Top Jack the Ripper Suspects

[Defective Detective]

I first read about the case via Patricia Cornwell's Case Closed when I was twelve or thirteen (thanks to a true crime buff grandmother), but my real adult interest in Jack The Ripper was only fueled by reading Mr. Gordon's The American Murderers Of Jack The Ripper on Severin Klosowski. As a result, I have (what is very possibly) an irrational bias towards demonstrated murderers for the case, though I do not actually favor any of them for the role of murderer in the Ripper crimes. This feeling of mine extends also to the criminally violent against women more generally.

I think William Bury is a very good suspect, and whose prospects would greatly improved with a proven link to Whitechapel.

I think James Kelly is a good to very good suspect, but I want to know exactly where he was in August to December of 1888. I think this can be done, and will eventually be found out.

I am less impressed by Thomas Cutbush.

I think William Grant Grainger is a GREAT suspect, and Goddammit but we need more information on this man. To my knowledge there has not been a single suspect book published about the man; not a single 'name' in Ripperology has taken it upon themselves to make him into a pet suspect. This is a fellow we know who (A) attacked a prostitute with a knife and (B) targeted the abdominal area in doing so. I'd do it myself, but I'm American and do not have any sort of professional training as a historian or archivist and no idea how to begin. Are we seriously going to let Goddamn Lyttleton Forbes Winslow have the last word on this character? I am appealing to your sensibility as someone who knows how to do these things, whoever you areroduce more information on Grainger for us.

Grainger is the guy of the named suspects I like as the Ripper the most, though I do not think he actually was. I admit that he did not target the throat first, either for strangulation or for cutting, as the Ripper must have done, and for this reason he probably was not the Ripper. But we absolutely must know more about him.

[Wickerman]

If we could just find out if Grainger was in London in the fall of 1888, it might be a start.

[Harry D]

If "Mr. X" doesn't count, then I'll throw in William Grant Grainger.

[Haskins]

It's difficult for me to answer this because, really, I am not convinced by the cases put against any of the suspects. If I had to name three though, they would be:

1. Kosminski
2. Bury
3. Tumblety

[eighty-eighter]

1. David Cohen/Kaminsky
2. William Bury
3. An unknown

I'm not sure that the suspect Jew's real name was Kosminski; I think there may have been some confusion later on the police's part relating to the mad Jew who was allegedly taken to a police "seaside home" and identified by a witness who was of course also a Jew, and "blackmailed" not to go night time walkies again (allegedly the witness refused to make it official as it could have led to a co-Jew going to the gallows). Possibly the suspected killer would have been informed by the police that they knew he was the killer and would be watching him, however a lunatic asylum transfer soon after put paid to his nocturnal urges anyway.
I believe some researchers (including Martin Fido) have come up with a more likely mad Jewish suspect whose name was listed in records as David Cohen (it was a possibility that he was originally called Kaminsky - hence the confusion), apparently he fitted the mantle of Jack MUCH better than our Kosminski whom was by all accounts (including whilst held in the asylum)was a pretty harmless character by comparison, and well known around Whitechapel for being pretty harmless to boot.
Of course there was always the possibility that Cohen might not have been his real name as it was not beyond Victorian authorities in relation to difficult to spell Jewish immigrant names, to just put Cohen instead. Cohen/Kaminsky was a Whitechapel resident of course and of a VERY violent nature (listed in the asylum as being a danger to other inmates, unlike Kosminski) who had also been arrested in a local brothel at one stage, along with the Madame and several working girls!
Cohen/Kaminsky was so aggressive he had to be taken to Colney Hatch Lunatic Asylum with his hands tied behind his back, soon after the last murder, and he was dead within the year.

[Scott Nelson]

Goodness, 88er!

That's a lot to digest.

[Rosella]

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.

[DVV]

1 : Flemtchinson
2 : Hutchinming
3: James Evans

[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.

[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]

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.

[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?

[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.

[DVV]

Sensible.

He said captain.

[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