Before it's too late

[Doctor X]

Well, you ask the question that makes a bunch of people speculate that Jack died/got caught for something else/transported by Vorlons to end the murders or soon after. Why did he stop?

If he did a BTK--stopped--one would think he might have left some indication to someone. That promise--that somehow someone will dig up the evidence--is just so attractive.

Anyways, anyone who could still be alive would be at least 120 years old. That is only if Jack changed his nappies!

--J.D.

[Graham]

Stan,

Again, an old, old question - what do serial killers do when they're fed up with serial killing? Bundy didn't kill himself, neither did Sutcliffe, or Wuornos, or Haig or Shipman (not until he was caught, at any rate). They either go on killing until they ARE caught, or they just kind of get pissed off with it and fade away...and I rather suspect that Jack the Ripper, whoever he was, just kind of faded away.

I guess, though, that it is possible that someone knew who the Ripper was, but if so his or her knowledge is now totally lost to us. However, my own view is that the only person who knew the identity of Jack the Ripper was, actually, Jack the Ripper.

Cheers,

Graham

[sdreid]

A copper who was involved in the case didn't die until the early 1970s so it's not impossible that Jack could have also lived that long, therefore, it's possible that someone born in 1970 could have met Jack the Ripper. That person would only be 38 now.

[sdreid]

Not that it's likely that he did it but there was some old geezer who admitted to the Gatton Murders in the early 1970s and they happened in 1898.

[Doctor X]

Sadly, I have to agree with Graham--if someone knew him or if he told someone, I think it would have come out.

Does not mean it is impossible, but as the years and now centuries pass, it becomes quite remote.

--J.D.

[Doctor X]

. . . it's possible that someone born in 1970 could have met Jack the Ripper. That person would only be 38 now.

Oh, I see what you mean now. Well . . . why would the person remain silent unless he had/has no idea he met the Ripper.

I mean this whole "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" thing, we may have all bumped into various killers in our lives and just not realized it.

--J.D.

[Graham]

A copper who was involved in the case didn't die until the early 1970s so it's not impossible that Jack could have also lived that long, therefore, it's possible that someone born in 1970 could have met Jack the Ripper. That person would only be 38 now.

Stan,

Assume the Ripper was 30 in 1888. That would mean the bugger was born in 1858. Had the swine lived a good and long life of, say, 85 years, he'd have croaked in 1943. Even if he was only 20 in 1888, he'd have shuffled off in 1953. Don't think yours is really a very valid scenario.

Something else to contemplate. There were not a few coppers around in 1888 who, at the drop of a helmet, penned their memoirs to include something about Jack the Ripper. Good example is Walter Dew. But his reminiscences are as suspect and as open to criticism as anyone else's - experience of Whitechapel in 1888 was for a time almost guaranteed to generate some interest somewhere, but after perhaps 40, 50, maybe 60 years, who cared any more? I sometimes wonder how many genuinely germane and personal memories of the Whitechapel of 1888 have simply been forgotten, either because they were never recorded at the time or later, or because no-one in a position to do anything with them was actually interested?

I'll give you an example. I knew someone whose mother was a patient of Dr Harold Shipman, of much more recent memory. This person, on hearing that Shipman was being accused of mass murder, contacted the police as a good citizen should, made a statement, and that was that. He heard no more from the police whatsoever. He could only conclude that, as his mother hadn't actually been bumped off by Shipman, his statement was of no interest.

Cheers,

Graham

[Sam Flynn]

Sam!

Holy **** - it's my dad!! Where did you find him????

I was making myself a salad sandwich when I found him hiding underneath some lettuce. I gave him a dressing-down and he's since turned over a new leaf.

[Doctor X]

Did he bowl you over?

--J.D.

[Graham]

I was making myself a salad sandwich when I found him hiding underneath some lettuce. I gave him a dressing-down and he's since turned over a new leaf.

This is weird. His name was Tom Artow. His nom-de-plume was Q Cumber.

I'm all of a shiver.

Graham

[sdreid]

Like I said, if it's possible for a cop involved in the case to live until 1971, it's also possible that Jack could have also. I'm not saying that it's likely.

Say he only lived until 1929 and died the same year as Abberline, I bet there are still people alive who met Frederick. They would only have to be in their 80s now which is pretty much the normal lifespan for people who survive early childhood.

Hmm - Wonder what Abberline might have told one of them.

[Graham]

Like I said, if it's possible for a cop involved in the case to live until 1971, it's also possible that Jack could have also. I'm not saying that it's likely.

Say he only lived until 1929 and died the same year as Abberline, I bet there are still people alive who met Frederick. They would only have to be in their 80s now which is pretty much the normal lifespan for people who survive early childhood.

Hmm - Wonder what Abberline might have told one of them.

Abberline would very likely have told them that he hadn't got the first idea who Jack the Ripper was. But then, I rather suspect that even old Fred could weave a tale or two if there was a good dinner in the offing...

Cheers,

Graham

[Doctor X]

"The . . . Ripper . . . was . . . arrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggg."

--J.D.

[Graham]

"The . . . Ripper . . . was . . . arrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggg."

--J.D.

You swine! I was saving that up for my own demise!!!

Sincerely,

Monty D

[perrymason]

Stan, if the real crux of your question is can we expect that something new, related directly to the murders, is still out there to be discovered...then I would say possibly.

I dont think it would be in the form of personage though, which is just as well because what established Ripperologist would stand for second hand revelations that might set their own preconceptions on their collective ears. Perhaps some lost notes, or the discovery of an heirloom linked to the crimes,....or heres a favorite of mine,...some records that relate to other prominent crimes of the era, that contained hints, clues and suggestions that could be applied to these cases...perhaps recurring characters or the like.

Ive often though how easy it would be to overlook seemingly unrelated files....I mean, how good could their file cross referencing have been back then?

Cheers Stan.