Why the Gap?

[PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR 1]

The killer was out of the country during that period

www.trevormarriott.co.uk

Which brings me back to my belief that he was a sailor, or to be more specific, a merchant seaman.
The idea was mentioned in newspapers at the time that he might have been a sailor who went away to sea and came back.
I once went to the British newspaper library and looked at the newspapers from the period of the murders.
I looked at all the records of ships arriving in the Port of London and leaving.
The thing that struck me was how long it took for them to come back, even when they had only gone to a European port.
That's why I'm convinced that he was in London for the entire period of the murders and that he lay low following the double event.
I did read once that after the double murder, prostitutes we're going around in pairs, and this obviously would have made his job impossible.

He may have chosen 9 November because he thought that the police would be distracted by the preparations for the holiday.
I think he was just biding his time and waiting for the opportunity to murder someone indoors in a suitably secluded spot.

[GBinOz]

It’s been suggested that the killer might have taken a piece of apron away from Mitre Square because he’d cut himself during the murder of Catherine Eddowes and that he used it to wrap around the wound. It might have been the case then that the wound became infected and put him out of action for the duration of October?

Just a suggestion to add to the list of possibles which would include all of the above.

I agree that this suggestion is a possibility. Makes these newspaper articles interesting:

The Star, 12 October, 1888

"A Suspicious Infirmary Patient.
A report was current late last night that the police suspect a man who is at present a patient in an East-end infirmary. He has been admitted since the commission of the last murder. Owing to his suspicious behavior their attention was directed to him. Detectives are making inquiries, and he is kept under surveillance."

Sheffield Evening Telegraph 12 October, 1888

"... The police now have under close observation in connection with the Whitechapel murder a man now inmate of the East End infirmary who was admitted since the murder under suspicious circumstances."

Hampshire Advertiser, 13 October, 1888

"A report was current late last night that the police have good reasons to suspect a man who is at present a patient in an East End Infirmary. He was admitted since the commission of the last murder, and owing to his suspicious behaviour and other circumstances the attention of the authorities was directed to him. Detectives are making inquiries relative to his actions before being admitted to the infirmary, and he is kept under constant and close surveillance."

There is also the possibility that he died from the infection and that the murders after that were by another hand.

Cheers, George

[Scott Nelson]

And I keep going on about the mindset of the killer. Did it run like clockwork or was it triggered by unforeseen circumstances?

[JeffHamm]

We don't know, of course, but then, it's not really a very long "gap". The JtR crimes happen with very short "inter-crime intervals". While there are modern cases with shorter intervals between offences, it is more common for the time between murders to be measured in months rather than weeks. Given that JtR has to find a victim and have what he deemed a suitable opportunity, and given the panic following the double event, the "gap" may reflect nothing more than lack of opportunity rather than lack of trying. Even the "gap" between Kelly and McKenzie (for those who include the latter as potential JtR victim) is not so large that it is unusual in general, although given the rapidity of the earlier sequence it might raise questions for this specific series. Basically, I'm not sure the gap itself is sufficient to bolster any particular theory as it is consistent with just about anything from "the inter-crime interval will vary, and some intervals will be longer than others" to "sick", "out of country", "no opportunity", "couldn't be bothered", "had extra work", and so forth. Almost anything you can think of will work because we have no further information to constrain our reasoning. And remember, if anything works, it tells us nothing.

- Jeff

[Losmandris]

I tend to think that the murderer may have had a number of abortive attempts in October but got spooked, so did not go through with it.

[DJA]

Took off in his Time Machine?

[mpriestnall]

On his Hols?

Lost his Oyster card?

[Herlock Sholmes]

It’s been suggested that the killer might have taken a piece of apron away from Mitre Square because he’d cut himself during the murder of Catherine Eddowes and that he used it to wrap around the wound. It might have been the case then that the wound became infected and put him out of action for the duration of October?

Just a suggestion to add to the list of possibles which would include all of the above.

[Varqm]

Because he was waiting for Barnett to move out.

Part of it too.I believe in an intruder theory in MJK's case,the lurking guy seen by Sarah Lewis looking up the court,I think he was trying to get in and kill her.He must have known Kelly was without a partner.If a client the MJK murder would have been as quiet as Eddowes's,no cries.
But Hutch pretended he was that guy and believed blindedly.

[DJA]

Because he was waiting for Barnett to move out.

[Aethelwulf]

I am sure this has been raised before but I will ask again. Why were there no murders in October 1888?

How do we explain this hiatus?

What do people think happened?

I'm of the opinion this is the most over-thought aspect of the murders. I think the answer is clear:

The News 22nd October

Whitechapel swarms with police of every class. Every man will be specially urged to make unusual efforts, and warned of the fate that will overtake him on whose beat a murdered woman is found. Every dark corner and alley will hold one or two detectives. Others will be eavesdropping on the pallets of every lodging house so that the murderer, no matter how good his intentions, may be excused for postponing his crime or moving to some new neighborhood.

Openshaw letter, which I think could be genuine ties in with this:

i was goin to hoperate agin close to you ospitle just as i was going to dror mi nife along of er bloomin throte them cusses of coppers spoilt the game

There is also a reference to anyone in a wideawake being stopped and searched in October

No mystery IMO

[Varqm]

Being seen was part of it,Long,James Brown probly,that did not spook him.But I guess 2 murders at one time and the police were getting aggressive were part of it.

[c.d.]

You might just as well ask why did he kill in September (the Double Event)? The answer is the same in both cases. We don't know.

c.d.

[Abby Normal]

Possibly spooked after the double-event? Kept a low profile as he thought he was seen (the sighting by "the City P.C. who was on a beat near Mitre Square")?. That could also be the reason his next victim was murdered indoors.

me likey

[Varqm]

Partly I'm with Trevor, he was out of the country.JTR was a visitor, although he knew the area.Partly, in October,maybe it was the house to house searches in the District,the thousands of flyers,the additional police personnel/patrols,although useless because he was out of the country or district.Partly it was something else.