Outstanding questions - contributions wanted please

[Chris Scott]

Thanks so much for all these ideas - exactly what I needed :-)

[Bridewell]

Was there an identification at the Seaside Home and, if so, why there?

Why did MacNaghten refer, in the Aberconway version of the Memoranda, to "the City PC that was (on) a beat near Mitre Square" and then omit that reference from the file version?

Why did he allude to "City PC" if what he meant was Joseph Lawende?

Did the Whitechapel Murderer kill anywhere outside London?

[Bridewell]

Was Aaron the Kosminski referred to in the Swanson Marginalia?

[Mayerling]

A Curious Historical Sociological Question:

While there had been earlier serial killers (the Radcliffe Highway murderer(s), Drs. Palmer and Pritchard), why was it that the Ripper Murders seemed to send a real signal to the psychotics or criminals in society to pursue serial killings in the immediate aftermath of the Whitechapel Murders (Deeming and Cream - 1891-92; Vacher - 1890-96; Holmes - 1893-95; Chapman - 1897-1903)? Was the Ripper suddenly viewed as a model to be emulated?

Jeff

[Phil Carter]

Hello all,

Why is it that Swanson was the only man to have noted that the writing on the wall in Goulston Street was blurred?

Why is there no mention in Swanson's report of Eddowes crime of DC Halse stopping and questioning two men?

How is it that Wilkinson's story of the old woman who knew John Kelly is totally wrong time-wise? (Even if you change it by one hour, the old woman could not possibly have found John Kelly and his address in the time allotted)

How did the old woman claiming to know John Kelly and Kate Eddowes know where to find him?

How come nobody owned up to knowing Eddowes when asked about her by a policeman before she was hauled off to Bishopsgate Police Station, yet miraculously an old woman then turned up at 55 Flower and Dean Street to tell Kelly that Eddowes had been arrested for D and D?

Why is there no record of the two men, (either singularly or together), that were stopped and questioned by D.C. Halse on his way to Goulston Street very shortly after the murder...when they were apparently the ONLY men who were stopped and questioned at all after the murder, in the district?



Phil

[Garry Wroe]

While there had been earlier serial killers (the Radcliffe Highway murderer(s), Drs. Palmer and Pritchard), why was it that the Ripper Murders seemed to send a real signal to the psychotics or criminals in society to pursue serial killings in the immediate aftermath of the Whitechapel Murders (Deeming and Cream - 1891-92; Vacher - 1890-96; Holmes - 1893-95; Chapman - 1897-1903)? Was the Ripper suddenly viewed as a model to be emulated?

Serial killing is almost certainly not a modern phenomenon, Jeff. It has probably existed for hundreds of years but went unrecognized because of an absence of organized, systematic police forces. It has been suggested that many of the myths relating to werewolves, vampires and the like originated with the predations of human serialists rather than supernatural forces. It therefore seems likely that modern detective methods have led to the recognition that such men exist rather than the Whitechapel Murders inspiring others to commit similar crimes.

[Jon Guy]

Hello all,

Why is it that Swanson was the only man to have noted that the writing on the wall in Goulston Street was blurred?

Why is there no mention in Swanson's report of Eddowes crime of DC Halse stopping and questioning two men?

How is it that Wilkinson's story of the old woman who knew John Kelly is totally wrong time-wise? (Even if you change it by one hour, the old woman could not possibly have found John Kelly and his address in the time allotted)

How did the old woman claiming to know John Kelly and Kate Eddowes know where to find him?

How come nobody owned up to knowing Eddowes when asked about her by a policeman before she was hauled off to Bishopsgate Police Station, yet miraculously an old woman then turned up at 55 Flower and Dean Street to tell Kelly that Eddowes had been arrested for D and D?

Why is there no record of the two men, (either singularly or together), that were stopped and questioned by D.C. Halse on his way to Goulston Street very shortly after the murder...when they were apparently the ONLY men who were stopped and questioned at all after the murder, in the district?

.. and my silly questions are:

Was the Titanic an insect
Will Michael Richards write a post not containing the words canon or canonical
Was DC Halse wearing a linsey frock on the night of the double event
Did John Kelly ride a uni-cycle
Did Polly Nichols prefer granny smith apples to cox`s
Is Kent actually in Monmouthshire

[cats meat man]

Why was George Morris asked if he had quitted his premises between eleven and one when the discovery of the murder of Kate Eddowes was at approx 01.45?

[ceejay75]

a great post by Chris Scott. Questions are sometimes more important than answers. I would be keen to hear responses from fellow casebookers on the questions posed. Certainly beats scouring information from numerous books.

As to my own ...

why the change of modus operandi? murders perpetrated on streets at night to women in their mid to late 40s to a younger prostitute killed inside her own home and possibly in daylight ?