Genuine Letter

[Tani]

One of the things that bothers me a little is when some letters are considered hoaxes and for a lot of people it's 'case closed' after that. This has made me wonder - to what are we mentally comparing these 'hoaxes' and what would a genuine Ripper letter look like? How would we recognise it if it were sent?

[Geddy2112]

Genuine - something containing information that only the killer could have know when it was written, some specific details etc.

[Tom_Wescott]

Genuine - something containing information that only the killer could have know when it was written, some specific details etc.

Indeed. I personally believe (as did the police) that the Goulston Street writing was the work of the killer. If this is so, it does rather open the door to the possibility of other written communications, does it not? But as Geddy notes, something only the killer would know has to be our litmus test. Even the From Hell letter, with its arfa kidney, doesn't pass the test. Still, I will not be counted among those who confidently proclaim it a hoax. Dear Boss, however, is to my mind a transparent hoax.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[Doctored Whatsit]

Yes, I think that JtR, if he wrote at all, would have written directly to the police, and not to a news agency, which almost certainly has to be the work of a journalist.