Just a thought...

[cerburusuk]

Im sure that this point has been made many times on various threads/posts on here in the past, but a thought occurs to me that if Jack did make his way to Dorset Street to wash his hands after the killing of Eddowes, as Major Smith claims, then he must have felt reasonably comfortable to traverse "the most evil street in London" without fear of being accosted or waylaid. It would have been 1.50 - 1.55 a.m when he would have entered the street, people must have still been around, moving from house to house or just loitering about. If a stranger reasonably respectably dressed had made his way along that throughfare it seems likely he would have been targeted. This might suggest that he was a known and familer face in that locality.
Any thoughts on this?
Best wishes,
Sean.

[Dave James]

The invisibles

Hi Sean,
Your query relates to a recent thread I posted on. A graphologist analysed the From Hell letter an commented on the invisibles, people that aren't noticed in a given situation, that is delivery men, policemen, doctors etc.

Also at this time a lot of the population would be classed as invisible, the dossers etc.

A reasonably well dressed person may not stand out if he wasn't acting strangly, drawing attention to himself. He would just be part of the background - something I think JtR was aware of and utilised well.

All the best
Dave

[Gman992]

I'm sure that people would know JtR if he was ever identified. He wasn't a celeb or upper class, but just a regular Joe who kept his "impulses" under control when he was with everybody. It's like:

Brit1: Hey, did you hear what happen to Joe Smith?
Brit2: Smith? The guy who comes into the bar and drinks with us?
Brit1: That's the one.
Brit2: No, I didn't. What did he do?
Brit1: Well, he's Jack the Ripper.
Brit2: No!
Brit1: Yep, the coppers found him gutting a prostitute. And he confessed everything.
Brit2: You don't say.
Brit1: I do! He said he was Jack the Ripper, and he told him that he flayed all those poor girls.
Brit2: Blimey. I don't know. He just always seemed normal.
Brit1: That they do...that they do.

He was just an average bloke, like the Yorkshire Ripper, etc. Hell, John Wayne Gacy was children's clown at birthday parties.

[Mascara & Paranoia]

^ Exactly.

That JtR was a regular local bloke who was no different class-wise from the rest of the Whitechapel populace is an almost certainty.

[smezenen]

You are waiting in the shadows to mug someone and a man walks down the street toward you, as he gets closer you notice he is in a hurry but is being very attentive of his surroundings, looking over his shoulder as if he is expecting someone following him. He gets closer you start to tense your body making ready to spring on him as he passes. He is only a few yards away and just before you start to move you see the glint of a knife. Now you are assessing him as a possible threat instead of a victim, you try to draw back farther into the shadows but it’s too late he is very near now and you can see the blood soaked cuffs of his white shirt, as he passes you smell fecal matter and fresh blood. (Not a scent you will ever forget once you have smelt it) The man looks you dead in the eyes, pauses for just a heartbeat….says nothing…. gives you a little smile as he continues on his way. You have just meet Jack the Ripper and he knows your face. Now do you run to the nearest police station and tell the cops that you where hanging around waiting to mug someone and Jack the Ripper came by? Do you keep your mouth shut because you don’t trust the police anyway? (That was from what I understand the general feeling in LVP Whitechaple) Or my favorite option, do you move to another country, change your name and try to forget the nightmares? I think it’s very possible that more people saw Jack but like people in drug heavy gangland neighborhoods today they were afraid to come forward because they either didn’t trust the police or were afraid for their own wellbeing.

[Gman992]

Agreed...a lot of people see things, but don't want to get involved.