Why the Gap?

[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

[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?

[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

[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.

[Abby Normal]

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.

wait your seeming to agree with trevor that he was away at sea during october, but then you say you believe he was in london tje whole time? please explain.

ive often wondered if all the murders being committed in the beginning or ending of the month had anything to do with him being away at sea and or travel in the middle part of the month.

[Aethelwulf]

ive often wondered if all the murders being committed in the beginning or ending of the month had anything to do with him being away at sea and or travel in the middle part of the month.

the problem with reading too much into the dates is that it assumes the ripper had a 1:1 strike rate - every time he went out hunting he found a victim and was successful. I very much doubt that was the case. If we knew all of the dates of near misses where the ripper was put off by police etc the dates would very likely look a lot less interesting.

aren't serial killers supposed to have a cooling off period after each success? If you factored that in, with the very large increase in police presence after the double event, women being more careful, the october gap is probably just a red herring for the sailor suspecters to try and catch. total dead end IMO.

[Trevor Marriott]

the problem with reading too much into the dates is that it assumes the ripper had a 1:1 strike rate - every time he went out hunting he found a victim and was successful. I very much doubt that was the case. If we knew all of the dates of near misses where the ripper was put off by police etc the dates would very likely look a lot less interesting.

aren't serial killers supposed to have a cooling off period after each success? If you factored that in, with the very large increase in police presence after the double event, women being more careful, the october gap is probably just a red herring for the sailor suspecters to try and catch. total dead end IMO.

its no more of a red herring than your explantion

https://www.trevormarriott.co.uk

[Aethelwulf]

its no more of a red herring than your explantion

www.trevormarriott.co.uk

you would say that trev. how much time, effort and money have you put into a sailor suspect and start crying whenever anyone pokes at the precious little theory that is backed up by precisely nothing?

[Losmandris]

the problem with reading too much into the dates is that it assumes the ripper had a 1:1 strike rate - every time he went out hunting he found a victim and was successful. I very much doubt that was the case. If we knew all of the dates of near misses where the ripper was put off by police etc the dates would very likely look a lot less interesting.

aren't serial killers supposed to have a cooling off period after each success? If you factored that in, with the very large increase in police presence after the double event, women being more careful, the october gap is probably just a red herring for the sailor suspecters to try and catch. total dead end IMO.

I agree. I am sure there were a number of 'attempts' or near misses for additional murders. There could well have been several in October. The thing is we will never know. As I have mentioned before it is probable that there is some truth in one or two of these family tales we sometimes hear about along the lines of 'Your Gran was nearly a victim of Jack the Ripper'. There are so many examples from modern serial killers where potential victims got away. Often they only come to light once the killer has been apprehended. Certainly thinking about that poor chap who had a run in with Dennis Nielsen here. And was surprised to find out (all be it from watching the Netflix series) that there were a few with Jeffrey Dahmer. One guy saved by the intervention of Dahmer's Grandmother. When these are taken into consideration the chances of near misses with JtR, at least in my eyes seem like an inevitability.

[Darryl Kenyon]

300 questioned, 80 detained for further questioning after the double event. It wouldn't surprise me at all if Jack was one of these men who was possibly questioned again after Mary's murder. [ Sutcliffe nine times during the Yorkshire rippers killings ], and that's why he stopped at that time.

Regards Darryl

[Abby Normal]

the problem with reading too much into the dates is that it assumes the ripper had a 1:1 strike rate - every time he went out hunting he found a victim and was successful. I very much doubt that was the case. If we knew all of the dates of near misses where the ripper was put off by police etc the dates would very likely look a lot less interesting.

aren't serial killers supposed to have a cooling off period after each success? If you factored that in, with the very large increase in police presence after the double event, women being more careful, the october gap is probably just a red herring for the sailor suspecters to try and catch. total dead end IMO.

Hi Wulf
i agree with everything you say. I was more talking about the middle of the month gaps than the october gap. and he was seen wearing a sailors cap and described as appearance of a sailor. so ive often wondered if he was indeed a sailor.

[PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR 1]

wait your seeming to agree with trevor that he was away at sea during october, but then you say you believe he was in london tje whole time? please explain.

ive often wondered if all the murders being committed in the beginning or ending of the month had anything to do with him being away at sea and or travel in the middle part of the month.

There was speculation in the newspapers at the time that the murderer was a sailor who was coming and going and whose arrival was always at the same time each month, thus explaining the patterns of dates on which the murders were committed.

That's why I went to the British Newspaper Library and checked the dates that ships docked at London Port.

They were away for so long that it became obvious to me that the theory did not stand up.

That's how I became convinced that he was in London for the duration of the series of murders.

I still think he was a sailor, but he stayed in Spitalfelds, without work, for the purpose of committing the crimes and then, in order to be certain of escaping justice, he recommenced his career as a merchant seaman.

[c.d.]

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

Exactly. Could the gap have a physical explanation like increased police patrols or ship schedules? Absolutely. But as Scott rightly points out the voices in his head could have taken a short vacation. We just don't know.

c.d.

[John Wheat]

There was speculation in the newspapers at the time that the murderer was a sailor who was coming and going and whose arrival was always at the same time each month, thus explaining the patterns of dates on which the murders were committed.

That's why I went to the British Newspaper Library and checked the dates that ships docked at London Port.

They were away for so long that it became obvious to me that the theory did not stand up.

That's how I became convinced that he was in London for the duration of the series of murders.

I still think he was a sailor, but he stayed in Spitalfelds, without work, for the purpose of committing the crimes and then, in order to be certain of escaping justice, he recommenced his career as a merchant seaman.

Could we have some evidence of this or is it all supposition?

[Aethelwulf]

Could we have some evidence of this or is it all supposition?

let me oblige John, here it is: