"...I may send you the bloody knif..."

[mklhawley]

Greetings,

Assuming the From Hell letter actually came from JTR (as argued on other threads), might he have revealed something when he stated, "I may send you the bloody knif that took it out if you only wate a whil longer".

1) Could this suggest his killings have an end date (as what occurred)? Could it be because he was not from the area and will be leaving and no longer needs the knife? He probably would not want to travel with it.

2) The knife was never sent. Could this mean future events did not go as planned for JTR, such as getting arrested and having to make a quick exit (notice how I slipped in Tumblety)?

Mike

[Archaic]

re: From Hell

Hi, Mike.

While of course the full meaning of the famous 'From Hell' letter is open to interpretation, I feel that the two questions you posed are probably too speculative in nature to ever really be answered...But that doesn't mean than reasonable inferences can't be drawn from this letter.

There is a decidedly taunting tone throughout the 'From Hell' letter. In my opinion the killer was having his idea of "fun" with the Vigilance Committee, the police, and the public by indulging in what today we would call 'mind games'. He sent the piece of human kidney along with this letter as a way of showing off his murder-trophy, claiming credit for his deed, and enjoying the shock it would produce.

If you examine the 'knife' remark in this context, I believe you'll see that the killer has just sent an organ from the deceased victim, which he daringly removed on the spot at the murder scene. Doing so proves that he is the one who committed the crime and affords him the satisfaction of displaying his gruesome trophy in public. He obviously enjoys causing others to experience the sensation of horror. Sending the kidney also reinforces the message that the authorities failed to catch him, because he got away with the deed is now writing at his leisure from a safe place.

By sarcastically offering to also send the knife along at a later date- presumably when he himself is done using it- the killer is mocking the efforts of those who are pursuing him. His sarcastic taunt, while pretending to be helpful, clearly implies that the police will never find the murder weapon on their own, because he, the Ripper, will never be caught. Even his use of the phrase "If you only wait a while longer" is a slam- obviously, the police and the Vigilance Committee aren't "waiting", they are actively seeking him!

I believe that all of these clever taunts and jabs are key components of the killer's highly egotistical, manipulative and bloody "little games", and that he derived great pleasure from them.

Best regards, Archaic

[mklhawley]

Quite convincing Archaic. This seems to mean that not only is JTR satisfying some type of urge to kill, he is now confidently enjoying the public reaction and the cat-n-mouse game. The attention his killings were receiving must have given him a high.

Mike

[perrymason]

I think Mike that the kidney section, if actually sent by the killer, is an offer to Lusk to "commune" with him. Why Lusk? Hes a local ordinary man,....just like Jack was most likely.

And I think his text shows us that longing to share what he has become with someone. There had to be no-one more alone than Jack the Ripper at that time and place.

But because he is a local man, and has no great love of Police since Trafalgar Square, he doesnt reach out to them or the press,...just to someone who knows first hand what the sewer that he is rising out of is really like.

My best regards

[mklhawley]

So Michael,

Your belief is that JTF sent it to Lusk for Lusk himself, as opposed to using Lusk as a vehicle to get the word out to the public (or both?). Now, if it is true he was a local, any thoughts on why the JFT-style murders ended? Something unexpected must have happened, or it would seem his lust for killing would have continued.

Mike

[c.d.]

If the letter is genuine, I have always thought that maybe Jack had been stopped on the street and hassled a bit by some of Lusk's people throwing their weight around. It would be difficult to find out the names and addresses of the people that actually did that to him. Much easier to find out the name and address of the man in charge. Basically, it was just a **** you letter. A little bit of pay back.

c.d.

[mklhawley]

In the "Another Landlady ...Letter" thread, Stewart Evans posted an article of a landlady claiming (two years later) that a man had a "liver" in an envelope addressed to the Vigilance Committee, and then a couple others to newspaper agencies and the police. She then said he forgot to send the others, so she threw them away. This does conform to the From Hell letter having only a partial kidney. If this was true and the lodger was JTR, then he may not have been focused on Lusk but on getting the message out. Of course, there are a thousand assumptions and ifs.

Mike

[perrymason]

So Michael,

Your belief is that JTF sent it to Lusk for Lusk himself, as opposed to using Lusk as a vehicle to get the word out to the public (or both?). Now, if it is true he was a local, any thoughts on why the JFT-style murders ended? Something unexpected must have happened, or it would seem his lust for killing would have continued.

Mike

Hi Mike,

Its my belief that IF the real Ripper wrote the note with the kidney section enclosed then he intended the communication to be between himself and Lusk....although Im sure he knew very well that eventually this would be taken to the Police and it would be known about beyond Lusk.

But doesnt it seem that Lusk reacts on a personal level to this package? He doesnt even tell anyone he received it for almost 2 days, and he wants it out of his sight as soon as he shows it to his Committee members.

In my own mind I would think that if someone received something like this addressed to him personally under the same conditions, meaning, a communication from a killer at large who is terrorizing his neighborhood, the receiver would seek protection from the Police as soon as possible. I assume he would be terrified and believe himself to be in danger.

Yet Lusk just seems to react as if he had a letter from someone he didnt want to hear from or have anything to do with.

This package arrives after Lusk has sought Police protection already, he has had someone watching him in the days before this package arrives, and I believe received a communique supposedly from the killer before this package.

Yet he waits 2 days before even acknowledging it.

Is Lusk afraid for his safety...or unwilling to face the package and what it might mean to him?

Best regards

[ChrisGeorge]

Greetings,

Assuming the From Hell letter actually came from JTR (as argued on other threads), might he have revealed something when he stated, "I may send you the bloody knif that took it out if you only wate a whil longer".

The statement "I may send you the bloody knif that took it out if you only wate a whil longer" is typical of the bravado seen in many of the JtR letters. Read Evans and Skinner's excellent Jack the Ripper: Letters from Hell and you will see the tone in the letters is similar in most of them.

1) Could this suggest his killings have an end date (as what occurred)? Could it be because he was not from the area and will be leaving and no longer needs the knife? He probably would not want to travel with it.

2) The knife was never sent. Could this mean future events did not go as planned for JTR, such as getting arrested and having to make a quick exit (notice how I slipped in Tumblety)?

Mike

As Archaic stated, it's hard to speculate on the little information we have. The letters are filled with threats and "predictions" which did not come about.

Chris

[mklhawley]

I would like to read Evans and Skinner's book. Thanks!

[Archaic]

Ain't We Got Fun?

Hi, Mike.
'Letters From Hell' is one of my favorite books, I can't recommend it highly enough.

It's interesting that you used the phrase "cat-and-mouse game" in your reply to me, because when I was writing that post I was remembering how a young cat of mine was once blissfully batting something around on the porch, and I thought it was a catnip toy... A few minutes later I was horrified to find out that it was a tiny live field-mouse! I finally got it away from her and released it in what I hoped was a safe place.

>What stuck in my mind was how much fun my cat was having and the way she seemed to be pretending that the mouse was enjoying it too! She was so insanely blissed out it was like she was on drugs; she was practically doing back-flips from sheer joy. Of course it was a living hell for the helpless young mouse, which was obviously in shock. The awful dichotomy was rather disconcerting to me.

The author of the From Hell letter intentionally adopts that innocuous "you-and-me-are-having-such-a-good-time-with-this" tone that it often strikes me that he is almost pretending to be the blissful cat, just doing what comes naturally to him.
Pretending to believe that the torturous game is fun for all concerned, and that the question of Human Morality doesn't even apply.

Of course the Ripper adopted this confiding tone and weirdly friendly persona so that his letters were even more disconcerting and creepy for those receiving them, but I'm convinced that this little charade about "shared" pleasure gave him genuine pleasure of a very unsavory kind.

Best regards, Archaic

PS: Mike, please say hello to Niagara for me- I miss Upstate New York!

[mklhawley]

Yes, I live five minutes from the Falls. ...and there are people who live around me that have never visited Niagara Falls!

Part of my personal research (a book still at the publishers, which takes forever!) focused upon emotional decision-making, which occurs in the limbic system of the human brain. Lots of research has been done on the amygdala, which is the area that controls activiities such as sympathy. One article (I'll try to find it) claimed that the only correlation between all serial killers was an unusually small amygdala, and not an irregular childhood. To have no concern at all about a victim is mindboggling, but as in the case with cats and serial killers it's just like playing with a toy.

The book is on my Christmas list.

Sincerely,

Mike

[Archaic]

Neuro-Psychiatry

Hello again Mike.
I have a friend who is a an MD/PHD in Neurology; we have had some interesting discussions.

One of the most interesting new frontiers in Neuro-Psychology is the study of how the human brain "wires itself" as it develops.

A child is born with a brain that is in the process of growing and developing.
Neuro-Psychiatric studies have shown that events in childhood can actually impact the manner in which a child's brain "builds" its own neural circuitry.

I wonder if that's why the amygdalas of serial killers are often smaller than normal, or if it is partly caused by aberrant neural development during childhood and partly a result of something like genetics or perhaps exposure to chemicals, hormones, drugs, etc., while in the womb?

Here's a basic article about Neuro-Psychiatry that might be of interest.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuropsychiatry

Best regards, Archaic

-Your neighbors won't travel 5 minutes to see Niagara Falls? LOL. Why, not big & impressive enough??
Yeah, I know that mentality; I have relatives in New York City that basically never got off the block they were born on.

Takes all kinds I guess... But I have to admit that I've never gotten over the fact that they couldn't give me directions to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the simple reason that they had never bothered to go!

[mklhawley]

Interesting question on the amygdala, Archaic. I would love to know what your neurology friend's opinion is on that question. Could the hardwiring have an effect? Could it be genetics, but if that's the case then serial killer pre-disposition would be passed on from generation to generation. There was a fictional serial killer movie a few years ago, where a daughter became the next generation serial killer. That was fiction, though.

Mike

[Archaic]

Frontal Lobes

One of the area of the brain that my Neurologist friend and I have discussed are the Frontal Lobes, and how damage or dysfunction there can drastically affect an individual's emotional and social behavior, including their ability to control impulses.

This excerpt is from the Frontal Lobes page TBI/Traumatic Brian Injury website at http://www.neuroskills.com/tbi/bfrontal.shtml.
(There is also a flash movie if you're interested.)

"The frontal lobes are considered our emotional control center and home to our personality. There is no other part of the brain where lesions can cause such a wide variety of symptoms (Kolb & Wishaw, 1990). The frontal lobes are involved in motor function, problem solving, spontaneity, memory, language, initiation, judgement, impulse control, and social and sexual behavior.

The frontal lobes are extremely vulnerable to injury due to their location at the front of the cranium, proximity to the sphenoid wing and their large size. MRI studies have shown that the frontal area is the most common region of injury following mild to moderate traumatic brain injury. (Levin et al., 1987).


Personally I believe that the complex interplay of many factors, both "nature" and "nurture", are involved in the sad development of a human being into a serial killer- and into the mix I think we also have to add the crucial element of Free Will, because no individual is a robot.
Unless a person is utterly insane, there's always an element of choice, and they are responsible for their actions.

(For instance, they may have poor impulse control, but do they choose to "give in" to impulses which they know are harmful to others and wrong because they enjoy doing so, or do they make an effort to manage those impulses?)

It's a fascinating subject.

Best regards, Archaic