The fair weather fiend?

[Charles Daniels]

Hello,

Not written very much about JtR ever.
But have had a strong interest.

Now, please shoot me down in flames.
I'm begging you to, because that's how I could learn more.

But I've had this idea brewing of the fair weather fiend.

Assuming for a moment that most, if not all, the murders were by the same hand.

We have a slew of murders in August and September 1888.
Knowing the East End like I do, these seem like sensible times to be wandering around in the middle of the night.

We get Mary Jane Kelly in November, and that just happens to be an indoor murder.

We don't really have any interesting cases to look at again until Elizabeth Jackson and Alice McKenzie, which brings us back to June and July.

So I'm wondering if the murderer simply didn't want to be out and about in the middle of the night when it was too cold.

Rain didn't seem to bother him, but one thing I have come to appreciate myself after moving to the UK is that rainy nights are in some way better for being out late at night, as they can make for warmer nights.

So me personally I see Alice McKenzie as a compelling case for the last actual JtR murder.

And the absence being explained away by the lovely English weather.

[Jon Guy]

Hello,

Not written very much about JtR ever.
But have had a strong interest.

Now, please shoot me down in flames.
I'm begging you to, because that's how I could learn more.

But I've had this idea brewing of the fair weather fiend.

Assuming for a moment that most, if not all, the murders were by the same hand.

We have a slew of murders in August and September 1888.
Knowing the East End like I do, these seem like sensible times to be wandering around in the middle of the night.

We get Mary Jane Kelly in November, and that just happens to be an indoor murder.

We don't really have any interesting cases to look at again until Elizabeth Jackson and Alice McKenzie, which brings us back to June and July.

So I'm wondering if the murderer simply didn't want to be out and about in the middle of the night when it was too cold.

Rain didn't seem to bother him, but one thing I have come to appreciate myself after moving to the UK is that rainy nights are in some way better for being out late at night, as they can make for warmer nights.

So me personally I see Alice McKenzie as a compelling case for the last actual JtR murder.

And the absence being explained away by the lovely English weather.

Well spotted, Charlie.
Many of the murders did occur when it was/or had been raining.

My guess is, rather than he preferred warm weather, was that the rain kept people off the streets. The killer could also move around the streets in a hat and overcoat, which may have been necessary in remaining unrecognised, keeping blood off him, and concealing a knife.

Indeed, when he was been driven to the McKenzie murder scene, Dr Phillips noted how empty the streets were.

[Charles Daniels]

Well spotted, Charlie.
Many of the murders did occur when it was/or had been raining.

My guess is, rather than he preferred warm weather, was that the rain kept people off the streets. The killer could also move around the streets in a hat and overcoat, which may have been necessary in remaining unrecognised, keeping blood off him, and concealing a knife.

Indeed, when he was been driven to the McKenzie murder scene, Dr Phillips noted how empty the streets were.

There are a couple of variable at play here.

Of course it seems that being a bank holiday or the weekend certainly helped, and I'm tempted to make the usual jokes about it being rainy because of the bank holiday, as some function of sod's law.

But actually, thinking it through -- could it be tied, at least somewhat, to the availability of victims? I'm not entirely sure.

What I mean is -- could there simply have been a lot more prostitutes about in the warmer summer months?

Could they have been less thick on the ground in the winter months where doing trade outdoors would be less appealing?

There would be the year round demand for the business - but maybe victims are just thinner on the ground in the winter? I'm not really sure how much of a deterrent cold weather might be.

And I like your observations about the wardrobe possibilities -- but my gut would be that the killer was more free and able to commit murders on weekends. And the rain may have been entirely coincidental.

Of course I guess I could read through weather reports if any existed for the summers of 1888 and 1889 and see if more clement weekends were skipped out or if there was any pattern there.

Anyway, cheers Jon! You're my first reply on the message boards!

[Fantomas]

Yes there is method and opportunity. Kosminski is deleted as a suspect immediately in that regard, IMHO.

[c.d.]

I am wondering if the rainy weather could have affected the killer's mental state exacerbating his desire to kill.

c.d.

[Joshua Rogan]

If rainy weather made people want to kill more, the streets of Britain would be littered with corpses.

[Sam Flynn]

If rainy weather made people want to kill more, the streets of Britain would be littered with corpses.

Nice one

[GUT]

If rainy weather made people want to kill more, the streets of Britain would be littered with corpses.

Or they're become acclimatised (clever huh??)

[ChrisGeorge]

If rainy weather made people want to kill more, the streets of Britain would be littered with corpses.

One thing I can never understand, as a fan of the Premier League and a fan of Liverpool FC, is why in a country where rains it rains all the bloody time, they water the pitches. Would you care to explain that to me?

Cheers

Chris

[GUT]

One thing I can never understand, as a fan of the Premier League and a fan of Liverpool FC, is why in a country where rains it rains all the bloody time, they water the pitches. Would you care to explain that to me?

Cheers

Chris

An even better question is how the heck they invented a game that needs four or five days of fine weather to play? (cricket anyone).

[Michael W Richards]

[QUOTE=Charles Daniels;400248]
What I mean is -- could there simply have been a lot more prostitutes about in the warmer summer months?

[QUOTE]

I suppose you should enlarge that question Charles to get some kind of semi accurate idea of what the correct answer is....both full time Prostitutes and Unfortunates solicited, the second group did so whenever did not find work and they desperately needed money for food or lodging. The first group did so daily, it was the only way they earned money.

The Canonicals seem to have a mix of both. We have evidence that Annie, Liz and Kate did other things to earn legitimate money...sewing, cleaning and sewing/knitting and hops picking.

The last job is the one that is sort of an answer to your question.....Kate Eddowes, and many other Unfortunates, preferred working outdoors picking hops in the summer months. Granted, these cases were all Fall murders, but Kate had only just returned to London in late September, so perhaps other street women were also returning later that Fall.

I think overall fewer women would be working the streets in summer, based on a decrease in Unfortunates being able to find seasonal work.