Does the Goulston Street Graffito eliminate Jewish Immigrants as suspects?

[Patrick Differ]

Motive is instrumental in finding any killer. Jacob Levy had motive , means and location on the night of clues.

I don't believe in " that many" coincidences when we are dealing with a legitimate suspect.

[c.d.]

This killer was shrewd, calculating and could charm these street wise women who knew JtR was on the prowl.

Given their circumstances, I don't think "charm" was a requirement for engaging with these women. Simply having money in hand and not sweating profusely while raving incoherently was probably more than sufficient.

c.d.

[Patrick Differ]

I don't know cd...Stride and Kelly come to mind as there was serious concern amongst these women certainly after Chapman. Prior to Eddowes and Stride there were throngs taking to the Streets to protest that there was no apprehension of the killer.

My guess is the habitual street walker would have already experienced abuse and may have felt they could handle or recognize a lunatic. I dont believe these women were shrinking violets and may have thought they were likely streetwise enough to survive. It won't happen to me?

Would these women, desperate for coin, just take on anyone? Or was there an unwritten standard of negotiating? If the idea is to get as much coin as possible and negotiate down then that would seem to make sense. Or was it always a wham, bam, thank you ma'am...

Chapman, Stride, Eddowes and Kelly were all seen in a discussion just before being murdered. Where they negotiating? I can't imagine it being anything else.

Would these women at least be in some mode of caution or were they so habitual it did not matter?

What about the killer in this case? He certainly knew how to persuade these women, even with Jack the Ripper on the loose he was persuasive and viewed as a non threat. Ordinary or a known puncher or someone who knew how to play the game.

This killer knew how to negotiate with these women. Chapman Stride and Kelly were heard answering questions regarding sex for money.

I would give these women a bit more credit for some level of caution in this case. Their hard life made them streetwise. I believe this killer had the same streetwise knowledge and a local Whitechapel resident.

My thought anyway.

[c.d.]

Hello Patrick,

I have no doubt that on occasion these women passed on a potential client who gave off bad vibes even if he appeared completely normal. But the question is how often could they afford to do that? They had drinking problems and needed a place to stay. That requires money. So just how discerning could they afford to be? If you want an omelet you have to break some eggs.

c.d.

[Lewis C]

Motive is instrumental in finding any killer. Jacob Levy had motive , means and location on the night of clues.

I don't believe in " that many" coincidences when we are dealing with a legitimate suspect.

Hi Patrick. I think that this killer's motive was that he had a fetish for mutilating women. I don't think we can know for any suspect whether or not he would have had that fetish. We know that Bury did mutilate a woman, but even with him, we don't know whether he dd it because of a fetish.

[c.d.]

This killer knew how to negotiate with these women. Chapman Stride and Kelly were heard answering questions regarding sex for money.

Well how difficult would that actually be? I mean its not like they were trying to negotiate an end to the Ukraine/Russia war. Once it was established that the woman was willing to exchange sex for money the only question would be the amount.

c.d.

[c.d.]

What about the killer in this case? He certainly knew how to persuade these women, even with Jack the Ripper on the loose he was persuasive and viewed as a non threat. Ordinary or a known puncher or someone who knew how to play the game.

Are you saying that in addition to holding out his money he had to be persuasive as well? I would think the money alone would be more than sufficient to seal the deal.

c.d.

[Patrick Differ]

Cd..if it was just a matter of money then why stand at a shutter, or passageway and have any discussion whatsoever.

It could be these women were so desperate they had to take the risk. The alternative being dire. However these women were used to living rough. Are you aware of any testimony from these women at the time? It's not clear they were pushovers.

[c.d.]

You've lost me here completely, Patrick. What did it take besides money to engage the services of these women? Flowers, candy, some flattering comments? This was prostitution not dating.

If there was any discussion, it would have been about what particular act was being requested, a negotiation of price and where they could go to engage in that act.

Now if you are implying that they feared falling victim to Jack, then I could see maybe a little chit chat back and forth so they could sum up the client. But I can't imagine that that would have been lengthy at all and Jack would only have to appear normal for a minute or two. The point being that pretty much any of the known suspects could have carried off that task. It didn't require an Oscar winning performance.

c.d.

[Simon Wood]

Hi All,

Everyone appears to be believing that the GSG story is true.

Please take a moment to think about it, guys.

Regards,

Simon

[Patrick Differ]

The original intent of the post was an attempt to better understand the reason for the Apron dump at Goulston Street and Graffito. Whether they could in fact be related and if so was it an attempt to implicate Immigrant Jews?

Reason: the Immigrant Jews were under assault and already convicted in the Court of public opinion, especially after Chapman and the Leather Apron saga. The GSG, using double negatives in the sentence structure essentially pointed to Jews. It would be specifically the Immigrant and not the Anglo Jewish Englishman.
( Note: the Anglo Jews at this time were also in a persecution mode against immigrants as documented in the Jewish Chronical and Workers Friend )

So what was happening in Whitechapel between Chapmans murder and the Stride and Eddowes murders? Consider the following from the East London Observer, 15 September, 1888.

Title: A Riot against the Jews

" On Saturday in several quarters of East London the crowds who assembled in the streets began to assume very threatening attitudes towards the Hebrew population. It was repeatedly asserted that no Englishman would have perpetrated the murder on Hanbury Street, and that it must have been done by a JEW- and forthwith the crowds began to abuse the Hebrew on streets. Happily the presence of a large number of Police prevented a riot on the Streets".

The killer would no doubt have gotten this picture as the anti semitic press was contributing to the anti Jewish Narrative.

What did Charles Warren do when he saw the graffito? He was concerned about a riot was his reasoning and no doubt Trafalgar Square loomed large in his mind.

The only positive proof the Killer was at Goulston Street was the Apron. However that means he was at the spot the graffito was written. Does that increase the odds he wrote it? If its a binary choice of, he wrote it or didnt, that puts the odds at 50/50. But if he was also there...than its a better than 50% chance he wrote it.

Who then would want to implicate the immigrant Jews further than they already were??? You have 2 choices in this case.
Non Jews or the Anglo Jewish Immigrants.

I do not believe that this killer would have sought to draw more attention to himself. He was not done killing.

In retrospect dropping the Apron at a Jewish Dwelling alone would be enough to cause a riot. But just in case ..he leaves a definitive straight forward message implicating immigrant Jews.

[Patrick Differ]

Correction- 2 choices...the Non Jews or Anglo Jews.

[Patrick Differ]

Hi cd.- you might be right about the process of exchanging sex for money. And not much of a dance. Charles Booth and Jack London did some work in this area and sex trafficking appeared to also be pervasive. But I'm not sure that prostitutes and their business was described by them. How it worked. I feel less inclined to denigrate them considering they all had pasts. How did it actually work..maybe you can point me in that direction?

My only other thought on this point is whether a known seemingly harmless local might be more apt to gain trust in these women who may have been on guard. Did it matter or was it only about money? I don't honestly know.

Turn over every stone even if it leads to a dead end.

[c.d.]

Hi Patrick,

The only safe way to avoid the Ripper would be for them to have avoided the streets all together. But if the need for money led them to the streets the problem was that (and I am sure they realized this) Jack could appear completely normal. So while they were probably a little more discerning and skittish than normal at some point they had to take the risk.

How did it actually work..maybe you can point me in that direction?

I will have to leave that up to someone more versed in Victorian mores. But again I will say that I don't think it was a complicated process.

c.d.

[c.d.]

As a point of reference -- BTK was a husband, father, elder in his church, and a Cub Scout troop leader. I remember hearing one of the police officers who caught him saying I was shocked at how absolutely normal he appeared to be.

c.d.