Smelly Jack

[Normy]

Hiya all
I was wondering how smelly Jack might have been!
I don't know how an open dead body smells, and as he probably would have had a certain amount of human gravy on himself after cutting open and pulling out various parts in such a hurry.

Would he have stunk?

Cheers

Normy

[Scott Nelson]

Nope, not a bit. He even brushed his teeth.

[perrymason]

Hiya all
I was wondering how smelly Jack might have been!
I don't know how an open dead body smells, and as he probably would have had a certain amount of human gravy on himself after cutting open and pulling out various parts in such a hurry.

Would he have stunk?

Cheers

Normy

He would have had feces on his knife and perhaps gloves in Mitre Square....so yep, stinky there. Maybe thats why we see the only piece of fabric taken then left elsewhere.

If Marys room was warm by a fire, then sweat and fear and who knows what on his hands or clothes, including blood, would smell. So thats smelly 40% of the time so far.

Blood on his hands or cuffs from Bucks Row or the backyard at Hanbury would smell, so would freshly extracted biological material. So thats yes to 80% of his kills.

Liz neednt have caused him exertion nor blood staining, so unless sweat, probably no smells that he takes with him, or leaves.

I think this shows us that had the bloodhounds been given samples of the womans blood and skin scents at the crime scenes to track by, they likely could have followed a trail.

Once again, Politics and Money ruined that idea.

Cheers Normy

[sdreid]

He probably smelled bad but that likely wouldn't set him apart from most in the area. I'm speaking from our view because back in that place and time, the people were probably used to that smell and wouldn't take much note of it.

[Jane Coram]

Hi Normy,

As Sdreid said, everyone back then smelt badly to a greater or lesser extent, so Jack, even if he had got a largish amount of blood on him would probably have not smelt much worse than 90% of the people in the area.....perhaps 90% is being a bit unkind, but certainly a large proportion of them.

Most of the working class people in the area would own no more than two sets of clothing, and the vast proportion only the clothes they stood up in. Many of them would never wash their clothes or themselves. Kate Eddowes is a good example. If you read the list of her clothing and possessions you will get a fair idea of what many of the people back then dressed like and the sorry condition they were in.

Add to that the amount of people in the area that worked in tanneries, abattoirs, fish markets, tobacco factories, breweries etc., the mixture of foul and not so foul smells that would have attached themselves to people's clothing would make it almost impossible for Jack to have been singled out.

We can't even say how much blood he got on him, possibly very little, so all in all, the smell factor probably isn't much help to us.

Hugs

Jane

xxxxx

[perrymason]

Add to that the amount of people in the area that worked in tanneries, abattoirs, fish markets, tobacco factories, breweries etc., the mixture of foul and not so foul smells that would have attached themselves to people's clothing would make it almost impossible for Jack to have been singled out.

We can't even say how much blood he got on him, possibly very little, so all in all, the smell factor probably isn't much help to us.

Hugs

Jane

xxxxx

Hi there Janey, nice to see you,

On the two sections above I think its a mistake to suggest that his smell couldnt be used track him, because we are also talking about the victims smell on him, not just his own smells, and they would be detectable by bloodhounds if they had a sample of the relevant victim scent.

And despite in some cases only getting smaller amounts of blood on him......if he even kills victim number 3....some blood is enough to track.

Bloodhounds make use of a sense of smell more than 2000 times more acute than ours, so if used effectively, he could have been "sniffed" out.

It was incorrect for them to assume that the varied smells you mention throughout the area and on all the residents would confuse the dogs....not if they are sent to find the victims smell, by using the victims clothing and scents to track him by.

Cheers Jane, all the best.

[Sam Flynn]

He would have had feces on his knife and perhaps gloves in Mitre Square....

Perhaps hands, you mean, Mike. Gloves would have gotten in the way of his visceral exploration.

[perrymason]

Perhaps hands, you mean, Mike. Gloves would have gotten in the way of his visceral exploration.

Hi Sam Flynn,

I suppose that slip was Freudian because I do thinks its possible that gloves were used by the killer. A nice pair of soft leather gloves would be ruined in one outing, true, but if he puts his hands over her mouth it would prevent bites somewhat, easy on the hands if he used a garrot, it does offer him the same dexterity without the "gunk"...in Kates case, I suspect fairly "gunky"...and they could be popped in any trash bin on the way home and likely never found by anyone. In a few of the killings minor blood issues would be negligible if the hands were covered.

All the best Gareth.

[Normy]

Hiya all
Thanks for so many replys and interesting posts, please keep them coming.

I would have thought that even with gloves, putting his hand inside a body and pulling things about/cutting things out in bad lighting would result in Jack getting fairly messy. Especially where he couldn't see clearly to avoid that wobbly sticky thing dangling inside, he would get you a fair amount of juice up the sleeves.

Now I'm not so sure about the smell but you would have thought someone would have noticed a certain sight and smell...no?

Norm

[Jon Guy]

Hi Norm

The following passage by a Spitalfields Lodging House owner is taken from Casebook`s dissertations, "An East End Lodging House" by Gerry Nixon.


The air in my house was sometime remarkably foul. Imagine a long low room filled with men; many of whom, I believe, never washed at all, and never changed their clothes, the floor giving evidence of their habit of chewing tobacco, the ceiling dotted with the chewed fragments, all windows shut, a good deal of smoking, and an enormous red-hot fire, and some idea may be got of what the quality of the air was.

[Normy]

Hi Jon
Thanks for that segment, it surely makes for grim reading.
I know I’m turning into ‘Mr straw clutcher’ here.
If Jacky boy didn’t live in a workhouse, just a home maybe even with a wife, then things might have more noticeable. Who knows maybe out there somewhere is a diary written by Mrs Ripper, mentioning her husband who once again came home late with his coat sleeves in a bit of a 2 and 8!

Still clutching.

Cheers

Normy

[ken]

"Smelly Jack" "Human gravy" "Jacky boy"

Am i imagining this thread or is it really happening?

[Normy]

Sorry Ken, just a bit of technical jargon there.

Cheers

Normy

[ken]

Sorry Normy

Technical or slightly disrespectful?

cheers

ken

[smezenen]

As a soldier with many combat tours I have experienced many dead bodies, some in very grusome condition, and I can testify that a dead Human smells very different from any other dead animal.

Its a smell that can not be described. But if you have ever been near a dead human body that has been opened up its a smell you never forget, just like the smell of burning hair or flesh, you just know it when you smell it.

It was mentioned that he wouldnt smell any worse than other people, which I assume is true on the whole as far as body oder goes but on those nights that he killed he would carry that peticular dead human smell until he washed it off. If his day job was as a butcher,slaughterhouse worker, mortician, midwife, the people close to him, wife, kids, friends, co-workers would probably not make much of it. But if he where a banker, baker, shop keep, policeman, bartender, ECT. he would not normally carry that peticur smell and might rais suspicion unless he washed before he went home.