Robert Mann?

[Ausgirl]

Has anyone read Mei Trow's book on Mann as a suspect? Is it worth purchasing?

And how sound do you think the mortuary attendant theory is, in general? I'm quite interested, as I do think there's a good case for JtR being a bit of a necrophile.

Alternately, if there's dedicated threads for this, might somebody point me there? I did a search but couldn't find any. Thanks very much, in advance.

[pinkmoon]

Has anyone read Mei Trow's book on Mann as a suspect? Is it worth purchasing?

And how sound do you think the mortuary attendant theory is, in general? I'm quite interested, as I do think there's a good case for JtR being a bit of a necrophile.

Alternately, if there's dedicated threads for this, might somebody point me there? I did a search but couldn't find any. Thanks very much, in advance.

Yes I read it last month it's very well written how ever there is no evidence to link Mann to any of the killings it is based on guess work.Yes Mann could have blood on his clothes without attracting attention but even that is not enough to write a book claiming he is killer.Also when we look at the awfully photo of Mary Kelly which you have to admit is appalling we have to except that Mann stopped killing and went on to live a normal.There is nothing wrong with proposing a mouritary assistant could be our killer but to name Mann without any proof is just not fair.One good thing though there was no reference to royal coaches and no diarys from Liverpool involved.

[pinkmoon]

best books to read

Yes I read it last month it's very well written how ever there is no evidence to link Mann to any of the killings it is based on guess work.Yes Mann could have blood on his clothes without attracting attention but even that is not enough to write a book claiming he is killer.Also when we look at the awfully photo of Mary Kelly which you have to admit is appalling we have to except that Mann stopped killing and went on to live a normal.There is nothing wrong with proposing a mouritary assistant could be our killer but to name Mann without any proof is just not fair.One good thing though there was no reference to royal coaches and no diarys from Liverpool involved.

The two best books in my opnion to read are Philip sugdens the complete history of jack the ripper and Stewart Evans and Keith Skinner source book if you stick with these you can't go far wrong both available on kindle at a good price

[Ausgirl]

Cheers, Pink. Will deffo check those out.

[miss marple]

The laying out of bodies after death to prepare for the undertaker was a respectful thing to do, very often done by women such as midwives outside the workhouse when people had died at home
Mann as an inmate of the workhouse would have to work, and would have been chosen because he had the right attitude and was not upset by handling the dead. It would have given him slightly more status than picking oakham.
As an inmate, he would not be allowed out. People incarcerated in a workhouse had no freedoms, they could not come and go as they pleased. They were locked in. Workhouses were closer to prisons than hotels.
The greatest fear of the working class was ending in the workhouse
If the author of the book had done his homework, he probably could not have written it, but making a quick buck with a new ripper suspect is always attractive to some authors.

Miss Marple

[Tom_Wescott]

If anyone has the book 'The Mammoth Book of JTR', you'll find MJ Trow writing an essay arguing for brewery magnate and philanthropist, Frederick Harrington (sp?) as Jack the Ripper. At the end, he admits he made up the whole argument simply to prove how easy it is to pick someone out of history and accuse him of being the Ripper. In short, the essay is a waste of space in this volume. But his point is clearly valid.

Trow clearly repeated the same exercise in recent years with Mann, unfortunately this time he wanted our money, and thus the book and documentary. All that's missing is his end disclaimer that he'd fooled us.

The remarkable thing is that his admittedly false Harrington accusation is more compelling than his Mann theory.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott