Social class of Jack the Ripper

[Wickerman]

Thank you, I just finished a very nice roast chicken dinner.

Well, let's leave aside the blackmail. Maybe Kate knew a reporter, and was going to tell her story to him in a private spot, in return for money, but he was the Ripper himself.

Ah, the same reporter who penned the 'Dear Boss' letter?
Hmm, there's a theory...

[Pcdunn]

Carl Kolchak,eat your heart out

LOL! I liked that show.

[Shaggyrand]

Carl Kolchak,eat your heart out

How about a special featurette, with a border of roses? An interview with the five girl victims, in Heaven, with a cellestial choir in the background.



** You know- I was having a real **** day but then I got to use and adapt one of my vast and always at hand Kolchak quotes on Casebook. That made it all worthwhile.

[Pcdunn]

Ah, the same reporter who penned the 'Dear Boss' letter?
Hmm, there's a theory...

Could be-- or perhaps I've simply been watching "Ripper Street" too much.

I think the puzzling thing to all of us is finding a reason for Jack's apparently-irrational crimes. Yet even modern serial-killers admit they don't know why they kill.

[curious4]

^ I think Kate was probably capable of a bit of blackmail but only if she didn't get into trouble for it. I don't see her accompanying or taking a male to one of the most desolate and dark squares in the City in order to extract her pound of flesh, though.

If they were going to rendezvous why not do it in a nearby pub, unless she was uncertain that he would buy her a drink while negotiations went on!

I really think Kate didn't like the police or police cells very much and wanted to be off. Why would she be worried about a bit of rain? It wasn't coming down in sheets, and she and her boyfriend had probably slept in worse.

Like Wickerman, I think Kate wanted to eat and drink the next day and I'm not talking about a piece of dry bread! . She wouldn't be earning anything stuck in a police cell with no company!

No evidence at all that Kate was a prostitute, rather the opposite. And there would be no sleeping on the streets at night, it was an offence and she would have been moved on. She seemed to be getting on with the police very well: "Good night old c*ck". And I very much doubt she would feel shame for being locked up for the night. Agree that she wouldn't have taken risks, though. Not intentionally, anyway, poor girl.

Best wishes
C4

[curious4]

Could be-- or perhaps I've simply been watching "Ripper Street" too much.

I think the puzzling thing to all of us is finding a reason for Jack's apparently-irrational crimes. Yet even modern serial-killers admit they don't know why they kill.

Hello Pc Dunn

I was watching a crime programme recently and while some police and others went down the "he was just evil" road, one said something which I thought was very true. He said "he was just like an alchoholic or drug addict, couldn't stop himself killing". I think that nails it.

Best wishes
C4

[Rosella]

^ Setting aside that this was a meeting by appointment (humour me just for a moment) and that Kate had been walking about or sitting for a moment on a public bench after leaving the police station and Jack approached her, walking off with her, why do you think a woman would be standing at a dark entry to an extremely dark and desolate square, with her hands on a man's chest, in the early hours of the morning?

Do you think she was discussing Gladstone's chances at the next general election, the exorbitant price of cheese, a popular music hall act, or...? Kate did go into Mitre Square with someone who was a stranger to her, (no proof otherwise) and was left on the ground in a position in which she had her legs wide apart, something I believe her killer did deliberately to her and to most of his other victims.

I don't believe that Jack wrote any of the letters purported to be by him, however I do believe he was 'down on whores' or those he believed were following the oldest profession, and left their bodies (with the exception of Stride's: he was interrupted) showing what he thought of them.

[curious4]

^ Setting aside that this was a meeting by appointment (humour me just for a moment) and that Kate had been walking about or sitting for a moment on a public bench after leaving the police station and Jack approached her, walking off with her, why do you think a woman would be standing at a dark entry to an extremely dark and desolate square, with her hands on a man's chest, in the early hours of the morning?

Do you think she was discussing Gladstone's chances at the next general election, the exorbitant price of cheese, a popular music hall act, or...? Kate did go into Mitre Square with someone who was a stranger to her, (no proof otherwise) and was left on the ground in a position in which she had her legs wide apart, something I believe her killer did deliberately to her and to most of his other victims.

I don't believe that Jack wrote any of the letters purported to be by him, however I do believe he was 'down on whores' or those he believed were following the oldest profession, and left their bodies (with the exception of Stride's: he was interrupted) showing what he thought of them.

I don't think she would have been standing with a hand on his chest, quietly talking if she had been a prostitute and he a customer. I imagine the transaction
Would have been quicker and more businesslike. And not on the corner of the street.

Best wishes
C4

[Rosella]

^ You don't think that Jack might have talked/chatted for a short while to gain the confidence of these women, and with Kate in particular when people were leaving the nearby Imperial club? After all, if they saw him, he could see Lawende and co., even if he wasn't looking at them directly.

The point is, if Kate was not indulging in a spot of blackmail, and didn't know Mr Red neckerchief from a bar of soap, as we say in Oz, what did she go in dark Mitre Square with him for at 1:35am?

[Observer]

^ You don't think that Jack might have talked/chatted for a short while to gain the confidence of these women, and with Kate in particular when people were leaving the nearby Imperial club? After all, if they saw him, he could see Lawende and co., even if he wasn't looking at them directly.

The point is, if Kate was not indulging in a spot of blackmail, and didn't know Mr Red neckerchief from a bar of soap, as we say in Oz, what did she go in dark Mitre Square with him for at 1:35am?

As far as I'm concerned there's only one answer to that question

[curious4]

As far as I'm concerned there's only one answer to that question

Well my answer would be that she did know him and for some reason trusted him completely. And hoped for a reward.

C4

[Sam Flynn]

I don't think she would have been standing with a hand on his chest, quietly talking if she had been a prostitute and he a customer.

Well, there's always flirting, I suppose. Those engaged in the act of picking up a casual partner can get very lovey-dovey with strangers, if they think they're on to something. Whilst I believe George Hutchinson's testimony is largely fictional, his description of the seductive behaviour that transpired between Kelly and Astrakhan is one of the more believable aspects of his story.

[curious4]

Well, there's always flirting, I suppose. Those engaged in the act of picking up a casual partner can get very lovey-dovey with strangers, if they think they're on to something. Whilst I believe George Hutchinson's testimony is largely fictional, his description of the seductive behaviour that transpired between Kelly and Astrakhan is one of the more believable aspects of his story.

"I'm leaning on a lamp post at the corner of the street...." :-D

C4

[Michael W Richards]

The rendezvous speculation originated with the contemporary police, it was not some modern idea added by an imaginative scholar of the cases. One of the reasons was because initially they thought that there wasn't enough blood on the scene to account for all of Eddowes blood loss, and they deduced that perhaps her body was dumped there...they later discovered her garments back was soaked with blood.

There are far to few "facts" here to conclude anything about whether she intended to tell the police who she thought the killer at large was, and far too few facts that could be used to dismiss the idea...so it remains a possibility that she was meeting someone related to that storyline.

Someone got Kate staggering drunk by 8pm...for someone who drinks often and in excess...as her Brights diseased liver might suggest..that would be more than just a drink or two. Where did that money come from? Where did the money from the pawned boots go Friday night? Who was she with Saturday afternoon? Why didn't she turn in the opposite direction that she di to go look for Kelly when she was released? What, if any, is the significance of her using variations of the next consecutive victims name and address twice in 24 hours? Was Sailor Man a stranger or acquaintance?

Far too many questions remain to enable exclusion of a variety of scenarios....like Kate meeting someone to discuss blackmail terms for her not going to the Police.

[Sam Flynn]

"I'm leaning on a lamp post at the corner of the street...."

Turned out nice again, 'aven't it?