Believability

[John Wheat]

Who actually believes Jack the Ripper was a top hated toff including a Liverpuddlian Cotton Merchant? Or a witness turned suspect eg Lechmere or Hutchinson? Is it just people on the fringes of Ripperology that think this? Isn't it far more likely that Jack would be a pathetic nobody who no one would think would be a Serial Killer?

[Scott Nelson]

Yes, to your last question.

[Fiver]

Who actually believes Jack the Ripper was a top hated toff including a Liverpuddlian Cotton Merchant? Or a witness turned suspect eg Lechmere or Hutchinson? Is it just people on the fringes of Ripperology that think this?

I suspect a poll of Ripperologists would give very different results from a poll of the general public.

Here's the biggest poll I could find. Over 50k votes.

1st.Aaron Kosminski	8639
2nd.Charles Lechmere/Cross	7697
3rd.Francis Tumblety	7496
4th.James Maybrick	4676
5th.Montague John Druitt	4273
6th.Walter Sickert	4099
7th.Just Some Local Nobody	4093

Isn't it far more likely that Jack would be a pathetic nobody who no one would think would be a Serial Killer?

My top guess continues to be UN Owen.

[Enigma]

Agreed. Probability says the perp was a local nobody who has never come to notice or suspicion.

[Barnaby]

Regarding the poll result, if money were on the line, feel free to take any suspect you want if you give me everyone else living in the area. Far more likely its a local nobody.

[kjab3112]

Agreed. Probability says the perp was a local nobody who has never come to notice or suspicion.

I’d put the local AN Other neck and neck with Kosminski (the one in the marginalia rather than definitely Aaron) although suspect AN Other was questioned at the time or otherwise involved

[Scott Nelson]

My interest in Kosminski is why he was singled out as Anderson's man and who he was. Not necessarily that he was the Ripper, although he could have been.

[Lewis C]

I think it could have been Hutchinson, who I'd say qualifies as a pathetic nobody. It's more likely though that it was a different pathetic nobody.

[GBinOz]

I think it could have been Hutchinson, who I'd say qualifies as a pathetic nobody. It's more likely though that it was a different pathetic nobody.

I would also include marginalia Kosminski and Lechmere as "nobodies". But I consider it likely that it was someone who never attracted attention or suspicion.

[erobitha]

Whatever helps people sleep at night.

Regardless of the "believability" of individuals' subjective opinions, there is a wealth of evidence that shows many modern serial killers were of reasonably moderate to high intelligence and did not always stay local.

Ted Bundy - Political assistant and law student
John Wayne Gacy - Pillar of local community who is famously pictured with First Lady Carter for his work in the community
Unabomber - Was a maths genius
BTK - Has a a Bachelor of Science degree
Harold Shipman - Doctor
Ed Kemper - High IQ (145)
Jeffrey Dahmer - High IQ (144)

People might want to wise up a little.

The Psychopathic serial killers who create the most heinous crimes are generally not "local weirdos". It has nothing to do with "believability". It's about data.

[Holmes' Idiot Brother]

Who actually believes Jack the Ripper was a top hated toff including a Liverpuddlian Cotton Merchant? Or a witness turned suspect eg Lechmere or Hutchinson? Is it just people on the fringes of Ripperology that think this? Isn't it far more likely that Jack would be a pathetic nobody who no one would think would be a Serial Killer?

While I do NOT believe Jack The Ripper was a top-hatted Harley Street surgeon gone bad....I want him to be! The idea that the Ripper was a local nobody, although highly likely, is too boring, too mundane. But the image of a top-hatted psychopath toff with a Gladstone bag prowling the East End looking for victims appeals to me today as strong as it did in my youth. I am taking my teenaged son to London in August and we have booked 4 separate JTR walking tours. I am sure the actual remaining locations will pale compared to my imagination, even though I have seen them in photos and videos.

Although I have no favorite suspect, I think the Ripper was likely a local man who was in regular work, perhaps in a mortuary or even the Royal London Hospital. That's about as far as I can go with that. Jack could literally have been anyone.

[John Wheat]

Whatever helps people sleep at night.

Regardless of the "believability" of individuals' subjective opinions, there is a wealth of evidence that shows many modern serial killers were of reasonably moderate to high intelligence and did not always stay local.

Ted Bundy - Political assistant and law student
John Wayne Gacy - Pillar of local community who is famously pictured with First Lady Carter for his work in the community
Unabomber - Was a maths genius
BTK - Has a a Bachelor of Science degree
Harold Shipman - Doctor
Ed Kemper - High IQ (145)
Jeffrey Dahmer - High IQ (144)

People might want to wise up a little.

The Psychopathic serial killers who create the most heinous crimes are generally not "local weirdos". It has nothing to do with "believability". It's about data.

I have never said that Jack was of low intelligence.

[Enigma]

I have never said that Jack was of low intelligence.

Quite so. Being a nobody does not mean he was unintelligent.

[Fiver]

Whatever helps people sleep at night.

Regardless of the "believability" of individuals' subjective opinions, there is a wealth of evidence that shows many modern serial killers were of reasonably moderate to high intelligence and did not always stay local.

Ted Bundy - Political assistant and law student
John Wayne Gacy - Pillar of local community who is famously pictured with First Lady Carter for his work in the community
Unabomber - Was a maths genius
BTK - Has a a Bachelor of Science degree
Harold Shipman - Doctor
Ed Kemper - High IQ (145)
Jeffrey Dahmer - High IQ (144)

People might want to wise up a little.

The Psychopathic serial killers who create the most heinous crimes are generally not "local weirdos". It has nothing to do with "believability". It's about data.

Here's the Radford/FGCU Annual Report on Serial Killer Statistics: 2023

While there have been high IQ serial killers, most often they are average or slightly below average. That said, the numbers given for racial differences in IQ make me question the accuracy of IQ tests.

The statistics do show that psychosis is extremely unlikely to be the motive, making up about 1 in 200 subjects.

[Fiver]

Quite so. Being a nobody does not mean he was unintelligent.

Agreed. On the other hand, even real high intelligence killers don't match up to the manipulative super-geniuses of crime fiction.