A Working Hypothesis

[Scorpio]

Most students of the Whitechapel murders of 1888 accept that the perp appears relatively familiar with the environment. In my thread " Bloody tourists ", i suggested the possibility of JtR not being bound within a area circumscribed by his crimes like a fish in a bowl, as so many Ripperologists simply assume to be the case and to consider the options that would allow for the development of a mental map of a specific location that is not dependent on an individual living within it.
Another option besides the sex tourist/casual visitor, is the commuter/worker who may me a resident for varying times and coming into contact with limited numbers of people, but is still able to develop a metal map over time. If Jack was ever stopped and questioned, or even searched, and i think it likely he was,considering the number of cops roaming about,Whitechapels huge itinerant manual worker population, tramping the streets at all hours and often dirty and dishevelled, provided the perfect cover for criminal activity.

[protohistorian]

The problem is Scorpio, that a passer through only has a map of the area at the time of his observation. I dare say, no one was commuting to Bucks Row at between 3:15 and 3:45 am. One could check train scedules to see if such a thing is even possible. I say train because M1 is not unreasonably distant from a train station. When we move to M2 however, there is a walk involved to get to the location. Dave

[Scorpio]

The problem is Scorpio, that a passer through only has a map of the area at the time of his observation. I dare say, no one was commuting to Bucks Row at between 3:15 and 3:45 am. One could check train scedules to see if such a thing is even possible. I say train because M1 is not unreasonably distant from a train station. When we move to M2 however, there is a walk involved to get to the location. Dave

Hi protohistorian.
I dont believe Jack would have necessarily commuted very far. Perhaps up to one or two miles, i do not have reliable stats at hand, just my memory of qualitative accounts of the working class experience. Consider George Hutchinson, he spent the day travelling to Romford, Essex, on foot, and i suggest he was looking for casual work. Not commuting in the early morning sounds like a luxury even modern Londoners could afford. The market rules.
Paul

[Errata]

I think my question would be along these lines.

Who would be living outside Whitechapel, working or commuting within Whitechapel, and have the knowledge of the alleys and yards. A coach driver would know the streets, but not the yards. A delivery person would know the streets yards and alleys, but is unlikely to live outside the neighborhood. A ahh... sex worker enthusiast would know the main drags and surrounds, but little else. A lamplighter would know the area, but would live in it. A gas man is a possibility. As is a priest I suppose. But a gas man would probably be unable to navigate around the gangs, and a priest would be recognizable. It's not impossible, I just cant imagine what job would meet the criteria, without him living in the area.

I have always cherished a secret fantasy that Jack the Ripper stopped killing because he got knifed by a mugger. That's how I like my irony.

[Scorpio]

Hi Errata
I think the mugger would have gone for the bewildered middle-class slummer instead. I think worker/commuter Jack may have supplemented his local geographic knowledge with the aid of some helpfull local ladies pre Martha Tabram. The murder dates were mostly weekend affairs i think, there was always someone around to help a fellow spend his wages.
Paul

[protohistorian]

Scorpio, I do not think many take the geography lightly as it regards this case. The bulk of studies from other types of crime bear out offender occupancy in the space shared by defining points. Modern studies of murderers differ slightly as they are complicated by wholesale offender relocation to avoid detection. I would not go so far as saying the crimes bound the area of suspect residence. I would say that at the very least they define a known zone of comfort for the offender. Could the comfort zone be larger? Why yes,yes it could. Why do we define it by victim recovery site? Because it is a known set of parameters to go by. This is particularly true if you believe the M5 is an accurate grouping.In very simple terms, if you are going to expand the comfort zone, what are the criteria for doing so? Do we say a 20 minute walk? Why 20 minutes? I do not have much faith in the Macnaghten grouping methodologically speaking, but it is the historically established grouping. We do not have enough data to expand the grouping. Dave

[Scorpio]

I agree, the marauder model seems to arbitary to me. The idea of a comfort zone is plausible, people do like to go with, and stay with, what they know, rather than take risks, but it still suggests a cognitive relationship and that can be established in so many ways.
Paul

[protohistorian]

Scorpio that is correct, it can. The best we can do is evaluate what we do have and eliminate possibilities by their violations of established fact. Even then, because so many within this community would argue the sky is red just to flap their gums, their will be no consensus. This is not entirely bad, because our dataset is so subjective that the reality is every ripper scholar has to find his own solution.

[Errata]

Hi Errata
I think the mugger would have gone for the bewildered middle-class slummer instead. I think worker/commuter Jack may have supplemented his local geographic knowledge with the aid of some helpfull local ladies pre Martha Tabram. The murder dates were mostly weekend affairs i think, there was always someone around to help a fellow spend his wages.
Paul

Im still in favor of the drunken balladeer method of exit. And there were a lot of helpful ladies. There were also a lot of very helpful gangs, robbers, pimps, drunks and thieves. Middle class slummer puts a big fat target on his back for those guys. Especially if it was true. I can just picture him getting grabbed by a thug, and having the big strong burly tough realize that the coat collar he just grabbed is soaked in blood. Just because you can butcher prostitutes doesn't mean you can protect yourself from a mugger. Odd but true.

[Scorpio]

Errata, a man called William Sadler, who was briefly a suspect, reported that he was beaten and robbed, when he was in the area during the Frances Coles murder. So, you may be right yet.

[Graham]

Errata, a man called William Sadler, who was briefly a suspect, reported that he was beaten and robbed, when he was in the area during the Frances Coles murder. So, you may be right yet.

No big deal, but it was James Sadler and he was a client of Frances Coles, having picked her up in a pub the night before she was murdered. Sadler was mugged (or at least beaten up) and Frances left him to it; he went to her lodging-house at Whites Row and they had a shouting match. Later that night he was beaten up again, and subsequently arrested.

Graham

[Scorpio]

I am glad somebody knows what they are talking about.... but i am sure there is a suspect called William somewhere, though.

[Scorpio]

A Clean Pair Of Heels ?

I can't help but notice how many people seriously consider the possibility of JtR roaming the streets covered in blood. With the possible exception of Martha Tabram, who was stabbed multiple times, a physical process that Forensic scientists would associate with the generation of multiple,flying blood droplets that are transmitted from the weapon to the assailants skin,hair and clothing. The infamous " ripping", is a cutting or slicing motion, and that is a process which skilled butchers and slaughterers can accomplish without becoming paticularly bloodstained. If Jack was such a skilled working man,then it is likely that the blood was confined to the fingernails, sleeves, shoes and trouser bottoms, or pant bottoms if your an American.

[Errata]

I can't help but notice how many people seriously consider the possibility of JtR roaming the streets covered in blood. With the possible exception of Martha Tabram, who was stabbed multiple times, a physical process that Forensic scientists would associate with the generation of multiple,flying blood droplets that are transmitted from the weapon to the assailants skin,hair and clothing. The infamous " ripping", is a cutting or slicing motion, and that is a process which skilled butchers and slaughterers can accomplish without becoming particularly bloodstained. If Jack was such a skilled working man,then it is likely that the blood was confined to the fingernails, sleeves, shoes and trouser bottoms, or pant bottoms if your an American.

I never really pictured it like he bathed in it or anything. I suppose it all depends on whether he was crouching, kneeling or sitting, but there weren't bloody footprints, kneeprints, or butt prints so I dont know which. Cutting out intestines and chucking them to one side is a messy business. Of course, if he had a bloody uterus in his hand on the way home, that seems kind of noticeable.

[Scorpio]

I would guess he crouched somewhere near the victims head. The uterus was also a favourite target for Andrei Chikitilo, the Rostov ripper. He, ironically enough, probably hid the human material in a leather " Gladstone" style bag, which he was carrying at the time of his arrest and contained various unsavoury items.