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Hello,
My name is Bill, and I am a new member here. I am a software writer by trade, and come here 'hat in hand", so to speak. I am but a novice as to the case, with my experience limited to the watching of documentaries on the subject, as well as being somewhere near half-way through the reading of Patrica Cornwell's book.
Last night's reading of Cornwell provided a deja vu moment to me, and as I have already typed it out once today in an e-mail to the admin here, I will post the relevant portion now, so as not to have to 're-invent the wheel':
I have spent the last few days reading, and have come to some personal judgments, and (though not to set in concrete, if I may borrow a metaphor) conclusions.
On Patrica Cornwell (yes, I spelled it correctly this time): I agree with much of her reasoning. I am compelled by the "stationary" argument, to believe that W. R. Sickert was the author of many of the so-called "Ripper" letters.
However, it still remains a huge leap (for me, anyways) to conclude that this proves that Sickert was JTR, as Cornwell blatantly does throughout the book.
But... I am of two minds on this.
One, there is something unseemly about the way Cornwell presents her arguments, and especially so in light of the fact that Sickert is not here to defend himself. One wonders if the irony of Cornwell's slashing of Sickert's character in the dark and without warning, much like JTR and his (?) victims, is lost on Cornwell.
To paraphrase one Ripperologist (emphasis added): "You can sum up Cornwell's case quite easily: he did it, because I say so!"
And yet, having concluded that Sickert is indeed, the author of many of the JTR letters, I cannot help but apply the principle of Occam's razor: the simplest and most direct answer is that he did it. Serial killers commonly inject themselves into the investigations of their crimes.
Now, I do understand that I am but a novice into the world of Ripperology. As such, I would put a theory forth, not being sure that it's entirely original:
Cornwell states that drug addiction ran in Sickert's family, and openly claims W.R. Sickert was also a drug addict. If so, this might go to explain the wandering habits of Sickert and his father, and I'll elucidate.
During the late 1980's and through the mid 90's, I was involved in three automobile accidents (rear-ended at stoplights by three different drunken-drivers), as well as falling in a partially tiled bathroom and fracturing my spine. As a result, I've been forced to take opiates, in the form of different types of Hydrocodone for over the last twenty-five years. Over this course of time, one cannot help but become addicted, even taking as few as one to two pills per day. The body develops a tolerance, and a need for the drug. But the user, from time to time, will suffer from mood swings, erratic and in many cases violent (fortunately, my violence was restricted to verbiage) behavior while under the influence of the drug. As such, there have been many times when I needed a break from taking the drug. Once, I flushed a bottle of two hundred and fifty pills down the drain without a second thought. And, I learned the hard way; I became very sick; nearly to the point of hospitalization (thank God for Tramadol), and suffered other effects that came to mind when reading about the Sickert's bouts with opiates.
While taking the drug, and especially so when withdrawing, the inability to sleep at night is severely acute. One cannot lay still. I have found myself prowling the streets of our PUD (planned urban development) many a night, in an attempt to tire myself so I could sleep, in the same manner as Cornwell describes the Sickert's doing. And during withdrawal, these side-effects can continue for weeks. During these times, the withdrawal would render my daylight hours useless.
This put me in mind of Sickert's letter to an acquaintance, declining an invitation to a dinner party, with words similar to:
"I must decline, as I can rarely make it out during the daylight hours these days."
Walter Sickert's friends were said by Cornwell to remark that he "often slept short hours during the day."
One could but this down to nocturnal artistic habit, but if either Sickert was truly an opiate user, then I am compelled by experience to believe that the drug was at least partly responsible when it came to the Sickert's nightly wanderings.
Again, I make no claim as to whether this theory has been put forth, and unlike Cornwell, I put it forth as a theory... not a stated fact.
Lastly, I'd like to thank the administrator for approving my account, and I look forward to the reader's comments.
My name is Bill, and I am a new member here. I am a software writer by trade, and come here 'hat in hand", so to speak. I am but a novice as to the case, with my experience limited to the watching of documentaries on the subject, as well as being somewhere near half-way through the reading of Patrica Cornwell's book.
Last night's reading of Cornwell provided a deja vu moment to me, and as I have already typed it out once today in an e-mail to the admin here, I will post the relevant portion now, so as not to have to 're-invent the wheel':
I have spent the last few days reading, and have come to some personal judgments, and (though not to set in concrete, if I may borrow a metaphor) conclusions.
On Patrica Cornwell (yes, I spelled it correctly this time): I agree with much of her reasoning. I am compelled by the "stationary" argument, to believe that W. R. Sickert was the author of many of the so-called "Ripper" letters.
However, it still remains a huge leap (for me, anyways) to conclude that this proves that Sickert was JTR, as Cornwell blatantly does throughout the book.
But... I am of two minds on this.
One, there is something unseemly about the way Cornwell presents her arguments, and especially so in light of the fact that Sickert is not here to defend himself. One wonders if the irony of Cornwell's slashing of Sickert's character in the dark and without warning, much like JTR and his (?) victims, is lost on Cornwell.
To paraphrase one Ripperologist (emphasis added): "You can sum up Cornwell's case quite easily: he did it, because I say so!"
And yet, having concluded that Sickert is indeed, the author of many of the JTR letters, I cannot help but apply the principle of Occam's razor: the simplest and most direct answer is that he did it. Serial killers commonly inject themselves into the investigations of their crimes.
Now, I do understand that I am but a novice into the world of Ripperology. As such, I would put a theory forth, not being sure that it's entirely original:
Cornwell states that drug addiction ran in Sickert's family, and openly claims W.R. Sickert was also a drug addict. If so, this might go to explain the wandering habits of Sickert and his father, and I'll elucidate.
During the late 1980's and through the mid 90's, I was involved in three automobile accidents (rear-ended at stoplights by three different drunken-drivers), as well as falling in a partially tiled bathroom and fracturing my spine. As a result, I've been forced to take opiates, in the form of different types of Hydrocodone for over the last twenty-five years. Over this course of time, one cannot help but become addicted, even taking as few as one to two pills per day. The body develops a tolerance, and a need for the drug. But the user, from time to time, will suffer from mood swings, erratic and in many cases violent (fortunately, my violence was restricted to verbiage) behavior while under the influence of the drug. As such, there have been many times when I needed a break from taking the drug. Once, I flushed a bottle of two hundred and fifty pills down the drain without a second thought. And, I learned the hard way; I became very sick; nearly to the point of hospitalization (thank God for Tramadol), and suffered other effects that came to mind when reading about the Sickert's bouts with opiates.
While taking the drug, and especially so when withdrawing, the inability to sleep at night is severely acute. One cannot lay still. I have found myself prowling the streets of our PUD (planned urban development) many a night, in an attempt to tire myself so I could sleep, in the same manner as Cornwell describes the Sickert's doing. And during withdrawal, these side-effects can continue for weeks. During these times, the withdrawal would render my daylight hours useless.
This put me in mind of Sickert's letter to an acquaintance, declining an invitation to a dinner party, with words similar to:
"I must decline, as I can rarely make it out during the daylight hours these days."
Walter Sickert's friends were said by Cornwell to remark that he "often slept short hours during the day."
One could but this down to nocturnal artistic habit, but if either Sickert was truly an opiate user, then I am compelled by experience to believe that the drug was at least partly responsible when it came to the Sickert's nightly wanderings.
Again, I make no claim as to whether this theory has been put forth, and unlike Cornwell, I put it forth as a theory... not a stated fact.
Lastly, I'd like to thank the administrator for approving my account, and I look forward to the reader's comments.
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