our killer been local

[Michael W Richards]

It only shows the two most likely alternatives, naturally Foster cannot make allowances for any hypothetical 'bolt-hole'. However, the police could use this obvious consideration to conduct house-to-house searches, if they consider the killer to have laid low for an hour or so.

I think all thats missing from the map is a title like "Presumed Flight Path" Jon, what they did was estimate the direct routes available to him, however an indirect path that he may have taken couldnt be estimated by anyone really...far too many possibilities to plot.

I believe that PC Long is the key to that answer, and as Ive said, he wasnt at all vague in his response to the direct question.

If we used what PC Long said,...which I see no reason to doubt, then it stands to reason that there was indeed someplace he likely went for some of the hour-plus that the apron was not in the doorway. It might also help explain if it held the organs taken.

Cheers

[Tom_Wescott]

Hi Nick,I think the most obvious solution to the mystery of the message is that the police missed the piece of apron found it later and it happened to be near some graffiti.I think too much fuss has been made out of the message over the years I think a lot of people want it to be from our killer so it has to be.

Yeah, that's what it is. It has nothing to do with the evidence.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[Tom_Wescott]

Its not your week Tom, as PC Watkins was the one reprimanded for being caught having sex with a woman whilst on his beat, not Harvey.

Monty

I'm having a great week, thanks Monty. Just wait until I've done 4-6 months of focused research on Eddowes. Gonna be a while yet, but when I've done it I'll be the master of all things Mitre Square.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[Monty]

I'm having a great week, thanks Monty. Just wait until I've done 4-6 months of focused research on Eddowes. Gonna be a while yet, but when I've done it I'll be the master of all things Mitre Square.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

That's nice Dear,

Cannot wait to see you handle Kenefeck.

Monty

[curious4]

The graffito

Hello all,

I have been thinking a little about who at the time could have written the Goulston street graffito. It was said to have been written in. "a round, schoolboy hand". Writing "hands" were important in an age when typewriters were rare, and accounts were kept in ledgers. There was a "legal hand" for example (found a picture of Lee's Home and Business Instructor, Penmanship, Bookkeeping, Banking, Everyday, Law which puports to teach the various "hands" but couldn't post it).

If it was written in a schoolboy's hand this would point to someone educated in England (handwriting differs from country to country). This would rule out russian and eastern european immigrants, who, even if they were literate, would be more familiar with the Cyrillic alphabet.

The language is also that of an educated person, not "The juwes ain't" which you would expect from a cockney writer. The graffito is not typical of graffiti - this is usually more straight to the point - not "Kilroy was here" exactly but something along the lines of "Pc Watkins is a .......!". I found some other examples of Victorian Graffiti on "The Cat's Meat Shop: Victorian Graffiti".

From what I can see, many from the area would not have been fully literate, poor families sending their children out to earn money rather than to school. This also tends to rule out many of the Whitechapel inhabitants.

The misspelling of Jews could be a sign of dyslexia, which I have previously noted in the Dear Boss letter and others. By frequently applying the cane, I think a dyslectic could be taught to write neatly, but would still make mistakes on occasion.

I did see on the boards a suggestion that the graffito was not complete. This opens the door to some great speculation, explaining the double negative, for example, if he/she were planning to write more. Was the writer interupted? I don't really think so but you never know.

Best wishes,
C4

[Tom_Wescott]

That's nice Dear,

Cannot wait to see you handle Kenefeck.

Monty

Who?

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[Errata]

Hello all,

I have been thinking a little about who at the time could have written the Goulston street graffito. It was said to have been written in. "a round, schoolboy hand". Writing "hands" were important in an age when typewriters were rare, and accounts were kept in ledgers. There was a "legal hand" for example (found a picture of Lee's Home and Business Instructor, Penmanship, Bookkeeping, Banking, Everyday, Law which puports to teach the various "hands" but couldn't post it).

C4

Well given that the graffito was at an odd height, what if we are looking for an actual schoolboy? Most people write at eye level on a vertical surface. The graffito is lower than a grown man's eye level. So what if it's some snotty kid with the schoolboy hand, maybe even slightly juvenile looking, and the misspellings are because the author is ten?

[curious4]

Schoolboy

Hello Errata,

I would wonder a little what a schoolboy was doing running around Whitechapel in the wee small hours, especially with the Ripper scare on. But that's only valid if you think the graffito was newly written, which I do. Also any child hanging round the doorway with a lump of chalk in his hand during the day was likely to get caught. Finally, the actual wording is not particularly childish.

I seem to remember reading that a policeman was quoted as saying that the writing was shoulder high. Height requirement for a policeman was, I think, at least 5ft 7in. So the writing would have been at about 5ft?

Fair point though.

I don't, by the way, advocate caning as a cure for dyslexia - just commenting on the teaching methods at the time.

Best wishes,

C4

[Scott Nelson]

So what if it's some snotty kid with the schoolboy hand, maybe even slightly juvenile looking, and the misspellings are because the author is ten?

No, he was about 15.

[Wickerman]

Well given that the graffito was at an odd height, what if we are looking for an actual schoolboy? Most people write at eye level on a vertical surface. The graffito is lower than a grown man's eye level. So what if it's some snotty kid with the schoolboy hand, maybe even slightly juvenile looking, and the misspellings are because the author is ten?

Your suggestion is more along the lines that I see.

[Graham]

All you have to do is check the local newspapers for sightings in the East End of a dwarf on the relevant date. Job done.

G

[pinkmoon]

All you have to do is check the local newspapers for sightings in the East End of a dwarf on the relevant date. Job done.

G

You need to be carefull saying things like this some loon might take it seriously and write a book about a killer dwarf and the sad thing is some loon like me would buy it!

[Graham]

You need to be carefull saying things like this some loon might take it seriously and write a book about a killer dwarf and the sad thing is some loon like me would buy it!

Just like Peter J. Harpick, then?

Graham

[Tom_Wescott]

It would have been written at shoulder height. Not sure why a dwarf is being suggested?

But there was a cool 80's metal band called Killer Dwarves.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[pinkmoon]

Just like Peter J. Harpick, then?

Graham

I think the vast majority of suspects that have been presented to us over the years have never been researched properly but the book's have still been published and money made .