Does anyone believe MJD was murdered?

[Johnr]

And Where Are The Red Lion Steps?

Belated thanks to the marvellously named Roy Corduroy, for his image of the Red Lion Steps ( presumeably on The Thames- but where?).They certainly look like a likely spot to ease oneself in to the coldy waters...
I certainly find Chris George's MJD the War Office spy- or Herr Druitt of the German Secret Service- scenario alluring.
Now if MJD had a rolled up umbrella within which to secrete the plans of Thornycroft's latest torpedo design....

Perhaps Druitt did not suicide but was torpedoed!

I doubt that Montague Druitt was murdered though.
But, as one Druitt family correspondent proposed to me, if MJD had learnt that his diabetes was going to preclude his ever playing cricket again...this would be enough to push a keen sportsman over the edge.this letter writer had no evidence this was so. Just hypothesizing. JOHN RUFFELS.

[Roy Corduroy]

Hi John,

The stairs are in Hammersmith, right by Chiswick.

On the map, scroll down to the river. To the right of Chiswick Ait, you see Black Lion Lane ending at the water.

http://archivemaps.com/mapco/stanford/stan43.htm

Roy

[cappuccina]

The answer is no; he was an untreated manic-depressive who committed suicide.

[Johnr]

So..Is an " Eyot " An " Ait " ?

Thanks Roy,
Marvellous map. Very clear.I can see what you were getting at now.
A much more convenient spot for launching yourself; be you a Thorneycroft Torpedo or a Kings Bench barrister.
JOHN RUFFELS.

[Johnr]

Hello Cappucina,
Presumeably your statement that MJD was an undiagnosed or untreated manic-depressive was in answer to the question posed at the head of this thread?
So you do not believe MJD was murdered.

Two questions:

Might MJD have been a manic depressive and been murdered?
And, is it possible to become a manic depressive after suffering from sleeplessness and the other symptoms of untreated diabetes? JOHN RUFFELS.

[aspallek]

While it's certainly possible that Montague Druitt was manic depressive we cannot simply make the assertion that he was. An allusion to one brief note, which may or may not have been genuine, and an apparent suicide do not add up to manic depression necessarily, even given his mother's illness.

I have always thought the Causeway at Church Wharf, Chiswick, would be a good place for a suicide. At low tide it would be possible to wade into the middle of the Thames and into oblivion. The Causeway is indeed where his body was found.

[caz]

Hi Andy,

And a much better place than downstream as far as the City or Beckton, for example, where having to ingest raw sewage on the way to oblivion would arguably have been a fate worse than death.

I also think a swimmer would be much more likely than a non-swimmer - or murderer - to think of weighing himself down with the stones, to take care of the survival instinct. A non-swimmer would not imagine there would be any need once he got out of his depth. I think I'm right in saying that Monty could swim?

Of course, for anyone who still thinks Monty was bumped off, a crafty murderer who thought of everything (the stones, the relatively clean water) would have had an obvious advantage if his victim was coincidentally a mentally unstable swimmer.

I've always thought the easiest person for someone to murder without being caught is one who is believed to have suicidal tendencies. I'm just not convinced that an apparent drowning would be the easiest method to choose. Had the body been found much sooner, would they have been able to tell if Monty hadn't died from drowning but was dead when he went in? Even if not, surely slipping him an overdose and leaving him on dry land would have been simpler.

Love,

Caz
X

[Grim]

How can you people believe for a second that this man committed suicide? All the facts point to plain murder.

Even his family where shamed by him and believed him to be the ripper so in all likeliness if they didn't kill this man they the vigilance committee did.

[Roy Corduroy]

The Chiswick crossing.

[Moriarty]

The one thing that has always puzzled me about Druitt's death is why did he buy a return train ticket?

Maybe it was cheaper.

[Nothing to see]

No.

Does one word make a post?

[aspallek]

Maybe it was cheaper.

Actually, as irrational as it is that sort of thing is not uncommon.

[The Good Michael]

Andy,

Could a person buy a rail pass then, and if so, would you show a pass and papers and get a ticket each time? If so, that would explain a round trip ticket.

Mike

[aspallek]

The pass and the ticket are two separate things. The season rail pass was for travel between Blackheath and London. The ticket was the second half return between Charing Cross and Hammersmith. This implies that he used the outbound half to travel to Hammersmith but never used the return from Hammersmith to Charing Cross. These probably would have been issued as separated tickets purchased at the same time, as they are today.

If you are looking or a rational reason for his purchasing the return ticket, it may be that he was not certain he was going to commit suicide when he purchased the ticket. he could have returned and destroyed the note, if it even existed.

[Roy Corduroy]

The Thornycroft Bell which was used at the shipyard was recently donated by the company to the Pier House, Chiswick.