Serious Suspects

[John Wheat]

There are numerous threads on what I would term joke suspects such as Lechmere. This is a thread for discussing serious suspects. Eg those named at the time or violent murderers that were in London at the time of the Ripper murders such as William Henry Bury.

[Lewis C]

I think that there are 2 questions here. (1) Which suspects fit the above definition of serious suspect? (2) Is the above definition the same one that I would give for "serious suspect".

Violent murderers who were in London at the time definitely include William Bury and George Chapman. James Kelly was a murderer that escaped a lunatic asylum in London just before the murders began, so he was there unless he left. He seems to at least briefly have been a police person of interest. I think he qualifies.

Frederick Deeming was a murderer who seems to have been in England at the time, but we don't know exactly where. He might not fit this definition of a serious suspect, but he'd fit my definition.

I don't know of any other murderers that would qualify.

Those named at the time: does this mean by the police only, or do press suspects also count? Police suspects definitely include Montague Druitt and Frances Tumblety. Chapman was named 14 years later, but he qualifies as a murderer in the area anyway. Then there's Anderson's Polish Jew suspect who we don't who he was, but Aaron Kosminski and David Cohen seem like the 2 most likely possibilities.

Press suspects include Bury, Deeming, Thomas Cutbush, William Grainger, and Robert Donston Stephenson. In my book, the first 4 of these are serious suspects though I think Grainger is a longshot.

I would suggest that there are other suspects that I would consider serious that I haven't mentioned yet: Jacob Levy, George Hutchinson, and Charles LeGrande for sure, and Hyam Hyams, Albert Bachert, Edward Buckley, Oswald Puckridge are reasonable long shot suspects. So I don't think one has to have been suspected at the time to be a serious suspect.

[John Wheat]

Hi Lewis

Good post however I'm not sure you can term Chapman as a violent murderer. Poisoning is not exactly a violent form of murder. As for my definitions of a serious suspect. It was there to steer away from the likes of Lechmere and Maybrick who both have numerous threads. Are discussed at length and in my opinion shouldn't even be called suspects.

Cheers John

[caz]

A friendly suggestion, John. If you are peeved about the current lack of traffic on Bury threads, why not do something constructive like opening a new one and encouraging like-minded readers to join you there? Nothing wrong with a bit of healthy competition, is there? Especially as you clearly believe your case against Bury is a strong one.

I happen to think Bury is one of the few plausible ripper suspects - although I would need more evidence of a different killer in one or two of the later cases after MJK.

Don't take this the wrong way, but sticking to Bury would be a much better look than repeatedly sticking a finger up to the suspects you think should be moved to Pub Talk.

Live and let live?

Love,

Caz
X

[John Wheat]

Hi Caz.

Fair points I'll take them on board.

Cheers John

[Lewis C]

Hi Lewis

Good post however I'm not sure you can term Chapman as a violent murderer. Poisoning is not exactly a violent form of murder. As for my definitions of a serious suspect. It was there to steer away from the likes of Lechmere and Maybrick who both have numerous threads. Are discussed at length and in my opinion shouldn't even be called suspects.

Cheers John

Hi John,

I was thinking that any murder is violent, but I see your point, and after all, it was your phrase, so what you meant by it is what matters.