The GSG - Did Jack write it? POLL

[GUT]

IF Jacky boy wrote it

Why?

and

Why so vague?

[pinkmoon]

IF Jacky boy wrote it

Why?

and

Why so vague?

Absolutely no reference to the fact he had just killed at least one women quite possibly two .

[Harry D]

IF Jacky boy wrote it

Why?

and

Why so vague?

Is it as vague as all that, though?

Okay, if you took the double-negative literally than maybe, but otherwise it's an unambiguous statement about Jews never taking responsibility.

[Wickerman]

Okay, if you took the double-negative literally than maybe, but otherwise it's an unambiguous statement about Jews never taking responsibility.

Which is applicable to a range of situations.

[Scott Nelson]

Young Simon Delafuente wrote it.

[Jon Guy]

Young Simon Delafuente wrote it.

Did he live in the building, Scott ?

[Scott Nelson]

Yes. He also attended the Jews Free School in Bell Lane. (source of chalk)

[DJA]

Given the style of the handwriting and the start of the teaching term immediately after that weekend,we could be seeking a lecturer.

Several decades ago,it was not uncommon at my school for a teacher to spend their own time doing up two or three black/green boards for their students' benefit.

[etenguy]

I believe the balance of probability is that the message was left by the murderer. Reasons for believing that include:
1. juxtaposition with apron segment
2. the message could not be that old (London weather or offended Jew would have erased it or degraded it if it had been there any length of time)
3. Juwes is the only potential misspelling - Jews is an easy word to spell compared to others used and a well known word in the area - suggests a specific message might have been intended.
4. there is a significant history of serial killers leaving or sending messages - zodiac (both), son of Sam, BTK strangler and the Yorkshire Ripper for example.

[Sam Flynn]

4. there is a significant history of serial killers leaving or sending messages - zodiac (both), son of Sam, BTK strangler and the Yorkshire Ripper for example.

The Yorkshire Ripper messages weren't sent by the killer, Peter Sutcliffe, but by a hoaxer named John Humble. As to the others, it may be significant that their reigns of terror lasted several months, if not years; very different to Jack the Ripper, who was active for only a few weeks.

So, far from there being a significant history of killers writing messages, it seems to be a comparatively unusual behaviour, when one considers the far greater number of killers who did not. The picture is certainly a complex one.

[Herlock Sholmes]

I believe the balance of probability is that the message was left by the murderer. Reasons for believing that include:
1. juxtaposition with apron segment
2. the message could not be that old (London weather or offended Jew would have erased it or degraded it if it had been there any length of time)
3. Juwes is the only potential misspelling - Jews is an easy word to spell compared to others used and a well known word in the area - suggests a specific message might have been intended.
4. there is a significant history of serial killers leaving or sending messages - zodiac (both), son of Sam, BTK strangler and the Yorkshire Ripper for example.

Hi,

Welcome to the Forum.

One point that I'd add to your list is the time gap between the murder of CE and the earliest time that the cloth could have been discarded. For this we have to trust that PC Long did indeed look into the doorway at 2.20 and saw no message and no apron. Of course we have to accept at least the possibility that he didn't bother or that he just had a cursory look and didn't notice either of them. If Long was correct and they weren't there at 2.20 but were there at 2.50 we have a gap of between 45 and 70 minutes. What was the Ripper doing in that time? Surely he would have wanted to get away from the area and off the streets? It's been suggested that he might have had a 'bolt hole.' This is possible but the question becomes even more pertinent: why did he leave the safety of his 'bolt hole' to return to an area with an increased police presence? The only answer that I can come up with is that he wanted to 'display' the apron and therefore the message.
I've also made the suggestion recently (my apologies if someone had made it before) that maybe Jack wrote the GSG directly after leaving Berner Street (angry at being interrupted) and later thought of leaving the cloth to draw attention to it?
Jack or not? We just can't say for certain.

[Callmebill]

I may not vote in this poll! Hmmph.
I'm always late.
But I vote yes.
He wouldn't have had time to write a message at the Eddowes killing site. But he was euphoric. On a high. He wanted the world to know how clever he was. Not only did he get away with murder, he kept the world puzzling over the meaning of that message for a over a century. Literally, tied by its apron strings to the corpse.

[Harry D]

The Yorkshire Ripper messages weren't sent by the killer, Peter Sutcliffe, but by a hoaxer named John Humble. As to the others, it may be significant that their reigns of terror lasted several months, if not years; very different to Jack the Ripper, who was active for only a few weeks.

So, far from there being a significant history of killers writing messages, it seems to be a comparatively unusual behaviour, when one considers the far greater number of killers who did not. The picture is certainly a complex one.

Beat me to it, Sam.

Also, ironically, some of those killers mentioned may have been influenced by the unsubstantiated belief that JTR communicated with the police/press.

[Sam Flynn]

Also, ironically, some of those killers mentioned may have been influenced by the unsubstantiated belief that JTR communicated with the police/press.

That's a fascinating observation, Harry, and you may well be right. Certainly, John Humble's hoaxes were directly inspired by the JTR case, and I can't see why one or more of the other (genuine) killers shouldn't have been influenced either.

[etenguy]

The Yorkshire Ripper messages weren't sent by the killer, Peter Sutcliffe, but by a hoaxer named John Humble. As to the others, it may be significant that their reigns of terror lasted several months, if not years; very different to Jack the Ripper, who was active for only a few weeks.

So, far from there being a significant history of killers writing messages, it seems to be a comparatively unusual behaviour, when one considers the far greater number of killers who did not. The picture is certainly a complex one.

Apologies for messing up in my first post to the site with a bad example. Doesn't bode well. But there are other examples, and a number of them, including killers calling their victim's families to taunt them. It may be too far to say this makes the phenomenon usual behaviour, but I think it suggests it is not unusual. But, as you say, this is a complex area.