Reasons why?

[PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR 1]

You still haven’t answered the question - why does the fact that Macnaghten didn’t mentioning Druitt’s sacking mean that he was unaware of it?

It is not just that Macnaghten did not mention Druitt's dismissal, but the fact that he evidently was unaware that Druitt was a school teacher.

Had he known of Druitt's dismissal, then he could hardly have thought that he was a doctor.

[Herlock Sholmes]

Certainly.

If Macnaghten had known about Druitt's dismissal from the school, he would have known that he was a school teacher - not a doctor.

1. Perhaps they had just told Macnaghten that ‘he’d recently been sacked from his job,’ without mentioning that it was at a school? (And I’ll repeat, I never said that Macnaghten must have received the information directly from the family.)
2. You still haven’t answered the question - why does the fact that Macnaghten didn’t mentioning Druitt’s sacking mean that he was unaware of it?

[PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR 1]

Explain please.

Certainly.

If Macnaghten had known about Druitt's dismissal from the school, he would have known that he was a school teacher - not a doctor.

[Herlock Sholmes]

It is quite obvious that Macnaghten had not heard about Druitt's dismissal.

You should be able to work that out, Herlock.

Explain please.

[PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR 1]

Just because Macnaghten didn’t mention Druitt’s dismissal doesn’t mean that he hadn’t heard about it.

It is quite obvious that Macnaghten had not heard about Druitt's dismissal.

You should be able to work that out, Herlock.

[Herlock Sholmes]

If Macnaghten received information about Druitt directly from his relatives, then why was he unaware of his dismissal from his post at the school, which obviously had a bearing on his suicide?

1. I haven’t said that he must have got his info directly from the family. Only that he might have.
2. Just because Macnaghten didn’t mention Druitt’s dismissal doesn’t mean that he hadn’t heard about it.
3. It’s not at all obvious that his dismissal had a direct bearing on his suicide. It might have been the case that his mental health was deteriorating and that his dismissal was a by-product of it. If he hadn’t been sacked we can’t say that he wouldn’t still have committed suicide.

[PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR 1]

If Macnaghten received information about Druitt directly from his relatives, then why was he unaware of his dismissal from his post at the school, which obviously had a bearing on his suicide?

[Herlock Sholmes]

If you are right, then I do not see how his memorandum can be considered to be factually reliable.

I’m not even saying that I am right PI but it’s still easily possible to make a statement that’s generally true whilst getting a couple of details wrong. There could have been a fairly lengthy gap of time between hearing the info and writing the memorandum so 41 instead of 31 is an understandable error of memory. Likewise the ‘doctor’ considering that he was the son of one. The things that would have been more likely to stick in his memory are the reason or reasons. And of course none of this means that Druitt was certainly guilty but Mac clearly thought that there was persuasive evidence.

And as I said earlier, it’s unlikely that when compiling his list (a list that he could easily have left at Kosminski and Ostrog) that Mac would have recalled a barely recorded suicide six years previously. So research would surely have provided him or a subordinate with the details about Druitt (age and occupation) so this tends to point toward him having reason to recall something whilst misremembering personal details instead of him having the story in front of him.

When I suggested that he could have selected any number of dead or incarcerated criminals or lunatics it’s worth adding (imo) that the suggestion from some is that Macnaghten was lying, so he could he could very easily have said ‘I have reason to believe that the killer was x after I received information from one of his close associates that …..” Picking Druitt just because of his suicide just doesn’t add up.

[PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR 1]

Or…….Macnaghten was given his info and there was a gap of time before he came to write his memorandum. He relied on his memory for minor details and simply misremembered.

If you are right, then I do not see how his memorandum can be considered to be factually reliable.

[Herlock Sholmes]

The fact that Macnaghten thought that Druitt was a doctor is an indication of the quality of his information.

Whoever supplied him with his 'private information' evidently did not tell him the most basic fact about Druitt: what he did for a living.

Or…….Macnaghten was given his info and there was a gap of time before he came to write his memorandum. He relied on his memory for minor details and simply misremembered.

[PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR 1]

The fact that Macnaghten thought that Druitt was a doctor is an indication of the quality of his information.

Whoever supplied him with his 'private information' evidently did not tell him the most basic fact about Druitt: what he did for a living.

[Herlock Sholmes]

Macnaghten felt?

Here is what Macnaghten actually wrote:

A Mr M. J. Druitt, said to be a doctor & of good family -- who disappeared at the time of the Miller's Court murder, & whose body (which was said to have been upwards of a month in the water) was found in the Thames on 31st December -- or about 7 weeks after that murder. He was sexually insane and from private information I have little doubt but that his own family believed him to have been the murderer.

Did Macnaghten feel that Druitt was a doctor - and who would have told him he was a doctor?

Did he only feel that Druitt was sexually insane or did the same source that informed him he was a doctor give him that information too, as well as the juicy information that Druitt disappeared at the time of the Miller's Court murder?

As for the private information: why is it that everyone seems to be assuming that it came directly from Druitt's family?

Macnaghten did not say it did.

For all we know, Macnaghten may have heard that someone had heard from a relative of Druitt that another relative of Druitt suspected him of being the murderer.

I haven’t said that the private information came directly from the family as we don’t know where he heard it from because he didn’t say. Why is this so important to you? It might have come directly from a family member or via an intermediary. We don’t know. And when I saw ‘we’ I include you in that PI.

We don’t know why he used the term ‘sexually insane’ either. Maybe he heard it from the person who gave him the private information? Again PI, we don’t know.

When we don’t know something there can often be multiple possible explanations. None of which, in this case, can we confirm or disprove. My position is exactly that…..we have unknowns here that we can’t assess. You appear to feel that you know the answers to those unknowns. I can’t understand why you should take this approach?

[PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR 1]

How many times do we have to explain this PI. WE have no evidence. But clearly Macnaghten felt that HE did. We have no way of assessing this without jumping to conclusions.

Macnaghten felt?

Here is what Macnaghten actually wrote:

A Mr M. J. Druitt, said to be a doctor & of good family -- who disappeared at the time of the Miller's Court murder, & whose body (which was said to have been upwards of a month in the water) was found in the Thames on 31st December -- or about 7 weeks after that murder. He was sexually insane and from private information I have little doubt but that his own family believed him to have been the murderer.

Did Macnaghten feel that Druitt was a doctor - and who would have told him he was a doctor?

Did he only feel that Druitt was sexually insane or did the same source that informed him he was a doctor give him that information too, as well as the juicy information that Druitt disappeared at the time of the Miller's Court murder?

As for the private information: why is it that everyone seems to be assuming that it came directly from Druitt's family?

Macnaghten did not say it did.

For all we know, Macnaghten may have heard that someone had heard from a relative of Druitt that another relative of Druitt suspected him of being the murderer.

[Herlock Sholmes]

I am not splitting hairs.

Macnaghten was not entitled to state that Druitt was sexually insane without some substantiation, which he does not provide.

Where is the evidence that Druitt was sexually insane?

How many times do we have to explain this PI. WE have no evidence. But clearly Macnaghten felt that HE did. We have no way of assessing this without jumping to conclusions.

[PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR 1]

You're splitting hairs PI. He was talking about Druitt as a possible ripper.

He was entitled to use any phrase that he wanted to. I find ‘entitled’ to be a very strange choice of word. Are you saying that he required someone’s permission? That he used that phrase is a complete non-issue. You appear to be clinging to this point for some inexplicable reason.

I am not splitting hairs.

Macnaghten was not entitled to state that Druitt was sexually insane without some substantiation, which he does not provide.

Where is the evidence that Druitt was sexually insane?