Is Bury the best suspect we have?

[The Baron]

If Bury is truly the best suspect they can offer, then why does his case collapse under the weight of its own emptiness? Why is it that, after all these years, he commands no serious following, no credible scholarly support, no compelling evidence that can withstand even modest scrutiny? Perhaps it's because clinging to Bury isn't about solving the mystery, it's about refusing to let go of a bad theory.



The Baron

[John Wheat]

If Bury is truly the best suspect they can offer, then why does his case collapse under the weight of its own emptiness? Why is it that, after all these years, he commands no serious following, no credible scholarly support, no compelling evidence that can withstand even modest scrutiny? Perhaps it's because clinging to Bury isn't about solving the mystery, it's about refusing to let go of a bad theory.



The Baron

This is nonsense and from the man that claimed Bury couldn't be the Ripper because he had a beard in Ellen Bury's murder trial. Bury murdered his wife in a similar way to the C5. What other suspect can you say that about? Very few of the suspects are even violent murderers there's Kelly but not many others. I'd suggest that Bury isn't favoured by many because he was an ordinary loser type. As opposed to a top hated toff.

[GBinOz]

I don't think the hangman's view about whether Bury was the Ripper has much value. That the police of the time didn't seem to think that he was the Ripper means more to me than what the hangman thought.

The police at the time were under pressure to solve these murders and sent detectives to interrogate Bury. It would have been to their advantage to have been able to announce that the case had been solved, but they didn't. We can't know the details of their interrogation, but perhaps they found that Bury could not relate vital details of the murders, so it was determined that he was merely a fantasist. Bury finally admitted to murdering his wife, so with the gallows as his future why would he have not admitted to being the Ripper? Perhaps because he couldn't provide those vital details.

There was a reported conversation between Bury and the hangman, but this may have been apocryphal, as if the hangman had been persuaded by this alleged conversation he would surely have mentioned it in his book. But he didn't.

Much is made of the timing of his departure from London, but this was also the time that his wife's inheritance money had run out. Additionally he had a crate custom made for his journey north, almost like he had plans for its future use in the disposal of a wife who had out served her purpose. A despicable person by any measure, but too stupid to have been Jack.

[Lombro2]

I'd suggest that Bury isn't favoured by many because he was an ordinary loser type. As opposed to a top hated toff.

Getting rubbished? Now you know how Ike feels.

[Herlock Sholmes]

We don’t know who Jack the Ripper was. Some people are massively biased in favour of their own suspect; some claim to deduce more than is actually possible; some add opinions that they have received from others; some just post to disrupt and annoy. Al, that we can do is look at the suspects and say what we know whilst accepting that we can’t know enough.

Bury was living locally.
Bury was a violent man who was known to use a knife.
Bury was a drinker.
Bury had a traumatic childhood experience.
Bury had a troubled childhood.
Bury got into crime at a young age.
Bury actually murdered a woman (yes, she was his wife but she was still a woman)
Bury mutilated her abdomen.
Bury left London not long after the Kelly murder


How many suspects can we name that tick so many boxes. If we seek to dismiss Bury from any list of suspects then every single named suspect has to be eliminated also. Every one. This does not make Bury the killer but it must at least raise an alarm and make him a person of interest. It’s incredible and deeply embarrassing for the subject as a whole that ‘suspects’ like Cross (who is simply a joke promoted by the gullible) gets a fan club. He ticks none of the boxes as a killer except that he was local, and while we know that the gullibles think that his mere presence is a sign of guilt, hopefully most of us can see past that childish nonsense.

No matter how much it annoys people, and I don’t know why it should, Bury remains high up on the list of named suspects. On a box ticking exercise he’s top two.

[Duran duren]

Well said HS

[Herlock Sholmes]

Getting rubbished? Now you know how Ike feels.

No one has created an obviously forged diary about Bury as far as I’m aware.

[Lewis C]

The police at the time were under pressure to solve these murders and sent detectives to interrogate Bury. It would have been to their advantage to have been able to announce that the case had been solved, but they didn't. We can't know the details of their interrogation, but perhaps they found that Bury could not relate vital details of the murders, so it was determined that he was merely a fantasist. Bury finally admitted to murdering his wife, so with the gallows as his future why would he have not admitted to being the Ripper? Perhaps because he couldn't provide those vital details.

There was a reported conversation between Bury and the hangman, but this may have been apocryphal, as if the hangman had been persuaded by this alleged conversation he would surely have mentioned it in his book. But he didn't.

Much is made of the timing of his departure from London, but this was also the time that his wife's inheritance money had run out. Additionally he had a crate custom made for his journey north, almost like he had plans for its future use in the disposal of a wife who had out served her purpose. A despicable person by any measure, but too stupid to have been Jack.

Another possible explanation about why he admitted to killing his wife but not to being the Ripper was because the evidence or case for him killing his wife was far stronger than that for him being the Ripper. He admitted to killing his wife because that was undeniable.

In your last paragraph, I see no conflict: both could be true. It could be that he left London because his wife's money ran out, and the killings stopped because he left London.

I remember awhile back in this forum, it was argued that Bury was smart. I forget what the case for that was. I can't prove this, but my sense is that he was less intelligent than some suspects, but more intelligent than Aaron Kosminski.

[Abby Normal]

Another possible explanation about why he admitted to killing his wife but not to being the Ripper was because the evidence or case for him killing his wife was far stronger than that for him being the Ripper. He admitted to killing his wife because that was undeniable.

In your last paragraph, I see no conflict: both could be true. It could be that he left London because his wife's money ran out, and the killings stopped because he left London.

I remember awhile back in this forum, it was argued that Bury was smart. I forget what the case for that was. I can't prove this, but my sense is that he was less intelligent than some suspects, but more intelligent than Aaron Kosminski.

hi lewis
good post and agree. bury was a conman and able to fool people, so there is a modicum of intelligence in that. also, if youve seen his letters, he was able to write extremely well and his penmanship was very good. again indicative of intelligence. i couldn't believe this violent drunken thug was able to write like that. strange dude, seemingly a walking contradiction.