Jack the Ripper(s)

[Sister Hyde]

Quite the reverse.
Sadism is basically sexual. When it's not, it's in a figurative sense (moral sadism, for example) and needs an epithet.

I know what you mean (since the word itself originates from Sade, and that all his books were libido-related, just like masochism comes from Masoch), the the "sadist" doesn't need to commit sexual acts on his victims to be aroused.

[DVV]

Thank God, we're often aroused before "committing sexual acts"...
La nature est bien faite.

[Sister Hyde]

Thank God, we're often aroused before "committing sexual acts"...
La nature est bien faite.

what I meant was, sadists can get turned on without having to commit a "sadistic" sexual act, some get turned on just by seeing people getting the crap beaten out of other people or just people suffering.

Tu m'as l'air inquiet tout à coup

[Tom_Wescott]

MP Jabez Spencer Balfour on Charles Le Grand

The man was believed by all who knew him, and who knew the criminal classes, to be the most likely man in all England to commit such atrocities. The most likely morally, for he was known to be an adept in depravity. A lustful, cruel, evil man, delighting in every kind of abominable wickedness; passing his life among abandoned women, and thriving on the wages of their sin; the most likely naturally, for he was wonderfully skilful in the use of the knife; swift as a panther, cunning as a fox. Known to have been the perpetrator of many serious offences, he had only been convicted of two. There was not a worse, a more likely man in all London. By nature, by personal gifts, as well as by habits and surroundings, he was as near an approach to what Jack the Ripper might be expected to be as any man ever known to the police.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[Sister Hyde]

So far... But considering how many looneys there must have been that the police was also unaware of, it's still a bit vague. I'm sure Le Grand was far from being the only one.

[Casebook Wiki Editor]

The mutilation is the sexual act. It is seen as such by the killer.

Good point.

Mutilation can be penetration, no? Reaching in, rearranging the vicera, removing the sex organs.....it's a sex crime sans sex.

[Tom_Wescott]

So far... But considering how many looneys there must have been that the police was also unaware of, it's still a bit vague. I'm sure Le Grand was far from being the only one.

Hi Sister. None of those were my words. They were written by someone who knew him at the time and who had served time in prison with him. And Le Grand remains the only 'looney' who fits this description and who inserted himself into the investigation with the intention of leading the police on the wrong track, via the Matthew Packer debacle and the Batty Street Lodger. This behavior should not go unappreciated. And it now seems probable that Le Grand was involved in sending George Lusk the 'From Hell' letter and kidney. Lusk was Le Grand's employer at that time.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[mariab]

Mutilation can be penetration, no? Reaching in, rearranging the vicera

The interesting part about Le Grand is how his threat letters to the old ladies kept describing in great detail what all his exploding devices would do to a body, insisting on reaching in and rearranging the viscera. These are completely atypical letters from a bomber, and it's clear that the author of the letters derived great gratification from phantasizing about “organ rearrangment“ through a bomb.
I'm not clear on if the Unabombers' letters had a similar content, but I doubt that the Unabomber insisted on graphic descriptions of the damage caused by his bombs.

[Tom_Wescott]

The interesting part about Le Grand is how his threat letters to the old ladies kept describing in great detail what all his exploding devices would do to a body, insisting on reaching in and rearranging the viscera.

Also of interest are that his letters referenced the invincibility of the Ripper against the London police, whom he described as less effective than a lap dog. And let's not forget that Le Grand did not need the money, and DID possess the explosives. He wanted to watch someone blow up.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[mariab]

That Le Grand might have written the Lusk letter and the October 6, 1888 letter is a possibility.
Still, does anybody know about the Unabomber's letters, if they contained graphic descriptions? I'm gonna look it up, as I'm pretty sure that bombers don't concentrate on graphic descriptions of the damage. Le Grand's behaviour was not that of a simple bomber.

[Abby Normal]

Also of interest are that his letters referenced the invincibility of the Ripper against the London police, whom he described as less effective than a lap dog. And let's not forget that Le Grand did not need the money, and DID possess the explosives. He wanted to watch someone blow up.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

Hi Tom
FYI- Just sent you a PM about reading your article.
Thanks again!

[mariab]

I've just checked out the Unabomber. No graphic descriptions of the damage intended by his bombs.

[Tom_Wescott]

That Le Grand might have written the Lusk letter and the October 6, 1888 letter is a possibility.

I would say it's probable that Le Grand and Joseph Aarons were behind the Lusk hoax.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[mariab]

I would say it's probable that Le Grand and Joseph Aarons were behind the Lusk hoax.

I know of that, and I intend to research Joseph Aarons, both in the newspapers and in the relations between the WVC and the IWEC. This is terribly speculatory at this point, but do you suppose that, were these two behind the Lusk hoax, would you expect the handwriting to have been Le Grand's, or Aarons'? At a much later point I'd like to research their bank records, also to see if there are any signatures to have survived. No idea if it would work so well for London (with the Blitz and all). But I've researched bank records in Naples and Paris, and have hit pay dirt with identifying several signatures/handwritings.

[Tom_Wescott]

Hi Maria. I'm sure the handwriting was neither Le Grand nor Aarons. Keep in mind that Le Grand had people who wrote most of his correspondence for him.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott