The from hell letter

[lynn cates]

I've been good, Santa

Hello Jon and Corey. It has been said that, IF any letter is from the ripper, it is the "From Hell" letter. But, unfortunately, this dictum is usually followed up by a rejection of the letter as from the ripper. What does that tell us about the "correspondence"?

Of course, I WISH it were true, in the same way that I wish MANY things about the WCM were true like: 1. Liz were done by Jack. 2. Mary Jane were done by Jack. 3. ALL the letters were real; and, 4. my BIG PRIVATE FANTASY: Dr. Stanley were real and the culprit. (Now you know what to get me for Christmas.)

The best, chaps.
LC

[Tom_Wescott]

Hi Jon,

I'm afraid that website is wrong. Everyone in London knew about the missing kidney within 24 hours of the murder. Everyone in the world knew about it within 48.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[jonwilson]

Ok ok, I got something different on another website. Here is what that website said about the Lusk letter.

The Lusk 'From Hell' letter
On October 16, 1888, George Lusk, chairman of the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee, received in the mail a package containing a jar of wine, in which was suspended half a kidney, and the pictured letter. The letter is referred to as the From Hell letter, and it was notable that one of the kidneys of Catherine Eddowes, killed September 30, was removed. It has been presumed by many that this was Eddowes' kidney, and therefore that the letter was genuine. Whether it was or not, the fact remains that the sender of the letter knew about the missing kidney and as the police did not release that information, it is likely that the letter is genuinely from the Ripper, perhaps alone among all the received letters.

[The English Gardener]

Check out http://forum.casebook.org/forumdisplay.php?f=101 for a thorough going over of the pros and cons. The letter is dealt with quite fully there.
And Corey, I don't follow your logic. None of the reasons you give for believing the letter to be genuine appear are {apart from #2 & #5} anything other than guesswork. And #4 & #6 are exactly the same points, presented from slightly different angles.
There were thousands of letters sent, very few signed "JTR". I wouldn't sign anything "Jack The Ripper" either. Does that put me in the frame?

[corey123]

Kidney

Hi Jon,

I do believe the lusk letter to be genuine.
For a couple of reasons.

1)The letter was wrote in whoevers normal handwriting it was.
2)The letter was not signed "Jack the ripper"
3)He said find me WHEN you can not IF you can.
4)By the writer titling the letter "from hell" shows a demented mind set, reacurrent with a serial killer
5)It was sent with half of a left kidney. Dr.Openshaw declared the kidney to be that of a femal and to be left.
6)The writing style shows dementia and signs of a serial killer.

yours truly

[Tom_Wescott]

Hi Jon,

The missing kidney was news long before Lusk received the kidney. The kidney was too fresh to have been Eddowes, so I don't personally think it was legit.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[jonwilson]

Does anyone think that it came from Jack? What are your thoughts on the from hell letter. I read on a website (I don't know if this is indeed true or not) that at the time that the kidney and from hell letter was sent to George Lusk, that the information about the missing kidney wasn't released by the police, so if this is indeed true, it most likely was from Jack or some who knew about the missing kidney.