Top Jack the Ripper Suspects

[Pcdunn]

Very interesting question.

I will vote for Druitt, as he was one of the first suspects I ever read about, and I hear there are new details now available on him.
I think years ago some law enforcement experts settled on Aaron Kosminski (which is why I was a bit disappointed that the "shawl" solution supposedly linked to him, as it seemed almost expected). Still, he is a good choice for my suspect list.
Finally, I would choose an unknown local, whose traits might be Jewish or Gentile, working man or unemployed, sane or insane-- that leaves us a lot of room for speculation.

I've seen the TV show on James Kelly being the Ripper who escaped to America, and it was interesting. My main trouble with this theory is that it is a self-confession from a fellow with a history of mental illness.

Wasn't there another TV documentary about the Ripper being an European sailor who went back and forth across the Atlantic? Whatever happened to this idea?

[barnflatwyngarde]

BS man is seen attacking stride. He's got to be suspect number 1 because it really looks like a ripper attack down played by sxhwartz

Mrs Cox described the "blotchy faced" man seen entering Millers Court with Kelly as "a short stout man".

Surely he must be taken seriously.

[Scott Nelson]

Sensible.

He said captain.

I said what you want

[Major Kong]

Suspects

My list goes as follows:

James Kelly(tops my list as he killed his wife with a knife to the throat, escaped Broadmoor in Jan. 1888, then disappeared till he turned himself in 1927)

After that in no particular order:
Bury
Druitt
Kosminski

[eighty-eighter]

For God's sake keep quite someone will hear and write a book about Mr kidney and claim case closed I don't think any off us could take another case closed book.

They could say they had "inside" info on a Kidney.....

[pinkmoon]

Some say Long Liz was killed by her ex; a character by the name of Kidney, with a name like that he should have been the Ripper!

For God's sake keep quite someone will hear and write a book about Mr kidney and claim case closed I don't think any off us could take another case closed book.

[eighty-eighter]

Some say Long Liz was killed by her ex; a character by the name of Kidney, with a name like that he should have been the Ripper!

[RockySullivan]

My problem with any of them being the Ripper is that they all needlessly attracted attention if they were. Crossmere could've carried on instead of approaching Paul, he could've given a fake address to the police, etc. He did none of those things. Hutchinson could've kept a low profile, but instead he approached the authorities and allowed himself to be interrogated by the police. In both cases you're also left with the nagging question of why either of them stopped murdering after MJK?

As for BS Man, he was accosting a woman in full view of no less than two witnesses and shouting across the street. Does this have the hallmarks of the silent killer who murdered Nichols & Chapman? If BS had been the Ripper, surely it would've been better for him to cut his losses (not literally of course!) and flee? I mean, at that point, he's not a Ripper suspect per se. But instead he slashes Stride anyway, despite already being seen by Pipey & Schwartz?

BS man is seen attacking stride. He's got to be suspect number 1 because it really looks like a ripper attack down played by sxhwartz

[DVV]

Sensible.

He said captain.

[Wickerman]

My problem with any of them being the Ripper is that they all needlessly attracted attention if they were. Crossmere could've carried on instead of approaching Paul, he could've given a fake address to the police, etc. He did none of those things. Hutchinson could've kept a low profile, but instead he approached the authorities and allowed himself to be interrogated by the police. In both cases you're also left with the nagging question of why either of them stopped murdering after MJK?

As for BS Man, he was accosting a woman in full view of no less than two witnesses and shouting across the street. Does this have the hallmarks of the silent killer who murdered Nichols & Chapman? If BS had been the Ripper, surely it would've been better for him to cut his losses (not literally of course!) and flee? I mean, at that point, he's not a Ripper suspect per se. But instead he slashes Stride anyway, despite already being seen by Pipey & Schwartz?

Sensible.

[Harry D]

Lechmere, Hutchinson and Broad shouldered man. All three can be placed at a murder site. Lechmere with a body, Hutchinson stalking Mary Kelly and BS man attacking stride where her body would soon be found. You gotta start somewhere

My problem with any of them being the Ripper is that they all needlessly attracted attention if they were. Crossmere could've carried on instead of approaching Paul, he could've given a fake address to the police, etc. He did none of those things. Hutchinson could've kept a low profile, but instead he approached the authorities and allowed himself to be interrogated by the police. In both cases you're also left with the nagging question of why either of them stopped murdering after MJK?

As for BS Man, he was accosting a woman in full view of no less than two witnesses and shouting across the street. Does this have the hallmarks of the silent killer who murdered Nichols & Chapman? If BS had been the Ripper, surely it would've been better for him to cut his losses (not literally of course!) and flee? I mean, at that point, he's not a Ripper suspect per se. But instead he slashes Stride anyway, despite already being seen by Pipey & Schwartz?

[eighty-eighter]

Kaminsky/Cohen

I almost forgot, Swanson and Anderson, (the two top policeman who strongly suspected this Jew but likely confused his name with Kosminski), stated that the suspect had died shortly after arriving at the asylum. In actual fact Kosminski lived until 1919. However Cohen/Kaminsky did die shortly after arriving at Colney Hatch.

[RockySullivan]

Lechmere, Hutchinson and Broad shouldered man. All three can be placed at a murder site. Lechmere with a body, Hutchinson stalking Mary Kelly and BS man attacking stride where her body would soon be found. You gotta start somewhere

[eighty-eighter]

Of course, Cohen was only 23 at the time of his incarceration at Colney Hatch, considerably younger than the description of some of the suspects seen with Ripper victims would imply.

We don't know how long he had been seriously mentally ill, but his being incoherent, aggressive and communicative only in Yiddish doesn't suggest a Ripper who coolly and calmly killed mutilated then escaped without being apprehended. Or someone an East End prostitute, however desperate, would be willing to accompany to any dark and lonely spot.

Was it proven that Kaminsky didn't speak any English whatsoever? One wonders if that was the case how he managed as he was employed as a boot-maker? He lived at 15 Black Lion Yard by the way.
Could it be as he became more deranged he was "selective" about when he spoke it? Asylums affect patients in many different ways.
He was alone and had no known relatives, which to my mind doesn't exactly harm the case against him. Something else, we know he already used prostitutes because he was treated for syphilis.
Certainly many witnesses spoke of "a foreign looking man" which in Whitechapel 1888 parlance often meant Jewish after the police had "doctored" the statement in an effort to decrease racial tension. Some even were more specific and described the "darker look" of an east European immigrant.
I think the subject of JtR "witnesses" is an absolute minefield; these prostitutes didn't give their customers 30 minutes to dilly-dally, no they were literally "wham bam thank you mam" merchants, and the "liaison" might only last a few minutes, as little as 2 to 4. So unless the witness saw the woman with a man at almost the exact time of death, then I think many can be discounted as just descriptions of punters.
Joseph Lawende was regarded by the police at the time as being a sound witness who probably did see the Ripper. Lawende's estimate of age was "under 30". We do have to remember that these streets were very poorly lit and in addition those poor people of the "Abyss" could age very, very quickly due to malnutrition, drink, disease, stress etc. and a considerable number probably looked much older than they really were.
The asylum where he ended up shortly after the murder of Kelly regarded him as "by far the most violent lunatic they had seen in some time". By comparison Kosminski was a teddy bear.

[DVV]

1 : Flemtchinson
2 : Hutchinming
3: James Evans