Originally posted by Patrick Differ
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From what I found in a quick search from Wikipedia and another source:
A. General paresis usually develops 10 to 30 years after the initial syphilis infection. Due to advancements in antibiotics, neurosyphilis and consequently, general paresis is now very rare.
B. Eventually, (for the person that reaches this stage) the patient would become completely incapacitated, bed ridden, and would die, the process taking about three to five years on average.
I attempted to look up how common it is for one who has entered the state of general paresis (syphillitic insanity) to kill and couldnt' find anything ... I suspect its rare. Since Jacob Levy died in July of 1891, he reached the point of general paresis around 1886 - 88.
Offhand, when one has entered the stage of general paresis, revenge killing on those (gentile females prostitutes) to whom he blamed for his disease leading to his physical deterioration sounds too rational. By this stage, would he really be able to link his symptoms to prostitutes, or really know if there was anything wrong with him?
One more point, the Ripper murders were more than just revenge killings ... they were lust murders: he killed the victim quickly and then went into his bizarre ritual of cutting up the body.
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