The GSG - Did Jack write it? POLL

[Herlock Sholmes]

We know that anti-Semitism was rife at the time. We know that Arnold and Warren were concerned that the graffiti could have caused riots.

Wouldn't someone have been taking a huge risk in writing a message, which could possibly be construed as anti-Semitic, in daylight with people going in and out of the building and people walking up and down the street?

Much safer to write it at night I suggest.

[Abby Normal]

Hello AbbyThere were few street lights in Goulston Street, the moon was low in the sky and in precisely the wrong place to cast any light on (or into) the doorway... besides, there was significant cloud cover, reported to be 100%.Quite a juggling-act, I'd have thought - and, for such a (comparatively) lengthy message, he'd have needed more than one. Yet no spent match-sticks appear to have been found at the scene.
In small, tidy letters? From memory, most of them were three-quarters of an inch high.

To me, the GSG bears all the hallmarks of someone taking their time in reasonable lighting conditions, to write a neat message on a wall.

Sam I'm 50 years old and I've been all over the world, in big cities, little towns, suburbs, country and wilderness.

It's never been pitch black any where.

Except in the few caves I've been in or completely closed off rooms.

The darkest place outside I've ever been is in deep woods camping many times, and it's still never been pitch black. It's physically impossible.

[Harry D]

If the killer did write the GSG, what do people suppose was his motivation?

Assuming the killer never communicated through other channels, this was his big moment to give himself a voice. Did he just want to bitch about der juden? Or do people think he was deliberately trying to foment the antisemitism in the area? Personally, I don't believe this was anything but antisemitic. "The Juwes are the men that will not be blamed for nothing", i.e. the Jews never take responsibility/always play the victim. But I don't understand why the killer took the risk just to leave a cryptic message that told us nothing about the murderer or the murders, other than he was an antisemite.

[Abby Normal]

If the killer did write the GSG, what do people suppose was his motivation?

Assuming the killer never communicated through other channels, this was his big moment to give himself a voice. Did he just want to bitch about der juden? Or do people think he was deliberately trying to foment the antisemitism in the area? Personally, I don't believe this was anything but antisemitic. "The Juwes are the men that will not be blamed for nothing", i.e. the Jews never take responsibility/always play the victim. But I don't understand why the killer took the risk just to leave a cryptic message that told us nothing about the murderer or the murders, other than he was an antisemite.

It doesn't matter what we think why he did it. Only he knows why and what it meant. Just go with the evidence and circus of the night and it's more than likely he wrote it.

I've got a pretty good idea why I think he wrote it and what he meant by it, but it's basically the consensus view. He was pissed he got interrupted by Jews that night and or wanted to shift blame.

[Sam Flynn]

Sam I'm 50 years old and I've been all over the world, in big cities, little towns, suburbs, country and wilderness. It's never been pitch black any where.

Nobody's saying it was pitch black, Abby. Just very, very dark. Too dark, perhaps, to write small, neat letters on a confined, vertical surface.

PS: I'm the same age, and an amateur astronomer. It really can get close to being pitch-black at times.

[Sam Flynn]

It doesn't matter what we think why he did it. Only he knows why and what it meant. Just go with the evidence and circus of the night and it's more than likely he wrote it.

I've got a pretty good idea why I think he wrote it and what he meant by it, but it's basically the consensus view. He was pissed he got interrupted by Jews that night and or wanted to shift blame.

That being the case, why didn't he just write "Cohen done it" instead of all that cryptic nonsense?

[Pierre]

That being the case, why didn't he just write "Cohen done it" instead of all that cryptic nonsense?

Stride was a failure.

The GSG was a failure.

The MO was more difficult than expected.

For every failed action the risk increased.

For every failed action the outcome became less satisfactory.

The sum if it all demanded a new type of action.

[etenguy]

Nobody's saying it was pitch black, Abby. Just very, very dark. Too dark, perhaps, to write small, neat letters on a confined, vertical surface.

PS: I'm the same age, and an amateur astronomer. It really can get close to being pitch-black at times.

We seem to be going in circles.

Let's accept it was very dark that night. The murderer may or may not have left the GSG. If he did, he may have had a light source, after all there was some time to account for. I think we have to accept it was possible he wrote the message. So we probably need to find other sources to help us decide whether we think he did.

It had rained heavily that night. Chances are that any old message would have been rain streaked, even if partly sheltered. It seems to me that if the message was rain streaked, it would not have been connected with being written that night. Despite the difficulty of working in the dark, I think it probable that the murderer did write the message.

[Sam Flynn]

Let's accept it was very dark that night.

Indeed, because it most assuredly was.

It had rained heavily that night. Chances are that any old message would have been rain streaked, even if partly sheltered.

It's surprising how fresh a chalked message on a brick wall can look, even in rainy conditions, and especially if partly sheltered. Don't forget that if, as seems probable, the message was missed the first time round by PC Long, it had already been exposed to the elements for at least an hour.

I remember seeing chalked messages on the walls at school which stayed good for days on end.

[Callmebill]

Strike a light

He could, of course, have carried a light with him --- matches, lamp, candle ... The arrogance of a psychopath. He's cleverer than all of them and he's showing he has time, not just to scrawl a message, but write neatly.

[The Good Michael]

If it was written by the killer then the reason it was written at night was because that's when he was out and about.

So He was never out during the day? Had no days off? I suggest the idea of the killer writing this is a great stretch. If he really cared about a message, he would have put it there when conditions were good for writing quickly and neatly, even if done in stages.

Mike

[The Good Michael]

Nobody's saying it was pitch black, Abby. Just very, very dark. Too dark, perhaps, to write small, neat letters on a confined, vertical surface.

PS: I'm the same age, and an amateur astronomer. It really can get close to being pitch-black at times.

I've been in many places where there's no way I could write at night, even with a gibbous moon.

Mike

[Abby Normal]

I've been in many places where there's no way I could write at night, even with a gibbous moon.

Mike

Well then your writing and eyesite isn't up to much is it old man? ; )

[Abby Normal]

That being the case, why didn't he just write "Cohen done it" instead of all that cryptic nonsense?

Why would anyone write graffiti in cryptic nonsense?

Think about it.

[The Good Michael]

Well then your writing and eyesite isn't up to much is it old man? ; )

I just had a vision test a month ago. It's perfect. That sucks because I really wanted some glasses.

Mike