Sir William Gull

[Mike J. G.]

Ray Copeland didn't just begin a life of murder and crime in his 70s, though, like we're being asked to believe that Gull did if he was the Ripper.

Copeland spent his entire life as a criminal and a fraud. Gull spent his life seemingly without issue, training and practicing as a medical doctor. He's a laughable suspect, IMO.

Could Gull have dunnit? It's not impossible, but then again it's not impossible that Scarlett Johansson might one day decide that I'm the man for her.

[John Wheat]

Ray Copeland didn't just begin a life of murder and crime in his 70s, though, like we're being asked to believe that Gull did if he was the Ripper.

Copeland spent his entire life as a criminal and a fraud. Gull spent his life seemingly without issue, training and practicing as a medical doctor. He's a laughable suspect, IMO.

Could Gull have dunnit? It's not impossible, but then again it's not impossible that Scarlett Johansson might one day decide that I'm the man for her.

To be honest Mike I think there's more chance that Scarlett Johansson would decide you're the man for her than Gull being the Ripper.

Cheers John

[rjpalmer]

Hi RJ
of course Gladstone wrote the letter, but Gull was behind it - was the idea that Fishy replied to.

The editor indicates that the letter was written by Gladstone, of course, but sometimes one feels compelled to state the obvious.

Why would someone think that W.G. was behind the letter written by W.E.G.?

Because the writer's seeming endorsement of vivisection or because of its reference to grapes being used as a decoy?

It's a strange letter; I acknowledge that much, but I suspect the strangeness is entirely Gladstone's.

[FISHY1118]

Ray Copeland didn't just begin a life of murder and crime in his 70s, though, like we're being asked to believe that Gull did if he was the Ripper.

Copeland spent his entire life as a criminal and a fraud. Gull spent his life seemingly without issue, training and practicing as a medical doctor. He's a laughable suspect, IMO.

Could Gull have dunnit? It's not impossible, but then again it's not impossible that Scarlett Johansson might one day decide that I'm the man for her.

Your comparison point is irrelevant obviously. The question was name another 72 year old serial killer which was provided. Their previous and past lifestyle and or profession doesn't rule them or anyone out for that matter to commit one or a series of murders.

I'm sure there are hundreds of murders that the killer led a normal life then for whatever ever reason decided to kill.

Your Scarlett Johansson ref (as much as im a fan of ) could easily be applied to any of the so called leading suspects, which when looked into closely are filled with many flaws.

Possibility v Probability is indeed a good starting point when it comes to Ripper suspects, Gull is no more or less than the rest .

[John Wheat]

Your comparison point is irrelevant obviously. The question was name another 72 year old serial killer which was provided. Their previous and past lifestyle and or profession doesn't rule them or anyone out for that matter to commit one or a series of murders.

I'm sure there are hundreds of murders that the killer led a normal life then for whatever ever reason decided to kill.

Your Scarlett Johansson ref (as much as im a fan of ) could easily be applied to any of the so called leading suspects, which when looked into closely are filled with many flaws.

Possibility v Probability is indeed a good starting point when it comes to Ripper suspects, Gull is no more or less than the rest .

I disagree Bury, Kelly and other violent murderers are far more likely to have been the Ripper than Gull.

[Herlock Sholmes]

Whatever our differing interpretations we have to conclude that a 72 year old man is much less likely to be a serial killer than a considerably younger man. The history of serial murder confirms this; it’s why we’ve only come up with one name. Then we have to add that no matter how much Gull might have largely made a recovery from his strokes, in that he could communicate and move around, these couldn’t have failed to have left Gull weakened in some ways. He admitted himself that he wasn’t the same man after the strokes which, when added to the fact that he felt it necessary to give up an almost entirely non-physical job, can’t help but make a man of his age even less likely. Yes, we have no way of exonerating Gull because no one has come up with a solid alibi so we have to remain open on that point, but we still have to face the fact that he can’t be considered as likely a candidate as, say, a physically fit 30 or 40 year old.

[Abby Normal]

Ray Copeland didn't just begin a life of murder and crime in his 70s, though, like we're being asked to believe that Gull did if he was the Ripper.

Copeland spent his entire life as a criminal and a fraud. Gull spent his life seemingly without issue, training and practicing as a medical doctor. He's a laughable suspect, IMO.

Could Gull have dunnit? It's not impossible, but then again it's not impossible that Scarlett Johansson might one day decide that I'm the man for her.

lol. gull is about as ridiculous a suspect as you you can get.

[Abby Normal]

To be honest Mike I think there's more chance that Scarlett Johansson would decide you're the man for her than Gull being the Ripper.

Cheers John

now thats funny.

[Mike J. G.]

Your comparison point is irrelevant obviously. The question was name another 72 year old serial killer which was provided. Their previous and past lifestyle and or profession doesn't rule them or anyone out for that matter to commit one or a series of murders.

I'm sure there are hundreds of murders that the killer led a normal life then for whatever ever reason decided to kill.

Your Scarlett Johansson ref (as much as im a fan of ) could easily be applied to any of the so called leading suspects, which when looked into closely are filled with many flaws.

Possibility v Probability is indeed a good starting point when it comes to Ripper suspects, Gull is no more or less than the rest .

It's only irrelevant if you fail to see the relevance. Ray Copeland had a history of criminality and didn't suddenly start committing murder in his 70s which is what William Gull would have suddenly decided to do, and with poor health. Copeland also wasn't acting alone, and wasn't killing on the streets. Gull certainly wasn't gonna be escaping the scene in a quick fashion.

In the case of possibility versus probability, the suspects who actually were killers are far more probable than Gull. There's absolutely no evidence to suggest that William Gull killed anybody, there is evidence that Chapman, Bury and Kelly commited murder, Chapman did it several times.

If you want to believe that William Gull, a 70+ year old stroke victim without any history of violence is a better suspect than Chapman, Bury or Kelly, then that's entirely your right, but I just find it a bit odd.

[Mike J. G.]

To be honest Mike I think there's more chance that Scarlett Johansson would decide you're the man for her than Gull being the Ripper.

Cheers John

To quote a line from Dumb and Dumber...

So you're tellin' me there's a chance?!

[John Wheat]

now thats funny.

It's also true.

[John Wheat]

To quote a line from Dumb and Dumber...

So you're tellin' me there's a chance?!

Yes. Although not much of one but still far higher than the chance that Gull was Jack the Ripper.

[FISHY1118]

All that been said (and there just opinions) , we still can't say wasn't the ripper based on the "unlikely" argument , there nothing that eliminate him .

A case can just as easily be made for Maybrick, Druitt, Lechmere there just as unlikely when you look deeply into their circumstances and what is known about them.

Gull has means motive and opportunity.

Good enough for me .

[John Wheat]

All that been said (and there just opinions) , we still can't say wasn't the ripper based on the "unlikely" argument , there nothing that eliminate him .

A case can just as easily be made for Maybrick, Druitt, Lechmere there just as unlikely when you look deeply into their circumstances and what is known about them.

Gull has means motive and opportunity.

Good enough for me .

But Maybrick and Lechmere are terrible suspects. Druitt not great either.

[Herlock Sholmes]

What motive did Gull have? He was a very well-to-do physician with no history of mental illness or disturbance of any kind.

Means? Well he could walk and would have had access to a knife and medical knowledge.

Opportunity? It looks like he would have had to have travelled and 22 mile journey there and back for each murder. Not impossible of course but perhaps difficult to explain to his wife when he was supposed to be retired and recuperating?

The problem with looking at it in terms of means, motive and opportunity is that it can pretty much be applied to anyone. Anyone could have had a motive that we just don’t know about at the moment. We know a fair bit about Gull because he was well known in society, had family and friends who talked and wrote about him and he was highly esteemed in his profession. Nowhere does anyone suggest that he was violent or that he had any hatred of women in general of prostitutes specifically. So we have no motive (with evidence of it) for him to commit murder.

The main issue with Gull is that his candidature is reliant on the Knight/Sickert story which we know is full of things which were provably untrue.