Other attacks : man wearing deerstalker hat

[Craig H]

Hi Al,

Yes, same idea.

The deerstalker seems out of place.

I think it’s correct he wore one.

Lawende had a good look at the man with Eddowes a short while before she died and said the man wore a deerstalker. Elizabeth Long saw the man with Chapman just before she died and also said he wore a deerstalker. PC Smith described the man with Stride just before she died as wearing a deerstalker.

So I think the consistent message is there.

I don’t know much about what the typical man wore in East End in the middle of the night, but would have thought a deerstalker was unusual.

This suggests he saw himself as a “hunter

[Al Bundy's Eyes]

I've always been intrigued by the more credible witness descriptions (Elizabeth Long, Joseph Lawende, PC William Smith, William Marshall) who said the man wore a deerstalker hat or a peak hat.

I would have thought a deerstalker was unusual headwear in the East End, and suggests he may have previously lived in rural areas.

It's possible JTR may have attacked or killed women either before, or after, the Canonical Five.

Can anyone find any cases of a murder or attack anywhere in England where the attacker wore a deerstalker ? Any thoughts ?

Craig

I can see your line of thinking, are there any apparently unrelated attacks where a Deerstalker hat was part of the description?

It's worth a browse of the archives, it might not shed any light on the case, but who knows?

The vague and varied clothing descriptions given by witnesses at the time are not the kind of thing you'd want to go to the gallows for, and as Jon points out, the descriptions aren't always consistent. With the notable exception of the flamboyant Astrakhan Man.

I'd imagine most Deerstalker wearing attacks started along the lines of "get 'orf moi laand!", so it's appearance in the East End does stand out. But, what your looking for is an unsolved attack, with a reliable witness description, that's accurate in its detail of said hat, preferably in urban London. Maybe. It's a more realistic line of enquiry than scouring the records for average height men, with some variety of facial hair, dark / brown clothes and a hat of some sort. Essentially, the entire male population of the East End.

Of course, that's if it was a Deerstalker Hat...

[Wickerman]

I've always been intrigued by the more credible witness descriptions (Elizabeth Long, Joseph Lawende, PC William Smith, William Marshall) who said the man wore a deerstalker hat or a peak hat.

I would have thought a deerstalker was unusual headwear in the East End, and suggests he may have previously lived in rural areas.

It's possible JTR may have attacked or killed women either before, or after, the Canonical Five.

Can anyone find any cases of a murder or attack anywhere in England where the attacker wore a deerstalker ? Any thoughts ?

Craig

PC Smith's original statement to police described the hat as a hard felt hat, why this changed to a soft cloth Deerstalker in his inquest testimony is an unanswered question.

[Azarna]

There was one quite recently.. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-30807245

A lad in 2015, who was caught because of blood found on his deerstalker hat.

[Craig H]

I've always been intrigued by the more credible witness descriptions (Elizabeth Long, Joseph Lawende, PC William Smith, William Marshall) who said the man wore a deerstalker hat or a peak hat.

I would have thought a deerstalker was unusual headwear in the East End, and suggests he may have previously lived in rural areas.

It's possible JTR may have attacked or killed women either before, or after, the Canonical Five.

Can anyone find any cases of a murder or attack anywhere in England where the attacker wore a deerstalker ? Any thoughts ?

Craig