The Life of William Henry Bury

[Wyatt Earp]

According to the transcript of Bury’s trial published in the Daily Telegraph, the incident in which Bury punched his wife in the face two days after their wedding took place in Whitechapel. We know from elsewhere in Bury’s trial that he could be gone from home for a couple of days at a time. A plausible scenario, then, is that Bury abandons Ellen on their wedding night, and when he hasn’t returned home after a couple of days, she goes looking for her man and finds him in Whitechapel. In any event, the Daily Telegraph transcript places Bury in Whitechapel very close to the time of the attack on Smith. It does seem possible that he was there on the night of the attack.

The Smith murder is interesting in connection with Bury in that you’d expect there could have been some attacks prior to the classic murders in the series, it’s the right type of victim in the right part of town, and you have an assault on the genital area, which seems to be very unusual and is seen elsewhere in the series.

[Wyatt Earp]

And those are all valid objections to Bury being the Ripper.

We know that signature characteristics can vary in the degree of their expression due to the specific circumstances of a murder, and we know that Bury had an obvious situational incentive to tone down the mutilations. How is it a valid objection to Bury to point out that the mutilations were toned down?

It's the same way with the objection that Ellen Bury's throat wasn't cut. We know that the MO of a serial killer can change from crime scene to crime scene. How, then, is it a valid objection to Bury to point out that the MO is different?

These are empty, or less charitably, irrational objections to Bury.

[Harry D]

We know that signature characteristics can vary in the degree of their expression due to the specific circumstances of a murder, and we know that Bury had an obvious situational incentive to tone down the mutilations. How is it a valid objection to Bury to point out that the mutilations were toned down?

It's the same way with the objection that Ellen Bury's throat wasn't cut. We know that the MO of a serial killer can change from crime scene to crime scene. How, then, is it a valid objection to Bury to point out that the MO is different?

These are empty, or less charitably, irrational objections to Bury.

If Bury was trying to 'tone down' the mutilations to avoid suspicion, why would he mutilate her in the first place? It just doesn't make any sense. Now you might retort something to the effect that 'he was the Ripper and old habits die hard', but if that was the case then he would've gone to town on his wife. Serial killers are hardwired like that. My only guess is that in his drunken/delirious state he thought about making this look like a Ripper murder, hence the half-assed mutilations and the graffiti at the house. Then he sobered up and realised it was a nonstarter and decided to brazen it out down the cop shop.

[Wyatt Earp]

If Bury was trying to 'tone down' the mutilations to avoid suspicion, why would he mutilate her in the first place? It just doesn't make any sense.

If Bury thought he could get away with toned-down mutilations, then mutilating would have “made sense”…to him. Mutilators possess the urge to mutilate. And indeed the police did not identify him as the Ripper.

Now you might retort something to the effect that 'he was the Ripper and old habits die hard', but if that was the case then he would've gone to town on his wife. Serial killers are hardwired like that.

No, this is incorrect. Signature characteristics can be “diluted” in their expression or entirely absent from a given crime scene due to the specific circumstances of a murder (see Keppel and Birnes, Serial Violence: Analysis of Modus Operandi and Signature Characteristics of Killers, p.8).

My only guess is that in his drunken/delirious state he thought about making this look like a Ripper murder, hence the half-assed mutilations and the graffiti at the house. Then he sobered up and realised it was a nonstarter and decided to brazen it out down the cop shop.

Why is that your “only guess”? It’s been a year now since I published the Bury ID in Ripperologist, and during that time no one has been able to produce an effective rebuttal of it.

Bury was not a copycat. He did not cut Ellen’s throat, he did not abandon her body, he did not go to the police with a story that Jack the Ripper murdered his wife. And as I wrote in Ripperologist, “The main set of mutilations was conducted around the time of death, in the heat of the moment, and was part of the murder sequence itself. These mutilations could not have been part of a posthomicide effort to disguise his identity as the murderer. In addition, two subsequent mutilations, conducted after the time of death, as well as other later behaviors linking William Bury to the Jack the Ripper murders, such as the sexually degrading posing of Ellen Bury’s body in the trunk, are inconsistent with an abandoned attempt to implicate Jack the Ripper.”

[Harry D]

The police didn't identify him as the Ripper... therefore he was the Ripper?

Ellen Bury's murder was lacking the hallmarks of a usual Ripper murder... therefore he was the Ripper?

[Wyatt Earp]

The police didn't identify him as the Ripper... therefore he was the Ripper?

Ellen Bury's murder was lacking the hallmarks of a usual Ripper murder... therefore he was the Ripper?

I hate to give you a reading assignment, Harry, but it sounds like you would benefit from reviewing my article. Bury can be identified as the Ripper through the straightforward process of elimination described in the article, and the Ellen Bury murder indeed bore the hallmarks of a Ripper murder, as it can be closely mapped to the Ripper's signature as described by Keppel et al.

[Mrsperfect]

Boggles
I will see if I can locate the trial notes I posted here years ago when I started this thread. Give me a few days as I am quite busy at the moment.

Regards

Eileen

[Rainbow]

Here is a link for you Harry and John, just to refresh your memories, and maybe you can try to answer some of your own problems with Bury being the Ripper...

http://forum.casebook.org/showthread.php?t=1080&page=8

Read here what you and John have written one year ago..

There is no place for Bury on this case plan except to play card with him....



Rainbow°

[Joshua Rogan]

Boggles
I will see if I can locate the trial notes I posted here years ago when I started this thread. Give me a few days as I am quite busy at the moment.

Regards

Eileen

Are they the ones in posts #8,10,11 & 15 ?

[curious]

I hate to give you a reading assignment, Harry, but it sounds like you would benefit from reviewing my article. Bury can be identified as the Ripper through the straightforward process of elimination described in the article, and the Ellen Bury murder indeed bore the hallmarks of a Ripper murder, as it can be closely mapped to the Ripper's signature as described by Keppel et al.

Hello, Wyatt,
I'd love to read your article. Do you recall which issue it is in?

Thanks,
curious

[John Wheat]

Here is a link for you Harry and John, just to refresh your memories, and maybe you can try to answer some of your own problems with Bury being the Ripper...

http://forum.casebook.org/showthread.php?t=1080&page=8

Read here what you and John have written one year ago..

There is no place for Bury on this case plan except to play card with him....



Rainbow°

What are you on about?

[GUT]

What are you on about?

Beats me.

[Wyatt Earp]

Hello, Wyatt,
I'd love to read your article. Do you recall which issue it is in?

Thanks,
curious

If you're still interested in reading the article, a slightly improved version ("The Bury ID") is available at http://www.williambury.org (it's essentially the same article, I just added a few remarks and tried to improve the writing here and there).

[John Wheat]

If you're still interested in reading the article, a slightly improved version ("The Bury ID") is available at http://www.williambury.org (it's essentially the same article, I just added a few remarks and tried to improve the writing here and there).

Hi Wyatt

Excellent article and indeed Website.

Cheers John

[Wyatt Earp]

Hi Wyatt

Excellent article and indeed Website.

Cheers John

Thanks. I haven't had much time for Rippermania the past few years, but it's good to see you've kept the ball rolling here in the Bury section.