Real, prank, or other?

[GUT]

What doesn't ring true to me is the offer to send the tool of his trade to Lusk.
That just doesn't sound to me like what a real killer would do.
A hoaxer might write that for shock value, but wouldn't a killer be more attached to his tool of choice?

But of course, certainly as far as we know, he never sent it, so just shock value as was the kidne.

[gnote]

What doesn't ring true to me is the offer to send the tool of his trade to Lusk.
That just doesn't sound to me like what a real killer would do.
A hoaxer might write that for shock value, but wouldn't a killer be more attached to his tool of choice?

Perhaps. Either way it's only a letter.

I don't see why a killer would have to follow through in order for it to be genuine. Dishonesty probably wasn't a concern. The "threat" may have been more than enough.

[curious4]

I can see a couple of problems with this. First of all, if you’re going to mail out your prized Eddowes kidney, do you really want to rely on Joe from the pub, with a foreign accent no less, to get you the right address? Second, once the news broke about the letter and the kidney, Joe from the pub could start scratching his chin and putting two and two together, and he could end up putting the police onto your scent. If nothing else, he might be able to give them a very good description of you. If I’m Jack, I don’t think I’d want to involve any strangers in this caper. This would be a job for one of my buddies.



What would have been the big deal about sending a man who was six feet tall to get an address for you?



Why would a man with an Irish accent effect an Irish accent in the letter? Wouldn’t he just spell (or misspell) the words normally?

Hello Wyatt

Very good point. However, I think it is now agreed that the writer actually wrote "Sir" - it's just very sloppy (or disturbed) handwriting.

Best wishes
C4

[Steadmund Brand]

I'm with GUT on this... I kind of lean towards real.. however I have always thought it was something Lusk may have done himself... and the reason... to make himself appear to be more important than he really was... if the press would write that the killer was taunting Lusk instead of the Police...that makes Lusk look BIGGER AND MORE IMPORTANT than the police, ya know that old.... who needs the coppers when we the vigilance committee will protect you folks.....


just a thought.... but again.. I kinda think it's real


Steadmund Brand


P.S hey GUT don't let this go to your head hahahah --- Go Lions!!!

[pinkmoon]

I'm with GUT on this... I kind of lean towards real.. however I have always thought it was something Lusk may have done himself... and the reason... to make himself appear to be more important than he really was... if the press would write that the killer was taunting Lusk instead of the Police...that makes Lusk look BIGGER AND MORE IMPORTANT than the police, ya know that old.... who needs the coppers when we the vigilance committee will protect you folks.....


just a thought.... but again.. I kinda think it's real


Steadmund Brand


P.S hey GUT don't let this go to your head hahahah --- Go Lions!!!

Mr Lusk did wait two days before going to the police which I find strange unless he knew who had sent it .call me old fashioned but if I received a parcel containing a human kidney sent by a deranged killer who knew my address I wouldn't wait two days as the chairman and life president of the cowards society I would open my front door and run and keep running till I reached the nearest police station.

[Natasha]

I agree with some of the other posters. If it was a hoax why no trademark signature? Also it's too coincidental that a kidney was sent and Eddowe's was missing. I can't remember weather the papers published detailed info about the mutilations before the letter was sent to Lusk. But I don't think there was mention in the inquest papers.

What about Albert Bachert, could he have sent it to Lusk?

I think also that Lusk would be less inclined to go to the police, as he after all was trying to play some sort of investigative role by trying to catch the ripper himself.

[Rosella]

I always thought Lusk regarded the letter and kidney as a horrible practical joke. However, he must have been in two minds about it as he locked both in his desk instead of throwing them away and mentioned them to members of the Vigilance Committee the next day.

Maybe Lusk was regarded as a bit of a tiresome nuisance by the police at the time (wasn't this around the time that he requested police protection because he was convinced that a bearded man was watching his house) and so he was hesitant to show them the exhibits?

[Wyatt Earp]

Hello Wyatt

Very good point. However, I think it is now agreed that the writer actually wrote "Sir" - it's just very sloppy (or disturbed) handwriting.

Best wishes
C4

No, I think it’s “Sor.” All of the lower-case i’s in the letter are accompanied by an i-dot. Besides, there are other Irishisms in the letter.

[RockySullivan]

Genuine and I believe they key is finding the connection between Lusk and the whitehall building.

[Abby Normal]

No, I think it’s “Sor.” All of the lower-case i’s in the letter are accompanied by an i-dot. Besides, there are other Irishisms in the letter.

yup-and it seems that the writer was drunk when writing. hes even slurring his words-"Mishter Lusk". HAHA ; )

[Bridewell]

yup-and it seems that the writer was drunk when writing. hes even slurring his words-"Mishter Lusk". HAHA ; )

I've always wondered why an 'h' was inserted into 'Mister' and why the 'e' was omitted from 'knife'. Why would someone know about the silent 'k' but not that the word ended in 'e'?

Is there, I wonder, a specific mental disorder wherein the sufferer frequently omits the final letter of some written words?

If any letter is genuine it's this one.

[Rosella]

In the study 'Cockney past and present' by William Matthews it's stated that in Cockney speech 'er' was commonly pronounced as 'ar' in the 19th century and that 'sh' was widely substituted for 's'. Whoever the writer was, he'd gone to school in the British Isles because this letter, rough though it is, is set out in the English copybook style taught in British schools, Ireland as well. Also the 'Mr' above the line is seen in most English letters of the 18th and 19th centuries.

[Natasha]

We may have been sidetracked here, in thinking the writer was Irish. What if the writer was just taking the mickey out of Lusk, because Lusk was Irish?

Genuine and I believe they key is finding the connection between Lusk and the whitehall building.

The only thing I can think is that perhaps Lusk was somehow part of the Fenian group and was partly responsible for the 1883 Whitehall bomb. Long stretch I know. Just an idea.

[Rosella]

I thought both George and his wife were born in Stepney?

[Natasha]

I thought both George and his wife were born in Stepney?

Hi Rosella,

I should have been a bit clearer, I meant he was of Irish ancestry. So if I'm right that the autour of the letter was taking the p by using Irishisms, and was the killer of Eddowes, then he most defo knew Lusk and his history. Could that mean by researching Lusk a bit more, we can find out more about the killer? I wonder