joseph silver

[Ashkenaz]

http://news.uk.msn.com/in-pictures/gallery.aspx?cp-documentid=149714645

This guy is probably known to some of you, but I'd never heard of this candidate before. Enjoy

[Roy Corduroy]

Hi Ash,

Joseph Lis/Joe Silver was named a suspect in The Fox and the Flies. An immigrant, Lis was apparently in London in 1888. He later went on to a documented life of crime.

Just off the Whitechapel thoroughfare - Red Aaron Kosminski's abodes, Green the business of Lewis Lis, general dealer, 35 Plumber's Row, to whom Joe Lis may have been related.

[Sam Flynn]

Just off the Whitechapel thoroughfare - Red Aaron Kosminski's abodes...

Interestingly enough, Roy, Severin Klosowski also lived for a time in Greenfield Street, as did Sergeant William Thick. Given that the latter has also been proposed as a Ripper suspect, that must be some kind of record. Whilst all roads probably didn't lead to Dorset Street, quite a few evidently did converge on Greenfield Street!

[Celesta]

Where did this picture of #29 Hanbury come from? The shed area looks somewhat different from SPE's and from the still from the Mason film. The gate is easily visible under the shed awning.

[Celesta]

Sorry, I said SPE. I meant Odell.

[Ashkenaz]

Hi Ash,

Joseph Lis/Joe Silver was named a suspect in The Fox and the Flies. An immigrant, Lis was apparently in London in 1888. He later went on to a documented life of crime.

Hi Roy
I've just about dismissed this candidate. He was a pimp, a vicious one too. But pimps are basically business men. Murdering "his" girls would be injurous to his own livelihood surely.Not likely I would have thought.

I thought a pimps job was to protect his girls from violence.

Then again, I must confess to knowing nothing at all about this subject. Does anyone out there know anything at all about these people, and how they organise their business. Are sex workers threatened or beaten by pimps ? Murdered even?

Maybe Silver is deserving of more of our attention.

[Mike Covell]

The problem with the book The Fox and the Flies is that there is no proof that Silver/Lis was ever in Whitechapel during the Autumn of 1888. The chapter covering the issue of "Jack the Ripper" seems to have been an afterthought, which is a real shame as the book is one of the best researched books on the market.

[Celesta]

Hello Mike,

I'm reading this book, now, though still in the early chapters. I agree it's very well researched. I saw an interview or a discussion, when the book came out, that Van Onselen hesitated, or at least had some reservations, about putting Lis forward as a potential suspect.

I wondered about how Lis got rid of Rachel Laskin. He had her committed. Would the Ripper have done that? Or would he have just bumped her off? He also got stuck with the bill for her internment in the asylum, which was one of the reasons cited for his skipping out of S.Africa.

Did you notice that the young Lis has a resemblance to the "photofit" artist's sketch of the Ripper, in the 2006 Atlantic Productions documentary? I'm referring to the photo of Lis taken in 1914 in NYC. Doesn't mean anything of course, but...

[Trevor Marriott]

Interview with Charles van Olensen

Interview Olensen gave regarding Josef Lis AKA Joseph Silver

http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?hl=en&sl=pl&u=http://kielce.gazeta.pl/kielce/1,47262,4096411.html&prev=/search%3Fq%3DJ%25C3%25B3zef%2BLis.%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4SVEA_en___GB358&rurl=translate.google.co.uk&usg=ALkJrhjy-Vz5xpB1dmTL-ygy2CqanxACFw

[Mike Covell]

Thanks Trevor.

I recently aquired a file on Joseph Liz and his partner in crime whilst the duo were in Hull. It's about 60 pages long and covers all sorts of criminal behaviour!

[Tom_Wescott]

I agree with Mike. The Ripper connection is tenuous at best, but I was surprised at how well-researched the book was and what an absorbing read it was. In this respect I liken it to Graysmith's 'The Bell Tower' and Bruce Paley's 'JTR: The Simple Truth'. Not great Ripper theories, but very good, detailed books.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[Mike Covell]

The Bell Tower is one book that I do not own, however, I found a copy on Amazon last week for £4! It should be here anyday!!