Ripper post on the OUP blog

[Geister]

Of possible interest to this forum:

http://blog.oup.com/2013/04/jack-the-ripper-emma-smith-whitechapel/

[Bridewell]

"Rag-tag police force"?

[Beowulf]

Of possible interest to this forum:

http://blog.oup.com/2013/04/jack-the...h-whitechapel/

I have thought on occasion of the Emma Smith murder, wondering if all the ripper murders were just that, a gang that found her either unwilling to be part of their club, remiss of unpaid dues or just violence.

But then I always move on to the realization that no gang entered Mary Kelly's house, the signs don't hold up. That the other ripper murders happened in dark quiet streets in a matter of minutes, not likely gang related, either. A gang leaving Hanbury would be pretty noticeable, crowding out that narrow hallway, bumping over themselves as they try to escape notice, a ridiculous picture.

Next I move on to the fact that maybe this IS how the ripper started, part of a gang, and then he went out on his own, caring less for the money and more for the violent act.

But wouldn't it be likely a gang member, recognizing this fact, tip off an investigator? I think that one of them might speak off the record, trying not to implicate himself. Maybe not. Did the investigators ever consider this avenue?

Btw, this has been on Casebook before. http://www.casebook.org/victims/emmasmit.html

[Geister]

I tend to believe Jack was likely a complete loner and drawn from the local, working populace. I am sure he would have needed to start small before reaching the level of violence he undertook. However, the best profiles seem to tell us this would have been a solitary process (maybe small animals in his youth, perhaps smaller relations, etc.).

However, a part of me does wonder whether he might have been a petty-criminal, or, at least, exposed to petty violence and then he found himself more excited by it and moved out on his own. This would help explain why women trusted him (recognizing his criminal credentials and so being 'one of them' in the loose sense of outside the law). Considering that a well-to-do guy become a kind of meme of who Jack was, sensibly so, then this would have further helped him convince them to go off with him.

Impossible to know for sure, but this possibility most intrigues me.