Motivation for the Dear Boss

[caz]

Two of a Kind or One and the Same?

Very kind, Lynn. You are most welcome.

But if not a newspaper man, already up to his eyeballs in genuine headline news, I would have to ask who else would have been clever enough (or lucky enough) and puerile enough (or unbalanced enough), to dream up such a letter, which would find its way onto a policeman's desk in the nick of time, very shortly before part of an ear was nicked off.

Whether or not the killer intended to nick an ear for the police this time, it is near enough what happened. The piece he lopped off would have been hard to retrieve from among her clothes in the darkness, but it was retrieved later by other hands. For me, it's hard enough to reconcile the curious timing of these remarkable and newsworthy phenomena, but even harder to reconcile so much faith (by the majority) in Dear Boss being a hoax, like all the patent hoaxes that followed their leader. I will remain agnostic while there is no real evidence for two warped minds at work here or just the one. All I ever see are assumptions about motivation, leading to conclusions about authorship. As with the author of the murders themselves, motivation can only start to emerge when the individual responsible is identified.

Love,

Caz
X

[lynn cates]

thanks, mess mate

Hello Caroline. Thanks. Well spoke. The point could not have been better put.

Cheers.
LC

[lynn cates]

hands down

Hello Maria. Agreed. Hurlbert's hand is nothing like the "Dear Boss"--but neither is Bulling's.

Moore is MUCH closer.

Cheers.
LC

[lynn cates]

Piggott

Hello (again) David. Naughty things in print (especially when false) can be quite expensive--certainly not small beer. Just ask "The Times" lads after the Piggott affair.

Cheers.
LC

[lynn cates]

before and after

Hello David. But that was AFTER the killings and surely contingent upon them.

Cheers.
LC

[caz]

The murders of Smith, Tabram, Nichols and Chapman were sensational in their own right and had been providing newspapermen all over the world with the kind of stories they could not even have dreamed of at any time prior to 1888. If all England was indeed expecting more Chapmanesque jobs by the end of September, the newspaper business as a whole would expect to be 'sitting pretty' for a long while yet, filling its boots and its pages with more gruesome details than it could shake a stick at.

I therefore have to wonder why any individual in the business, high up or low down, would have risked his job, his career and probable prosecution (and possible arrest on suspicion of being the killer himself) if anyone were to recognise his handwriting, by creating Dear Boss and hoping it would be published far and wide and give the industry a boost it had arguably never needed less. Enough history was being made out on the Whitechapel streets without the need for risky capers of dubious value like this one.

Love,

Caz
X

[mariab]

No, Maria isn't suggesting a lucky guess, Lynn. All England was expecting another murder after that of Chapman, journalists in the first place.

Precisely what I meant, David.
(By the by, I worked all night on Cenerentola, am shivering from – satisfied – exhaustion, and eating warmed up tortellini al pesto with some Frenchie white wine for breakfast. Working on a new book feels almost like being bipolar. LOL.)

PS.: Thanks for the sample, Lynn. From sheer memory I'm positive that Hurlbert's handwriting has nothing whatsoever to do with “Dear boss“.

[DVV]

Now, you seem to suggest a lucky guess.

No, Maria isn't suggesting a lucky guess, Lynn. All England was expecting another murder after that of Chapman, journalists in the first place.

Very well, suppose another murder takes place and the assailant is caught and even confesses to all of them. But he denies the letter. Result? Moore and the CNA still look silly--and now perhaps even guilty of fraud.

That would have been "small beer", as you said of another hypothesis.
And the idea that this murderer was too crafty for the police was already spreading.

[DVV]

Now for commercial reasons, why not say, "Yes, I am Leather Apron, and now I'm ready to do more. Beware!" Then, put it on the wire and HOPE the story sells.

LC

Fact is that the letter did have a great commercial success, Lynn.
And that the Leather-Apron figure was already in a sorry state at the end of September.

[lynn cates]

Lord and Lady Doucebag

Hello Errata. Yes, the first 2 killings.

If there were several letters sent, surely the CNA would have forwarded those too?

But I think I understand your view here--basically, a crank who hit upon a remarkable coincidence.

Cheers.
LC

[lynn cates]

Irish

Hello (again) Beowulf. It seems that the diction of the "Dear Boss" approximates not just an American, but rather an Irish American.

Let's recall that Hurlbert wrote "Ireland under Coercion" in 1888. He became a darling of the Tory party for it.

Cheers.
LC

[lynn cates]

your wish . . .

Hello Beowulf. Your wish is my command, Effendi.

Sample of William Henry Hurlburt's handwriting ca. 1873, provided courtesy of Professor Daniel Crofts.

You can see Bulling and possibly Moore's hand in "Letters from Hell." Might also try another "Dear Boss" thread. Facsimile of letter in Casebook.

Cheers.
LC

[Errata]

Hello Errata. Thanks. I think that the "Saucy Jacky" post card did indeed show up AFTER the "Double Event." Of course, the "Dear Boss" was in police hands about half a day or better before Kate was killed.

I can understand your point about it being someone, seemingly with a mental problem, who is trying to make a bizarre point.

But I wonder why he waited until so long after the killings? It was fast becoming old news.

Cheers.
LC

You mean previous murders? He might not have waited. He might have sent in dozens of letters that were wrong and so were never taken seriously.

And sadly, it doesn't point to a mental problem. It does point to being a douche. I mean, It's something we are all guilty of at some point in time or another. I used to get followed by mall security a lot, despite the fact I hadn't stolen anything since I was three. So I used to mess with them pretty bad. The few times someone has treated me like a wild animal when they found out I was Bipolar, I ruthlessly messed with them. It's childish, and it's bad behavior. And often it wasn't even in my best interest. But everyone feels like pulling strings and shouting "Dance puppets! Dance!" every now and then. Mature adults don't engage in the behavior, but it is pretty normal.

The problem you get with guys who interfere with investigations (and a lot of people do this to this day) is that they don't think. They're thinking "Haha stupid cops look what I can make you do" when they should be thinking "Is someone going to die because I'm doing this?" And people have died because of this phenomenon, and people have been prosecuted for it, and they have all been devastated at the results. Still a little whiney and blamey, but really shocked. They just thought it would be fun to show up the cops. They never thought someone would get hurt. Today, the dear boss guy would be calling a tipline pretending to be the killer while his loser friends are giggling in the background. It doesn't require evil or insanity. Just the height of douchebaggery.

[Beowulf]

I have compared the hand of the “Dear Boss” to the hands of 3 people with various connections to the CNA. Those are William Henry Hurlbert, John Moore and Thomas Bulling. Only Moore’s hand looks even close. So let’s suppose that Moore indeed wrote it and for the reason given above.

LC

Where did you ever get to look at the samples of these men's handwriting? I would love to see that, is it possible to post the source? I don't doubt you, but it certainly does open up new avenues...

What I found interesting was that it was said the 'dear boss' phrase was concocted to make it seem as if the letter were written by an American, as that was then more of an American slang. Personally, I have a hard time thinking of the Ripper as American, raising the old question, even in the case of it being written by the killer, a deliberate ruse?

Also raises the question: if it was written by a reporter, why would that reporter deliberately point the finger to the Ripper being American and obscure the hunt to catch the actual perpetrator of the crimes.?

[lynn cates]

linking

Hello Malcolm. Thanks.

Your observation about ego sounds very like some of the much older analyses. It usually goes along with the "toff in the topper" scenario. Frankly, that is what gave zest to the case back in the '70's when I was much taken with Dr. Cream (don't laugh).

Could you point me to which passage/s seem most egotistical? In spite of what sounds like a good bit of bluster on the writer's behalf, I still see a good bit of wishing to link a future murder to two past ones.

Cheers.
LC