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

[mpriestnall]

Vis-a-vis the Maybrick diary.

I've read a fair few threads on the diary but I don't hold any store in it at all and generally just try to ignore it.

However, the following question has occurred to me:

Has any known serial killer ever written a confessional diary, that's come into the public domain, a-la the Maybrick diary?

Or is the Maybrick diary, itself, a one-off?

Martyn

[Darryl Kenyon]

This may upset some people but the reason I feel it will now never be solved is because we are now wasting too much time arguing on redundant or silly theories. Look at the recent threads. Heated discussions on what is an obvious fake IE The Diary, and someone on another thread championing the quite ridiculous Gull/Freemason etc theory. Unfortunately, I feel if the case would have been solved, or made a lot clearer it would have been in the fifties or sixties, certainly more so after the discovery of the Mac memo. Trouble is there wasn't the internet or enough people of the calibre of a lot of posters on here [who are certainly more dedicated to the case than me], who investigated the crimes back then, [apologies to the ones who did have a genuine interest in trying to solve it back then]. And of course come the seventies the whole case was bowled a googly by the utterly regretful royalist Prince Eddy conspiracy. As the case ever truly recovered?
Regards Darryl

[Iconoclast]

Reading the posts on The diary, old hoax or new? thread got me thinking whimsically:

Is there a final solution holy grail for the JTR murders out there, that can be found?

No. It will never be possible to gain consensus so we will never have a final solution. David Orsam and many others will immediately decry it as a hoax regardless of its apparent veracity.

Final solutions are for the subset not the set, sadly ...

[Herlock Sholmes]

I saw that one - a bit steep! However, there are other ebook versions available for $9.99 at the link below. I'd not heard about Smashwords before, but it's evidently a genuine company for authors to self-publish their books.

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/14353

Cheers Sam

[Simon Wood]

Hi Martyn,

Here's my five penn'orth—

JtR identity — don't even bother trying. Definitely nobody thus far named.
MJK identity — possible, if we stop kidding ourselves the victim was a girl from Limerick.
Links between JtR and any victims — none direct.
Motive — certainly not money, probably political.
Did anyone else have knowledge of the murders at the time — yes, those in authority.

Regards,

Simon

[mpriestnall]

I find it hard to believe the Police didn't know who JTR was. Ok, a lot of the documents may have been destroyed during the War but, so many had gone missing, taken as souvenirs possibly? Just seems funny how quickly the Police "stood down" after the last murder, of course there are many reasons why this may have happened but.....

I don't think your idea of JTR is whacky at all.

Some thoughts in response to your post #17:

I'm firmly of the belief that JTR's identity was known at the time. It's almost certain that info is known, to certain parties. today.
Which begs the question why is his identity still being kept a secret?

Martyn

[DJA]

You are quite right.

All the information required is already out there.

[Spider]

Reading the posts on The diary, old hoax or new? thread got me thinking whimsically:

Is there a final solution holy grail for the JTR murders out there, that can be found?

Is there any one piece of evidence that can be discovered today that would create an absolute answer to the JTR enigma?

No doubt the obvious answer is a diary or journal but it is hard to believe the killer would be so generous as to give us such an easy answer.

Putting aside the slam-dunk proof of a (an unlikely) diary or written confession coming to light, is there anything else that could be discovered today that could create a final solution?

I tried to conjure one up, this is the best I could do, and it's kind of silly:

Imagine a housing project demolition revealing, hidden in a wall, a steel locked box. In the box is a dried uterus and two brass rings. Next to the box is found a classic leather hog butcher's sheath containing work knives. A census lists the resident, at the time of the murders, as [insert name here]. [insert name here] then appears on a subsequent year's asylum roll, 1890, with an entrance date of late November 1888. [insert name here] dies in asylum in 1896, never having been released.

Is that enough? Would that end the controversy?

Is there any piece of evidence or preponderance of evidence, that can ever close this case?

Is there any longer a possible final solution to the Ripper murders, or has this become an endless game of right brain solitaire like Myst?

IMO we're not going to get a written confession; that's wishful thinking, and that hope only sets us up for more hoax diaries; so is there any other possibility we can hope for.

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.

[Rob1n]

APerno, I feel that the only way this case will finally be solved is when and, if they ever find some of the stolen/missing Police files or documents. I find it hard to believe the Police didn't know who JTR was. Ok, a lot of the documents may have been destroyed during the War but, so many had gone missing, taken as souvenirs possibly? Just seems funny how quickly the Police "stood down" after the last murder, of course there are many reasons why this may have happened but.....
And, if they do know - what's the big secret, would it really be the end of the country, the Monarchy? There is a certain amount of BS from the powers that be. My theory is even whackier than most, it was a surgeon from the Zulu wars, seeing terrible atrocities such as the slaughter of British troops at, for instance, Isandlwana, he suffered PTSD and went crazy, picked an easy target, one that he could easily overpower and not fear them stuffing him, if say he was a Mason, possibly also Knighted for his services, who knows? Make what you will of that

[Sam Flynn]

Does the book address the events of the Second Boer War?

Indeed it does.

It seems controversy followed the man about.

Indeed it did!

[APerno]

I own a biography of Warren, by Colin Macdonald. Called "WARREN!" (exclamation mark included), and is subtitled "The Bond of Brotherhood", from which you can guess that it focuses heavily on his Masonic life, although his involvement in the JTR case gets a dedicated chapter.

Unfortunately, it's no longer in print. Some 2nd-hand copies seem to be available here and there, but I don't think it's ever been available on Amazon; indeed, I bought it direct from the publisher when it was published in 2007.

It's a pretty decent book as I recall and, even if it weren't, it's the only full biography of Warren that we have.




(Edit: When I said it focuses on Warren's Masonic life, I don't mean that this is a "woo-woo", Steven Knight-type book. It's a serious bio.)

Does the book address the events of the Second Boer War? It seems controversy followed the man about.

[Sam Flynn]

The only thing that I can see online Sam is an ebook version for $77. One to keep a lookout for though.

I saw that one - a bit steep! However, there are other ebook versions available for $9.99 at the link below. I'd not heard about Smashwords before, but it's evidently a genuine company for authors to self-publish their books.

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/14353

[Losmandris]

I imagine there is still lots of bits and bobs out there relating to the case in boxes and in attics. I am sure files and official police photographs were probably carried off as momentous back in the day. Maybe some collectors are sitting on some really interesting stuff or more likely someone has something but no idea what it actually is or what significance it has. Whether there is anything out there that would could crack the case, I rather doubt it, it would have to be something pretty significant to quieten the naysayers. We live in hope.

Question? Would we all quickly lose interest if we knew who Jack was?

[Herlock Sholmes]

I own a biography of Warren, by Colin Macdonald. Called "WARREN!" (exclamation mark included), and is subtitled "The Bond of Brotherhood", from which you can guess that it focuses heavily on his Masonic life, although his involvement in the JTR case gets a dedicated chapter.

Unfortunately, it's no longer in print. Some 2nd-hand copies seem to be available here and there, but I don't think it's ever been available on Amazon; indeed, I bought it direct from the publisher when it was published in 2007.

It's a pretty decent book as I recall and, even if it weren't, it's the only full biography of Warren that we have.




(Edit: When I said it focuses on Warren's Masonic life, I don't mean that this is a "woo-woo", Steven Knight-type book. It's a serious bio.)

The only thing that I can see online Sam is an ebook version for $77. One to keep a lookout for though.

[Sam Flynn]

I wouldn't confine it to the known suspects, Abby. What if we discovered some writings of Jim Scroggs, Spitalfields cane-maker, and they turned out to contain the word "Juwes"? That said, this would only identify Jim Scroggs as a potential author of the Goulston Street Graffito, not necessarily the Ripper. So I'd want more evidence than that.