How have your views changed.....?

[PC2267]

I'm undecided about whether Stride is a real victim of "Jack" or not. Was he disturbed and that's why he did Eddowes, or was Stride simply the victim of random east end violence, like so many that have been documented over the years? There certainly appears to be no shortage of throat cutting in those days?

I'm also not convinced that "Jack" was one person or not?

[Steve S]

Must admit I did a Kelly detour...Never went along with anything Sickert or Maybrick-ish...wonder if it's 'cos I'm more history than crime orientated.....complex doesn't do it for me..& yes,I do reckon it's age related in as much as which books were availiable.
Steve

[protohistorian]

When I was younger and did my first real reading on the case I thought the killer was Aaron Kosminsky. I held that view until my mid-30s when Patricia Cornwell's book came out and I thought her case against Walter Sickert was impressive until it made me delve into the case in depth and I learned that she was wrong on many points (and that it probably wasn't Kosminski either). I'm 41 now, have been lucky enough to travel to London twice and visit the sites, and I'm now firmly of the opinion that we'll probably never know but that several people remain on the list of intriguing suspects, Kosminski and Sickert being near the bottom and men like William Bury and James Kelly nearer the top. Of course my views could easily change again tomorrow.

The whole Royal Conspiracy/Dr. Gull theory I never believed for a second, even when young and completely ignorant. Same with Druitt and Ostrog- I just never understood why they were considered top suspects.

Can you imagine what we will know tomorrow?

[The Grave Maurice]

I’ve been mulling this over, Steve, and it’s interesting how close my views are to yours---although you and I seem to be of about the same vintage, so maybe it’s an age-related thing.

I started out with Odell and Cullen too, and I still think Robin was pretty close to the mark. Maybe JtR wasn’t a shochet, but an unknown, insignificant East Ender is still as close as I think we’re ever going to get to an identity.

I continue to cling to the C5, with Tabram as a likely addition. (Tabram is a good example of my views changing.) One difference between us, though, is that I’ve come to believe all the letters and postcards are hoaxes, although back in the day, I assumed that the DB letter, SJ postcard, and Lusk letter were genuine.

My views have had a couple of detours though. After Farson’s book came out I (and just about everyone I knew at the time with an interest in the subject) was a Druittist. That lasted for quite a while. And I blush to admit that when the diary first surfaced I was very excited about Maybrick as a candidate, until cooler heads showed me the error of my ways.

[Steve S]

I think it also depends what books were around when your interest started...For me it was Cullen & Odell,so I started off with my feet on the ground.....

[kensei]

When I was younger and did my first real reading on the case I thought the killer was Aaron Kosminsky. I held that view until my mid-30s when Patricia Cornwell's book came out and I thought her case against Walter Sickert was impressive until it made me delve into the case in depth and I learned that she was wrong on many points (and that it probably wasn't Kosminski either). I'm 41 now, have been lucky enough to travel to London twice and visit the sites, and I'm now firmly of the opinion that we'll probably never know but that several people remain on the list of intriguing suspects, Kosminski and Sickert being near the bottom and men like William Bury and James Kelly nearer the top. Of course my views could easily change again tomorrow.

The whole Royal Conspiracy/Dr. Gull theory I never believed for a second, even when young and completely ignorant. Same with Druitt and Ostrog- I just never understood why they were considered top suspects.

[Steve S]

..Since you first got interested?.......40 years on,I still believe in the canonical 5(& maybe Tabram)....I still think there's a chance the central news & lusk letters may have come from the killer...Suspect-wise,I still think there's something,somewhere in Martin Fido's theory...At any rate,it was the last one that didn't make me go 'Yeah,yeah,yeah'............
Steve