head to bash someone with, that can be pretty violent. I’ve seen people pick up folding chairs and do damage with them, I would imagine whatever chair was picked up was a sturdy as hell wooden chair…
Idk, picking up something to bash someone with is pretty violent.
But whomever “Jack” was, he may not have even seemed like a violent person to those he knew in everyday life.
excellent stuff lads, really enjoyed that.
I ewally think mr. Fido found the guy....
Yes
No one has found JtR and never will.
@@adoculos4521 Not conclusively but evidence STRONLY suggests it was this guy
@@adoculos4521 it was 100 percent whichever person it was that did the deed, now this you cannot dispute¡!
Why isn't anyone connecting the Ages of the first 4 victims, all killed outdoors. Mary Kelly being only 25 but she had her own room yet was in peril of being turfed. All 5 were drinkers. I think this was a very well thought out crime & Mary Kelly was the hell on earth crime for the killer who knew he had a place where he could take his time for ultimate shock value. It was said that he had the fire going, burning her clothes so he could see better. BS, he was burning some of his Own clothes & some of hers to cover that up. I believe the friend of hers who said he saw him with her & saw them go in her door could have recognised him & that's why he stopped after that murder. I don't believe the killer was some mental maniac who needed to go into an asylum, he Planned everything he did. No-one ever heard a scream, that alone says a whole lot about the planning.
Why dismiss Severin Klosowski/George Chapman just because he poisoned women. He poisoned Three, watching their horrific suffering, he was a fn sadist. How very interesting to know that after the separation from the Polish wife he met & married in England, the next woman's name was Annie Chapman & he took that surname. He was 30, she was 39 when they met. Hmm. She, who was a big drinker. He got away with poisoning her & so, he had a new MO & continued with his drinking, his violence, his womanising & bumping off partners who pissed him off. Obviously he was a very devious but charming sociopath, the main thing was, he was an Anglo then, not a KLOSOWSKI.
One witness had already picked up on a likeness to a Jewish looking man & one had picked up a European accent. The torn off piece of Eddowe's apron with blood & faeces was dropped in the archway of the building where mostly Jewish families lived. There shouldn't have been a reason for the apron to have been so dirtied up as it was found. Who the hell would carry such a disgusting piece of evidence anywhere but more than that, there's the piece of evidence that would have got him the death penalty if caught with it. He was Very sure of where all the beat coppers would be for their rounds. And each time. He was trying to pin the crime on that race knowing about the anti-Semitism & that was going on Before the suspicion of one as a sadistic woman killer.
He was training to be a surgeon in Poland since he was 15 years old & 4.5 years into that & married, he took off for England, abandoning that career prospect, family & his wife. Why? That could be the clue, the victimology as a whole is the key to who.
Regardless of it was Kosminski or this Kamnisky fellow. The police proved they had no clue about anything. Sent to an asylum and died shortly thereafter. Well Kosminski didn't even close to die shortly thereafter. So even if it was Kosminski (which is possible) the police still mixed him up with this Kaminsky fellow. So either way they really made fools of themselves.
Who can't seperate two people from each other? Kosminski and Kaminsky sounds similar. But when your job happens to be to solve cases one could at the very least demand you can tell two people apart.
It’s so interesting that Schwartz’s account says that Broad-Shoulders was walking down Berner Street alone and then met Stride at the Yard before immediately blitz attacking her. If Broad-Shoulders is the Ripper, then it’s not how you’d expect the Ripper to ingratiate himself with his victims. Had he been stalking her, or did he lash out at any prostitute he saw in a yard? Then why pick prostitutes to kill if not for their willingness to go with him? Or is it just that only prostitutes would be out at the time he hunted? Or are some of the victims unfairly labelled as prostitutes? Did he think he was alone on the street and would have acted differently if Schwartz wasn’t there? Or was he seen more regularly than we realise and witnesses in the East End were just unwilling to go to the police?
And I know it’s not always helpful to think this way, but should Schwartz be a suspect? Did he realise he was seen by Pipeman who did chase him, so Schwartz reported it before Pipeman had a chance to do it, putting Pipeman closer to the perimeter of suspicion than himself, but inventing Broad-Shoulders to give him leeway in a he said/he said argument. Could Israel just’ve identified Kosminksi as the killer to close the case, but refused to testify so he didn’t become too prominent and have his story questioned? The more I think about this, the more fantastical and unlikely it sounds 😂
01:12 Black Lion Square if my memory is correct. EDIT which apparently it isn't. Black Lion Yard is what I should have said.
how many Kosminskis and Kaminskys could there possibly been in White Chapel at that time?
Thank you nr. Jones...
If Schwartz was the witness, and Kosminsky was the attacker, then why did kosminsky use an anti semitic slur when he himself was a Jew? He could have done I suppose, but it makes me think the witness was more likely to be one of the Lawender group perhaps.
But the part about him dying soon after is pretty major.. this would be like me saying today: "yeah Christiano Ronaldo was the suspect when he played at Man United but he died shortly after". Dude is still alive, it's a pretty major mistake then
Wasn’t David Cohen the equivalent to John Doe, i.e. a name given to Jewish men that didn’t want, or could, declare their names?
I used to think Kosminski was once of the most likely suspects. Now he doesn't figure, for me.
Israel Schwartz identified Kosminski, but wouldnt go to court against him because he was a fellow Jew.
Robert Anderson stopped just short of naming him, stating it served no pulic interest to do so, as hed alreqdy been committed to an asylum.
Donal Swanson actually named him.
Why keep foing over it?
Jack The Ripper was Aaron Kosminski.
Case closed.
Though he didn't give a first name.
Could a man of poor means and that young actually pulled off dodging the police with that much skill with the tight timeframes of the murders? Could he have lured these middle aged women off to dark shadowy areas to kill them? I'm just not sure, and if he was mad from syphilis I feel like it would have been much harder to pull off without getting caught. It makes sense it was him, but I have some doubts too.
David Cohen Kozak
As has often been mooted, the killer having possibly been seen and frustrated badly needed to satisfy himself and so fled away from the area. He then perhaps manged to compose his superficial demeanour targeting the first suitable victim he came across.
Great video!
In my opinion, I don't think an extremely violent lunatic would have been capable of the killings. I would take someone like Ted Bundy. Violent, but reserved and meticulous.
I don't think much meticulousness was required. He simply had to ask the prostitutes to accompany him down a side street/alley, slice them up, then run off.
Why? All the Ripper had to do was ask a woman to join him on a walk to the side of a street, kill them and run off. The biggest lunatic could do that. Some act like the ripper was this genius murderer. He really was not, the fact he killed 4 women in the open for anyone to see should tell you enough. In fact it makes the Cohen theory more likely. A smart man would not be stupid enough to kill someone out in the open for any passenger to just catch him, let alone 4 times
@@amatingmind7258 I agree. And Nichols and Stride were probably not asked much at all, just attacked out of a sudden.
I feel that this line is undoubtedly the correct jigsaw puzzle, there is just 1 piece frustratingly missing. One day we may find some material that gives a complete name. Everything else should then start to fall in place.
Interesting that fellas I always wondered about the Parnell scandal running along side the killing spree. I never got my head around it either.. I think we'd need to know who Mary Kelly was for a start to delve into her Irish links Old Anderson goes on about all this subversion stuff throughout his book then breaks the theme to mention this Polish Jew who I always felt got wangled with the witness and suspect I think he's lying but for what ends I don't know. Whether he knew more and painted it over with lies is hard to say.. Good old Anderson ha... Littlechild also says Anderson " only thinks he knows" in summing up his own letter to Sims, which just clouds over the mystery even more... I find his reply to the Jewish Chronicle interesting before he wrote his memoirs but again he's cryptic in it... If they knew they also knew how to keep a secret haha
For both Steve and Richard..whilst I take your point about what Martin said that anybody who wants to put forward a new suspect needs to dismissl Anderson first..don't we also need to put another person within the very small period beween Nicholls having her throat cut and Lechmere being there when the wounds were fresh and starting the bleed? Paul is far enough behind Lechmere not to see his activity and also audible enough for Lechmere to hear him coming and back away from the body. Kosminsky may well have been seen around the vicinity of the Stride murder, but there's every possibility, given the carelessness of it and the MO, that it wasn't a Ripper killing. Another thing that puzzles me about the Stride incident is that Schwartz says that someone, most likely the killer shouts "Lipski" at him, clearly a racial slur as Schwartz was of obvious pyhsical Jewish looks....how likely is it that Kosminksy, another Jew is going to use an anti-semitic slur against another Jew? Very unlikely I'd say. Anyone who shouts Lipski at Sshwartz is going to be an English, indigennous resident. The Stride killing is at a different time and with a different MO to all the other killinhs. Kosminsky 'might' have killed Stride, I have my doubts, but I have even more doubts that he was responsible for the others, expecially the Kelly nurder.
Stride was killed by ripper. He was interrupted.
Aaron Kosminski couldn't even speak English, much less write in the language. He spoke Yiddish until the day he died.
In another video on the killing of Stride with Steve and Richard, he mentioned that "Lipski" also sounded like the Polish "Go away" or so. Then this could indeed come from a Jew. But I believe that the street graffiti was from the Ripper and I doubt that Kosminski could have written it.
a few years back i came across a programme that spoke of the mortuary attendant being a likely suspect and the theory did appeal to me, does anyone know of any further information on this?
Henry(NL): A certain M.J.Trow is the author of 2 books detailing his theories that:
1. A mortuary attendant was JtR and…
2. That the same individual was also responsible for the ‘Thames Torso Murders’. Or at least for some of them.
I DO HOPE I’VE GOT THIS RIGHT! It has been a while since I read this 😔👍.
Robert Mann?.
This guy is my prime suspect. More than kosminski, more than charles cross
Great presentation!
maybe 'David Cohen' was a generic Jewish name given to Kosminski by the asylum, similar to John Doe
lol and he just said the same thing.
Plz explain what does he mean Kosminski was only known as a suspect after 1991 & Cohen late 80's.
I watched the 100 year anniversary on Jack the Ripper in 1988 presented by Sir Rich Attenborough with a panel of law experts FBI, etc & they all came to the conclusion Kosminski was the ripper.
So in a nutshell he was known as a prime suspect way before 1991.
Or am I sitting the pot miss.
Not 1991 but 1891, the year of Sir Melville Macnaghten's Memorandum, in which MJ Druitt, Michael Ostrog and "Kosminski" were suggested - and only suggested, mind you - as potential suspects.
Intrigued by the person that was treated for syphilis- in some circumstances it can get into the brain and totally change personality. Interesting stuff. Loved it!👍👍❤❤
Yes, can make a person more violent I believe. Sus
How about George Tusk ? He was the only one that came out with body part!
Thank you.
I think the seaside home was Joseph Hyam Levy's retirement home on the coast. They probably broke the law by removing Jacob from Stone , hence( with great difficulty) to be identified by Joseph Levy. I believe some sort of agreement was made between JHL and the police not to reveal Jacob's real name so as not to dirty the Levy family name. Also if a Kosminski helped Jacob in any way he would also be guilty and if they were never sure who Jacob was they called him Kosminski.
I also want to add that If we could find out when Aaron Kosminski 's headstone was erected in Plaschett cemetery we may find out it is actually Jacob in that grave, buried under Aaron's name.
You and Martin the best sis it whites rum? If so will bring you a bottle when I eventually get to mee tyou on one of your tours
I've enjoyed both times that I've seen Blomer on this channel. He seems very knowledgeable and when something is circumstantial he makes it clear and doesn't try to pass it off as fact like a couple other 'Ripperologists'.
It wasn't a Jew, it wasn't an upper class man, it wasn't an insane person
Who was the witness that identified someone he new or was related to at the site of Liz strides murder .
I always was fascinated about the writing on the wall. It never made sense that someone would write those words on a wall and not be of the Jewish faith. Jews have always been viewed as interlopers throughout history in Europe, hence immigrating enmasse in the 19th and 20th Centuries....and so many immigrants entering London must have experienced antisemitism, being pariahs, etc. Therefore, a person of said faith seems like a glaring clue.
I really don’t think that message has anything to do with the murders. I believe the piece of Catherine Eddowes’ apron was a genuine clue, but I don’t see the connection between the two. It could be a complete coincidence that it landed underneath that enigmatic message. You’ve got to remember that Whitechapel was part of Victorian London, the most populous city in the British Empire at that time. Also remember that bias and prejudice against any racial outsider was as common back then as it is today. The Jewish communities had moved into that part of London to escape persecution in Czarist Russia and Eastern Europe. When they did that, they competed with many of the locals for jobs, making the economy of the area even worse than it already was. This, I think, is part of the reason why the Jewish community were notoriously hated in Whitechapel. Finally, remember that not everyone living in Whitechapel had a decent education. Whoever wrote that bizarre message was probably a person of poor education who was really frustrated over the current political situation and was expressing their feelings in a way that was not really clear to understand. The killer also knows by this point that the police are already looking among the Jewish community for the perpetrator of these murders, because of the whole “Leather Apron” episode. What if the killer is deliberately trying to throw blame on the Jews for this crime so that he can walk away completely undetected? I’m sorry, but I really don’t think that the Ripper was a Jew at all (despite the police having suspicions of that). I think he probably dropped that handkerchief there deliberately because it was a Jewish boarding house and the bizarre message written by somebody else was too much of a temptation. Here’s a bit of circumstantial evidence that to my mind proves the Ripper probably was not a Jew. Annie Chapman was killed on a Saturday, which is the Jewish Sabbath. The murderer, if he is a Jew, may excuse himself for breaking God’s law regarding the sixth commandment (‘Thou shalt not kill’), but failing to keep the Sabbath is strongly discouraged, and I think even less reverent Jews of the time would have been superstitious about violating that day.
Surely Anderson first talks about a 'Madman revelling in blood' as early as 1892?
He does, while a year earlier he says he has no idea.
The point I was making is that 95 is the first time, it is said he is dead.
I don't quite get why Anderson entitled his memoir "The Lighter Side of My Official Life." Does he mean that the rest of it was secret? It is not clear.
I've always taken it to mean the lighter(-hearted) side of his official life... not that the book is a laugh a minute, mind you! However, since Anderson was a serious-minded, religious and even sanctimonious man, it may have seemed lighter-hearted to him.
All I need to see is the name. That's the ripper.
Most interesting. However, the police didn't have any real idea who JTR was and assumed, as per the thinking of the time, he must have been a lunatic/somebody who ended up in an asylum. Nowadays we know different. Serial killers tend to be outwardly normal, even respectable.
The police back then were as clueless as they were nearly a hundred years later in Yorkshire.
JTR was almost certainly none of the suspects fingered by any policeman.