Assessing Cutbush

[Lewis C]

I wonder if there’s another serial killer who killed in such a small area and that he actually lived within that area?

Hi Herlock,

A lot of people in this forum know more about other serial killers than I do, but I would think that the small area that the murders occurred in would be uncommon, before one even considers where the killer lived. I would expect it would be even more uncommon in the era of motor vehicles.

The area that the murders occurred in was so small that the killer could have lived just outside the area defined by drawing lines to connect the murder sites, but still have been close enough to have easy access to the area and to be able to get home quickly after the murders.

[Herlock Sholmes]

I wonder if there’s another serial killer who killed in such a small area and that he actually lived within that area?

[Lewis C]

I disagree. Some serial killers don't kill in there immediate neighbourhood but for instance in a neighbouring district as there is less chance of them being caught. I see no reason why this couldn't apply to Jack.

Hi John,

If a person lived in Whitechapel, most of Whitechapel wouldn't be his immediate neighborhood. I think that's most likely what happened. The killer killed outside his immediate neighborhood, but not too far away. And I think he's just as likely to have lived in Spitalfields as in Whitechapel. The easternmost part of London proper is also a strong possibility.

[John Wheat]

The farther that a suspect lived from the sites of the murders, the less likely they are as a suspect. All else being equal, someone who lived near Whitechapel is less likely than someone who lived in Whitechapel, but more likely than someone who did not live in London.

I don't think there are any good suspects. The 'best' suspects are poor. Most suspects are very poor. There are also the bad suspects, like Thompson or Gull, the laughable, like Lewis Carroll, and the impossible, like Prince Eddy.

I disagree. Some serial killers don't kill in there immediate neighbourhood but for instance in a neighbouring district as there is less chance of them being caught. I see no reason why this couldn't apply to Jack.

[Fiver]

I’ve never understood why a suspect would have to have lived in Whitechapel John.

The Ripper's ability to evade capture clearly requires a fair amount of luck, but I think it implies that the Ripper knew the East End well. If someone ever comes up with a credible local carman, cab driver, or posty suspect, that will probably become my favorite suspect.

[Fiver]

Just out of interest could a suspect who lived near Whitechapel be a good suspect or are people saying Jack had to live in Whitechapel?

The farther that a suspect lived from the sites of the murders, the less likely they are as a suspect. All else being equal, someone who lived near Whitechapel is less likely than someone who lived in Whitechapel, but more likely than someone who did not live in London.

I don't think there are any good suspects. The 'best' suspects are poor. Most suspects are very poor. There are also the bad suspects, like Thompson or Gull, the laughable, like Lewis Carroll, and the impossible, like Prince Eddy.

[John Wheat]

I’ve never understood why a suspect would have to have lived in Whitechapel John.

I agree Herlock. There's Bury who I consider the best suspect and then Druitt a named suspect. Who I've never considered a leading suspect but I have to admit I'm warming to Druitt as a suspect. Neither of which lived in Whitechapel. Then there's a suspect like Lechmere who clearly wasn't Jack the Ripper but of course people will say he lived in Whitechapel though.

Cheers John

[Herlock Sholmes]

I’ve never understood why a suspect would have to have lived in Whitechapel John.

[John Wheat]

In some cases, even being able to place a chosen suspect outside of Whitechapel for one or more of the murders does not deter the more "dedicated" suspectologists.

Just out of interest could a suspect who lived near Whitechapel be a good suspect or are people saying Jack had to live in Whitechapel?

[Fiver]

I suppose that's suspectology for you in a nutshell, Herlock. If we cannot place someone's chosen suspect outside of Whitechapel for one or more of the murders, they remain fair game for the theorist.

In some cases, even being able to place a chosen suspect outside of Whitechapel for one or more of the murders does not deter the more "dedicated" suspectologists.

[caz]

I'll give you three names I find more likely to have been the ripper than Lechmere: Queen Victoria, Sooty and my rescue cat, Orwell.

It's all in the tarpaulin - and putting a satirical slant on Macnaghten's reasoning:

"Why, almost anyone would have been more likely than Thomas "hide the scissors" Cutbush, but here are three just for jolly: one who was not known to be in England; one who was fingered by Anderson, FFS; and one whose unhealthy obsession with the 'thwack of leather on willow' was a sure sign of sexual insanity. Take your pick."

Do I win £5?

Love,

Caz
X

[caz]

But it’s not interpretation Fishy. There is a difference. I’m not ‘interpreting’ the evidence, I’m stating it factually. That we cannot place Thompson in Whitechapel at the time of the murders is not my interpretation. It’s a fact.

I suppose that's suspectology for you in a nutshell, Herlock. If we cannot place someone's chosen suspect outside of Whitechapel for one or more of the murders, they remain fair game for the theorist.

Lechmere was low hanging fruit.

Love,

Caz
X

[Herlock Sholmes]

Hi Herlock,

I have to say that I perceive Macnaghten in much the same light as the current cabinet in the USA. A Tea Plantation owner in India brought into a position after the event based entirely on the "old boy network" - no skills, no talent, but he'll start at the top. I have reservations about everything that he said, including his "canonical five" conclusion.

Cheers, George

Hi George,

There’s no doubt of course that Macnaghten got his job via the Old Boy Network but so did everyone in senior positions in those days. Can we really assume that they were all incompetent? Or should we assume that the person that got them the position would consider them a reflection on their own judgment. If Macnaghten had turned out to have been the kind of buffoon that couldn’t locate the correct end of a pen then surely questions would have been asked of Munro’s judgment. Macnaghten appears to have been generally respected (I think that it was Wensley who spoke highly of him) but obviously this doesn’t make him any kind of great detective.

[mklhawley]

This is from Christine and Jonathan Hainsworth.


If you take the trouble to read all of the sources pertaining to Macnaghten - those he created, those about him and those he orchestrated at one remove - you quickly discover how much of a sterile caricature of this police chief is depicted on this site and the other one. In these sources we can glimpse enough of what was veiled from us by the handful in the know.


Melville Leslie Macnaghten was appointed by Monro due to his dispassionate and judicious temperament and for his ability to manage other men.

Once he started at the Yard, this toff smoothie impressed the working-class detectives and constables because of his deference towards their experience. Though an administrator behind a desk, Mac fled the paperwork at every opportunity to be mucking in with the cops. He joined them on night patrols and then invited them back to his plush home in Pimlico (next door was Oscar Wilde) and hosted these men with booze and cigars and billiards.

From his first day, Macnaghten studied the files on The Ripper case. He had personal copies made of the grisly photos of the victims. It took him a year but he finally tracked down Tom Bulling as the reporter who had faked the "Dear Boss" letter. In the files he read about the dozens upon dozens of suspects against whom there was no hard evidence.

In doing so Mac spotted a name he recognized.

A nephew of the late, famous Dr Robert Druitt was arrested in 1887 for allegedly trying to stab an East End "fallen woman". The victim dropped the accusation because either they were lying, or fearful, or were quietly bought off. This young gentleman, Montague Druitt, a talented barrister and cricketer was by 1889 deceased - he had killed himself in late 1888. Since there were subsequent East End murders which were probably by "Jack", then Mr Druitt had the most unbreakable alibi.

A staunch Tory, Macnaghten had many friends and two of his closest were the Liberal and famous writer, George Sims, and the other was Colonel Vivian Majendie; seconded to the Home Office as their top bomb disposal expert. In 1888, Col. Majendie's step-niece, Isabel Majendie, had married the Reverend Charles Druitt, who was a son of the celebrated, deceased physician, Dr Robert Druitt. This union joined the two famous clans and names.The late Montague had been one of Charles' cousins.

Macnaghten believed that if he been on the Force the year before - and not been rudely fired by Warren before he even started - he would have, as a favour to a close friend, checked and presumably cleared M. J. Druitt. Such a connection to the East End horrors could only do reputational damage to both prominent, respectable families.

Then in 1891 came the shocking revelation from Majendie. He had been approached by a distressed Isabella Druitt, the widow of Dr Robert and Montie's aunt who divulged that their deceased member had indeed been "Jack the Ripper". The aunt had approached Dr Robert Anderson via the Earl of Crawford (his sister was married into the Majendies) without divulging her name. Anderson had assured her the maniac was still alive and stalking victims, so no need to worry.

She then approached her son, Charles' Tory MP, in West Dorset, Henry Farquharson, trying once more to alert the authorities not to hang the wrong man - yet without the family name becoming known and ruined. But the MP told the secret to so many of his pals in London that an oblique version of the truth reached the press. By a tragic coincidence another East End sex worker, Frances Coles, was despatched (Macnaghten personally led the hunt at the docks for her killer). A sailor, Tom Sadler, had been arrested and might be about to swing for this murder and also some of the earlier atrocities.

At this moment of fear and anguish, Charles, William and Isabella Druitt felt they had no choice but to inform Colonel Majendie. They braced themselves for the arrival of detectives from C.I.D. and for the inevitable evisceration of their clans by the vulture tabloids.

Instead through their door came just one cop, the posh charmer and Old Estonian, Melville Macnaghten. He assured them that this truth would stay buried for their sake and that of his close pal. The Rev Charles explained that before he killed himself, Montie had confessed all and asked that the truth came out no later than a decade (the details of that confession had data known only to the murderer and the authorities - case closed).

Now Macnaghten knew the stakes. The hideous truth could not be hidden forever. In effect a bomb was on a timer like the "infernal machines" his friend courageously disarmed. And what if the vicar felt he had to reveal the truth earlier, perhaps to make certain the wrong man was not crucified?

What then...?

[GBinOz]

I would have to ask George, if you feel that Macnaghten was incompetent, then doesn’t that mean that he could have been wrong about Cutbush too?

Hi Herlock,

I have to say that I perceive Macnaghten in much the same light as the current cabinet in the USA. A Tea Plantation owner in India brought into a position after the event based entirely on the "old boy network" - no skills, no talent, but he'll start at the top. I have reservations about everything that he said, including his "canonical five" conclusion.

Cheers, George