Ripper Facts

[Craig H]

Joseph Augustus Moloney

I’ve been researching surgeons who lived or worked around Whitechapel who fit a particular profile :- British, 25 – 35 yo, lived on own, not married, had an event that may have been the catalyst for the murders, had a personality profile that could have been conducive to killing, and had a reason for the murders to stop suddenly.

I’ve found someone who could be interesting to explore further. I’m not saying he was Jack, but I think this is the sort of person who could have been JtR.

Joseph August Moloney seemed to have been a classic Boys Own adventurer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Moloney

At the time, he was only second to Stanley for knowing the most about Africa. He was the medical officer on the famous expedition to Katanga in the Congo in 1891 to claim the territory of some hostile African tribes. The expedition encountered major problems due to illness, lack of food and death; and Moloney had to take command and completed a successful mission. Moloney was the “backbone of the expedition”, made successful treaties with hostile tribal leaders and led his men back to safety.

Upon returning to London, be wrote a fascinating book “With Captain Stairs to Katanga: Slavery and Subjugation in the Congo” which provided a captivating story of the expedition.

He died in 1896 from illness related to his travels.

Moloney fits the profile in several ways :

• Age :- bn 1857, so 31 y.o.
• Description & personality : “thick set, determined looking, as hard as nails”, An accomplished sportsman, yachtsman, and a good shot; Practiced in South London, held in high esteem esp. by the poor.
• Attitudes : The introduction to the modern edition of Moloney’s book says “Like other Victorian writers from the imperial milieu, Moloney is an uneasy guide for a modern reader. Hostile towards black people, Jews and German; and demonstrating a patronising tolerance of the French. Moloney’s habitual use of the word “******” was berated by no less a critic than Henry Morton Stanley who described it as ‘ugly and derisive’”
• Qualification: studied medicine at St Thomas’s Hospital, and obtained his degree in Dublin
• Allegedly was the medical officer in the First Boer War (Dec 188 – Mar 1881)
• Served in the Corps of Royal Naval Artillery Volunteers (?? When ??)
• Lived in London city around 1888 but his practice was in Battersea :- (?? Anyway to find where he lived ??)
• Father - Jeremiah – was a former captain in the Kings Royal Rifles and died in August 1888 (a possible trauma which provoked attacks ??)
• He travelled to Morrocco in 1890 – 91.

He had an interesting larger than life story. Again, I’m not saying he was the Ripper, but I think this is the profile of the type of person who was.

Can anyone find out any more detail on him ?

Craig

[Craig H]

In particular, any ideas on how to find out if Moloney :

• Served in the First Boer War
• Lived in London around 1888
• Was in Royal Naval Artillery Volunteers

Craig

[Craig H]

Here's a photo of Moloney

[Simon Wood]

Hi Craig H,

Is this the guy?



Why would you even think that this man, or someone of his type, might have been the Ripper?

You do realise that very soon we are going to run out of people who were alive around 1888 to accuse of being the Ripper?

Regards,

Simon

[Trevor Marriott]

Hi Craig H,

Is this the guy?

[ATTACH]18899[/ATTACH]

Why would you even think that this man, or someone of his type, might have been the Ripper?

You do realise that very soon we are going to run out of people who were alive around 1888 to accuse of being the Ripper?

Regards,

Simon

Simon.
What a great post, well said you have hit the nail firmly on the head.

https://www.trevormarriott.co.uk

[Craig H]

I thought this was a forum to discuss ideas about who we think was The Ripper.

I laid out a rational argument about a profile of who was the Ripper, and Moloney fits the profile.

The forum is to discuss ideas, not shut down discussion.

[PaulWilliams]

Hi Craig

I looked at 333 suspects in my book and Christopher Morley took it to 365. Many, like Moloney, are interesting characters and worthy of research in their own right. Few have any plausible connection to Jack the Ripper.

Looking for surgeons is a better method than picking a random celebrity or a witness to an event but is based on the assumption that the killer had surgical knowledge. Several researchers have challenged that assumption and it can't be considered a fact.

Ancestry will have details of Moloney's military and medical records. You may also be able to find references to him in contemporary newspapers.

Best wishes,

Paul

[Trevor Marriott]

Hi Craig

I looked at 333 suspects in my book and Christopher Morley took it to 365. Many, like Moloney, are interesting characters and worthy of research in their own right. Few have any plausible connection to Jack the Ripper.

Looking for surgeons is a better method than picking a random celebrity or a witness to an event but is based on the assumption that the killer had surgical knowledge. Several researchers have challenged that assumption and it can't be considered a fact.

Ancestry will have details of Moloney's military and medical records. You may also be able to find references to him in contemporary newspapers.

Best wishes,

Paul

Keep your options open, because the killer might not have had surgical knowledge, in which case you are going down a path with blinkers on, a path, which might lead to nowhere, and take up a lot of your valuable time.

When carrying out an investigation you need to remember these two words "prove" or "disprove" and forget the words "readily accept without question"

You mention 365 suspects from the book, well, they cant all have been the killer could they?

And as to suspects a greater portion should not even be listed as there is nothing more than someones wild speculative theory, which has made the list grow over the years.

The term suspect should be used lightly in Ripperolgy but it is not, many are nothing more than persons of interest.

https://www.trevormarriott.co.uk

[Sam Flynn]

You do realise that very soon we are going to run out of people who were alive around 1888 to accuse of being the Ripper?

I doubt that, somehow. We haven't even scratched the surface of the surface of the surface

[Harry D]

The term suspect should be used lightly in Ripperolgy but it is not, many are nothing more than persons of interest.]

Practice what you preach.

You considered Carl Feigenbaum a suspect: a man who cannot be definitively placed in Whitechapel during the murders and whose only known murder bore no post-mortem mutilations.

[Craig H]

Hi Paul,
Thanks for your message. I wasn't aware of your book - which I've just bought and looking forward to read.
I started the Ripper Facts OP as I was keen to try and determine what are the aspects that are ore factual rather than speculative.
I certainly learnt a lot.
I think the decision about what he looked like is important (there are a few credible witnesses who saw a man with the victims just 15 minutes before they were found) as is whether he had surgical skills (the previous discussion by Prosector I found compelling).
From that, I'm testing the above hypothesis.
It may all be a waste of time if the assumptions are wrong; but I think it's important to try to narrow he focus.
Craig

[Trevor Marriott]

Practice what you preach.

You considered Carl Feigenbaum a suspect: a man who cannot be definitively placed in Whitechapel during the murders and whose only known murder bore no post-mortem mutilations.

Thank you for putting me right I am sure the world of ripperology will be eternally grateful for your informative input.

https://www.trevormarriott.co.uk

[Wickerman]

Hi Paul,
Thanks for your message. I wasn't aware of your book - which I've just bought and looking forward to read.
I started the Ripper Facts OP as I was keen to try and determine what are the aspects that are ore factual rather than speculative.
I certainly learnt a lot.
I think the decision about what he looked like is important (there are a few credible witnesses who saw a man with the victims just 15 minutes before they were found) as is whether he had surgical skills (the previous discussion by Prosector I found compelling).
From that, I'm testing the above hypothesis.
It may all be a waste of time if the assumptions are wrong; but I think it's important to try to narrow he focus.
Craig

I think you're on the right track, that the killer had some medical knowledge, as opposed to a local dosser on a drunken rampage.

What is often overlooked is that even an experienced hand can leave the impression of random slashing when time is of the essence. Like Philips said, that skill was only less obvious "in consequence of haste". He understood, but more to the point, he also recognised skill can also be evident in how the killer located an organ, and how he accessed that organ, so not just the method of removal (a point often overplayed by some on Casebook).

There had to be hundreds of people with sufficient medical knowledge, whether students, interns, doctors, surgeons, hospital staff & those with mortuary experience.
Anyone above could be suspected if all we have is their occupation to incriminate them. As we can't possibly know what any of these people were doing on the nights in question then any hopes of identifying the killer are, in my opinion, impossible.

[Fisherman]

The forum is to discuss ideas, not shut down discussion.

Yeah, well ...

[Craig H]

The Knife

One of the topics missing from this Ripper Facts thread is what is evidence based about the knife.

Do we know what type of knife / knives he used ?

I read Dr Thomas Bond autopsy summary report that “The instrument must have been a strong knife at least six inches long, very sharp, pointed at the top and about an inch in width. It may have been a clasp knife, a butcher’s knife or a surgeon’s knife. I think it was no doubt a straight knife.

I’ve read several references to it being a Liston double edged amputation knife

Sugden however noted “Dr. Llewellyn, who carried out the post-mortem examination of Polly Nichols, thought that her injuries had been inflicted, not with an exceptionally long-bladed knife, but with a pointed one that had a stout back, perhaps a cork-cutter's or shoemaker's knife. This appears to have been just such a weapon as was later used upon Elizabeth Stride”

What type of knife or knives did he use ?

Craig