How many victims?

[JeffHamm]

Hi Trevor,

I think Tabram is worthy of consideration due to the extreme violence of the attack, which was unusual and worthy of note at the time. While she was purportedly with a soldier that night, there was more than enough time for her to find another customer. Indeed, her murder is well worth considering as a potential first of the series.

Also, given Cross/Lechmere and Paul do appear to have come across Nichols only shortly after she was killed (they report she was still warm, etc), that there's very good reason to consider they prompted her killer to flee (similar to PC Harvey "interrupting" Eddowes' murder). The similarity between Nicholes, Chapman, Eddowes, and Kelly's murders do seem to me to reflect a common perpetrator, and while I know you are not convinced Kelly's heart was taken, I read that differently, and so see organ removal as occurring in the last 3 of those 4. We differ on that, of course, but we both acknowledge what our views are so there's no need to go into that further.

Stride does stand out as different. The only thing that makes me consider her as possibly part of the series is the similarity between the wound to her throat and that of Eddowes later that same night (deep on the left side, with much less damage on the right). It appears JtR was no longer encircling the entire neck, as he appears to have done with both Nicoles and Chapman, although even in both of those cases there's another cut, probably the first, which is more on the left side only. Anyway, given there is reason to consider "interruption" for both Nicholes (Cross/Lechmere's arrival, with Paul shortly behind) and Eddowes (PC Harvey), the more well known "interrpution" argument for Stride becomes more worth considering. On the other hand, as you point out, the complete lack of any mutilations or evidence they were to be attempted, does make her inclusion more speculative in my view.

Alice McKenzie's mutilations were fairly minor in comparison, but I think the fact there was some attack on the abdomen does suggest she be considered a bit more than is typically the case.

So, in my view, I think Nicholes, Chapman, Eddowes, and Kelly are linked. Stride should be considered, but at the same time shouldn't be key to any "solution" as her inclusion is tentative. And both Martha Tabram and Alice McKenzie should also be looked at a bit more seriously than many view them (though I know there are a fair number of people who consider Martha Tabram as a "probable" case).

While you didn't mention them, I'm not convinced that the torso murders are connected at all.

- Jeff

[Trevor Marriott]

I can’t understand why you class Tabram as Murder Extreme Mutilations when she was just stabbed 39 times and yet Nichols is listed as Murder Minor Mutilations?

Interruptions such as hearing a noise could account for any differences such as the non-removal of parts. Also the kind of mutilations performed on Nichols, Chapman, Eddowes and Kelly would make the chances of these being done by different killers (in such a small area and over such a small period of time) so vanishingly minute IMO as to be not really worth considering.

Now how did I know that of all people it would be you who would come up with the disturbed scenario

Do you not consider being stabbed 39 times as being mutilation to the abdomen? because I do

My point of the post is to show that if one killer then he had the chance to at least attempt to make some effort to remove organs from other victims but we see no evidence of that, but we do see evidence of organs being found to be missing at the post mortems of Chapman and Eddowes. Now even you must think that strange that we see no attempts to remove organs from 4 other potential ripper victimsI am sure he wasnt disturbed on all of those occassion and after all if Stried was a victim there are those who will say that after being disturbed he went onto find a second victim the same night

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[Herlock Sholmes]

I can’t understand why you class Tabram as Murder Extreme Mutilations when she was just stabbed 39 times and yet Nichols is listed as Murder Minor Mutilations?

Interruptions such as hearing a noise could account for any differences such as the non-removal of parts. Also the kind of mutilations performed on Nichols, Chapman, Eddowes and Kelly would make the chances of these being done by different killers (in such a small area and over such a small period of time) so vanishingly minute IMO as to be not really worth considering.

[Trevor Marriott]

For many years now researchers having trying to firmly establish exactly how many women were murdered by this lone killer who became known as JTR and the MO used by the killer. I have set out below the differing MO`s seen in the various murders which I believe are very relevant in determining the killers MO

Murder and Mutilation
Martha Tabram- Murder extreme mutilations
Polly Nichols-Murder minor mutilations
Alice McKenzie-Murder. Minor mutilations
Murder. Mutilation and alleged organ removals
Annie Chapman- extreme mutilations
Catherine Eddowes – extreme mutilations
Mary Kelly-extreme mutilations
( I am personally satisfied that there is sufficient reliable evidence to show that no organs were taken away by the killer from the Kelly crime scene)
Murder-No mutilations
Elizabeth Stride
Frances Coles

The point of this exercise is to show the marked differences in the murders which perhaps indicate more than one killer, or simply one killer who simply murdered and mutilated and did not remove the organs from some of the victims. We know that virtually all the victims were killed in the dead of night in the early hours. So why do we see examples of extreme mutilations in some victims, and minor mutilations in other victims, and almost none in others, all killed around the same times, and yet only two who are alleged to have had organs removed.

It is said that the killer removed organs and took them away in the cases of Chapman and Eddowes, but we see no examples of this occurring with any of the other victims, or any attempts at this, and I have to ask why, if it was the same killer surely if he had time in Mitre Square he would have had time to remove organs with the other victims or at least made some attempt at other crime scenes

So we are left with unanswered questions

Were all the victims killed by one killer or more than one?
If the answer is one killer, then we have to ask why didn’t that killer attempt to remove, or remove any organs from any of the other victims.

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