Why did Macnaghten deny Cutbush as a serious suspect?

[Jake L]

Thank You, Stewart - much appreciated, as always!

It seems that Reynold's News pretty much lifted the 1st article from Leader. Without the follow-through, of course..

The Yard official referred to....I wonder...would "head official" with a "10-year old child" (provided that it's not merely a figure of speech) be MacNaghten?

/jake

[Stewart P Evans]

Inspector Race

There was a brief mention of Cutbush in Race's potted biography published when he retired in 1898 -

[Stewart P Evans]

Portrait of Race



Portrait of ex-inspector William Nixon Race, Metropolitan Police.

[Stewart P Evans]

Inspector Race

It looks suspiciously as if Inspector Race spoke out of turn in 1894 and was never forgiven by his senior officers.

The arrest of Cutbush was a success story for Race and although Cutbush was too mentally ill to stand trial he was incarcerated for the rest of his days. Thus great kudos would attach to Race should he be able to convince everyone that in putting away Cutbush he had effectively locked up 'Jack the Ripper.' In disclosing any information he had, in his official capacity, to the press he would be committing a disciplinary offence and incurring the displeasure of his superiors.

The evidence indicates that this was the case for he was overlooked for future promotion (and an increased pension) despite a good arrest record. His Superintendent recommended him for promotion several times but 'through some unknown reason' he never heard anything further. This worried him greatly. In the police force you simply do not upset your senior officers.

In December 1897 he went on the sick list, his condition apparently exacerbated by the death of his 21 year old son and through the indifferent treatment of him by the force. After an honourable career he was 'reduced without any fair trial' and was invalided out with a small pension of 16s. 3d. per week in the summer of 1898. He had served 17 years 11 months.

[Robert]

Thanks for the Race material, Stewart.

[Chris Scott]

To go back to Macnaghten's own words it would seem that his "denial" of Cutbush as a suspect, if the document can be read as such, is based in his mind on a simple lack of evidence. He writes:
"He is said to have studied medical books by day, and to have rambled about at night, returning frequently with his clothes covered with mud; but little reliance could be placed on the statements made by his mother or his aunt, who both appear to have been of a very excitable disposition. It was found impossible to ascertain his movements on the nights of the Whitechapel murders."
He seems to be saying that both the unreliability of family evidence and the lack of knowledge of his movements at the time of the murders (which suggest that this had indeed been investigated) could not provide a sound basis for a case against Cutbush.

One question - how much, if any, of the police records regarding investigations into Cutbush has survived?
Regards
Chris S

[Stewart P Evans]

Sun's Informant

A reading of the press reports suggests that Race had earlier tried to convince his superiors that Cutbush was the Ripper but that this was not accepted by them as there was no evidence.

It would appear that Race had nursed this idea since he arrested Cutbush in 1891 and had kept up with Cutbush's state in the asylum. It would also appear that Race had kept Cutbush's knife as 'evidence'. Frustration getting the better of him as he was getting nowhere with his theory with his colleagues Race resorted to the press. He must have been the Sun's early informant under an anonymity agreement when they pursued their own investigation. This would explain the facts as we know them.

Race seems to have had a real 'bee in his bonnet' over this theory.

[Robert]

Yes Chris, it seems as though they did try to establish his movements - for two and a half years before! I don't see how this could be done for anyone, unless they were abroad, in prison etc, or perhaps had a night job where they had to sign in and out and the records were still extant. Maybe the police simply asked Kate and Clara "Do you remember him being out on those particular nights?"

There seems to be something strange here, for Macnaghten's account reads almost as if Kate and Clara were trying to pin the crimes on Thomas, whereas in the Lloyd's article Clara is gallantly defending him.

[Chris Scott]

Some details about William Race
A possible record of his death is recorded in Durham in 1914 of a William Race aged 60 but this is not certain.

William Nixon Race

Birth:
Name: William Nixon Race
Year of Registration: 1855
Quarter of Registration: Jan-Feb-Mar
District: Auckland
County: Durham

1861:
South Road, Bishop Auckland, Durham
Head: George Race aged 32 born Butterworth - Coal miner
Wife: Isabella Race aged 28 born Sunderland
Children:
John aged 8
William aged 6
George aged 5
Jane A aged 2
Lancelot aged 1 month
All born in Bishop Auckland

1871:
Craddock Street, Bishop Auckland
Head: George Race aged 42 born Lynesack - Coal miner
Wife: Isabella Race aged 38 born Bishop Auckland
Children:
John aged 18 - Coal miner
William aged 16 - Labourer in Ironworks
George aged 14 - Shoemaker's apprentice
Jane Ann aged 11
Launcelot aged 9
Isaac aged 7
Isabella aged 4
Elizabeth aged 10 months
All born in Bishop Auckland

Marriage:
Stockton, Durham 1875
Married Georgina Esther Gornall


1881:
68 Hargwyne Street, Lambeth
Head: William N Race aged 26 born Southchurch, Durham - Police constable
Wife: Georgina E Race aged 27 born Bishop Auckland
Children:
Arthur N aged 4
Jane E aged 2
Both born Bishop Auckland

1891:
22 Fleming Road, Newington
Head: William N Race aged 36 born Auckland, Durham - Inspector of Police
Wife: Georgina E Race aged 37 born Bishop Auckland
Children:
Arthur N aged 14 born Bishop Auckland
Jane E N aged as born Bishop Auckland

1901:
Shire Hall Road, Sutton at Hone, Dartford, Kent
Head: William Race aged 46 born Auckland - Under foreman and Clerk, Chemist
Wife: Georgina Race aged 47 born Bishop Auckland
Child:
Jane aged 22 born Bishop Auckland
Father in Law: John Gornall aged 70 born Auckland - Tailor

[Natalie Severn]

Thanks Stewart for the materials you posted on Race today following Jake"s comments.Thanks to Chris too for this census material on Race.
Does anyone have the Labouchere article in The Truth that Jake referred to?
Norma

[Natalie Severn]

Race seems to have had a real 'bee in his bonnet' over this theory.

Stewart,
He certainly does and ok,-as far as his superiors in the police force were concerned he was barking up the wrong tree.The problem with this is that I tend to see them all rather tied to their own theories---and unable to see the wood for the trees.Macnaghten seems to have had a theory whereby the ripper made a series of 5 attacks of increasing intensity to satisfy his sexual madness and deviancy,which culminated in the horrific events at Millers Court whereupon" his mind gave way and he committed suicide" the following day.Anderson conceived of a man with solitary "lower than a beast " habits,----here indeed is a strange vision taking shape in Anderson"s mind of a "foaming at the mouth lunatic" -"caged in an asylum"!But not one of them seem to have considered taking a deeper look at Thomas Cutbush"s mental condition---- not even when the Sun got hold of the story from one of their rank and file policemen.At this point they see only a [probably deteriorated] Thomas Cutbush who went out "jobbing" in Kennington in 1891! Macnaghten actually says so in his own words---re The Ripper "the fury of the mutilations INCREASED"---he even underlines the word "increased " for emphasis in his memorandum----this Cutbush chap ,by contrast- " was merely prodding women in the behind"-you can almost feel his exasperation though actually Cutbush was "stabbing" women with a "knife" and injuring them and drawing blood in Kennington streets but still,I agree, that in no way compares with Jack the Ripper"s activities in 1888 .
However, if instead of rejecting the candidacy of Cutbush on the basis of the 1891 "jobbing" crimes not comparing with JtR"s 1888 killing and mutilation spree, and considers instead the malignant and baffling nature of Thomas Cutbush"s illness ,one sees that what he got up to in Kennington in 1891 need not have had anything whatsoever to do with what he may have been getting up to in 1888......"the moving finger writes------he may have moved on to a totally different agenda by then!
Cheers
Norma

[Cap'n Jack]

So all in all we have a situation in the early 1890's concerning the identity of Jack the Ripper, much like we had in the more modern hunt for the identity of the Yorkshire Ripper, with the most senior officer convinced that the culprit was of a certain type and location, whilst less senior police officers were convinced that the killer had already been in police custody for a lesser offence.
But only the most senior police officer has an official voice, with the less senior police officers having to resort to unofficial tactics to be heard.
This is all very common in even modern murder cases, as I conclusively demonstrated in the 'Myth' when I researched and wrote it in 1991.
Go back, read and absorb what I wrote all those years ago... and please do not try and maintain that my efforts had no impact whatsoever.
I dropped a fine bomb back then.
You boys are just beginning to absorb the dust.

[Stewart P Evans]

Insane

<< I suppose the crutch piece of the discussion has to be Executive Superintendent Cutbush's role in the entire affair.... I know you'll agree with me that the suicide of such a high ranking officer is an extremely rare event in the history of British policing. .....
You said earlier that a person who commits suicide must be insane.
Well Stewart, I couldn't agree more. >>
You are both quite wrong.
In many circumstances even to a well-balanced mind, suicide can be a totally rational reaction to a combination of life crises, some of them inflicting repeated agonies either mental or physical.
In many situations, including terminal illness associated with chronic pain, or desperate grief, it may appear to be the ONLY rational course of action.

I don't need anyone to describe the reasons for someone committing suicide to me. I have dealt with more suicides than I care to remember, my first one being in 1970 when I dealt with a terminally ill man who overdosed and slashed his wrists in bed. I was only 21 years old at the time. After that I dealt with many forms of suicide from various motives, including hangings, shotguns, and jumping in front of a train.

But, of course, anyone in a normal state of mind does not commit suicide. Suicide is committed when the balance of the mind is impaired. And you don't have to be a raving lunatic to be mentally unsound, temporarily or otherwise. Insanity is defined, inter alia, as being not of sound mind or irrational. Certainly it is not rational to kill oneself in the way that Druitt did and I made the reference to in relation to Druitt. There are degrees of insanity but I do not intend to get into a debate about it, nor to argue semantics.

[aspallek]

Stewart,
He certainly does and ok,-as far as his superiors in the police force were concerned he was barking up the wrong tree.The problem with this is that I tend to see them all rather tied to their own theories---and unable to see the wood for the trees.Macnaghten seems to have had a theory whereby the ripper made a series of 5 attacks of increasing intensity to satisfy his sexual madness and deviancy,which culminated in the horrific events at Millers Court whereupon" his mind gave way and he committed suicide" the following day.Anderson conceived of a man with solitary "lower than a beast " habits,----here indeed is a strange vision taking shape in Anderson"s mind of a "foaming at the mouth lunatic" -"caged in an asylum"!But not one of them seem to have considered taking a deeper look at Thomas Cutbush"s mental condition---- not even when the Sun got hold of the story from one of their rank and file policemen.At this point they see only a [probably deteriorated] Thomas Cutbush who went out "jobbing" in Kennington in 1891! Macnaghten actually says so in his own words---re The Ripper "the fury of the mutilations INCREASED"---he even underlines the word "increased " for emphasis in his memorandum----this Cutbush chap ,by contrast- " was merely prodding women in the behind"-you can almost feel his exasperation though actually Cutbush was "stabbing" women with a "knife" and injuring them and drawing blood in Kennington streets but still,I agree, that in no way compares with Jack the Ripper"s activities in 1888 .
However, if instead of rejecting the candidacy of Cutbush on the basis of the 1891 "jobbing" crimes not comparing with JtR"s 1888 killing and mutilation spree, and considers instead the malignant and baffling nature of Thomas Cutbush"s illness ,one sees that what he got up to in Kennington in 1891 need not have had anything whatsoever to do with what he may have been getting up to in 1888......"the moving finger writes------he may have moved on to a totally different agenda by then!
Cheers
Norma

Norma,

I would only say that the notion of the killer's mind giving way resulting in his suicide immediately after the last murder pre-dates Macnaghten. Farquharson (MP from West Dorset) already in 1891, in what is clearly a reference to Druitt claimed that the Ripper was a "son of a surgeon" who committed suicide immediately after the last murder. I believe that Macnaghten's writing shows reliance on this assertion as he clearly struggles to reconcile Farquharson's timing of the killer's suicide with what he knows to be true of Druitt. Mac knows the timing of Druitt's death since he writes of his being found on 31 Dec after being in the water "upwards of a month." Sir Melville knows this does not add up to a suicide on 9-10 November yet he steadfastly preserves that notion in his writings even while pointing to Druitt as the most likely suspect.

Yes you are correct in that Macnaghten highlights three suspect types: the career criminal/con artist (Ostrog), the raving lunatic (Kosminski) which he got from Anderson, and that which he favors: the disturbed English gentleman (Druitt) fingered by his own MP. Where the suspicion of the career criminal/con artist came from is unclear. I will say, however, that Tumblety loosely fits this category and he was clearly a contemporary suspect.

[Natalie Severn]

Yes Andy,Tumblety is a serious suspect and I have not dismissed him.I believe he was probably a psychopath or sociopath.Another phrase they used to give for a psychopath was a "plausible rogue"----can you think of anyone who that term better fits than Tumblety? But whether he was the Whitechapel murderer or not is another matter.There would have to have been a reason for bumping off these women.Maybe they had all been in Sir Edward Jenkinson"s circle of "barmen and pavement artists" who were paid to go into pubs and pick up information from Fenians?
Druitt is different.But at the moment I am more interested in Cutbush though its possible both men thought they were Jack the Ripper----but neither of them were!