Israel Schwartz -- Witness or . . .

[perrymason]

Just to add to that point. Do we actually know for certain that the police did not trace pipeman? Isn't there some suggestion that they may have done so?

Pirate

Hi Pirate,

I wish I could remember the paper that mentions this, but in one account it is suggested that one of the men seen by Schwartz was tracked down, questioned, and released. The article did not specify which man, but it seemed they were talking about the other "witness", so I assume it was Pipeman.

I wonder if what they heard from him matched Schwartz's story...likley without the "knife" bit...but I was thinking if it was Pipeman, did he say something that made the police less interested in Schwartz's sighting?

The fact he is not even mentioned in the Inquest might be representative of something like that.

Best regards all.

[Chris]

Just to add to that point. Do we actually know for certain that the police did not trace pipeman? Isn't there some suggestion that they may have done so?

Paul Begg argues that this may have been so, based on the wording of two newspaper reports (The Facts, pp. 157, 158), but the evidence is very tenuous. To my mind it seems inconceivable that Swanson would have summarised Schwartz's story in the way he did, if the police had also interviewed one of the two men he described.

[perrymason]

Paul Begg argues that this may have been so, based on the wording of two newspaper reports (The Facts, pp. 157, 158), but the evidence is very tenuous. To my mind it seems inconceivable that Swanson would have summarised Schwartz's story in the way he did, if the police had also interviewed one of the two men he described.

Hi Chris,

The reports as I recall were lacking all crucial data, like who was involved in questioning him, whether he was shown to Schwartz for a firm ID, or what his version of events was.

But Im not so sure myself that means the story is false.

Something has to account for Schwartz's lack of presence in the investigation, his story includes an altercation with a soon to be victim of murder within 15 minutes and likely as many feet from where she is found. That cannot be irrelevant....well, only if he is.

Cheers Chris.

[Chris]

If you're suggesting that Kuschke & Co may have moved their premises between October 1888 and 1895, I think that is unlikely. Their address was given as 99 Fenchurch Street in Lawende's application for naturalisation, which was dated April 1889.

I had a chance to check the Post Office Directories for London today. Kuschke & Co, Lawende's employers, were first listed at 99 Fenchurch Street in the 1886 directory (having been listed at 141 Fenchurch Street the previous year), and were still listed there in 1910.