Is there a 'final solution' holy grail for the JTR murders out there?

[John Wheat]

I can recall from many moons ago one researcher believing that he’d found a photograph of Kosminski. Turned out that he hadn’t though. The Chapman photo surfaced so I guess that it’s not impossible that photos of the other victims in life exist somewhere. I’ve always though it tantalising that, amongst someone’s collection of old photographs, they might be looking at a photograph of Mary Nichols or Martha Tabram without knowing it.

There may also be things that develop through finding lost records of the case.

[TheCuriousCat]

One problem with holy grails is that no single piece of evidence can confirm itself. Evidence can point us in a certain direction, it can even eliminate possibilities, but it can't prove itself.

Take the Maybrick diary, even in the unlikely event it could be proved to be Maybrick's, all that proves is that he claimed to be the Ripper. No test in the world can prove that the author was Maybrick and he was telling the truth. We observe what people record, but we can't observe what they meant, intended, or knew.

[harry]

Who would determine that holy grail or single piece of evidence ,was the holy grail or single piece of evidence?

[APerno]

Who would determine that holy grail or single piece of evidence ,was the holy grail or single piece of evidence?

Public opinion. Strong enough it ends the search for JTR; not strong enough it falls onto the pile with the other forgotten 'final solutions' and the search continues.

[Damaso Marte]

I am confident that if the identity of the Ripper were proven, there would still be those on this message board who would reject it.

Personally, I am a pessimist. It's not clear to me where the holy grail would be hidden at this point, odds are that if it exists it was destroyed a long time ago. Jack the Ripper was very good at covering up his trail. I sometimes express (only partly joking) that perhaps one day we'll find the torso killer when somebody recalls their odd grand-uncle who had a strange grudge against Jack the Ripper, calling him a no-talent hack who did not deserve his fame.

[Fisherman]

Serial killers are very often very proud of what they do, narcissists as it were. Accordingly, they look for recognition. Personally, I do not think it is impossible that the killer left something behind for this very reason that could enable us to identify him. The chances are slim but not non-existent.

[Spider]

Serial killers are very often very proud of what they do, narcissists as it were. Accordingly, they look for recognition.

As I said earlier:
"Perhaps we already have it, 'don't look a gift horse in the mouth' as they say. The problem is that too many people readily dismiss it without having read it, let alone looked closely at it. There is so much subtle information in there, far too much to have been compiled by a hoaxer."
Fortunately, some people do examine possibilities in detail. Oh well, I'll get my hat and coat and hide behind the parapet.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Time-Reveal...ywords=jack+th e+ripper&qid=1565620372&s=books&sprefi x=jack+the+ripper%2Cstripbooks%2C164&sr=1-5

[TheCuriousCat]

As I said earlier:
"Perhaps we already have it, 'don't look a gift horse in the mouth' as they say. The problem is that too many people readily dismiss it without having read it, let alone looked closely at it. There is so much subtle information in there, far too much to have been compiled by a hoaxer."
Fortunately, some people do examine possibilities in detail. Oh well, I'll get my hat and coat and hide behind the parapet.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Time-Reveal...ywords=jack+th e+ripper&qid=1565620372&s=books&sprefi x=jack+the+ripper%2Cstripbooks%2C164&sr=1-5

Sometimes you can tell all you need to know from a book by the title.

[Spider]

Sometimes you can tell all you need to know from a book by the title.

And there you have it, in one sentence. Apathy abounds and never the need to look further at things

[TheCuriousCat]

And there you have it, in one sentence. Apathy abounds and never the need to look further at things

“Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously; and some few are to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention.”

-Francis Bacon

I'm pretty sure he would agree with me that playing games with letters likely to be hoaxes would be worthy of barely a taste.

[APerno]

As I said earlier:
"Perhaps we already have it, 'don't look a gift horse in the mouth' as they say. The problem is that too many people readily dismiss it without having read it, let alone looked closely at it. There is so much subtle information in there, far too much to have been compiled by a hoaxer."
Fortunately, some people do examine possibilities in detail. Oh well, I'll get my hat and coat and hide behind the parapet.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Time-Reveal...ywords=jack+th e+ripper&qid=1565620372&s=books&sprefi x=jack+the+ripper%2Cstripbooks%2C164&sr=1-5

Hi Spider,

I am a little confused, are you an advocate of the Maybrick Diary being authentic or the tangent argument laid out by Bruce Robinson, in They All Love Jack?

I can't grasp from the cover which argument Time Reveals All - The Funny Little Games of Jack the Ripper: Cryptic Clues in the Jack the Ripper Letters is trying to make. Is it that the Diary is authentic, of is it based on the Robinson argument regarding Michael Maybrick?

[Spider]

"I'm pretty sure he would agree with me that playing games with letters likely to be hoaxes would be worthy of barely a taste."

BUT, what if? This is the problem with JTR, every stone should be turned over, everything followed up. How many people have actually looked at the letters? Relatively few because so called 'experts' say there is nothing in them, and the sheep follow.
The 'Diarist' or hoaxer says he is sending clues, but has anyone looked? Well either the hoaxer was very lucky, or the Diary is contemporary and written by James Maybrick.

[APerno]

I am confident that if the identity of the Ripper were proven, there would still be those on this message board who would reject it.

Yes, but if the general public should ever reach such a consensus, interest in searching for the Ripper will dry up. Books sales will plummet and the money will disappear as well. Ripperology will be reduced to an Ancient Aliens level of credibility.

Those that refuse to accept the slam dunk evidence will be force to form a conspiracy theory against the the 'indisputable' evidence. The Ripper Universe will move from searching for the killer to disproving the 'evidence.' That could go on for decades.

[Spider]

Hi Spider,

I am a little confused, are you an advocate of the Maybrick Diary being authentic or the tangent argument laid out by Bruce Robinson, in They All Love Jack?

I can't grasp from the cover which argument Time Reveals All - The Funny Little Games of Jack the Ripper: Cryptic Clues in the Jack the Ripper Letters is trying to make. Is it that the Diary is authentic, of is it based on the Robinson argument regarding Michael Maybrick?

"Tempus Omnia Revelat" - 'Time Reveals All' - granted by the ancient College of Arms in London as James Maybrick's armorial coat of arms. "Funny Little Games" one of the Diarists favoured quotes (and not just referring to his murderous deeds it appears).
The book is not based solely on the Diary, that gave the catalyst name James Maybrick, but delves a bit deeper and in doing so shows indeed what a clever fellow he was!
My money is firmly on James Maybrick and his Diary - the Holy Grail and the Final Solution.

[TheCuriousCat]

"I'm pretty sure he would agree with me that playing games with letters likely to be hoaxes would be worthy of barely a taste."

BUT, what if? This is the problem with JTR, every stone should be turned over, everything followed up. How many people have actually looked at the letters? Relatively few because so called 'experts' say there is nothing in them, and the sheep follow.
The 'Diarist' or hoaxer says he is sending clues, but has anyone looked? Well either the hoaxer was very lucky, or the Diary is contemporary.

If you take any sufficiently long piece of writing, and apply various, unpredictable rules for "decoding" it, you can convince yourself that it says whatever you want it to. That's why people are continually saying Nostradamus predicted everything from Pearl Harbor, to the Twin Towers, to Princess Diana. And that is why they will never cease finding predictions of things to come in the future. You need to apply a little common sense. Ask yourself, "What would count as a strike against this hypothesis?" Or "Is this method capable of self-correction?" If you went through my journals with the same methods, looking for evidence that I was JTR, you would undoubtedly find it.
"Oh look, he was thrilled to get his first pen knife! He bought a book on anatomy! He even wrote a report on the kidney for biology class! He has an interest in Time Travel! It is him!"