Joseph Barnett, Mary Kelly, and the other victims

[seanr]

However, my question still stands, being questioned for four hours tells me that at least for a short time he was considered a suspect. I would still like to know if the other victims knew him, hung out with him, etc or was he just a friend/partner or Kelly?

When a woman is found murdered, the boyfriend/ husband or partner are always questioned. All too often the woman's partner is the killer. It would have been standard procedure to question him.

In answer to the question, did he know any of the other women? it's possible he did, but I don't think it can be proved conclusively. Polly Nichols, Annie Chapman and Elizabeth Stride all lived in Dorset Street shortly before their deaths. So, it's possible he knew them.

[Pcdunn]

I think it is likely they at least ran the names of the other victims past Joe, but we don't know what he answered, thanks to missing police files (I assume?).

The main thing I recall is Joe not liking the other woman who sometimes stayed overnight with Mary Kelly. And, he disliked her being a prostitute.

[rjpalmer]

This vague statement is the sole evidence that Anderson suspected Joe Barnett for over twenty years.

Clearly, it is a non-sequitur. Barnett admitted to having left a pipe in Mary Kelly's room, and he had recently visited her, so this would hardly have "secured proof" that he was the assassin.

Most people accept that the story of the smashed pipe refers, not to Miller's Court, but to the McKenzie murder.

As for the implications of Anderson's story, it is an enigma. Evidently Scotland Yard didn't have Krazy Glue in 1889.

[richardnunweek]

Hi
We will never know if a red silk handkerchief was found in the room . Hutchinson made a point that she took the item when the man handed it to her, Its unlikely that after all the rampage in room 13, the killer would have retrieved it upon leaving.
Regards Richard.