Bigwigs and witnesses

[RedBundy13]

"David Abrahamesn erroneously describes him as City PC Smith, no. 452, which misled N. P. Warren to speculate (Ripperana, April 1993) that this might be the 'City P.C. near Mitre Court' described in the Macnaghten memoranda" The JtR A-Z by Paul Begg, Martin Fido & Keith Skinner.
Maybe this explains why Griffiths says that only a PC near Mitre 'Court' was the only witness.
He was also mistaken about the victim and the location.

[DVV]

Hi RedB

"David Abrahamesn erroneously describes him as City PC Smith, no. 452, which misled N. P. Warren to speculate (Ripperana, April 1993) that this might be the 'City P.C. near Mitre Court' described in the Macnaghten memoranda" The JtR A-Z by Paul Begg, Martin Fido & Keith Skinner.

I can't find this in the AZ, must have missed it (acc to the index, Abrahamsen is referred to pages 12-13 and 361).

Maybe this explains why Griffiths says that only a PC near Mitre 'Court' was the only witness.

I fail to see how Abrahamsen's mistake could have mistaken Griffiths, already dead and buried.

[Bridewell]

Retrospective

Hello Jon. I should say. When one looks through the memoranda of September and October, one is struck by the honesty and candour--from Warren all the way down to Abberline.

Cheers.
LC

Hi Lynn,

Indeed, but I think there's an awful lot of retrospective wishful thinking in their accounts. As regards suspects, I think it clear that they didn't have any real idea who was responsible.

Otherwise we have to find a Polish Jew called Dr T who was at one time at the bottom of the Thames.

Regards, Bridewell

[lynn cates]

stymied

Hello Bridewell. I agree--if you are referring to later on. Many were stymied by the whole thing.

But I cannot help but wonder if Monro figured it all out?

Cheers.
LC

[Adam Went]

The lack of a mention of the Stride witnesses surely does no harm to the case against Pipeman being Jack the Ripper as opposed to BS Man who Israel Schwartz saw attacking Liz on the street. Nobody else seems to have reported seeing Pipeman, despite the plethora of witnesses, and Schwartz was never called to the Inquest (his description of Pipeman was of course quite vague), so in a weird kind of way it almost lends some credibility to that theory, especially if one sees Stride's murder as opportunistic....

Abberline's comments about Mrs. Long are somewhat perplexing however, especially since she herself couldn't swear to anyone.

Cheers,
Adam.

[Hunter]

Abberline was trying to fit a witness description around his suspect too. He dismisses Long's estimation of age because she only saw him from behind, but accepts other features she mentions and that he looked like a foreigner. Notice he mentions the peaked cap referenced by Lawende, but doesn't mention the man's features, which wouldn't have fit Klosowski.

[Adam Went]

Hunter:

The only factor that Long's testimony boasts over the other witnesses is that she is quite possibly the only witness to see the man likely to be JTR in partial daylight - and even that is a very generous stretch. She also puts his age about 10 years above the average of the other major witnesses.

Cheers,
Adam.

[DVV]

Notice he mentions the peaked cap referenced by Lawende, but doesn't mention the man's features, which wouldn't have fit Klosowski.

Hi Hunter

thanks for pointing out this important detail. Strangely enough, Abberline did not say : "he wore a sailor-type peaked cap" - although it was exactly what Klosowski used to wear. He didn't say "deerstalker" either, and that, in my opinion, indicates how biased he was in 1903, and how he could select or ignore details from various witnesses that seemed to back up his theory.

Too bad Aberline wasn't asked : "And what are we to do with the Mitre Square witness that said Jack was a Gentile with a fair moustache ?"

I suspect he would have answered, in a pure Anderson style, something like : "Lawende and his friends were Jews, that could be the reason why they didn't say the man looked like a foreigner".