Lusk Letter sent to George Lusk of the vigilante committee

[Fisherman]

60/40 it was from the ripper. i have never bought it would be that easy for someone to get their hands on a human kidney and would someone from the medical profession risk their career on a joke? Plus, something i think gets overlooked is that when all the other hoax letters are pouring in signed Jack the Ripper, the from hell letter was not, which in my opinion also points to authenticity.

Why do you suppose he gave up communicating after that? The Kelly deed provided him with the opportunity to post anything from clipped of toenails to slices of the liver - but no such thing. And no message in the room, other than the one brough over by the overall impression.

Any guess?

The best,
Fisherman

[pinkmoon]

60/40 it was from the ripper. i have never bought it would be that easy for someone to get their hands on a human kidney and would someone from the medical profession risk their career on a joke? Plus, something i think gets overlooked is that when all the other hoax letters are pouring in signed Jack the Ripper, the from hell letter was not, which in my opinion also points to authenticity.

I believed the dear boss letter was genuine for over twenty years I now think it a hoax the lusk letter could have been sent to somewhere else to gain more publicity I think it was sent to scare Mr lusk.Could our killer have been upset by been disturbed during the stride killing or even possibly the eddowes killing.

[Abby Normal]

If it was a hoax it would have cost the hoaxer a few quid if they had to buy the kidney though someone in the medical profession could have access to a kidney.Surely a hoaxer would send the kidney to a newspaper or high ranking police officer to gain maximum effect to send it to lusk could mean that the sender was not happy with all the extra people on the streets making it harder for him to kill. So conclusion is that it is more likely that the lusk letter is from our killer unless Mr lusk sent it to himself he did wait two days to report the fact.What do you think?

60/40 it was from the ripper. i have never bought it would be that easy for someone to get their hands on a human kidney and would someone from the medical profession risk their career on a joke? Plus, something i think gets overlooked is that when all the other hoax letters are pouring in signed Jack the Ripper, the from hell letter was not, which in my opinion also points to authenticity.

[pinkmoon]

If the letter was true then it makes whoever killed Kate and Liz a cannibal as well as an organ collector. I've always found this letter to be the most interesting because of the direct referencing and cry for authenticity.

If it was a hoax it would have cost the hoaxer a few quid if they had to buy the kidney though someone in the medical profession could have access to a kidney.Surely a hoaxer would send the kidney to a newspaper or high ranking police officer to gain maximum effect to send it to lusk could mean that the sender was not happy with all the extra people on the streets making it harder for him to kill. So conclusion is that it is more likely that the lusk letter is from our killer unless Mr lusk sent it to himself he did wait two days to report the fact.What do you think?

[El White Chap]

If the letter was true then it makes whoever killed Kate and Liz a cannibal as well as an organ collector. I've always found this letter to be the most interesting because of the direct referencing and cry for authenticity.

[sdreid]

I think it was mailed 125 years ago tomorrow.

[AdamWalsh]

Went to the London Dungeon the other day - there was one funny bit in the Jack The Ripper section where the guide was telling us about the letters and he says "...and then came the infamous From Hell letter which was signed at the bottom - Jack The Ripper" - I held myself back from putting my hand up and correcting him by saying "Actually it was signed Catch me if you can mishter Lusk" but didnt want to make him or myself look like an *******. Anyway - yeah it was alright, they had a tiny replica "Ten Bells" pub - I was thinking whats the point when the real one still exists - but yeah it was ok.

Why would Jack show respect to the police by calling them Sir?

I agree with what you've said, however i wouldn't consider any of the communications by letters of any kind during the Ripper killings, too many nutcases and also copycats & coincidences at the time and after.

[BLUE WIZZARD]

Sir

Why would Jack show respect to the police by calling them Sir?

[Mascara & Paranoia]

You can clearly tell that it says 'sir' and not 'sor' in the letter; it's just where the joint handwritting meets.

Just an observation.

[Monty]

Mike

Absolutely.

In the article I recently did for this months Rip, it became obvious to me that Lusk was very fearful of the letter. Aarons saw this in his friend and it was he who pushed for it to be invesigate, in hopes maybe that it would bring a piece of mind to Lusk.

Its when you couple the parcel with Lusks wife that you have an understanding of the possible impact it would have had upon him

[The Good Michael]

Monty,

I would have freaked out had that been sent to me. With 120 year-old glasses, one can make light of it a bit. Your point is taken about the seriousness of the communication for a contemporary.

Cheers,

Mike

[Monty]

Hoax or not, and Lusk himself felt it was, the fact that its was a kidney he received must have had a personal impact.

I wouldnt be surprised if it was sent by someone who knew him and his life.

Monty

[The Good Michael]

But a casual hoaxer could easily imagine himself being a music-hall Irishman and dropping in a few words.

I think that would be a casual hoaxer who is playing a prank and is obvious about it. I don't think he can imagine that it would be taken seriously, and so he is, with tongue in cheek, playing the Irish role. Had he thrown in a, "Jaysus, Mary, and Joseph," he would have sealed the deal.

Cheers,

Mike

[fido]

What an amazing thread!
I can't contribute anything to the learned anatomical debaters. But my own reason for believing the letter to be a hoax is very simple. The misspellings "Sor", "prasarved' and "Mishter" were all used by Victorian writers trying to imitate a comic Irish accent phonetically. (See Samuel Lovett's Handy Andy if you doubt me). I can't believe that anyone trying to cast serious suspicion on the Irish would restrict himself to three words of brogue with no supporting content ,and obviously no Irishman would be writing his accent in a misrepresentative phonetic spelling. But a casual hoaxer could easily imagine himself being a music-hall Irishman and dropping in a few words.
All the best,
Martin F