If the 'Dear Boss' letter is a hoax...

[jerryd]

I,m leaning more towards it being addressed to someone at CNA. The writer must not have been with the police nor addressing them either because he refers to them in the letter. And, the writer instructs BOSS to hold the letter back before putting it out ,,on blast,, -meaning it wasn,t addressing the public.

Question becomes, who at CNA was Boss?

John Moore, who was also an ex-Met Policeman. Littlechild believed Bulling to be the originator of the letters and Moore the probable inventor.

[Robert St Devil]

Jerryd et al

When it comes to looking at the evidence, sometimes i look at what it ,is not,.

Meaning...

DEAR BOSS ,is not, random. It does not arrive on some arbitrary date weeks prior to the double event written in a generally cryptic language, such as:

Sep 11, 1888

Dear Boss, tell the people of Whitechapel to lock their doors and bolt their windows because you never know when or where Jack the Ripper will strike next.

Instead, it arrives conveniently in time for the double murders with specific instructions that practically come true: hold this back for a few days because i have work to do, it seemingly instructs.

hoax or not, how did moore and bulling* know a murder was going to happen around the time that their letter is received?



Thx. Found an archived cb thread on John Moore.
* in this case, moore and bulling merely represent anyone suspected of being the author of DEAR BOSS.

[DJA]

John Moore, who was also an ex-Met Policeman. Littlechild believed Bulling to be the originator of the letters and Moore the probable inventor.

http://www.jtrforums.com/showthread.php?t=10698

Ironically,it could have been meant for William Saunders.

[Robert St Devil]

Detractions understood; still...

If DEAR BOSS was purely a hoax, what would be the purpose of following that letter with SAUCY JACKY? why would Central News agents need to revel in the fact that their hoax actually came true by falsifyng a horrifying post-script to its cold-blooded predecessor? They were all aware of the brutalities inflicted on Elizabeth and Catherine; why further disgrace these two women with "ha" and "squeal" (as if Eliz was nothing more than a pig)? That would be revolting.

The murders were scandalous on their own merit. Why would Central News agents need to further sensationalize them?

[DJA]

Perhaps Jack was continuing to create a persona far removed from who he actually was.

[Bridewell]

Hoax or not, how did moore and bulling* know a murder was going to happen around the time that their letter is received?

I thought the postmark suggested that the letter could have been sent after the double event had taken place, if only by a matter of hours?

[Robert St Devil]

For DEAR BOSS, Bridewell? That one arrived a few days before, right?

I,m questioning the convenience of the hoax if journalists wrote it. Letter arrives asking to be held back, few days later, double murder.
Then, the journalists take the hoax too far by mailing in a postcard, ridiculing the murders. Why?

[Shaggyrand]

The murders were scandalous on their own merit. Why would Central News agents need to further sensationalize them?

To beat out other agencies and get their story into as many papers as possible. The press has always loved two things- sensationalism and out selling their competitors. If you are walking home and decide to pick up the latest paper to see what grizzly detail you can chat about tomorrow, do you pick up the ones that are just repeating and rephrasing details or the ones the killer is sending love notes to? Which is the easy pick for an editor looking for the most attention getting headline?
I'd go for the folks getting juicy notes every time. That's more than enough reason to fake the letter.

[Robert St Devil]

Hello Shaggyrand.

Pulling that hoax successfully and outselling the competition would occur only when DEAR BOSS is published in the newspaper. Without the murders, it would have sat in the hoax pile, and been forgotten. Until the murders happen, Central News had no reason to take it serious or distribute it thru its channels.

Why invent Jack the Ripper to increase news sales if there was the chance that the hoax may have never made it past the ,trash heap,?

[sleekviper]

If someone sends it to the police, it could be forgotten; they have the power to deem it a hoax. Someone has stated that they will kill, and it is not legal to advance criminal activity through the postal system. By sending it to Central, someone has increased the number of people knowing of it's existence from one,(police open it, deem it a hoax, it is all but forgotten)to three(Central opens, give it to police, police share with postal inspectors). Police are going to need to involve postal inspectors once that outside source, Central in this instance, brings a murder plot being sent through the postal system. Basically the "Boss" does not need to be at any set location, this is just the best path to get the letter to the most eyes possible.

[Abby Normal]

If someone sends it to the police, it could be forgotten; they have the power to deem it a hoax. Someone has stated that they will kill, and it is not legal to advance criminal activity through the postal system. By sending it to Central, someone has increased the number of people knowing of it's existence from one,(police open it, deem it a hoax, it is all but forgotten)to three(Central opens, give it to police, police share with postal inspectors). Police are going to need to involve postal inspectors once that outside source, Central in this instance, brings a murder plot being sent through the postal system. Basically the "Boss" does not need to be at any set location, this is just the best path to get the letter to the most eyes possible.

Hi sleek
Interesting point. Actually four because by sending it to the CNA they would be assured that the public (you now, being a news agency and all) would also hear of it.

[Robert St Devil]

Hi sleekviper.

I think its more exclusive than that. The writer refers to the police in the letter, and I don,t imagine that he was hoping postal inspectors would hold it back. Central News is really the best start if you,re looking for a boss.

If I'm Jack the Ripper, and I write Dear Boss, and I have no knowledge of the news industry, the only reason that j would ha e to send it to Central News Agency is I saw their name mentioned with my killings in a newspaper that I read. Other than that, there shouldn,t be much of a reason that I would know them publicly since they have no newspaper of their own.
You've probably noticed it on some press reports - paragraphs that lead off with "Central News Agency reports...". I,m not certain but I don,t think The Times or The Star or some of the other major papers used them,.

[sleekviper]

Well, he speaks of the police as being below him; how can they catch him. If the writer is placing the police out of his league, then what group or person would deserve his use of the word Boss? Going to a single paper is not going to work, they would fall into doubt as creating it to get the scoop on other papers. That could halt it being known. If it is fake, someone won't know crimes are about to happen, so having one paper pop up with this letter would be highly questioned. Not really a much more clear way to get something done. It worked, stuck with a name, a victim type, and Stride. That is the letter in addition to the postcard. Whoever wrote it didn't live under a rock; that P.S. says "curse it", using the word "curse" to show emotion is from a play around 1885. As far as I have found, that was where it started.

[Pierre]

Hello Shaggyrand.

Pulling that hoax successfully and outselling the competition would occur only when DEAR BOSS is published in the newspaper. Without the murders, it would have sat in the hoax pile, and been forgotten. Until the murders happen, Central News had no reason to take it serious or distribute it thru its channels.

Why invent Jack the Ripper to increase news sales if there was the chance that the hoax may have never made it past the ,trash heap,?

Hi Robert,

I have noticed that you are trying to discuss this issue. I will get back here later and give you some feedback.

Best wishes, Pierre

[Pierre]

[QUOTE=Robert St Devil;392866]

Hi Robert,

you wrote about the Dear Boss letter:

...it arrives conveniently in time for the double murders with specific instructions that practically come true: hold this back for a few days because i have work to do, it seemingly instructs.

hoax or not, how did moore and bulling* know a murder was going to happen around the time that their letter is received?

My hypothesis is that they got a letter from the killer before the murders on Stride and Eddowes. But since they could not know if the writer was the killer - the murders had not been committed yet - they did not take the communication seriously.

When the murders were committed, they understood that the letter was written by the killer. But since the letter also contained a warning, which could have saved the victims from being murdered if taken seriously, they could not publish the letter in itīs original so everyone could see that they had simply neglected the warning.

Therefore they wrote a new letter were they kept the name Jack the Ripper and changed the contents so it would have a high news value. By doing this no one would know that the Central News Agency recieved a letter with a warning and with the right time and place of the murders before the murders were committed.

If the Central News Agency had given the letter to the police and they had taken it seriously, they could have increased the police surveillance in the Minories that night and Stride and Eddowes might have been saved.

Regards, Pierre