A Likely Suspect?

[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]

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.

[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)

[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

[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 will have to spell check that

[Patutte]

No interpreter

I find it both interesting & convenient, that no interpreter was present during any of the conversations between Lawton and Feigenbaum, when Feigenbaum allegedly made certain "confessions". If I was his lawyer and knew my client to have a "loose" understanding of my chosen language, I think I would benefit greatly by the presence of a interpreter. Unless of course I myself had a great knowledge of my client's chosen language. I would want to understand everything that my client had to say, so that I could best prepare my case for his defense. It's pretty convenient that no interpreter was present, had one been, then the whole story of Feigenbaum possibly being JTR could of broken much sooner. Although I guess it's possible that said interpreter may have been bound by the same rules of client confidentiality as Lawton had been. Yet, had one been present, and if said conversations really did take place, at the very least he would have had someone to backup his claims when he finally revealed what he "knew". One can only conclude that said conversations never really took place. Either that, or Lawton spoke a second language that just happened to be Feigenbaum's first language. Didn't Feigenbaum speak German? (correct me if I'm wrong) what of Lawton? Did he perhaps know any German?

There's also one other thing that's been kinda bugging me. Feigenbaum claimed to be innocent of the murder of Mrs. Juliana Hoffman. He even went so far as to name someone else as the murderer, Jacob Weibel. "When asked to plead Feigenbaum, in a firm tone of voice, declared that he was not guilty of the murder. His defense was childishly simple: he did not commit the murder, he said, because his friend, one Jacob Weibel, had." What bugs me about all of this is not that I think he didn't commit the crime and that it was really his friend who had. What bugs me is that his lawyer seemed to ignore this entirely. If I was his lawyer and he claimed another man committed the crime, I would do what I could to find this person. It would be my duty to exhaust all possible avenues of inquiry no matter how small or silly they appear to be. Lawton doesn't appear to do this, Lawton appears to latch onto a opportunity which presented itself in the form Carl Feigenbaum.

Curious question. Did anyone ever look into Jacob Weibel? I'm not saying that he definitely committed the crime and Feigenbaum was really innocent, but I am curious if police looked into it. Maybe it might have seemed unrealistic, however maybe they decided to just for the sake of tying loose ends. In the end Jacob Weibel may well have been nothing more then a mere figment of Feigenbaum imagination, yet, I can't help but wonder, what if?

[Trevor Marriott]

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

I bet there was plenty of seamen found in the alleys !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Patutte]

Lol

Creepy thought. Maybe we should get one of those ultraviolet lights and check it out. I'm not sure if we'll find anything, but I'm not collecting any "Samples".

[Vincenzo]

My main problem with Feigenbaum is that he didn't speak English. I have a hard time imagining the man who negotiated and picked up those women to employ their services did not speak English.

[Trevor Marriott]

My main problem with Feigenbaum is that he didn't speak English. I have a hard time imagining the man who negotiated and picked up those women to employ their services did not speak English.

Have you any evidence which proves he didn't speak enough of the language to be able to pick up a common street prostitute and indicate his intention to pay for their services ?

https://www.trevormarriott.co.uk

[Vincenzo]

Have you any evidence which proves he didn't speak enough of the language to be able to pick up a common street prostitute and indicate his intention to pay for their services ?

www.trevormarriott.co.uk

What evidence is there that he could?

[Ausgirl]

What evidence is there that he could?

Untold numbers of sailors with the clap?

Language was not (and is not, now) much of a barrier to that particular trade.

[Roy Corduroy]

From the Report of the German Evangelical Seaman's Mission in Great Britain 1890

The numbers could be germane to the discussion,

Roy

[Amanda]

This is why not!

Hi All,
Very interesting discussion, but thought it time to give you a little gem.

I have researched Magdalena Strohband - she was supposedly Carl Feigenbaum's sister-in-law, to whom he left his final possessions & communicated with before his execution.
Magdalena was married to a gentleman (German) named Rheiner Kosch who had a brother named Karl (with a K).
From this we can deduce it likely that Feigenbaum's real name was Karl Kosch.

I then tracked the movements of Karl Kosch, the sailor, and apart from a short stay in Portsmouth in 1884 I cannot find him anywhere near London - but, let me point out that this is far from conclusive proof.
What I did find is Karl Kosch on a ship sailing to South America in 1888, the port of call being Nicaragua.
Interesting point - Nicaragua's main fruit export was figs - German name for 'fig tree'? Feigenbaum!
From this we can probably deduce that this is when he changed his name as his next trip was to North America, and from there the trail goes cold until he is picked up as Carl Feigenbaum.

Make what you like of my research, which I did present to Mr.Marriott about a year ago after reading his book, but one thing I can assure you is that I am very thorough. Although his book is very interesting, the theory cannot be upheld when the even the identity of the suspect is in question.
No malice intended Trevor.

Amanda