Any updates, or opinions on this witness.

[Ben]

Hi Jon,

So Hutch invented a dressy Jew so he could give an excuse for watching them both?

So he could give an excuse for loitering on the street where he was seen by Sarah Lewis.

Why would he be concerned about a man who, in his own words "didn't look like he could hurt anyone

I didn’t say he was “concerned”, and more crucially, nor did Hutchinson ever claim to have been so. He told police that he was simply “surprised” to see a man of Astrakhan’s appearance in Kelly’s company.

Why couldn't he have described a Blotchy-type character, and just said, "I was surprised to see her with such a villainous looking wretch", which is why I thought it best to watch them?

Because that would amount to an expression of concern for Kelly’s safety, which “watching” them wouldn’t have made any sense of. What good was standing on the opposite side of the street and “watching” likely to achieve in the event that the “villainous looking wretch” got knifey?

That’s the reason Hutchinson told the police he had “no suspicion” that Astrakhan was the murderer; because otherwise the police would have grilled him as to why he took no action.

Which might suggest your "timewaster" theory needs revising?

Since I’ve never subscribed to any “timewaster theory”, I see no need for any “revision”.

All the best,
Ben

[Ben]

Hi RJ,

It is not beyond question that Stride’s killer first encountered her as she stood outside Dutfield’s Yard. She was observed in the company of an unidentified man (or more than one unidentified men) shortly before her murder, making it possible that one of them was her killer.

In which case, he need not have chanced upon her by accident outside the yard as only the Star report suggests (Berner Street being an extraordinary choice for a purely opportunistic serial killer of prostitutes), but may instead have encountered her first elsewhere; the Bricklayers Arms on Settles Street for instance.

He would then have suggested Dutfield’s Yard for a spot of how’s-yer-father, knowing of its strong Jewish associations, and that there was every chance those rowdy Jewish socialists types would be the first investigative port of call for the police, since they were conveniently up and about at that time.

All the best,
Ben

[Wickerman]

Because the “gentile” you’re talking about justified his 45-minute vigil outside a murder scene on the basis of the Jewish’s man’s state of dress. He was surprised at seeing a man so well dressed in Kelly’s company, which caused him to follow them. Remove the elegant attire, that that justification for prolonged loitering disappears.

So Hutch invented a dressy Jew so he could give an excuse for watching them both?
Why would he be concerned about a man who, in his own words "didn't look like he could hurt anyone"?
I think your rational thinking tanked again Ben.

Why couldn't he have described a Blotchy-type character, and just said, "I was surprised to see her with such a villainous looking wretch", which is why I thought it best to watch them?

More practical, and works better than the original.

If that gentile happened to be the murderer himself, he couldn’t have done very much about the fact that previous descriptions didn’t pinpoint a well-dressed Jew.

I think you are trying to defend two quite different theories. Which might suggest your "timewaster" theory needs revising?

[Sam Flynn]

Hi Ben. Just to be clear about your thinking...

Hello RJ

I'll let Ben respond to the Hutchinson bits, but I've taken the liberty of quoting a suspect-neutral excerpt of your post on the "Antisemitism..." thread, because I think you raised a general point that applies regardless of who the Ripper might have been.

[rjpalmer]

Hi Ben. Just to be clear about your thinking...

By all appearances, it was Liz Stride herself who chose to be standing near the entrance to Dutfield's Yard.

Or are we suppose to believe that Hutchinson somehow enticed Stride, through a previous arrangement, to stand there, so he could then walk up to her and kill her near the club, thus implicating the Jews?

Or are you suggesting she was killed elsewhere and dumped by the club? (the forensic evidence suggests otherwise).

Or are you suggesting Hutchinson wandered the East End randomly, hoping to find a prostitute (or two prositututes) standing next to structures with Jewish conotations?

You see, that's the problem I have. How, precisely, does this anti-Semitic plot 'work'? All the best.

[Ben]

And, why would anyone invent a middle class looking Jew as the killer, as opposed to a shabby, bearded, hook-nose misbegotten wretch who might be more at home in the backstreets of Whitechapel?

Because the “gentile” you’re talking about justified his 45-minute vigil outside a murder scene on the basis of the Jewish’s man’s state of dress. He was surprised at seeing a man so well dressed in Kelly’s company, which caused him to follow them. Remove the elegant attire, that that justification for prolonged loitering disappears.

If that gentile happened to be the murderer himself, he couldn’t have done very much about the fact that previous descriptions didn’t pinpoint a well-dressed Jew. It would also mean that his Jew-implicating antics extended to the Kelly murder, the double event, and possibly Hanbury Street as well, by dint of its strong Jewish connections.

I haven’t heard any one suggest that the ripper “dressed like Jew” when he wasn’t one.

Cheers,
Ben

[Batman]

And, as a footnote, we might also have the suggestion that a gentile invents a Jewish suspect for one of the murders.
Someone totally out of keeping with previous suspect descriptions.
And, why would anyone invent a middle class looking Jew as the killer, as opposed to a shabby, bearded, hook-nose misbegotten wretch who might be more at home in the backstreets of Whitechapel?

Ah, but other descriptions were not causing the hysteria in the public mind. It was "Leather Apron", a Jew named Pizer that had them up in arms. JtR, probably you average anti-semitic gentile person for the time, used that to further his aims of getting away with shocking whitechapel society by treating unfortunate women as fish to be gutted and left in sexually suggestive positions for their degradation. The fact Jews were getting blamed for it was probably a bonus that he went all in on, hunting unfortunates in Jewish quarters.

A cover that appears to have also worked.

So much so that even today some people find it hard to believe that he did such a thing. Likely because a Jewish suspect is preferred, which several pieces of anti-semitic connections point directly away from.

[Wickerman]

And, as a footnote, we might also have the suggestion that a gentile invents a Jewish suspect for one of the murders.
Someone totally out of keeping with previous suspect descriptions.
And, why would anyone invent a middle class looking Jew as the killer, as opposed to a shabby, bearded, hook-nose misbegotten wretch who might be more at home in the backstreets of Whitechapel?

[Batman]

Seems the Jewish connections are a way more extensive.

Even Chapman.

https://forum.casebook.org/showthread.php?t=10967&page=2

[Wickerman]

I think one ends up in historical revisionism by relegated much of the anti-semitic facts of this case to coincidence.

What doesn't ring true to me is that if we suggest we have a killer who leaves his victims at or next to Jewish properties then what about Chapman, Nichols & Kelly, who were not?
That theory only fits two victims, Stride & Eddowes.

So, then the argument changes to, 'well, the killer dressed like a Jew to kill Kelly, & Chapman'.

So now we are supposed to believe the killer dressed like a Jew on nights when he did not plan to murder at a Jewish establishment, but on other nights he dressed like a Gentile when he did plan to murder near Jewish establishments.

How does he know what to dress like on any given night?
And, what type of killer has such a diverse wardrobe of clothes, not a dosser thats for sure.

Is this a genuine theory?

[Abby Normal]

Hi RJ,

Massive change of topic there, but fair enough.

You’re obviously somewhat conflicted over being in such a conspicuous minority of opinion, and for such good reason. You would prefer the ripper to have been an educated, interesting “toff”, and appear affronted that the tide of popular opinion (and overwhelming common sense) is going against you.

I’m afraid it won’t aid your cause in the slightest to list a couple of rare examples of better educated serial killers in Chikatilo and Bundy, neither of whom were “toffs” by any stretch of the imagination. The fact remains that the vast majority of serial killers come from working class background and are generally blue-collar workers.

Speaking of vast majorities, the region circumscribed by the crimes were populated in the main by the Great Unwashed and the Great Unlettered; the sort of menially employed “local chaps” you’re so anxious to exclude from any question of culpability in the ripper’s crimes. And yet, statistics have demonstrated an extremely high probability of the offender living within that circumscribed region, increasing the probability that the killer was a “local chap” rather than your West End toff who swanned in for the express purpose of ripping, adorned in his finery.

That’s why “profiling” and its adherents must be so annoying to some people; it deprives those seeking an exotic solution to the murders of the validity of their exotic “dashing doc” suspects.

I don’t know why you keep revisiting the John Douglas profile. We’ve established that it is outdated in many respects - forgivable, really, as it is now 30 years old - and would consider Hutchinson too “organised” for crazy old Jack anyway.



But what isn’t “fanciful”, and instead has considerable evidential support, is the idea of Jack murdering middle-aged prostitutes and then taking advantage of prevalent anti-semtism in the district in order to lay a false trail. In fact, far from being fanciful, attempting to throw suspicion in a bogus direction is a frequently occurring trait amongst serial killers.

He didn’t need to “hate” Jews per se - he simply recognised their obvious advantage as scapegoats.



Experience, statistics, and the demography of the locality in which the crimes were committed should immediately inform you otherwise.

Best regards,
Ben

exactly Ben-good post.
I now see more clearly why Wicker and RJ are so vehemently opposed to the rather innocuous idea that the serial killer was from the working class-wicky favors the well dressed man(!?!?) and RJ I believe goes for Dr T, who I guess was probably some kind of Toff, or wanted to portray himself as much.


its good to know where people are coming from.

[Sam Flynn]

Right after the murder of Nichols, you had a suspect called 'Leather Apron'...

I've opened another thread, Batman.

[Batman]

... but only in connection with the Double Event, apparently. Canonical murders 1, 2 and 5 occurred in predominantly gentile locations, with nary a discarded garment nor graffito in sight. Hutchinson might have reported a foreign/Jewish-looking suspect, but so did Mrs Long.

Right after the murder of Nichols, you had a suspect called 'Leather Apron' who happened to also be Jewish. Therein is the start of the view that JtR was a Jew although there was already strong anti-semitic views being held at the time.

So prior to the JtR murders JtR doesn't appear to be using the anti-semitic hysteria to his advantage because it wasn't associated until Pizer. Then he had cover to go about as a gentile, meets with Chapman. When Pizer is cleared he then uses tries to put the blame back on the Jews again, first by attacking Stride near a Jewish socialist club, shouting Lipski when seen, in the hope that someone might associate this with a Jew. Then he fails to get his emotional satisfaction and goes off to do his signature on someone else and follows this up by throwing her bloody apron piece into a Jewish market sector with some anti-semitic graffiti underneath. Again, people hear about this and suspect a Jew, so off he goes to Kelly as a gentile, following the path of Chapman again.

It isn't hard to figure out that JtR was using anti-Semitic hysteria as a cover for himself.

Which really deals a stake to the heart of ideas that JtR was Jew. Either he was a gentile or a Jew with a serious identity crisis.

Heck even many of the investigators ended up believing he was Jew.

So to that end, JtR was successful. Which seems obvious because he wasn't caught.

[Sam Flynn]

He doesn’t need to “hate” Jews - he simply recognised their obvious advantage as scapegoats.

... but only in connection with the Double Event, apparently. Canonical murders 1, 2 and 5 occurred in predominantly gentile locations, with nary a discarded garment nor graffito in sight. Hutchinson might have reported a foreign/Jewish-looking suspect, but so did Mrs Long.

[Ben]

Hi RJ,

Massive change of topic there, but fair enough.

You’re obviously somewhat conflicted over being in such a conspicuous minority of opinion, and for such good reason. You would prefer the ripper to have been an educated, interesting “toff”, and appear affronted that the tide of popular opinion (and overwhelming common sense) is going against you.

I’m afraid it won’t aid your cause in the slightest to list a couple of rare examples of better educated serial killers in Chikatilo and Bundy, neither of whom were “toffs” by any stretch of the imagination. The fact remains that the vast majority of serial killers come from working class background and are generally blue-collar workers.

Speaking of vast majorities, the region circumscribed by the crimes were populated in the main by the Great Unwashed and the Great Unlettered; the sort of menially employed “local chaps” you’re so anxious to exclude from any question of culpability in the ripper’s crimes. And yet, statistics have demonstrated an extremely high probability of the offender living within that circumscribed region, increasing the probability that the killer was a “local chap” rather than your West End toff who swanned in for the express purpose of ripping, adorned in his finery.

That’s why “profiling” and its adherents must be so annoying to some people; it deprives those seeking an exotic solution to the murders of the validity of their exotic “dashing doc” suspects.

I don’t know why you keep revisiting the John Douglas profile. We’ve established that it is outdated in many respects - forgivable, really, as it is now 30 years old - and would consider Hutchinson too “organised” for crazy old Jack anyway.

Further, the idea of "Jack the Jewbaiter" murdering middle-aged prostitutes in order to implicate the Jews is every bit as fanciful as the Royal Conspiracy of the 1970s

But what isn’t “fanciful”, and instead has considerable evidential support, is the idea of Jack murdering middle-aged prostitutes and then taking advantage of prevalent anti-semtism in the district in order to lay a false trail. In fact, far from being fanciful, attempting to throw suspicion in a bogus direction is a frequently occurring trait amongst serial killers.

He didn’t need to “hate” Jews per se - he simply recognised their obvious advantage as scapegoats.

Misogynists, like psychopaths, come from various economic backgrounds; no reason to believe he was a non-descript chap a la Lechmere, Barnett, Hutchinson, etc. etc

Experience, statistics, and the demography of the locality in which the crimes were committed should immediately inform you otherwise.

Best regards,
Ben