Is a fresh approach needed?

[Moriarty]

Obviously much, if not all, of the forensic evidence has now been lost. So I'm wondering if we might not try some new ways of identifying a prime suspect.

We could start with names. WH Bury, fancied by some, is an unlikely candidate as JtR rarely used to bury his victims. Walter Sickert looks a little more promising as the Ripper was certainly sick, and possibly even suffered from syphilis. Montague Druitt might also look promising as his surname is nearly "druid" and some argue that the Ripper murders do contain a ritualistic element. On the other hand, wouldn't he have been more likely to have carried out his reign of terror at Stonehenge? Druit was from a fairly affluent background and could easily have used the M4, were he so minded. Perhaps on this analysis, though, the prime suspect must be Cutbush (certainly to those who prefer a literalist interpretation).

I'm not claiming that this approach is absolutely foolproof, but it certainly is worth pursuing. Speaking of pursuing, I think we can rule out Gull as the Ripper. Jack would have necessarily been quite fleet of foot and Gull was a portly man with no history of long distance running (I've checked the London Marathon records and there's no evidence that he'd ever run it).

[revpetero]

Obviously much, if not all, of the forensic evidence has now been lost. So I'm wondering if we might not try some new ways of identifying a prime suspect.

We could start with names. WH Bury, fancied by some, is an unlikely candidate as JtR rarely used to bury his victims. Walter Sickert looks a little more promising as the Ripper was certainly sick, and possibly even suffered from syphilis. Montague Druitt might also look promising as his surname is nearly "druid" and some argue that the Ripper murders do contain a ritualistic element. On the other hand, wouldn't he have been more likely to have carried out his reign of terror at Stonehenge? Druit was from a fairly affluent background and could easily have used the M4, were he so minded. Perhaps on this analysis, though, the prime suspect must be Cutbush (certainly to those who prefer a literalist interpretation).

I'm not claiming that this approach is absolutely foolproof, but it certainly is worth pursuing. Speaking of pursuing, I think we can rule out Gull as the Ripper. Jack would have necessarily been quite fleet of foot and Gull was a portly man with no history of long distance running (I've checked the London Marathon records and there's no evidence that he'd ever run it).

WH Bury didn't bury his victim. He put her in a box in his front room.

[Moriarty]

WH Bury didn't bury his victim. He put her in a box in his front room.

I hope she matched the curtains.

[The Grave Maurice]

Hmmm. I get it. What you're saying is, it couldn't have been Lewis Carroll because none of the murders took place at Christmas, or it couldn't have been Neill Cream because all the victims took their coffee black. I think you're on to something. I'm off now to check the census records in search of someone whose surname was Idunnit.

[Mike Covell]

Joseph Barnett was after their bonnetts,

Frederick Bailey Deeming wouldn't let em get a scream in,

Michael Kidney was after their Kidne's

James Kenneth Stephen wanted to get even,

With the help of Druitt, he knew he could do it!

In all seriousness,

James Maybrick must have done it, as all the victims where found near stuctures that MAY have been made by BRICK!!

[The Grave Maurice]

OK, so I wasn't able to locate anyone named Idunnit. Drat. I have my eye on a few other likely candidates, though (Mahler, Cutler, Sharp, etc.). On the plus side, I have been able to rule out Charles Ludwig since no drum kits were found near the crime scenes.

[bluecedar]

Sorry but Sickert has been ruled out--it can be proven he wasn't even in England during the time that two of the Ripper murders were committed.

[Chava]

The answer stares us in the face. It was George Ripper, who died aged 77 in 1890. Obviously his last kill so excited the spry old gentleman that he never recovered...

[claire]

It is clear that we Abberline of enquiry that, without excess of Gull ibility or loss of veracity, lists a series of diminishingly unlikely suspects. Personally, I'm sickert the whole thing; got me tearing me Barnett out something rotten, every other bugger sidling up and whispering, 'Kaminsky what I've done now, matka'... Seems like every Tom, Smith and Cohen is Deeming who should be included in the old list, but every likely sort whose collar gets a feel just squeals, 'oy, weren't me mate, I didn't Druitt.' Seems of late I'm sick as hell, pain in me Kidneys and Fleming up all over the place; might be the booze and I admit I was out last night on the sauce, yelling at the buggers, Yeah, I've Tumblety yer game, no good beating about the Cutbush, but no one listened to a damn word of it. Stuffed if I know.

Strikes me that no one knows Jack.

from the recently discovered secret and most hidden and utterly true diary of Inspector F Abberline, Nov 10 '8

[Sam Flynn]

Atta girl, Claire! There's impressed I am, look you, now isn't it...

[Glenn Lauritz Andersson]

The freshest approach is probably not to try to identify any suspect at all.
It is totally naive to believe that any suspect's guilt could be proven after 120 years.
So the best and most modern appraoch would be to give that nonsense up once and for all, and continue exploring other and more relevant aspects of the case. Historical murder mysteries are more than trying to find the identify of the killer - it is also about understanding the environment, the people and the overall context. Several finds - especially photographic ones - have been made lately that are way more interesting than useless and tedious speculations suspect hunts.

All the best

[The Grave Maurice]

Geez. Some of the people on this thread should go out and rent a sense of humour.

[kensei]

Sickert-- sick art? Hmmm...

Or maybe George was the chap, man.

Then again, Ostrog spelled backwards is Gort, so... klaatu barada nikto!

Best I could do at 4:30 in the morning.