Suspicious about the Ripper Walk I took...

[George Hutchinson]

Suzi - I have just made one laugh so loud and high-pitched I think it's shattered an upstairs window.

I just imagined viewing from the inside of the office and a black cat holding a wide white card sign just bounces into view, remains motionless for a split second, and then drops back down again.

BD - Yeah, I knew you were kidding. Wish I was kidding, though! Just got in from doing one tonight as it happens.

PHILIP

[Suzi]

Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee it's a wondrous image isn't it!!!! You conjured it up a treat!!!! Just scribbling your addy down to send the old postcard!!!

[caz]

If I was the killer, I would probably - while attempting to escape - end back on the murder site and fall into the arms of the police.

Hi Glenn,

But the killer did not have a list of murder sites beforehand that he was obliged to find for himself and then escape from afterwards. And presumably he wasn't obliged to go hunting at all if he had anything like the kind of problems that you describe.

I'm sure the point that Stewart was making was that while the killer could have known all the streets intimately, he didn't need to, if all he did was to go the short distance with his victims, from the main roads where he had encountered them to where they intended to conduct business, and back again - just like any normal customer who preferred his women live.

If he really was such a hopeless case that he might have had trouble finding his way back to civilisation, I suppose he could have left a trail of crumbs for himself, Hansel and Gretel-style.

Or he could have done a waggle dance to remind himself... sorry, that would have made him a bee.

Love,

Caz
X

[Glenn Lauritz Andersson]

Hi Caz,

However, the fact that he managed to escape quickly and unseen each time AFTER each murder does indicate to me som kind of local knowledge. Being led or accompanied by his victim to the scene is one thing, leaving a crime scene without getting caught or even noticed on multiple occasions without any prior knowledge of the area is quite another.
It's just too much of logical leap for me to accept that someone who didn't know the area quite well would succeed in doing this each time. I am sorry, I don't buy it.

All the best

[Paula Thomas]

Hi Caz,

However, the fact that he managed to escape quickly and unseen each time AFTER each murder does indicate to me som kind of local knowledge. Being led or accompanied by his victim to the scene is one thing, leaving a crime scene without getting caught or even noticed on multiple occasions without any prior knowledge of the area is quite another.
It's just too much of logical leap for me to accept that someone who didn't know the area quite well would succeed in doing this each time. I am sorry, I don't buy it.

All the best

Several points come to mind.

1. Most of the murder sites are near main roads, none were in the labyrinth of streets north of Buck's Row for example.

2. An ordinary looking man in a dark coat would not receive a second glance in the street light at the time - blood would not be especially visible in badly lit streets.

3. What the killer needs is confidence and a feeling that his conscience is clear.

I understand your difficulty with Commercial Street, it can be difficult as it comprises several short straights with sharp turns between them, but our killer never really strayed far from the main roads (either Whitechapel Road/Aldgate High Street or Commercial Road).

His knowledge of local geography need have been no greater than his knowledge of surgery i.e. rudimentary at best. However he did, I think, need a local base somewhere private to change clothes and safely dispose of bloody items.

Paula

[DVV]

Several points come to mind.

1. Most of the murder sites are near main roads, none were in the labyrinth of streets north of Buck's Row for example.

2. An ordinary looking man in a dark coat would not receive a second glance in the street light at the time - blood would not be especially visible in badly lit streets.

3. What the killer needs is confidence and a feeling that his conscience is clear.

I understand your difficulty with Commercial Street, it can be difficult as it comprises several short straights with sharp turns between them, but our killer never really strayed far from the main roads (either Whitechapel Road/Aldgate High Street or Commercial Road).

His knowledge of local geography need have been no greater than his knowledge of surgery i.e. rudimentary at best. However he did, I think, need a local base somewhere private to change clothes and safely dispose of bloody items.

Paula

Hello Paula,
there is no "labyrinth of streets" like the old part of Aix-en -Provence (according to my experience), it 's a very wide area, with plenty of dead ends, alleys...
When I came there as a first year student, I knew nothing of this town. Several weeks after, I knew all the streets, alleys, ect, perfectly.
Not because I used to go shopping at day time, but because I used to walk at night, alone and drunk (I even discovered the cellar of one old church and stole wine from there - sorry for this!).
So there is no mystery at all for me about the Ripper's knowledge of the area, even if he was not born in Whitechapel.

Amitiés,
David

[nancyrowina]

You have to be very careful about these sorts of things as they aren't regulated and the person could just tell you a load of nonsense, I'm hopefully going to the London Dungeon soon where I'll see the Jack The Ripper experience. I wonder how accurate their account of what happened is?

[George Hutchinson]

Nancy - it seems you've posted the warning of wariness followed by your own announcement that you were going to walk straight into the poorest quality retelling of the facts there could possibly be (save for one or two guides I could mention...)

The LD is fun in a ghoulish way. None of it is to be accepted as historical fact, and that includes the JTR section. I went there for the first time since I left their employment in 10 years a couple of weeks ago and it has improved in its retelling of the tale (albeit breifly) but it was still beset with errors and their suspect list is laughable.

PHILIP

[nancyrowina]

Nancy - it seems you've posted the warning of wariness followed by your own announcement that you were going to walk straight into the poorest quality retelling of the facts there could possibly be (save for one or two guides I could mention...)

The LD is fun in a ghoulish way. None of it is to be accepted as historical fact, and that includes the JTR section. I went there for the first time since I left their employment in 10 years a couple of weeks ago and it has improved in its retelling of the tale (albeit breifly) but it was still beset with errors and their suspect list is laughable.

PHILIP

I know exactly what you mean, I've been to The York Dungeon and they aren't claiming to be telling the exact truth I know, though their talk on Dick Turpin was quite truthful their portrayal of a Witch trial was bordering on the offensive to Pagans. It is all just meant to be fun though and is supposed to be aimed at children too so I won't be taking it too seriously. You'd think that a Jack The Ripper exhibit in London would try to put across the facts even if they do embellish them a bit though wouldn't you?

[Bulldog]

You'd think that a Jack The Ripper exhibit in London would try to put across the facts even if they do embellish them a bit though wouldn't you?

If you want to take in a Jack the Ripper exhibit in London that puts across the facts without embellishing them, you might consider the 'Jack the Ripper and the East End' exhibition at the Museum in Docklands. It runs through sometime in November.

Here's the website for details about the exhibition. It has info. on times, prices, etc.

http://www.museumindocklands.org.uk/...s/Special/JTR/

I'd forget the London Dungeon - tourist trap!

Bulldog