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Originally posted by Fisherman
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Steven Russell:
"So successfully in fact that he appeared at the inquest and fully described his role in finding the body."
Stephen, the wording in the post you answered said that " Cross seems to have successfully obscured his role in finding' Polly's body all on his own", and of course - just like you point out - we know that Lechmere testified at the inquest to having been alone as he spotted his "tarpaulin" and took a few steps towards it, seeing that was a woman. So as far as these few seconds are concerned, yes Lechmere DID say that he was first.
But if he was the killer, and if he had spent five or ten minutes on the spot, killing Nichols and cutting her up, then we need to realize that there was no way that he could ever get away with stating that he and Paul have arrived simultaneously. If he was the killer, the best he could do, was to create the impression that the two men arrived ALMOST simultaneously, so simultaneously, in fact, that any suspicion that he had had a lengthy time period alone with Nichols was erased. He needed to minimize the perceived time gap, quite simply. And to do that, he would have to step back from Nichols´body, and silently walk three steps out into the middle of Buck´s Row in the darkness, before Paul saw him. The street rested in more or less complete darkness, remember, the only lamp lit being positioned up at the intersection with Brady Street, meaning that Lechmere could probably both hear and see Paul as he entered the street, giving himself ample time to abort the strike and get in position in the middle of the street, whereas Paul walked into dense darkness. He seems not to have noticed Lechmere until he was a few yards away from him.
And so Lechmere creates the impression that he has only just stoppedhimself on seeing the woman on the pavement, and that he has not yet approached her, meaning that he has stood there for the fewest of seconds when Paul arrived.
Now, the distance from the corner or Brady Street down to where Polly lay, was more than a hundred yards. The street was totally empty, but for Lechmere and Nichols, as Paul turned into it. It was lined on both sides by houses, accoustically turning it into a tunnel. Anybody standing up at Brady street, would easily have heard if somebody entered the narrow section of the street, down at the Board school, the shoes cloppering against the stone paving.
But Paul does not say that he heard a man walking in front of him, does he? So perhaps Lechmere was standing in the middle of the street for all that time it took Paul to walk the 110-120 years from Brady Street to Browns Stable Yard - half a minute or so?
Do people who find women lying on pavements really do this - stop for half a minute in the middle of the street, looking at the body, waiting, doing nothing?
Lechmere himself says he only heard Paul when he was forty yards off. Why was that? In a silent street? Why did he not hear the hurrying Paul, late for work, doing absolutely nothing to walk silently, instead pacing along as best as he could, already as he entered the street? Neil heard Thain pass the intersection as he stood by Nichols´body, 110-120 yards away, remember!
Strange, is it not? Not really, though, not if Lechmere noticed Paul immediately, aborting his strike and silently stepping into the middle of the street, and if there was nothing to hear for Paul. Then this anomaly is easily explained.
But the police did not catch up on this. They bought the version Lechmere served them, and they bought all of it. In a report, dated 19:th of October 1888, some seven weeks after the murder, Swanson writes ”The body of a woman was found lying on the footway in Buck' s Row, Whitechapel, by Charles Cross & Robert Paul carmen, on their way to work.”
And THAT, Steven, is how Lechmere "succesfully obsured his role"! To the police, the discovery of Nichols was a joint effort. The time gap inbetween Lechmere´s find and Pauls arrival was judged totally insignificant. And who provided the substantiation for this? Yes - Charles Allen Lechmere.
All the best,
Fisherman
"So successfully in fact that he appeared at the inquest and fully described his role in finding the body."
Stephen, the wording in the post you answered said that " Cross seems to have successfully obscured his role in finding' Polly's body all on his own", and of course - just like you point out - we know that Lechmere testified at the inquest to having been alone as he spotted his "tarpaulin" and took a few steps towards it, seeing that was a woman. So as far as these few seconds are concerned, yes Lechmere DID say that he was first.
But if he was the killer, and if he had spent five or ten minutes on the spot, killing Nichols and cutting her up, then we need to realize that there was no way that he could ever get away with stating that he and Paul have arrived simultaneously. If he was the killer, the best he could do, was to create the impression that the two men arrived ALMOST simultaneously, so simultaneously, in fact, that any suspicion that he had had a lengthy time period alone with Nichols was erased. He needed to minimize the perceived time gap, quite simply. And to do that, he would have to step back from Nichols´body, and silently walk three steps out into the middle of Buck´s Row in the darkness, before Paul saw him. The street rested in more or less complete darkness, remember, the only lamp lit being positioned up at the intersection with Brady Street, meaning that Lechmere could probably both hear and see Paul as he entered the street, giving himself ample time to abort the strike and get in position in the middle of the street, whereas Paul walked into dense darkness. He seems not to have noticed Lechmere until he was a few yards away from him.
And so Lechmere creates the impression that he has only just stoppedhimself on seeing the woman on the pavement, and that he has not yet approached her, meaning that he has stood there for the fewest of seconds when Paul arrived.
Now, the distance from the corner or Brady Street down to where Polly lay, was more than a hundred yards. The street was totally empty, but for Lechmere and Nichols, as Paul turned into it. It was lined on both sides by houses, accoustically turning it into a tunnel. Anybody standing up at Brady street, would easily have heard if somebody entered the narrow section of the street, down at the Board school, the shoes cloppering against the stone paving.
But Paul does not say that he heard a man walking in front of him, does he? So perhaps Lechmere was standing in the middle of the street for all that time it took Paul to walk the 110-120 years from Brady Street to Browns Stable Yard - half a minute or so?
Do people who find women lying on pavements really do this - stop for half a minute in the middle of the street, looking at the body, waiting, doing nothing?
Lechmere himself says he only heard Paul when he was forty yards off. Why was that? In a silent street? Why did he not hear the hurrying Paul, late for work, doing absolutely nothing to walk silently, instead pacing along as best as he could, already as he entered the street? Neil heard Thain pass the intersection as he stood by Nichols´body, 110-120 yards away, remember!
Strange, is it not? Not really, though, not if Lechmere noticed Paul immediately, aborting his strike and silently stepping into the middle of the street, and if there was nothing to hear for Paul. Then this anomaly is easily explained.
But the police did not catch up on this. They bought the version Lechmere served them, and they bought all of it. In a report, dated 19:th of October 1888, some seven weeks after the murder, Swanson writes ”The body of a woman was found lying on the footway in Buck' s Row, Whitechapel, by Charles Cross & Robert Paul carmen, on their way to work.”
And THAT, Steven, is how Lechmere "succesfully obsured his role"! To the police, the discovery of Nichols was a joint effort. The time gap inbetween Lechmere´s find and Pauls arrival was judged totally insignificant. And who provided the substantiation for this? Yes - Charles Allen Lechmere.
All the best,
Fisherman
Best wishes,
Steve.
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