Favorite suspect/s?

[Scott Nelson]

Sorry, Conehead was going down. Kosmincemeat was at the point of release.

[Scott Nelson]

Cohen was on his way down. Kosminski was on the fringe.

[Michael W Richards]

You could always go with the police opinion that the mans mind "gave way" after the Kelly murder...or during it for that matter. Not that there is any evidence for that other than the unexplained carnage.

Did any of the suspects mental condition deteriorate after that date?

[John Wheat]

We know(?) today that the attack on Farmer was not the Ripper, but the police didn't know that on the day it happened.
The Mylett attack was queried as potentially a Ripper killing by those who did not buy the accidental death hypothesis.
Mylett was attacked outside so we may have another interrupted attack, hence no mutilations.

In December, we still see requests for funding plain clothes officers, so there was no winding down before the end of the year. Though in mid January 1889 we see the first indications by Monro & Lushington by way of suggestions to begin reducing the number of men in plain clothes patrolling Whitechapel.

So the operation was not winding down after the Kelly murder, but only after the Mylett case.

I take your point Mylett may or may not have been a Ripper victim. However I'm not remotely convinced that any of the possible victims were Ripper victims. Although I do believe Ellen Bury was a Ripper victim as I believe WH Bury was the Ripper.

[Wickerman]

Not really no. You would expect any victims after Kelly to show more mutilation than Kelly unless there was an explanation as to why that wasn't the case.

We know(?) today that the attack on Farmer was not the Ripper, but the police didn't know that on the day it happened.
The Mylett attack was queried as potentially a Ripper killing by those who did not buy the accidental death hypothesis.
Mylett was attacked outside so we may have another interrupted attack, hence no mutilations.

In December, we still see requests for funding plain clothes officers, so there was no winding down before the end of the year. Though in mid January 1889 we see the first indications by Monro & Lushington by way of suggestions to begin reducing the number of men in plain clothes patrolling Whitechapel.

So the operation was not winding down after the Kelly murder, but only after the Mylett case.

[John Wheat]

How do we measure deescalation when Annie Farmer was attacked 11 days after Kelly, then Mylett one month after that?
It was another 6 months before McKenzie was attacked, so wouldn't any deescalation happen after Mylett, but not after Kelly?

Not really no. You would expect any victims after Kelly to show more mutilation than Kelly unless there was an explanation as to why that wasn't the case.

[DJA]

Not in many though. And why the deescalation after Mary Jane Kelly?

"If it had not been for the Kelly woman,none of the murders would have happened".

[Wickerman]

How do we measure deescalation when Annie Farmer was attacked 11 days after Kelly, then Mylett one month after that?
It was another 6 months before McKenzie was attacked, so wouldn't any deescalation happen after Mylett, but not after Kelly?

[John Wheat]

In some quarters Frances Coles was the last, in which case that would rule out Kosmsinski because at the time of her murder he was locked up.

www.trevormarriott.co.uk

Not in many though. And why the deescalation after Mary Jane Kelly?

[Wickerman]

Most killers probably have to keep killing compulsively, but there is nothing to say that some, perhaps a fair majority do not. Particularly, if there was some stressor or trigger that was temporary and the killer's blood or sexual lust was satiated.

Chikatilo comes to mind, I think he stopped when his circumstances changed. I can't remember if it was in his personal life or work life, or both, but it didn't last long before he returned to killing.
So yes, there is a trigger involved, and maybe this trigger is different across a range of killers.

[AmericanSherlock]

Hi AS

Yes its a conundrum for sure. What happened to him? Its like zodiac almost. Unsolved. But the zodiac continued to write letters long after his last kill.
The golden state killer apparently just stopped and went on to lead a normal life.
Kemper turned himself in.

Im starting to lean toward, whatever reason, the ripper stopped after mcKenzie.

I agree Abby. I think this possibility is underestimated by profilers etc.

They only know of those who got caught often because they could not stop themselves when if they were smart they would have, so there is a perception bias involved.

Most killers probably have to keep killing compulsively, but there is nothing to say that some, perhaps a fair majority do not. Particularly, if there was some stressor or trigger that was temporary and the killer's blood or sexual lust was satiated.

[Abby Normal]

Could've been Kosminski. People seem to dismiss paranoid schizophrenics as disorganised, dribbling idiots who couldn't have gone uncaught. But Robert Napper had a string of rapes and chalked up a couple of murders before DNA rumbled him, and even someone at the extreme end of the schizo spectrum like Richard Chase still had the survival instinct to high-tail it when someone disturbed him. None of them were actually caught in the act. The Ripper was a major risk-taker, and I think only a deeply unhinged mind could've performed those barbaric mutilations on the streets, while police were patrolling nearby, but he also had several factors working in his favour to get away with it. His family may very well have packed him off the loony bin before he could get caught.

Hi Harry
I pretty much agree with this-as I mentioned hes on my short list. However, Im torn about the mentally ill part and if someone, even if he wasnt in the full throws or was in a lucid phase, like him could have pulled it off without getting caught, especially the night of the double event. Let alone at the height of the ripper scare being able to make the women feel he was normal enough to go off to a secluded place with him. Especially mary Kelly, who was apparently not as desperate as the rest and who probably brought or let in her killer to her own place.


re his family-totally agree. I think the knife incident with his sister was the final straw, and they may have even gone to the police about it-which might have been how he initially got on their radar.

[Harry D]

Could've been Kosminski. People seem to dismiss paranoid schizophrenics as disorganised, dribbling idiots who couldn't have gone uncaught. But Robert Napper had a string of rapes and chalked up a couple of murders before DNA rumbled him, and even someone at the extreme end of the schizo spectrum like Richard Chase still had the survival instinct to high-tail it when someone disturbed him. None of them were actually caught in the act. The Ripper was a major risk-taker, and I think only a deeply unhinged mind could've performed those barbaric mutilations on the streets, while police were patrolling nearby, but he also had several factors working in his favour to get away with it. His family may very well have packed him off the loony bin before he could get caught.

[Elamarna]

sorry I thought you told me FT a while back.
Koz is on my short list.

No problem. Never been a FT man


Steve

[Elamarna]

In some quarters Frances Coles was the last, in which case that would rule out Kosmsinski because at the time of her murder he was locked up.

www.trevormarriott.co.uk

Yes Trevor agreed
However Abbys post to which i replied was about stopping at Mackenzie

Cheers Steve