Ripperology: Questioning the Dogma

[rjpalmer]

Having followed these boards for several years, and having read all the major books on the Whitechapel Murders, as well as many related titles having to do with homicide and/or Victorian culture, I’d like to offer an observation.

In my opinion, the study of what some like to call ‘Ripperology’ is hopelessly grounded by its adherence to outdated and superficial dogma. And that dogma is the erroneous and antiquated belief that crimes such as the Whitechapel murders can be adequately explained by the murderer’s need for ‘sexual gratification.’ In other words, the false dogma of ‘lustmord.’

Yes, let me assure you that I am painfully aware that this belief is widely held--not to mention aggressively promoted--by many if not most Ripperological pundits. Books have been written and careers made by those promoting this belief. It is also endlessly regurgitated by pop culture (particularly American television) which is one of the chief reasons, in my opinion, why it is often considered authoratative and unassailable.

Nonetheless, I'd like to argue that it is superficial and does not hold up to scrutiny. All I ask is to bear with me for a few posts while I “question the dogma.” My time is limited so this may have to be spread out over several weeks, but I thank you in advanced for your patience, and welcome all serious commentary.

R Palmer

[rjpalmer]

Case Study 1

I’d like to begin by reprinting several case studies and posing a few relevant questions.

Case Study 1.

Recently, (July 31) a 40-year old man named Vince Weiguang Li was traveling on a Greyhound bus in central Canada. For no apparent reason, Li suddenly got up from his seat and attacked a 22 year old man who was sitting nearby, though the young man appeared to be half-asleep, minding his own business, and merely listening to music through a pair of headphones. Li stabbed the victim some 40 or 50 times in the chest and torso with a hunting knife, and then decapitated him. Frantic passengers ran off the bus and blocked Li’s exit, only to watch in horror as he returned to his victim and began to dissect him. After a long stand-off, Li was arrested as he tried to escape out a back window. According to one passenger, Li showed no emotion during his rampage and ‘looked like a robot.’ At his arraignment, Li only addressed the court once. “Please kill me,” was his comment.


Now, according to comments recently made by Martin Fido and Dan Norder on another thread, sexual gratification is the motivation behind mutilation murders. Indeed, it is --if I understand these gentlemen correctly--a necessary element.

Mr. Li was male and his victim was also male. My hypothetical question is simple. Would Messrs Fido and Norder argue that Li was motivated by homosexual lust for his victim, or would they acknowledge that perhaps something else might have been going on that the standard dogma does not explain?

In other words, can we agree, from the outset, that it is theoretically possible for a mutilation murder to be committed without the perpetrator feeling ‘lust’ or ‘desire’ for his victim?

More to follow, when time permits.

R Palmer

[Cap'n Jack]

Surely RJP the 'lust' dies with the victim, regardless of sex, or sexual gender or persuasion, and all that comes after the victim is dead is a futile form of self-harm and regret?
The injuries after death are of no account to the original motive.
We burst through the cloud to fly in the sun.

[rjpalmer]

Case Study 2

Thanks, Cap’n. Just one more quick case study before I head out for the afternoon. This comes from a letter to the editor in Ripperologist 86 in response to an article by Amanda Howard, who was arguing the standard belief that the Whitechapel Murders were sexually motivated, ie., done for reasons of sexual gratification. I'm repeating myself, but I think the case below is important in that the questions it raises begin to shed some light on what is “really going on.” Please note that this is also a case where there is no doubt whatsoever that the murderer engaged in sexual relations with his victims. Nonetheless, carefully considered, it still challenges whether or not ‘lustmord’ really fits the bill.

Case Study 2.

In 1998 the bodies of eight women were found hidden in the crawl space of a house in Poughkeepsie, New York. This was not far from the campus of prestigious Vassar College--a fact that might not be entirely irrelevant. The discovery led to the arrest, confession, and eventual conviction of Kendell Francois, the adult son of the occupants.

The victims were all described as “known prostitutes,” and, as I noted in my letter to the Ripperologist, there is little doubt the case would have been quickly and easily dismissed as another example of “sexual serial murder.” Even so, Barbara C Wolf MD and Wendy A Lavezzi MD, two physicians who wrote up the case in the January, 2007 edition of the Journal of Forensic Sciences, expressed doubts about this standard ‘explanation'--giving the lie to any dogmatic pronouncement that all professionals slavishly adhere to the ‘lustmord’ theory.

Wolf and Lavezzi write:

“[Francois’s] murders occurred during or after sexual encounters, and his method of killing was hands on, i.e., strangulation. However, the motive for his murders is not completely clear. In spite of the killings occurring in the context of a sexual encounter, he claimed that he did not intend to kill the women before he experienced the feeling that he was being cheated."


In short, Francois had dozens of ‘normal’ sexual encounters with prostitutes (if such a thing is possible) but only resorted to murder on these eight occasions. Getting sexual satisfaction through murder (which is often argued by authors writing up Kurten, Jesse Pomeroy, the Ripper, etc.) does not seem to fit the bill. In these eight instances, Francois had been asked by the victims for more money or to re-negotiate the payment. This is what seemingly infuriated him. It also seems significant that although Francois was an African-American who frequented both black and white prostitutes, his victims were petite white women, ages 25–51. (He denied killing a black victim, telling investigators that he would ‘not kill a sister.’ ) Thus, some obscure racial tension also seems to have been a mitigating motive in his crimes-- though I hasten to add this would be equally true if Francois was white and his victims black. In short, there is no evidence that Francois achieved any ‘sexual’ satisfaction from his murders, and instead appears to have been obsessed with some obscure point of dignity or honor or control. There was also a ritual element to his acts in so far that he carefully cleaned his victims’ bodies, even though this would obviously have served no rational criminal purpose, since he potentially implicated himself by hiding them in his parent’s house.

These are deeply disturbing cases, and not pleasant to dwell on, but I do think they begin to clarify a few issues. In short, the murders Francois committed were not ‘sex crimes’ per se, though there is no question that sex occurred. His motivation was more elusive and complex, seemingly related to his sense of social identity, as illustrated by the fact that he felt his authority being challenged. This is not the full answer, but I think it starts to point us in the right direction.

RP

[Bailey]

Interesting stuff, RJP. Frankly I don't feel like I'm anywhere near qualified to offer any significant comment or argument, but I'm intrigued by where you're going and look forward to this ongoing thread. Thanks very much!

B.

[Natalie Severn]

A thread like this is much appreciated RJ,although like Bailey I may not feel able to contribute to the argument about the concept of "lustmord".I will certainly follow the thread and contribute where I may be able.
With Best Wishes and Thanks
Norma

[johnsonandrew]

lustmord

hi, just read the lustmord post. I myself have read many books on the MO of different cases, it is such a complicated subject that one would need several pages to comment on, but the profile of a serial killer is personal to that individual, a disturbed mind of such has emotions turned upside down, or no emotions at all, hence in a lot of cases no remorse is apparent after the killer is caught, only then after intense questioning does the mind of the killer get profiled to his or her individual complicated reasons for such crimes. the background of such a person is studied and could find abuse, absent father fiqure or mother, or even small detail like disturbed painting as a child, the mutilation of animals with sexual awareness when commited. why would one person for example find the mutilation of animals a sexual thrill when another person would not, it is a complicated subject. multiple personalities confuse things further. profilers can only get a basic idea from past serial killers and try to put a pattern to such crimes. serial killing is personal to that killer only, what was behind JTR's emotional mind when the crimes were commited and what was his background to disturb his mind we will never find out, but on the evidence we have it does seem personal and a sense of control, sexual? I would not like to say.
on RJPalmers point on pop culture, I agree and there is so much of it but I do not take any notice of it to cloud my view on the case, the research behind these docu's are worthless and opt for the most popular theory for the ordinary bod watching T.V while eating his dinner and could not give a hoot anyway.
cheers.
andy.

[Jon Guy]

Surely RJP the 'lust' dies with the victim, regardless of sex, or sexual gender or persuasion, and all that comes after the victim is dead is a futile form of self-harm and regret?
The injuries after death are of no account to the original motive.

Hello Cap`n

The psychologist who features on the Ripper dvd "To Kill Again", Paul Brittain, I think, stated that with mutilator crimes there is a sexual "return" in mutilating the body post mortem. All part of a control buzz.

His findings are based on the mutilator crimes he has assisted the Police with.

[Jon Guy]

Peter Sutcliffe claimed his crimes were not sexually motivated, claiming he was cleaning the streets.

However, when the police finally took him to another room in the police station following a day of interviews to change into some custodial clothing they found that when he removed his trousers he had fashioned an old v-neck jumper so that his legs were in the arm sleeves and v-bit left his genitals exposed.

The Police reasoned that he put these on so that he could have some comfort allowing him to spend more time whilst he kneeled by his victim and preformed his mutilating rituals and masturbated.

[Sam Flynn]

Hello Jon,

Doubtless there may be sexual element in some (many?) of such cases, but it strikes me that we've inherited one or two different "buzzes" over the course of evolution, only one of which could be said to be unambiguously sexual. I often experience rushes of enormous intensity when listening to music. However, I've yet to wet my trousers over Isolde's Liebestod, nor even so much as raised the tent-pole at the end of a Mahler symphony, even though such pieces produce a transition in me that I might describe as a "mental orgasm". I also enjoy a good rant on occasion, and have been involved in physical exertions (cough! of a strictly platonic nature) on and off the rugby field, all of which saw me on a major "high" for quite some time afterwards. Likewise I've eaten roast guinea-fowl in a pear and brandy sauce that almost transported me to the other side, and left me shuddering with delight, it was that good.

None of these things would I ascribe to sexuality, sublimated or otherwise.

[Stewart P Evans]

Horrible

...However, I've yet to wet my trousers over Isolde's Liebestod, nor even so much as raised the tent-pole at the end of a Mahler symphony,....

What a horrible thought...

[Simon Wood]

Oh Sam,

Not even at the end of Mahler Symphony No.2—The Res-Erection?

Regards,

Simon

[Sam Flynn]

Not even at the end of Mahler Symphony No.2—The Res-Erection?

Indeed not, Simon. "Was entstanden ist, das muß vergehen" ("What rises up must wither away")

Seems like Mahler beat Aaron Copland to writing the definitive Fanfare for the Common Man by half a century



PS: Sorry, Stewart! Don't have nightmares.

[Simon Wood]

Hi Sam,
[*]!

Tell me about it.

Regards,

Simon

[Natalie Severn]

Interesting analogies , Sam. I too find that I can get overwhelmed,when listening to certain arias of Verdi "s for example. And you are right,the emotion is not sexual,though it could be close to ecstacy.
To my way of thinking though,the Ripper"s behaviour belongs either to "Lust mord" or to some strange compulsion that arose out his delusional thinking. I am of the opinion he may have been "cutting and pasting" pictures of mutilated women in scrap books, prior to acting out his fantasies on real people.