From Hell (Lusk) Letter likely Fake

[pinkmoon]

hi
from hell has always struck me as being written by someone who was extremely intoxicated: the sloppiness of it, the large flourishes in the handwriting with the exaggerated loops and tails. perhaps even the misspellings.

heck he even slurring his words-"mishtor Lusk" (just kidding about that part).

also, one of the things that has always struck me as authentic about the letter (along with the kidney and not using the name Jack the ripper like all the other hoaxes after Dear Boss letter) is the fact that the writer says hes sending half and has eaten the other half. would a hoaxer even think like that? I doubt it-IMHO a hoaxer would just send the whole thing for that would be way more in itself shocking enough.

Hi Abby,I think we can all agree if the from hell communication is genuine then our killer is a well educated man.

[Harry D]

What do you guys and girls make of the fella Emily Marsh & co. witnessed asking for Lusk's address? I've read the entry on CB, and there's still an outside chance this was the author of 'From Hell', which could very well make him Jack in the eyes of some of us.

[GUT]

G'day Harry D

What do you guys and girls make of the fella Emily Marsh & co. witnessed asking for Lusk's address? I've read the entry on CB, and there's still an outside chance this was the author of 'From Hell', which could very well make him Jack in the eyes of some of us.

Suspicious, but the address doesn't seem to have been any kind of secret.

[Vincenzo]

I have always wanted to believe this letter is actually from Jack. It's just so perfect. I believe it is a fake. Much like the Dear Boss letter, I believe it was written by a journalist looking to keep the story as hot as possible. How easy it would be to get a bit of kidney, I do not know. But it seems as if it would not be impossible if someone were determined.

In the end though, I just do not believe that Jack the Ripper really wanted or cared about publicity. His agenda was to get away with murder not to provide the police or anyone else with any help in finding him.

This is also the reason why I do not believe the Goulston Street Graffito was written by Jack.

[Stewart P Evans]

Corect

I have always wanted to believe this letter is actually from Jack. It's just so perfect. I believe it is a fake. Much like the Dear Boss letter, I believe it was written by a journalist looking to keep the story as hot as possible. How easy it would be to get a bit of kidney, I do not know. But it seems as if it would not be impossible if someone were determined.
In the end though, I just do not believe that Jack the Ripper really wanted or cared about publicity. His agenda was to get away with murder not to provide the police or anyone else with any help in finding him.
This is also the reason why I do not believe the Goulston Street Graffito was written by Jack.

You are thinking along the correct lines, great to see.

[Hatchett]

Hi,

I am not too sure that I follow the reasoning on that. Surelly, it depends upon the brain power of the sender, not to mention, his wit, and his possible sense of humour.

I still think it could be a hoax.

Best wishes.

[Abby Normal]

I have always wanted to believe this letter is actually from Jack. It's just so perfect. I believe it is a fake. Much like the Dear Boss letter, I believe it was written by a journalist looking to keep the story as hot as possible. How easy it would be to get a bit of kidney, I do not know. But it seems as if it would not be impossible if someone were determined.

In the end though, I just do not believe that Jack the Ripper really wanted or cared about publicity. His agenda was to get away with murder not to provide the police or anyone else with any help in finding him.

This is also the reason why I do not believe the Goulston Street Graffito was written by Jack.

Hi Vincenzo
Except that it's fairly common that serial killers do communicate with the public, police or press, sometimes verbally, sometimes written. The fact that none of the written communications(dear boss, from he'll, GSG) were ever found out to be hoaxes and the police at the time took them seriously should tell you something. And of course they all have possible ties to the crimes.

Some of the police later claiming that the dear boss or others were hoaxes and even that they know who did it shouldn't surprise anyone. They never caught the ripper, so why admit to the authenticity of possible clues, which would make them look worse.


Now, if you wanted to make the argument that post mortem serial killers are the type of serial killers that do not communicate (they don't) and since the ripper was this type then chances are he didn't communicate, I think that's the way to go. Or other type arguments. The reminisces many years later of wishful thinking police is not I would think.

[The Good Michael]

Publisher: Very good. Now, you need to get a kidney.

Reporter: Where am I going to get it?

Publisher: The same place you were going to get the ears.

Reporter: Oh yeah. Duh.



Mike

[Abby Normal]

Publisher: Very good. Now, you need to get a kidney.

Reporter: Where am I going to get it?

Publisher: The same place you were going to get the ears.

Reporter: Oh yeah. Duh.



Mike

Haha. Right, just down the local human body parts shop.

[SirJohnFalstaff]

I was of the opinion of the From Hell letter being a genuine JtR letter until I learned that Lusk received several fake letters. But there are two things that scratch my curiosity

1- The kidney: how serious are the allegations that the kidney received and Eddowes had the same disease? How common was that disease?

2- If this is Eddowes kidney, why keep it so long before mailing it. Did local parcels take very long to reach their destinations?

[c.d.]

Publisher: Very good. Now, you need to get a kidney.

Reporter: Where am I going to get it?

Publisher: The same place you were going to get the ears.

Reporter: Oh yeah. Duh.

Mike

I don't believe that it is unreasonable to think that a newspaper editor could have friends that worked in a hospital and could either procure a kidney or could offer a bribe to someone who could.

c.d.

[GUT]

I don't believe that it is unreasonable to think that a newspaper editor could have friends that worked in a hospital and could either procure a kidney or could offer a bribe to someone who could.

c.d.

Or maybe a crooked mortuary attendant?

[The Good Michael]

I don't believe that it is unreasonable to think that a newspaper editor could have friends that worked in a hospital and could either procure a kidney or could offer a bribe to someone who could.

I don't either. That sort of thing happens all the time.

Mike

[Abby Normal]

I was of the opinion of the From Hell letter being a genuine JtR letter until I learned that Lusk received several fake letters. But there are two things that scratch my curiosity

1- The kidney: how serious are the allegations that the kidney received and Eddowes had the same disease? How common was that disease?

2- If this is Eddowes kidney, why keep it so long before mailing it. Did local parcels take very long to reach their destinations?

Hi
Not sure on your first question, though I don't think it was ever determined for sure. To me though the fact that it was a human kidney extracted about the same time is pretty significicant.

On your second question, I would think that he did just what he said in the letter, preserved part of it and ate part of it. After keeping it for a while he decided to have some other kind of fun with it. Perhaps as kind of revenge for being interrupted so many times the nightnofnthe double event.

One thing for sure is that it would not be easy to procure a human kidney, no matter what your profession, and harder still to do it without anyone else knowing.

[The Good Michael]

The piece of kidney can be debated as the reports from different medicos vary somewhat. One said that both the Lusk kidney and the remaining piece in the body had Bright's disease. Openshaw confirmed that the kidney belonged to a woman of about 45 years old and who was an alcoholic, as did the piece left in the body. Smith said that the kidney was put in spirits within a few hours after its removal, so that it couldn't have come from a hospital as they would have used a charging fluid called formalin. Later, Brown seemed to contradict himself. He did add, however, the condition of the right kidney. The symptoms he listed point to Bright's disease as well. So, if we have a hoax, it was done by someone who saw the medical report which is possible, but then had to go out and find a kidney to match, which is also possible except that any medical place would have used formalin to charge the organ...or one is lead to believe.

There is a lot here that has to be considered in making this a hoax.

Cheers,

Mike