Druitt: Suicide or Murder?

[The Macdonald Triad]

Never mind if Druitt was the Ripper or not. Did he really top himself off or could an entity such as the Vigilance Committee have loaded his pockets with rocks and thrown him off a bridge? There's really no proof either way but where do you stand? I feel he was murdered.

[GUT]

To be honest I have seen strong arguments both ways, but nothing yet to sway me from the opinion of those with closer knowledge. One problem for me is if it was murder WHY?

[The Macdonald Triad]

To be honest I have seen strong arguments both ways, but nothing yet to sway me from the opinion of those with closer knowledge. One problem for me is if it was murder WHY?

Perhaps someone ID'd him to Lusk. I don't think Lusk liked having someone creeping around sending him kidneys etc. I sense Druitt connected to the case, everyone is quick to to call him a homosexual or nonce because he was fired, but what if he pulled a prank and stole a kidney from either the school he taught at, or somewhere else? And then Lusk gets a kidney..

[The Macdonald Triad]

I vaguely remember a story of a woman trying to rob a punter, punter catches her and she lightly cut her own throat with a dull knife. He runs out and she's screaming Jack the Ripper while he runs away. He fit Druitts description also. All "toffs" would be at risk from exposure from the prostitutes also. His name could have been advanced by some nutter like a Pearly Poll.

[Wickerman]

Never mind if Druitt was the Ripper or not. Did he really top himself off or could an entity such as the Vigilance Committee have loaded his pockets with rocks and thrown him off a bridge? There's really no proof either way but where do you stand? I feel he was murdered.

Purely on the fence with this one.

If the suicide note is genuine, then the 'not wanting to be like mother', doesn't refer to her depression. It refers to the fact his mother is expected to be incarcerated for the rest of her life. He cannot face that, so in he goes.
Which still does not give us a motive.

Druitt was an athlete, an accomplished cricketer - strong arms. I can't imagine him not being a swimmer. I thought all the major universities had swimming pools, or access to pools.
What use are the rocks in the pockets to someone who can swim?
And, how many pockets did that coat have to carry enough rocks to keep a 150-180lb swimmer down?
Finally, I think the survival instinct would have made him throw the coat off.

If the suicide note is fake, then for sure he was murdered.
Just enough rocks to keep the body down (until putrification makes it rise).
Still, we have no motive.

[The Macdonald Triad]

Purely on the fence with this one.

If the suicide note is genuine, then the 'not wanting to be like mother', doesn't refer to her depression. It refers to the fact his mother is expected to be incarcerated for the rest of her life. He cannot face that, so in he goes.
Which still does not give us a motive.

Druitt was an athlete, an accomplished cricketer - strong arms. I can't imagine him not being a swimmer. I thought all the major universities had swimming pools, or access to pools.
What use are the rocks in the pockets to someone who can swim?
And, how many pockets did that coat have to carry enough rocks to keep a 150-180lb swimmer down?
Finally, I think the survival instinct would have made him throw the coat off.

If the suicide note is fake, then for sure he was murdered.
Just enough rocks to keep the body down (until putrification makes it rise).
Still, we have no motive.

1. Me too.
A). I don't see any suicide note, I see a man in normal angst.

2. You assume he was thrown in without a smack to the back of the head. Rocks would keep a bloating corpse down for extra time.
A). How many pockets? Now you're just being combative. (Not really, it sounds sensational!)

3. It can't be construed as a suicide note? By whom? The doctor brother?..

4. You said the same things about the rocks I did but I just noticed now.

[Wickerman]

To continue on the theme, IF...the suicide note is fake, then surely brother William must have his fingers in the pie somewhere, as he is the head of the Druitt household.

It is a shame the suicide note has not survived, if I recall a letter by Monty, in his hand, has turned up. So we could have compared the two, to have a basis for the fake suicide note argument. Sadly, it can only be conjecture.

[mpriestnall]

The idea that Druitt was murdered gets my vote.

I believe he was murdered because he had knowledge of the WMs, probably through inside information from accidentally knowing people connected to JTR and/or Astrakhan Man. Presumably he intended to name names and was murdered to silence him.

I have some interesting connections between Druitt and my candidates for JTR and Astrakhan Man.