Ripper Question

[Nuno]

I'm new in the Casebook, but if someone can answer me the following questions, i'll be very plesead.

Is it possible that the Ripper didn't act alone? Could he/she have someone guarding to see if anybody would pass by? If not, how didn't anyone heard their screams?

[Tom_Wescott]

Nuno Bettencourt was the lead guitarist for the band Extreme. Cool name you don't see much.

Yes, it's possible the Ripper was more than one person. As far as why the victims didn't scream, we can't be 100% certain they did not, at least in some cases.

You can reasonably assume the Ripper to be a male.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[Steelysama]

One of the most famous suspect theories of the Whitechapel Murders is the Royal Conspiracy. That involves more than one person. However, it has been shown to be pretty much unsupportable. The Rippercast on the subject is pretty informative.

In general, from a logical perspective, the more people who are involved in a given theory, the less likely it is to be correct. Let's say, for instance, that three people were involved in the murders. That would mean three people - rather than one - would need to have the disposition required to commit such brutal acts repeatedly. It would mean that three people would need to escape notice by the police and vigilantes. And it would mean that three people would need to remain silent and not decide to turn themselves in out of conscience or fear.

The last point is especially significant. Imagine that a person is a party to the murders, but is not the actual knife wielder. Let us say that this person is the coach driver, as a hypothetical. With the increasing outrage and intensity of investigation as the murders continued, this coach driver might become fearful and decide to turn in his compatriots in hopes of a light sentence for himself.

So we cannot dismiss entirely the idea that "The Ripper" is more than one person, but it is logically less likely than a lone killer.

Now let's address the issue of screams. Assuming that The Ripper engaged his victims as a customer of prostitution, it would probably have been quite feasible for him to use some method to silence them - a gag of some kind, for instance. Additionally, in urban environments screams are not always heeded. The most famous case of this phenomenon is that of Kitty Genovese in New York, who was stabbed to death within hearing distance of a number of people.

[Limehouse]

Given the nature of the murders, I believe the killer worked alone. If someone stood guard whilst the killer was at work, what's in it for them? How is their need satisfied? In my opinion, here was a killer who wanted to lay out and expose his victims and his handy work as much as possible - even when he killed indoors. Killers who work together, often 'hide' their victims and indulge in shared fantasies about the killings and the places of burial - their needs are different to those of the Whitechapel killer and their needs and deeds are shared - Hindley & Brady and Rose & Fred West fall into this category.

[Slimsid2000]

didn't Isreal Swartz see two men?

[smezenen]

add to all of the above posts the fact that most of the inhabitants of the Eastend where dirt poor and there was a reward for jacks capture. if he had any accomplices te odds would be good that one would turn the other in for the money.

[Nothing to see]

You've had very good replies to your question. If you are into Royal/Masonic theories then Jack had a back up team.

If you aren't, like me, then Jack was on his own.

The thing about the conspiracies that gets me, is that, eventually, they would have turned on each other. These types of killers usually do. But, somehow, the members of the conspiracies conveniently die within a decade or so of the murders.

That's my opinion.

[John Casey]

I think he worked alone for all the reasons stated above.

As far as his victims screaming, assuming he throttled or somehow cut off their air supply before mutilating them, I've always thought that the element of suprise was probably enough that the most they could do would be to utter an astonished "NO!" before their airway was interrupted.

[Uncle Jack]

I'm of the opinion that Jack was a lone killer. I think the only chance there were two is if there were two killing and mutilating seperatly. But to have one mutilation murderer is a rare thing so to have two in the same area, at the same time, would be highly unlikely but not impossible.

As for the screams, it is widely believed that the Ripper strangled his victims before he cut the throats and mutilated them, either with his hands or with a piece of cord/string. This could explain the lack of screams.

The best Nuno

[smezenen]

I'm of the opinion that Jack was a lone killer. I think the only chance there were two is if there were two killing and mutilating seperatly. But to have one mutilation murderer is a rare thing so to have two in the same area, at the same time, would be highly unlikely but not impossible.

William Bonin, Steven kraft, and Patrick Kearney all acted seperatly and didnt even know each other but they all operated in southern california in and around Los Angeles during the same time period using methods so similiar that collectively they shared the Nickname "The Freeway Killer" Together they are suspected of killing and in some cases mutilating 130 or more men.