Were the Victims Targeted?

[Slimsid2000]

I know there is a theory that JTR was a psychopath with a grudge against prostitutes in general (perhaps he caught a disease from one) but is there a theory that he caught it and could narrow it down to just five women who could have given it him. Perhaps he found out in August 1888 and being a total psychotic he resolved to kill whoever gave it him. However, he didn't know which of the five it was; so he decided to kill all of them in order to make sure. It took him a few weeks to track down and find an opportunity to kill all of them. By November he had finally disposed of the last one and thus had no further desire to kill again. This would explain why the killing started and stopped so suddenly.

Nott sure I believe this myself but what do other people think?

[PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR 1]

I think he targeted prostitutes because they were an easy target.

[Al Bundy's Eyes]

I think he targeted prostitutes because they were an easy target.

I agree.

[Al Bundy's Eyes]

I know there is a theory that JTR was a psychopath with a grudge against prostitutes in general (perhaps he caught a disease from one) but is there a theory that he caught it and could narrow it down to just five women who could have given it him. Perhaps he found out in August 1888 and being a total psychotic he resolved to kill whoever gave it him. However, he didn't know which of the five it was; so he decided to kill all of them in order to make sure. It took him a few weeks to track down and find an opportunity to kill all of them. By November he had finally disposed of the last one and thus had no further desire to kill again. This would explain why the killing started and stopped so suddenly.

Nott sure I believe this myself but what do other people think?

Hi,

It's been suggested, and theories that the victims were connected aren't new or unusual, but why go to such extremes? Serial murder is rare, but the extent of the mutilation? No, I don't see it myself. Murder is extreme. Being pushed to murder is not relatable for most, but comprehensible. Being driven to that level of murder and mutilation is unlikely if not impossible. Possible requires support, and it's not there outside of nonsense theories. Jack absolutely could have killed and mutilated women out of his own petty revenge, since we don't actually know who he was or why he did what he did, but it seems unlikely to me at least. It ties things up nicely, having Kelly as the final victim, the work complete, but in reality, he was a psychopath with no barriers to normality, so our concepts of what he would/should have done are meaningless. In short, he was an evil bastard and us trying to rationalise his actions is giving him more credit than he deserves.

[Fleetwood Mac]

I think he targeted prostitutes because they were an easy target.

Agreed. That's what serial killers generally do. They target people who they see as weaker and ambush them.

[JeffHamm]

As with the others, prostitutes are often targeted as they are convenient due to the nature of the transaction which means they are easy to get to go to secluded areas with a stranger. Also, none of the medical reports on the victims point to them having an STD at the time of their deaths, so there's nothing to suggest one of them could have been the source of the proposed motive. While one could put together a hypothesis (i.e. the infection was a year or more ago, etc), the greater the time gap the harder it is to believe the perpetrator would remember a random prostitute they may have been with. Presumably, if they had "narrowed it down to these 5", they were a frequent user of prostitutes; also, the longer it has been, the harder it is to work out how they could have narrowed down things down to this particular group of 5.

Without even something to support the idea that one of the victims transferred an STD to JtR in their medical reports, my own view is it is far more likely they were simply chosen at random.

- Jeff

[PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR 1]

While one could put together a hypothesis (i.e. the infection was a year or more ago, etc) ...

Are you suggesting that STDs are likely to go away without treatment?

[Doctored Whatsit]

I know there is a theory that JTR was a psychopath with a grudge against prostitutes in general (perhaps he caught a disease from one) but is there a theory that he caught it and could narrow it down to just five women who could have given it him. Perhaps he found out in August 1888 and being a total psychotic he resolved to kill whoever gave it him. However, he didn't know which of the five it was; so he decided to kill all of them in order to make sure. It took him a few weeks to track down and find an opportunity to kill all of them. By November he had finally disposed of the last one and thus had no further desire to kill again. This would explain why the killing started and stopped so suddenly.

Nott sure I believe this myself but what do other people think?

I doubt that any man would be likely to use five different prostitutes, picked up on the streets, and then be able to identify them all and trace them at a later date. That he already knew each of them seems unlikely.

[JeffHamm]

Are you suggesting that STDs are likely to go away without treatment?

That would be something for someone who was putting forth such a hypothesis to address (why wasn't the STD detectable at autopsy). Some do have symptoms that come and go (syphilis, for example, will appear to vanish without treatment when it enters the "latent phase" but it remains present in the body and can eventually enter the tertiary phase, which could be 10 or more years after the initial infection), and of course some STDs continue to show symptoms unless treated.

I wasn't putting forth the idea myself though, only commenting upon the problems to be faced by anyone who might champion that sort of line of thinking. Basically, I was presenting it as demonstrating the unlikelihood of the original hypothesis, and how trying to save it makes it even more difficult as one would have to build in all sorts of unsupported "possibilities" to get it to work.

- Jeff

[mpriestnall]

I know there is a theory that JTR was a psychopath with a grudge against prostitutes in general (perhaps he caught a disease from one) but is there a theory that he caught it and could narrow it down to just five women who could have given it him. Perhaps he found out in August 1888 and being a total psychotic he resolved to kill whoever gave it him. However, he didn't know which of the five it was; so he decided to kill all of them in order to make sure. It took him a few weeks to track down and find an opportunity to kill all of them. By November he had finally disposed of the last one and thus had no further desire to kill again. This would explain why the killing started and stopped so suddenly.

Not sure I believe this myself but what do other people think?

I'm firmly believe either a subset of the canonical victims were specifically targeted as individuals or all five were.

The fact that any of the five may have been prostitutes was irrelevant. I believe JTR and "Astrakhan Man" were acting jointly.

I believe the motive was probably to silence a subset or all of the victims to prevent reputational damage to either JTR or "Astrakhan Man".

I stopped believing the victims were randomly selected a long time ago.

[Fleetwood Mac]

An interesting article with regard to how male and female serial killers target their victims, complete with an evolutionary explanation and based upon empirical data:

Psychology may help explain why male and female serial killers differ | ScienceDaily

Male and female serial killers tend to choose their victims and commit their crimes in different ways, which may be due to thousands of years of psychological evolution, according to researchers.

The researchers found that male serial killers tend to "hunt" their victims, who are often strangers to them. Female serial killers tend to "gather" their victims -- targeting people around them who they may already know, often for financial gain.

"So if you know that men are more likely to commit a crime in a certain way and women are more likely to do it another, hopefully it can help investigators go down the correct path."

Harrison said that because humans lived as hunter-gatherers for about 95 percent of history, these ancient roles could help explain these differences.

"Historically, men hunted animals as prey and women gathered nearby resources, like grains and plants, for food," Harrison said.

For the study, they used data on 55 female and 55 male serial killers from the U.S.

After analyzing the data, the researchers found male serial killers were almost six times as likely to kill a stranger, while female serial killers were nearly twice as likely to kill a person they already knew.

Additionally, 65.4 percent of male serial killers stalked their victims, compared to 3.6 percent of female serial killers.

[Marilyn]

They were planned attacks. Letters indicate the next victim. Think cryptic / highly academic and it's still a challenge when you know the killer(s). Everything has been in print. Look out for my book coming out in December, "The Landlady". This family-held secret will end with me if I don't publish while I'm young enough to write. My kids aren't interested.

[Abby Normal]

They were planned attacks. Letters indicate the next victim. Think cryptic / highly academic and it's still a challenge when you know the killer(s). Everything has been in print. Look out for my book coming out in December, "The Landlady". This family-held secret will end with me if I don't publish while I'm young enough to write. My kids aren't interested.

you could always post a synopsis here now just to be safe.

[Marilyn]

No I'm too busy writing. The biggest disappointment for me just catching up on the casebook forum is how much everyone has focused on the murders alone. Where is the MO? What was happening in London at the time? Who were they targeting? Who was angry about it? What did they have to gain from killing in Whitechapel? How could someone get away unnoticed in London more so than any other city? Even the friendship group hasn't been established. The letters are cryptic, yet nobody has unlocked them. The letters have a theme. The words tell a story. I'm happy to answer some questions. (Other than who did it : ) You can all wait for that.)

[NotBlamedForNothing]

I'm happy to answer some questions.

Anything to do with politics? Bloody Sunday?