Coldbath Fields Prison

[The Rookie Detective]

Hi all.


I am interested in looking more closely at the idea that JTR had spent time in prison prior to the murders.


There was a particular prison in London, that at one time was one of (if not THE) biggest prisons in the country.

At the time this prison was 1 of only 2 prisons to implement a relatively new yet controversial system of reform.

This system was split into 2 different types...

"The Separate System"

and...

"The Silent System"


The "Separate System" was a means by which prisoners weren't permitted within a certain distance of each other. Prisoners were deliberately separated as a way of teaching them self reflection of their crimes through isolation.

Treadmills were used by the prisoners for an hour a day, but each was a certain distance apart. The other 23 hours, the prisoners were isolated in their cells.



However, the "Silent System" is the one that I find particularly interesting in relation to the Ripper murders.

The prison that implemented this particular system was called Coldbath Fields. It was located at the exact site that is now (or until recently) the Mount Pleasant Post Office HQ in North London.

This prison from the 1860's used the "Silent System"

The Silent system was intended to reform the prisoners and show them the error of their ways through personal reflection.

In practical terms, the Silent System meant that prisoners had to carry out mundane repetitive tasks...

In COMPLETE silence.


Could this particular system have had implications with regard to the ripper murders.


Both the Separate and Silent Systems proved controversial and the suicide rates increased exponentially as a result of the harsh regime.


So let's link this to the JTR case...

What is one constant factor that is ever present when we think about the murders?...

...that they were all committed in complete SILENCE.


No one has ever been able to explain how the killer could have murdered and mutilated in relative silence, unheard and unseen.

But what if this CAN be explained IF the ripper had served time in 'Coldbath Fields prison' prior to the murders?

I believe that the reason why JTR was able to commit the mutilations unheard by witnesses within close proximity, is because he was a prisoner who served time in Coldbath Fields Prison.


My question is this...

Could time spent as a prisoner in Coldbath Fields under the regime of the 'Silent System' have given the Ripper the essential "training" needed to commit his subsequent murders...in silence?


Thought please?



RD


p.s. This is an edited post I created from another ongoing thread, but with the name of a particular person of interest deliberately omitted by myself for this new thread, so as not to clash with the ongoing research on the other thread, and to respect the work initiated by another member of this site.

[Enigma]

My question is this...

Could time spent as a prisoner in Coldbath Fields under the regime of the 'Silent System' have given the Ripper the essential "training" needed to commit his subsequent murders...in silence?


Thought please?

One has to be doubtful about this. Having undergone the 'Silent System' is not a prerequisite for remaining quiet whilst committing a murder and mutilation. No murderer is going to draw attention by making a song and dance about it while in the act or afterward.

[The Rookie Detective]

One has to be doubtful about this. Having undergone the 'Silent System' is not a prerequisite for remaining quiet whilst committing a murder and mutilation. No murderer is going to draw attention by making a song and dance about it while in the act or afterward.

Yes, i can see your point.

I meant more in terms of the repetition of carrying out tasks in complete silence, would then enable someone to develop an automated skill set in being able to do other tasks in the same relative silence.
For example, if someone walked the same strep sequence up a "creaky" staircase in an old house, over time they would become familiar where the floorboard were most creaky and where they weren't, enabling them to learn through repetition how to walk more quietly.

If the ripper had spent time in the ColdBath Fields prison, he would have undoubtedly have been made to carry out mundane tasks repetitively as part of their strict reform policy in place at the time.
A person put into that position would then by proxy develop automated skills that could then be applied in other areas of physical repetition, ergo, how to grab someone by the throat, drag them to the floor and then attack them silently.

In other words, there may have been some inadvertent form of physical training that increased their natural ability to perform physical tasks more quietly.


RD