Territorial identity

[DVV]

Following the double event, the panic being at its peak, more police were sent to Whitechapel and Spitalfields to secure the streets, whilst some of the local prostitutes ceased to solicit late at night, or shifted to adjacent areas.
Surprisingly enough, Jack did not follow them.
It seems that he prefered to await an opportunity in his favoured district than to hunt elsewhere with less risks.
How could that be?
How should we explain this enduring mystery? Is it common for a serial-killer to have a lust to kill in a so precise and restricted area? Is it possible - as a suggestion among many - that he liked to be the "Whitechapel" murderer, or fiend, as the journalists often called him?
Any thoughts and theories welcome.

Amitiés à tous,
DVV (the broken-English poster)

[perrymason]

Following the double event, the panic being at its peak, more police were sent to Whitechapel and Spitalfields to secure the streets, whilst some of the local prostitutes ceased to solicit late at night, or shifted to adjacent areas.
Surprisingly enough, Jack did not follow them.
It seems that he prefered to await an opportunity in his favoured district than to hunt elsewhere with less risks.
How could that be?
How should we explain this enduring mystery? Is it common for a serial-killer to have a lust to kill in a so precise and restricted area? Is it possible - as a suggestion among many - that he liked to be the "Whitechapel" murderer, or fiend, as the journalists often called him?
Any thoughts and theories welcome.

Amitiés à tous,
DVV (the broken-English poster)

Hi DVV,

Its important to remember that in terms of the pattern established with the first 4 canonicals, we really should be asking ourselves what happened to him at only Octobers end. Marys death was roughly on time so to speak. He kills end of Aug/in Sept before the 9th,...he kills two Sept 30th, making up for the one he might have killed later, before October 9th,... and he skips the end of October and meets the 9th of November deadline.

He shouldnt be out of town on business, unless he had a schedule change that kept him away at months end, until early November. So "Jack" is either available and chooses not to kill elsewhere or in his own stomping grounds until an opportunity occurs, or Jack cannot kill until that time. For whatever reason, maybe jail, maybe hospital. Maybe work. Or maybe he attempts and fails.

One flaw is of course, that on the records, "Jack" would have had to approach Mary Kelly in her room, as the official line is that she was last seen alive at 11:45pm November 8th, entering her room.

But if the man who killed her was the same who killed at least the first 4, I think newfound self control for a month would be a hard sell.

Best regards.

[DVV]

Hi Michael,
We may have actually to think the matter with this double pattern: chronology and location...but, as things are already quite complicate, we can also look at the problem of location separately.
I'm not a specialist of serial-killers, and you and others here certainly have a far better knowledge on the subject.
So what does the fact that Jack only killed in the most carefully patrolled area at the time inspire you?
If I had been the killer, I suppose I would have try to hunt in Bow, Poplar, Limehouse, wherever...
So why Jack did not? (assuming that he was in London in October, of course)
Have we examples of serial-killers that much obsessed with the place in which they kill?

Amitiés,
David

[Ben]

Hi David,

Have we examples of serial-killers that much obsessed with the place in which they kill?

It's probably less to do with obsession and more to do with a lack of transport to get to places like Limehouse, Poplar etc and escape home afterwards. Later serial killers have cast their net wider because they had their own cars.

Best regards,
Ben

[Fisherman]

Ben writes:

"Later serial killers have cast their net wider because they had their own cars."

..and that, of course, is completely correct - the means of transportation may well have been lacking on Jack´s behalf. But basically, todays serial killers often stick to - at least to a recognizable extent - a restricted geographical area. It often earns them their nicknames, like "the Sacramento vampire", "the Trailside killer of Mount Tamalpais", "the Green River killer" and so on. The one thing that has changed this, I feel, is the widespread information going out via television and newspapers, pointing out that serial killers who operate on grounds policed by differing forces stand the best chances of staying uncaught, owing to problems of cooperation and administration.

Such a method, though, has it´s drawbacks: if you want to kill in ever new surroundings, you will find yourself a stranger to the grounds, whereas Jack (reasonably) and many more serial killers had the advantage of being very much at home and comfortable with the surroundings where they preyed on victims. Add to this the fact that many serial killers have used their own homes as prison- and execution grounds for their victims, whereas others often have taken their victims to more or less the same place to kill them, and you will get a partial explanation to why the work in restricted geographical areas.

Jack was unusual in that respect, since it seems he was able to make do with whatever offered itself, venuewise. But that of course only holds water as long as we accept that the Ripper killings were premeditated and planned. If they were spur-of-the-moment deeds, a completely different image emerges.

The best,

Fisherman

[Ben]

Quite right, Fisherman.

It has as much to do with psychology and perceived "comfort zones" as it does with transport availability, or lack thereof.

Best regards,
Ben

[Fisherman]

Exactly, Ben; find the correct cutting point between Practicality and Psychology, and when you do, it will say a lot about your man.
Trouble is, when it comes to Jack, I could not say which of the P:s to lean most against...

The best, Ben!

Fisherman

[Dan Norder]

One flaw is of course, that on the records, "Jack" would have had to approach Mary Kelly in her room, as the official line is that she was last seen alive at 11:45pm November 8th, entering her room.

This whole sentence is nonsense. Jack most certainly would not have had to approach Kelly in her room, and there's no records to support such an idea. The official line is that she was last seen alive at 2:00 a.m. on November 9th (or possibly as late as 10 a.m.) and that she was seen outside of her room interacting with others.

We all get by know that you have your own radical way of reinterpreting the evidence to fit your own theories, but please stop presenting them as if they were what the records say or the official line. Considering how many different people have told you this and how many times, it's disappointing to see you continue to post such misleading claims.

[Sam Flynn]

Hi Ben,

Quite right, Fisherman.

It has as much to do with psychology and perceived "comfort zones" as it does with transport availability, or lack thereof.

It may have rather more to do with the choice of "red light districts" (or slum areas, back in 1888) available within easy access of one's home, where he might have found easy victims.

There were many such areas dotted around South-East and Central London from which the Ripper could have chosen. Indeed, there would have been "rich pickings" further south in St George's/Ratcliff, not far from where Stride was killed. Yet despite that most of the murders (certainly every one of the more complex mutilation murders) happened north of an imaginary line drawn through Aldgate, Whitechapel High St and Commercial Road. I believe this to be highly significant.

[Fisherman]

Sam Flynn writes:

"most of the murders (certainly every one of the more complex mutilation murders) happened north of an imaginary line drawn through Aldgate, Whitechapel High St and Commercial Road. I believe this to be highly significant."

You´ve hinted at this before, Sam. Could you perhaps elaborate on it a little further?

All the best,

Fisherman

[Sam Flynn]

"most of the murders (certainly every one of the more complex mutilation murders) happened north of an imaginary line drawn through Aldgate, Whitechapel High St and Commercial Road. I believe this to be highly significant."

You´ve hinted at this before, Sam. Could you perhaps elaborate on it a little further?

Hello Fisherman,

It's simply stated. Jack seems to have been most productive, and hence perhaps more comfortable, in a region just above the Aldgate → Commercial Road "equator". To me, the simplest explanation of this (and, in my view, the likeliest) is that he lived in that very area.

[Fisherman]

Okay, Sam; fair enough.

I got the feeling that you meant that the "equator" you speak about made up some sort of barrier that he would not consider crossing, but I see now that I was reading a little bit too much into your wording.

As for your estimation that he would have lived in the specific area where the killings occurred, I agree that it is in all probability the soundest wiew.

Thanks, Sam!

Fisherman

[Sam Flynn]

I got the feeling that you meant that the "equator" you speak about made up some sort of barrier that he would not consider crossing, but I see now that I was reading a little bit too much into your wording.

Perhaps not, Fish. It strikes me that crossing the "equator" might have spooked him for a number of reasons, namely:

1. Jack didn't know the area beneath the line as well as he knew the area above it, so tried to stay on more familiar ground;
2. He may have been well-known in the "southern" sector, and preferred to avoid it in case he was recognised;
3. Aldgate → Commercial Rd was relatively well-used even at night, and better lit than the side-streets. He may have avoided crossing to the south too much, in order to minimise the likelihood of being seen by local witnesses.

There may be other reasons, but I should add at this point that I feel the most likely is #1. Assuming that he saw those roads as a "barrier" in the first place, of course - and that's only speculative.

[Cap'n Jack]

Good thoughts, Sam, but I've always felt he was working within safe distance of properties that he knew very well, and that had a front door onto a major street, and back door onto a minor street.
If he was able to flee into such a property in one set of clothes and then emerge out of the other end in another set of clothes he would have been perfectly safe.
Now who do I know who had that peculiar habit?
You'll have to remind me.

[Sam Flynn]

If he was able to flee into such a property in one set of clothes and then emerge out of the other end in another set of clothes he would have been perfectly safe. Now who do I know who had that peculiar habit?

...Mr Benn?