Knowing

[Elamarna]

Mmm. And if that was not a possible option for some reason, what would you do instead?

sorry to cut in on you two, however in reply to your last post but 1

i as the killer would tell you in advance or a crime, or even arrange for you to attend the scene after before it is discovered, hows that?


steve

[David Orsam]

Mmm. And if that was not a possible option for some reason, what would you do instead?

My dear boy I have great difficulty with the premise of your charming question because if I was the killer I would not want to tell anyone of this due to a fear that they would notify the police and I would be arrested, charged, tried and then taken to a place where I would be hung by my neck until I was dead.

But if for some unexplained reason - and I wish you WOULD explain it to me my dear boy so I can understand my motivation - I wanted to convince someone that I had carried out the murders, then perhaps I would show them the body parts that I had taken away from the poor dead women I had killed. That might do it, no?

[David Orsam]

Donīt worry, I will help you understand the question, David.

This is the situation: You want me to worry about the knowledge I have about the murders you commit, the knowledge you have given me about them. You want me to believe that the authorities will make an example of me, as you put it. And you want me to be certain that there is good evidence for my knowledge which the court easily can use against me. And you want to do all this without killing me and without getting caught yourself. Now, how would you do it?

Well my dear boy, if I've told someone that I am the killer I have already failed in second objective because the chances are that this person will inform the police and I am captured.

But if by some miracle that person doesn't tell the police, and I want to scare them by saying that they could be charged with misprision of felony, and I'm in 1888, then I would ideally want them to put down their knowledge in writing so I would, perhaps, engage them in correspondence, hoping they would write something indiscreet, so that I could subsequently threaten to provide their letters to the police.

Do you think that would work my dear boy?

[Pierre]

sorry to cut in on you two, however in reply to your last post but 1

i as the killer would tell you in advance or a crime, or even arrange for you to attend the scene after before it is discovered, hows that?

steve

Hi Steve,

Yes, telling me in advance would perhaps weigh on my conciousness if I did not try to stop you by notifying the police. I would also get rather worried, thinking about a risk that the authorities would want to make an example of me, if it was discovered that I knew about the murders.

On the other hand, if I had made it clear that I did not believe you, you could not use my conciousness against me and it would be difficult for you to know if I was actually worrying at all.

Arranging for me to attend the scene after a murder would perhaps have some effects. If you think about the criminal law, what sort of effects do you think such a strategy would have?

Cheers, Pierre

[David Orsam]

Arranging for me to attend the scene after a murder would perhaps have some effects. If you think about the criminal law, what sort of effects do you think such a strategy would have?

My dear boy, might I interrupt here to suggest that it would probably get the killer arrested?

[Pierre]

[QUOTE=David Orsam;414926]

My dear boy I have great difficulty with the premise of your charming question because if I was the killer I would not want to tell anyone of this due to a fear that they would notify the police and I would be arrested, charged, tried and then taken to a place where I would be hung by my neck until I was dead.

Yes, that is what one would expect, that you would not want to tell anyone. But letīs say - hypothetically - that you had a reason for wanting me to know about it. In that situation you would of course take precausions so that everything you did or said to make me know that you were a killer would be very difficult to use against you. And the most important thing you would do would of course be to see to it that I was very afraid of being charged and tried to, if you were, i.e. if you notified the police.

But if for some unexplained reason - and I wish you WOULD explain it to me my dear boy so I can understand my motivation - I wanted to convince someone that I had carried out the murders, then perhaps I would show them the body parts that I had taken away from the poor dead women I had killed. That might do it, no?

No, David, since that would have the same effect as the private conversation we discussed. I would have seen something or heard something but how would the court be able to prove it?

[Pierre]

My dear boy, might I interrupt here to suggest that it would probably get the killer arrested?

Well, so you think that you would have been arrested in such a situation. But letīs say that you had an alibi. And that you had planned the alibi a couple of weeks before the murder you planned to commit. The alibi could of course also be shown to me and I would be very worried for legal reasons.

[David Orsam]

And the most important thing you would do would of course be to see to it that I was very afraid of being charged and tried to, if you were, i.e. if you notified the police.

But my dear boy, as soon as I notified the police then I couldn't be charged with misprision of felony - and I'm not aware of having committed any other crime - so your strategy seems to have a little flaw within it.

[David Orsam]

No, David, since that would have the same effect as the private conversation we discussed. I would have seen something or heard something but how would the court be able to prove it?

My dear boy, perhaps you have forgotten the charming question you asked me:

"if you were a killer and I told you I donīt believe you, and you desperately wanted me to believe you - what would you do?"

My answer was that I would show you body parts. Why would that not do the trick?

You didn't ask me anything in that question about the court proving anything.

[Pierre]

Well my dear boy, if I've told someone that I am the killer I have already failed in second objective because the chances are that this person will inform the police and I am captured.

But if by some miracle that person doesn't tell the police, and I want to scare them by saying that they could be charged with misprision of felony, and I'm in 1888, then I would ideally want them to put down their knowledge in writing so I would, perhaps, engage them in correspondence, hoping they would write something indiscreet, so that I could subsequently threaten to provide their letters to the police.

Do you think that would work my dear boy?

Not a very good idea, since your own letters would be kept by me and I could take them to the police.

[David Orsam]

But letīs say that you had an alibi.

But my dear boy I can't possibly have an alibi if I was committing a murder at the time.

Do you mean a false alibi?

I don't think that would worry you because if you notified the police and it turned out that the police couldn't break the alibi then, because I'm officially innocent, you are also in the clear on the misprision of felony charge. Isn't that right?

Either way, if I am convicted or in the clear, you can't lose if you notify the police.

[Pierre]

But my dear boy I can't possibly have an alibi if I was committing a murder at the time.

Do you mean a false alibi?

I don't think that would worry you because if you notified the police and it turned out that the police couldn't break the alibi then, because I'm officially innocent, you are also in the clear on the misprision of felony charge. Isn't that right?

Either way, if I am convicted or in the clear, you can't lose if you notify the police.

Of course it would have to be a false alibi.

I would never notify the police.

[David Orsam]

Not a very good idea, since your own letters would be kept by me and I could take them to the police.

But oh my dear boy I thought the scenario was that I had terrified you so much that you wouldn't go to the police. Because if I'm convicted of murder you would be convicted of misprision of felony. Isn't that right?

And if I was so concerned about you going to the police why have I told you that I am the killer in the first place?

[Pierre]

But my dear boy, as soon as I notified the police then I couldn't be charged with misprision of felony - and I'm not aware of having committed any other crime - so your strategy seems to have a little flaw within it.

Not if you were a serial killer. For each murder you commit, I know what you have done. For each murder you commit, I prefer to not notify the police.

[David Orsam]

Of course it would have to be a false alibi.

Not a very good one then my dear boy?

I would never notify the police.

But you would give my letters to the police my dear boy?

You cad.