Did Jack meet his victims prior to their murder

[Vigilantee]

I was reading Indian Harry's account of the odd character seen with Kelly in the afternoon before her death. If this were Jack could he be meeting prostitutes prior to their final encounter? Perhaps to vet them?

[Vigilantee]

And if so could he have arranged the time and place of their last meeting.

For instance to meet Stride in Dutfield's Yard at 1am. If so maybe he was there already waiting in the shadows while the more well known events unfolded!

[Sam Flynn]

And if so could he have arranged the time and place of their last meeting.

I don't think that was applicable in the cases of Nichols, Chapman and Eddowes - all of whose presence out on the streets was largely beyond their control. (Two because they had no money for rent, the other having been held in police custody.)

[Ben]

The problem here is that we don't know that Indian Harry was ever responsible for authoring such an account. Its absence at the inquest is very conspicious indeed.

[bolo]

Some say that Catharine Eddowes's presence in or around Mitre Square may point to a prearranged meeting. When Kate was released from police custody (Bishopsgate police station) at 1 a.m., she went out on the street and turned left towards Houndsditch and Aldgate High Street so she walked off in the opposite direction of the direct way back to Cooney's lodging house at 55 Flower and Dean street where she and her lover John Kelly were known to "doss" and split up on the afternoon before her murder (source: Paul Begg The Facts, pp. 166-170).

Begg also mentions the blank last hours of Kate's life between early afternoon (around 2 p.m.) and 8:30 p.m. when PCs Robinson and Simmons found her laying on the pavement outside 29 Aldgate High Street in a drunk sleep. It is not known where she got the money from to pay for the drinks that made her so sloshed.

Take that for what it's worth... personally I don't really believe in prearrangements except for the usual prostitute and client conversation, at least there are no such hints in the little we know about the other East End murders. What's more, Kate couldn't have known before that she would end up in police custody for almost five hours that night so the person with whom she had this fabled meeting either must have been veeeery patient or it was arranged at a rather unusual time.

[Vigilantee]

The only problem I have with that is that I think Stride was the intended victim, so Eddowes would be opportunistic

Some say that Catharine Eddowes's presence in or around Mitre Square may point to a prearranged meeting. When Kate was released from police custody (Bishopsgate police station) at 1 a.m., she went out on the street and turned left towards Houndsditch and Aldgate High Street so she walked off in the opposite direction of the direct way back to Cooney's lodging house at 55 Flower and Dean street where she and her lover John Kelly were known to "doss" and split up on the afternoon before her murder (source: Paul Begg The Facts, pp. 166-170).

Begg also mentions the blank last hours of Kate's life between early afternoon (around 2 p.m.) and 8:30 p.m. when PCs Robinson and Simmons found her laying on the pavement outside 29 Aldgate High Street in a drunk sleep. It is not known where she got the money from to pay for the drinks that made her so sloshed.

Take that for what it's worth... personally I don't really believe in prearrangements except for the usual prostitute and client conversation, at least there are no such hints in the little we know about the other East End murders. What's more, Kate couldn't have known before that she would end up in police custody for almost five hours that night so the person with whom she had this fabled meeting either must have been veeeery patient or it was arranged at a rather unusual time.

[paul emmett]

The only problem I have with that is that I think Stride was the intended victim, so Eddowes would be opportunistic

Not if you go for the idea expressed by others on other threads that the double event was planned ahead of time. Then his meeting with Eddowes would almost have to be pre-arranged.

[bolo]

The only problem I have with that is that I think Stride was the intended victim, so Eddowes would be opportunistic

I see what you mean.

Then again, if the murderer arranged a meeting with Liz to kill her that night, why did he choose the backyard of the International Working Men's Educational Association in Berner Street which was boasting with activity? There were far better and quieter locations available for his purposes, even if part of his plan was to stir up hatred against the Jewish population.