Comfort Zone

[Chava]

It looks like the Ripper had very close ties to the LVP. It looks to me like he probably lives there. The piece of apron was dropped east of Mitre Square and well in the Ripper-Killing area. I think he kills in a tight comfort zone where he knows every street, alley, yard and gate. If this is the case, then it seems to me unlikely that he would kill in another area he doesn't know as well. If he is out of town for whatever reason--he's a sailor or a pedlar--I don't think he'll kill there. He has enough self-control to stop himself in that situation. However this might explain why, after the killing of Liz Stride (who I believe to be a Ripper victim), he doesn't simply go back to his bolt-hole but moves further west and kills again. I wonder if it's possible that he was leaving London the next day and knew he wouldn't have the opportunity to kill again for, say, six weeks. So he desperately seeks a victim he can deal with properly because it's his last chance to kill for a while.

This might also be the reason for the escalation in violence. He becomes increasingly frustrated because his circumstances prevent him from doing what he longs to do. He may not allow himself to kill in unknown environments. In fact he may not allow himself to kill at all until just before he leaves town, so he's out of the eye of the investigation. Chapman, Eddowes and MJK were seen with men just before they were killed. If the Ripper is any one of these men, it might be in his best interests to make himself scarce before someone can say 'You've got sandy hair and a blotchy face! Maybe it's you who went in with MJK that night...!' Our guy is leaving town the next day. No surprise there for his family and friends. He's off for work as he always is. He could be gone before MJK's body is discovered.

So I'm suggesting someone who is based in the East End but who travels often as part of his living. Someone who has a great deal of self-control but who loses that control while committing his murders. Someone who finds it increasingly difficult to stick to his intentions of committing his murders just before he leaves town. Therefore someone who shows an extreme escalation of violence with every murder as his frustration with his situation grows.

[Rubyretro]

am interested in your Post, Chava..bacause when thinking about the H word...ok, I'll come out and say it HUTCH, I did ponder this very possibility.

We know that he was working as a casual labourer, and we know that he had been looking for work in Romford on the day before MJK's killing (Bob said that there was alot of building work going on in Romford at that time). Therefore we know that Hutch was willing to travel outside of Whitechapel for work. So, had he worked in Romford before -or indeed in other places a good way off from the murder scenes ?

He said that he had no money -yet that was not the excuse he gave for not going to the Victoria home that night: he said that he was too late. However, we know that there were other lodging houses where he could have gone at any time of night. If he had not been seen by Lewis, and if he had not come forward as a witness -what would his mates at the Victoria Homes have assumed when he turned up the next night ?...especially given the short time span of his trip...wouldn't they assume that he'd only just got back, and therefore had not been in London at the time of the murders ? Especially if he led them to assume that (not even lying directly).

Supposen he had done this before, even in just the case of a couple of murders, setting off for a town the day before even, and then killing at night in London, and really leaving town the next morning ?

People often say "the Police would have checked Hutch out, and have been satisfied that he couldn't have been the murderer". I think that if the Police checked the lodging houses and didn't find him listed, and then questioned the men and the manager of the Victoria Homes, and found that he had been 'away' working on a couple of dates -then that would be a very good alibi.

Especially if they checked the employers that he said he had addressed himself to/worked for and then verified it was true. Hutch said that he 'walked', but he could have taken a train, omnibus, or hitched a lift with cart -and given a false name or just his very common first name- and since the killings were at night, from one day to the next, he could have been in two different places very quickly.

I agree with your scenario, Chava, that JtR might have targeted locations in Whitechapel, but he could have travelled for work, and kept himself well away from suspicion elsewhere (obviously another scenario that was too risky, once he had come forward to the Police).

[corey123]

Hello Chava,

Here is something I posted a while ago on "geographic profiling". It deals with an early method called the "Circle Hypothesis".

Heres using Jack the Rippers murder map to show how the "Circle hypothesis" works.

Here is a map showing three possible murder sprees, one for whatever you believe.

First murder is Mary Nichols in Bucks row which is north east. The second murder he moves across town due north west. He does this subconciously. He does this because the investigation, he feels, is too heated in location one. Murder number three is Moving back easy but south. Murder four is south again but transitioning back west and then north west from there.

First muder is Mary Nichols, killed due north east, the killer then moves west, still north and kills "Dark Annie" then south and murders Eddowes.

The killer starts off by killing Annie Chapman due north west, he then moves south and futher west and kills eddowes, then moves up north again to kill Kelly.

This is a distinctive pattern found in almost any serial case. As the murder progress(further than Jack the Rippers crimes are known to have) they would move farther out of this "Comfort zone"

This killer killed far enough away from his home or "Base" to feel comfortable, but not too far that its unfamiliararity would pose a risk to his escape or hiding method. As a killer gains additional knowledge of his hunting ground(Progress is made, as shown as the murders progress as far as the city district, I would think, if Jack the Ripper kept killing the murder sites would space out farther and farther, to the limits of his mobility)his murdering campus is broadened.

Jack the Ripper killed few people in a short time, so it is hard to tell what he could further do, but it is clear, that he was pushing farther and father away.

The image below a geographic profile I made around that time(excuse me for the sloppy drawing) that shows how he moved out with experiance, with the epicenter being obvious. I believe it is safe to say that the reason for such a close and snug comfort zone was due to the transportation limitations of those times.

I had a friend who posted on here for a short while who has a degree in geography and mathamatics and he told me the "Circle Hypothesis" is a great way to plot this murder spree.

[Chava]

Thanks so much Corey! That is fascinating! The only murder that I think may not have been so much influenced by the killer's comfort zone would have been Eddowes in Mitre Square. He'd killed in Dutfield's Yard and had nearly been caught. He was desperate to carry out the killing he set out to do, and he was desperate to get out of the area of Dutfield's Yard. He doesn't go back home because he still needs to commit his crime. But he doesn't want to attempt another killing in an area soon to be saturated by police. So he heads west and runs into Eddowes. Mitre Square is not far from his home, but I don't think he would have gone that distance west unless he had to. And all this frustration shows in his attack on Eddowes's body.

Actually I'm going to change my ideas about whether the killer goes out of town or not. The From Hell letter--which I believe to be the only one from the Ripper--is postmarked October 15th. Which puts him in the East End at that time. I now wonder whether the heightened police presence and more care taken on the part of prostitutes because of the killings made him go to ground until he felt it safe to kill again. It's possible that he kills twice within 8 days because no one is looking for a serial killer. After Chapman that is who they are looking for--and he may well feel he should be laying low if he was in fact the man seen by Elizabeth Long. He waits three weeks, and then thinks it safe to go out. But he's almost caught killing Stride. After the Double Event he goes to ground for a long time. It's not safe to try anything. He waits and fumes while someone else who calls himself 'Jack the Ripper' takes all his glory. So he sends the From Hell letter to set the record straight and to point out that Jack the Ripper is not his name at all. Finally, he goes out on the hunt and finds MJK. As frustrated as he was with Eddowes, imagine how frustrated he must be after six weeks of inaction. And he carries out all that frustration on the body of MJK.

If this is something like what happened, then I'd expect him to wait a long time before killing again. And I would expect every bit as much savagery in the next killing. But there is no next killing. At some point in the next two or three months I believe the LVP caught up with Our Boy. Accident, infection, pub brawl, whatever. In my opinion he was either dead or totally incapacitated by late December/early January.

[corey123]

Hello Chava,

Here we stand on common ground, down to the Eddowes murder, the "From Hell" letter, and even the reason why he stopped killing. I agree with pretty much everything you just said.

Here is a post I posted on another of my thread regarding Eddowes.

I dont think Jack met Kate in Aldgate. I think she had a bit of very rotten luck and was picked up in his primary comfort zone, then she led him to mitre square for god knows why and he deemed the location secure.

Here is a post I posted on the space of time between Sep 30th and Nov 9th.

There is a huge period of days between September 30th and November 9th, with no murders going on. I have many ideas to why a narcissistic killer would stop. Jack the Ripper became Public Enemy No.1 after the 'double event' so that alone could stave off his desire. Also the flood of Ripper letters had begun along with full press coverage of the murders, he was a international sensation. His murderers flooded the papers at all corners of the world, with many myths of him already setting their roots in the soils of Ripperology. the name, though not ment by him,'jack the Ripper' gave his killings there own spot in history. By september 30th he wasnt just an unknown killer anymore, he was "jack the Ripper".

That said, if he was Narcissistic, the attention he was getting may have inhibited his murders. Also, like you said, the fact that he becamse a public enemy and was wanted and the police activity was very heated, may have had him a bit afaid to get back out there.

[claire]

It looks like the Ripper had very close ties to the LVP. It looks to me like he probably lives there.

Sorry, but I do not understand this pair of sentences at all.

[corey123]

I believe he meant that "Jack the Ripper" either had close ties to London or lived there.

[Chava]

It's 'she' and, yes, that's what I meant. I'm sorry it wasn't clear. I think he lived at the heart of the killing area. But that doesn't narrow down our search all that much given that hundreds of thousands of people lived around there.

[corey123]

Oops, sorry Chava. My apologies.


Hope I didn't offind you because no offense was ment.

Yours truly

[Chava]

Not offended
xxxChava

[Monty]

The October lull can be simply explained by the fact that the area was saturated with Police after the double event.

We also have the Met search occuring that month.

Also, this massive police presence may be the reason he resorted to murdering inside.

If we take the C5 as read, then we have NO more outdoor murders once after the double event.

Monty

[corey123]

Hello Monty,

This may be so.

However, the reason, I believe, that he murdered Kelly indoors was simply the opptertunity presented itself and he took advantage of it.

[Monty]

There is that Corey, I agree he was an oppurtunist.

I forgot to add that the Vigilance Committes membership increased hugely during early October, resulting in more patrols by them.

Monty


PS Im working on your mail to me.

[corey123]

Hello Monty,

I appriciate it.

[Monty]

Ive mailed you Corey.

Cheers
Monty