Was the Ripper in the military?

[Harry D]

Do you think the killer's ability to incapacitate and dispatch his victims lends any support to the theory that he was military, ex-military, or at least had some kind of combat training?

[GUT]

Possibly.

[Damaso Marte]

Whoever killed Catherine Eddowes subdued her silently and without leaving marks or bruises on her throat. That's the most extreme case - in other cases, the victim was subdued with marks on the body, but still relatively silently.

It has been suggested before that perhaps the Ripper had military training and thus knew how to incapacitate a person quickly and silently, but the last time this idea was discussed on this forum, people pointed out that in 1888 soldiers were not trained in such takedown methods.

[Trevor Marriott]

Whoever killed Catherine Eddowes subdued her silently and without leaving marks or bruises on her throat. That's the most extreme case - in other cases, the victim was subdued with marks on the body, but still relatively silently.

It has been suggested before that perhaps the Ripper had military training and thus knew how to incapacitate a person quickly and silently, but the last time this idea was discussed on this forum, people pointed out that in 1888 soldiers were not trained in such takedown methods.

The art of silent killing was developed hundreds of years ago.

https://www.trevormarriott.co.uk

"The evidence never lies but it doesnt always tell the truth"

[sdreid]

I have posited (along with others possibilities) that he might have been military and then deployed overseas and that's why the murders stopped.

[Trevor Marriott]

I have posited (along with others possibilities) that he might have been military and then deployed overseas and that's why the murders stopped.

We do have a suspect who was in the prussian army !!!!!!!

https://www.trevormarriott.co.uk

"The evidence never lies but it doesn't always tell the truth"

[Pcdunn]

The "thugee" approach?

Do you think the killer's ability to incapacitate and dispatch his victims lends any support to the theory that he was military, ex-military, or at least had some kind of combat training?

I think he would not have got that kind of training formally in the British Army of the 19th century, which still faced its enemies straight on. But-- soldiers with experience in foreign countries such as Africa or India might very well have learned of such styles as the "thugee", which involved strangling someone from behind with a cord or scarf.

Also, I've read of British criminal gangs of robbers who would stop a well-to-do looking gent with one fellow in the rear throwing an arm across the victim's throat, choking him while the rest of the gang went through his pockets and stole his valuables.

So the idea of ambushing someone from behind and preventing him or her from making a fuss might well have been known in the Ripper's time without necessarily being related to his military experience.