A Likely Suspect?

[caz]

Hi Lech,

I think you are right. There is no evidence that a casual foreign sailor had any intimate knowledge of the street walkers and their alleyways. Certainly no seaman was found on or near any of them.

Love,

Caz
X

[Lechmere]

I saw the documentary with Trevor Marriot on I think the Discovery Channel last night. I have to say it was very threadbare. Is there any real evidence that Feigenbaum even came to England?
I think the 'visiting seaman' theory is unlikely anyway. I thibk the inner East End (as opposed to the docks) would have been an uninvitng place for a casual foreign sailor with poor English and no intimate knowledge of the streets and alleyways. I doubt a serial killer would operate in .such unfamiliar surroundings

[MrTwibbs]

The guy spoke little English as Trevor Marriot has mentioned, so how did he manage to state to his lawyer the following rather verbose sentence
" This passion manifests itself in a desire to kill and mutilate every woman who falls in my way. At such times I am unable to control myself.”


Assuming he did the same the above then it clearly shows to me he was out of control and his mutiliations would have been frenzied and random (i.e. all women from ALL walks of life)
Yet if you look at the Whitechapel murders (the5) this is not the case when you consider organs were taken, the ages of the victims and where the murders occurred.

There is no concrete proof this guy was in whitechapel at the time and another thing that bothers me is that some 8 years after the autum of terror this is said to have occurred (see below)

"Lawton was so startled, he said, that he at first didn’t know what to do. Mulling over the confession, however, led him to wonder about the Jack the Ripper murders in London and any possible connection with his client. He stated that he looked up the dates of the London murders and then selected two before asking Feigenbaum confidentially: “Carl, were you in London from this date to that one,” naming the selected dates.

“Yes,” he answered, before, as Lawton stated “he relapsed into silence"

Now I don't know about you guys but even though i've got a good memory for dates I doubt very much i'd be able to recall what I was doing on a specific date that happened 8 years ago...even 4 years ago. It is also common knowledge that in those days most lower class people did not carry time pieces so mostly estimated things. Whose to say such people didn't even know what the date was? if he lived such a transient life then one day would roll into the next. Anyone who lives like this will tell you same. Each day is just a blur into the next. I once lived a few weeks on a beach in bournemouth, going from one beach hut, woman, lodging house to another and the days were just blurs.

Remember another important fact that imo ties into this, Feigenbaum when asked his age and date of birth by his lawyer didn't know it. He claimed it was "1840, possibly in Karlsruhe, Southern Germany". He also claimed different things to different people according to Wolf's article saying he may have had kids he may not. also goes onto mention that his Lawyer had said feigenbaum was a sailer for a number of years.(if he is so good with dates surely he could have explained from when)
If he doesn't know when he was born, doesn't hold out much hope for knowing what he was doing on a certain date a few years ago, let alone last month.

It just seems to contradict what he said and you then only have left the statement by his lawyer and several maybes, If's and theorising. (in my opinion of course)

[John Wheat]

You Underestimate Yourself

Your deductions seem sensible and correct and as for some so called better authorities I'd say many are either full of bull or possibly have come up with some of the more ridiculous theories and more ridiculous suspects to make a tidy profit from selling books.

[dixon9]

have just finished JtR the 21st century investigation,being a newbee at this found it a very decent read,but i cannot see how Carl Feigenbaum(Carl/Anton Zahn) can be a serious suspect.
As i have said i am new to this and probably well out of line (with better authorities on the subject)
Ok here are a few things He would have been around the 48 mark when the Whitechapel murders were taking place,i cannot remember many(of the few eye witness's) who said 'jack' was near the 50 mark.I am still not convinced that we can place Feigenbaum in and about the Whitechapel area at the times (or any time tbh) of the murderers.
Also his murder of Juliana Hoffman does not come across to me of that of the ripper(there are a few more 'issues' but i wont go on)I enjoyed the read,but after digesting the content of the book and gathering other facts/material i would have to come down on the side of Feigenbaum not guilty in the Jack the Ripper stakes.

Dixon9
still learning

[John Wheat]

He is not a likely suspect. Some crackpot's seem to claim that half the murders in the world during the late 19th century were his doing this is complete bollocks.

[Wolf Vanderlinden]

Originally Posted by dixon9
as a newbee some great reads on this thread.Couple of questions if i may,
(1) is there any recorded proof that Carl Feigenbaum set foot on english soil?

Yes, there are files to show that he landed in Kingston upon Hull, I am trying to aquire the rights to publish them!

Question for Mike:

Do these files list the name "Carl Feigenbaum"? The actual name of the murderer of Mrs. Hoffman was Anton, or Carl Zahn or Zahm. Carl Feigenbaum was an innocent sailor whose name was taken by Zahn as an alias sometime in the 1890's. Therefore, if you have files with the name Feigenbaum you'd have to first proove exactly who this was. An almost impossible task, I'd think.

Wolf.

[Trevor Marriott]

Those conversations i belive took place during the trial so an interpreter would have been present in any event

[dixon9]

mr marriott

thank you for your answer,if i may ask you one last question
Why did Carl Feigenbaum never converse with his 'other' lawyer Hugh Pentecost in english,only through an interpreter?

Dixon9
Alot to learn

[Trevor Marriott]

i would like to clear this issue up as it has been raised before.

I can speak from everyday experience in the English legal system so please take what i say as being correct.

It is quite common when dealing with a foreign speaking suspect to be able to converse with them in broken English. However to ensure they fully understand the subsequent legal proceedings an interperter is brought in both at interview stage and then at any court proceedings. This is for the benefit of the suspect and also for the judge and jury.

So it would have been quite feasable for lawton to have conversed with Feigenbaum in English and then use an interpreter at court.

It should also be noted that Feigenbaum spent time in The USA before his arrest as well as spending 2 years on remand in prison all of these would have allowed him to have a firm grasp of the english language.

As to how much english he knew in 1888 is pretty much academic. I would suggest all foreign sailors would no enough english words to be able to proposition a prostitute. probably two words "How much" !

[dixon9]

my understanding is Carl Feigenbaum had very little command of the english language,he had an interpreter at his trial,and only conversed with one of his lawyers(Pentecost) through an interpreter.
Lawton another of his lawyers has (who made claims he was jack) appears to have held conversations without interpreters with Feignbaum.
BTW i am new to this so someone with alot more knowledge than me will put you right,but as said this is my understanding of the situation

Dixon9
still learning

[JTRSickert]

Since Feigenbaum was purportedly sailing between England and Germany during the time of the Ripper murders, does anyone know if he had any understanding of the English language during this time?


Also, I don't think Carl's sketch looks anything like the witness statements during any of the murders. Does anyone know when that picture of him first came to light?

[dixon9]

thanks mike

[Mike Covell]

as a newbee some great reads on this thread.Couple of questions if i may,
(1) is there any recorded proof that Carl Feigenbaum set foot on english soil?

Yes, there are files to show that he landed in Kingston upon Hull, I am trying to aquire the rights to publish them!

[dixon9]

as a newbee some great reads on this thread.Couple of questions if i may,
(1) is there any recorded proof that Carl Feigenbaum set foot on english soil?
(2) He would have been 48 around the time of the Whitechapel murders,but from what i have found (in the short space of time on the 'case') it seems most witness accounts have 'jack' in the mid 30's range,so would that not rule him out,or do we disregard the sightings?
thanks for any help

dixon9
still learning