Robert Mann - A 'New' Suspect

[scarletpimpernel]

Yes, clearly you misunderstood what the other poster had said. The purpose of my posts has been to try to clarify the resulting confusion - that's all.

Okay. All is well now.

[Trevor Marriott]

Chris,

. Now then, this is an expert opinion and not one that can be put aside or ignored. Try to relax, getting all worked up, won't do anything for your health.

But have you realised that some on here will not accept experts opinion.

For what its worth Mr Dean a vrey nice man as he was "sat firmly on the fence"

[Chris]

But have you realised that some on here will not accept experts opinion.

?

If that's directed at me, I think you should take another look at the foregoing discussion.

What I was pointing out was that The Grave Maurice was correct in saying that Trow suggested most of the stab wounds were inflicted on Tabram's body post mortem - a view which you yourself implied belonged in a fairytale. As scarletpimpernel has confirmed, s/he had misunderstood what The Grave Maurice meant.

The "expert opinion" related to the type of weapon used to inflict the stab wounds, which is obviously a different question, and one which I haven't expressed any opinion about either way.

[richardnunweek]

Hi,
I watched the programme, but it did absolutely nothing for me, I am so tired of seeing women walking in victorian costume, being followed , and the predictable scream being echoed into our living rooms, and as for the suspect Mann ferociously stabbing at a victim... oh dear.
It was suggested that he got great pleasure in admiring his own handywork , was he present at the patching up of kelly, that would be the ultimate thrill?.
I admit that a named attendant such as Mann is a original idea, but does it deserve a documentary, when there is not a shred of evidence, was he the only attendant in whitechapel at that time?
I guess i have been intrested in this subject for too long, and am difficult to please.
Regards Richard.

[Tom_Wescott]

Robert Mann. That's hilarious. And since psychological and geographical profiling have yet to catch a modern serial killer, I fail to see how they'll catch a long dead one. It's soooo 1990's. I truly hope no book or doc comes out naming Mann as the Ripper.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[Monty]

Heh, funny yoy should say that Tom.

MJs book is being pushed at the conf.

Monty

[Tom_Wescott]

What book and who's 'MJ'?

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[Tom_Wescott]

Nevermind, I saw on another thread it's MJ Trow. Mann sounds like someone Lestrade would suspect, so it makes sense this is coming from Trow. I tried reading one of his overpriced Lestrade fiction books and was bored to tears. Couldn't make it half-way through.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[lynn cates]

Mann's motive

Hello. Although I do not consider Mann a prime suspect, the problem of motive is uppermost in my mind. What could such a thing have been?

Let's try this. If he were a mortuary attendant, it seems natural that he would have seen an autopsy or two. If he were mentally unstable he could be in some dissociative state. Perhaps he fancies himself a doctor in front of colleagues performing an autopsy himself.

Try this scenario while reading the inquest report on Eddowes. Interesting thought experiment.

Cheers.
LC

[Chris]

Hello. Although I do not consider Mann a prime suspect, the problem of motive is uppermost in my mind.

I think it has to be said that - in the absence of any suggestion as to how he could have got out of the workhouse at night - he actually has an alibi for all the murders. I'm really not sure there's much point in discussing the other problems until that one has been dealt with.

[lynn cates]

motive and opportunity

Hello Chris. Quite right. I was merely dealing with an issue in isolation. It had been asked what the motive could be.

He lacked opportunity; perhaps, at least, he had motive.

Cheers.
LC

[Septic Blue]

I think it has to be said that - in the absence of any suggestion as to how he could have got out of the workhouse at night - he actually has an alibi for all the murders. I'm really not sure there's much point in discussing the other problems until that one has been dealt with.

"... it has to be said ..."

Indeed it does!

[Bob Hinton]

Robert Mann does not work on a number of levels. For a start if you look at the case presented by Trow it falls down as soon as you ask the question ‘Why do you not suspect the other mortuary attendant who worked alongside Mann?’
All the reasons you give for Mann equally fits the other chap.
In Trows other Ripper book which was published in 1997 I don’t believe he even considers Mann to be a suspect. Why not? All the information he now presents to support his theory was available then.
Now if you look at Mann himself, the first thing that crops up is that he is simply too old. The person who made those mutilations was suffering from some form of advanced mental problem. This would have manifested itself long before a person reaches the age of 50. This is one reason why most of the sadistic, mutilating type of killer seems to fit the age range 25-35.
Trying to add McKenzie to the tally is simply nonsense. It is obvious that the person who killed her wanted it to appear like a ripper killing, but couldn’t actually go through with the mutilations. The reason for this given by Trow, illness, simply doesn’t compute. If Mann was too weak to slice someone in 1889, how come he lasted another six or seven years?
He also reverses himself in the case of the Kelly murder. Trow states that his aim was to murder someone in a place where he could spend a lot of time on the mutilations. Why then after Kelly does he revert to killing on the street where such opportunity is severely curtailed?
It just doesn’t make sense.

[lynn cates]

Trow Mann away

Hello Bob. I appreciate your observation regarding the OTHER mortuary attendant. I, too, have wondered why Trow does not suspect him.

Permit me to speculate. It is possible that Trow is focused on Mann because of the mental problem/s associated with Mann. Nothing in this regard has (so far as I know) been associated with the other chap.

Ultimately, however, I think one must agree with your assessment and Trow away Mann's candidacy.

Cheers.
LC

[dixon9]

If Whitchapel had a real mortuary i doubt very much wether Robert Mann would have been employed there,judging by Wynne Baxter's comments at Polly's inquiry
"Had there been a public mortuary there would also have been a keeper,whose experience would have shown the advisability of the body being attended to only in the presence of the medical witness."(The ultimate JTR sourcebook page 50)

Do some people realy think Robert Mann could have picked up the skills which many believe Jack had?