Any known physical descriptions of Kidney?

Interesting scenario - good speculation! We could call this possible scenario #1...

Its a little self indulgent for sure, but thanks wastelandr. I have this habit of seeing how changing a fact or two might change the entire perspective....kind of like The Butterfly Effect as applied to Ripperology.

Cheers mate.

[thewastelandr]

Speculation...just for the jolly.

Interesting scenario - good speculation! We could call this possible scenario #1...

Hello all,

I wanted to address what Howard and Glenn were exploring If I may, on Schwartz's viability as a genuine witness.

Only a strong hunch, I dont know how or if it could be proven other than by a members register dated for that period, which in and of itself wouldnt be proof....anyway, I think its entirely possible that Schwartz was a club member, and that Wess might have interpreted for him...as he did for Goldstein apparently...another questionable tale, walking by a club he is a member of with empty cigarette cartons in his Gladstone and cigarette makers in the cottages in Dutfields Yard awake at the time.......but another day for that one. Tom Wescott suggested the link before, and I think it fits the reputation of the club more accurately when people are in that yard after a meeting. We know that was the pattern, by the neighbours comments.

If the events Schwartz describes took place in the yard, as he was leaving via the side door...(we know the front was locked at that time), rather than outside the gates, then any features that he offers about Broadshouldered man, beyond that one feature....broadshoulders, as perhaps seen from the back...could be fabrication anyway. It was dark, and if he entered the yard via the side door, saw a man with Liz inside the yard near the gates, the man from behind, then as he passes the couple Liz tries to leave via the gates and is pulled back, by her scarf, by Broadshouldered Man. She falls, inside the yard already...and the rest of the story, yada, yada... rolls on. Pipeman might have been inside the yard himself, and left as Schwartz did, now that it was getting a bit rough. Or maybe he does come in from the street and try to drag her out, and Schwartz sees that.

Point being...Kidney could well be that guy who shows up, all we might need to match is "Broadshoulders",... and that could be one reason that we dont have Schwartz's statement in his own hand preserved, or his translators rather, and why he was never called to repeat his story at the Inquest. We also know that his words were translated....by a club member with some importance, judging by the fact that he is the first person called to testify...before Diemshutz, Blackwell or Kidney even.

Wess might only have changed "just inside" to "just outside" the gates, and a few minor details. With or without Schwartz's agreement.

I think the tale is "changed", or shaped by Wess, and I think that if so, a scenario that has Kidney coming in via the gates, grabbing Liz who is waiting for a new beau inside, they argue, she falls, Schwartz leaves, Liz tries to get up and outside the gates, and is grabbed by her scarf and pulled off balance backwards. Her weight falls back on his arms, he twists her and with the hand free that pulled the knife from where it was tucked into his pants, and just lets her throat slide across his blade, dropping her, her own dead weight pressing her throat into the blade, and dictating the cuts depth and location. He pulls her back into the yard only because its darker and private.

Im suggesting that a scenario like that is plausible, has some thread of logic to it...including Schwartz saying he was looking to see if his wife had already finished their move, something that realistically was already complete many hours earlier in the day, instead of fessing up to attending the meeting and drinking instead, he is around 28 ish...not a stretch there, and if offers a perfectly plausible encounter with a jealous spurned lover that ends quickly and tragically. Meaning it explains why only a single wound is made. He didnt set out to kill her, it just happened, and he panicked and fled.

I think there is a good possibility Kidney was anti-semetic, and may have been refering to a Jew as the man he could catch if the police would give him some men to place about. And thats why he escalated so quickly to violence....it was one thing for her to dismiss him, it was another to do so for a Socialist Jew perhaps.

It also works for the cry of "Lipski"....if Kidney was the man saying it. And in an even bigger stretch,...it might make Kidney the author of the GSG,...where he went knowing club jews lived there in the Model dwellings.

Maybe he is trying to justify killing Liz because he was tring to get her away from "dangerous men" and she wouldnt listen.

Speculation...just for the jolly.

Cheers all.

[Jon Guy]

Indeed, Jon, at the inquest, and in answer to a specific question about whether any strangers had entered the lodging-house in the hours after Kate's murder. This question only arose during the inquest, it seems, and Wilkinson was asked to leave the chamber in order to retrieve his register. If it hadn't occurred to Crawford and/or the jurors to have asked the question, we might still be none the wiser - indeed, taken at face value, the fact that it took until then for the information to be requested might actually reflect rather poorly on the police. That aside, this episode by no means indicates that Kelly himself was under suspicion before the inquest itself.

I grant you that, Sam, it does appear to have taken Crawford, and not the police, to have requested the register.

[Jon Guy]

- but I can't seem to recall that Stride and Kidney lived in a lodging house together. But I might be wrong.

Hello Glenn

I replied to you yesterday stating Kidney lived at a lodging house at 38 Dorset St. However, when I got home I had a look to see if no.38 Dorset St was a lodging house but in Sugden it said that this address was an error by the press.

Kidney and Stride lived in Devonshire St, and a few months previous to her murder they moved to another house in Devonshire St, where Stride eventually left him. So, Kidney was living in his own room, near Berner St !!!!

So, overnight my opinion of Kidney has changed.

He is a lying bastard and he killed Liz !!!!

[Howard Brown]

Dear Glenn:

If Schwartz had seen a man....who did not have a moustache....but made up the story in line with how (as you mentioned) witnesses often invent elements which get included in their deposition...then Kidney ain't our huckleberry here. He had a major league moustache. I have no doubt that Schwartz at some point saw Kidney after Stride's death. Can I prove this? No way,Jose.

If Schwartz had seen a man with a moustache, then his description of the moustache is far from what Kidney had hanging over his piehole.

You commented:

"To be frank, I don't see how Schwartz describing those features would apply as evidence in any way of that he actually saw someone. Firstly, we are not talking very controversial or uncommon details here, and second, numerous false witnesses have produced detailed descriptions without necessarily telling the truth. After all, a witness - true or false - has to attribute the suspect with some details anyhow. And small brown moustache isn't really that ingenious for East End in 1888.
By that I am not saying that Schwarzie boy DID fabricate his story, only that there is nothing in it that proves or indicates that he didn't..."

The first sentence ( underlined) is true, if Schwartz made up his story. Evidently,the authorities believed his story...that being,that he did see someone who also possessed a small brown moustache according to Schwartz. If the authorities believed his story, then the moustache is included with what was believed to be factual. It is usually those of us who lean towards Kidney who dispute the detailing if it conflicts with their belief in Kidney's culpability. I'm not claiming or rather, insinuating, you are oblivious to the possibility that Schwartz was correct with his description,but invariably the counter argument to what Schwartz saw and the police believed him to have seen comes from the cadre that is firmly in the "domestic murder" corner. At least thats my impression.

The second sentence ( underlined) can be answered in this way ( not the only one ): Whats the first thing you notice about a man's face? Answer: Whether he has glasses on or has a moustache. The reason is probably that one is not born with either.

In the case of Schwartz, that he describes the machinations of BS Man...in a brief few seconds of intense activity...without being able to identify one of the two "indicators" ( glasses,which of course,Kidney is not known to have worn...or the moustache...is hard to fathom. Yet,according to Schwartz, the assailant did have one. Whether it was a small black one, small red one, or small brown one is less important, to me, than the size of the moustache.

Have the best Yule ever,Glenners

[Glenn Lauritz Andersson]

But what convinces me that Schwartz did see a man with a moustache is that he describes not only the size,but the color of the moustache.

Hi Howard,

To be frank, I don't see how Schwartz describing those features would apply as evidence in any way of that he actually saw someone. Firstly, we are not talking very controversial or uncommon details here, and second, numerous false witnesses have produced detailed descriptions without necessarily telling the truth. After all, a witness - true or false - has to attribute the suspect with some details anyhow. And small brown moustache isn't really that ingenious for East End in 1888.
By that I am not saying that Schwarzie boy DID fabricate his story, only that there is nothing in it that proves or indicates that he didn't.

A great Christmas holiday to you too, Howie!

All the best

[Glenn Lauritz Andersson]

Even if asked where he had been, Kidney likely wouldn't have fessed up to killing his girlfriend. He could have made up a story and had a couple of mates back him up. Maybe this is a naive view, but wouldn't that be possible?

That is definitely true and I agree with the possibility - crime history is littered with such situations. I don't see such a view as naivety at all. On the contrary.

All the best

[Howard Brown]

Hey there,C.D. ! Long time no see..

Dear Ben & C.D.

I understand Glenn Andersson's position..and those who argue for Kidney-as-killer completely, if Schwartz' story was in fact fabricated or if Schwartz arbitrariliy tossed in the "moustache" considering the atmosphere...the possibility/probability that he had seen Stride's killer...all those little intangibles & elements which could have been instrumental in some way to 'allow" Schwartz to have seen things that weren't there.

But what convinces me that Schwartz did see a man with a moustache is that he describes not only the size,but the color of the moustache.

For anyone unfamiliar with the size of Kidney's moustache, which he had to have been maintaining for quite some time, its in SPE & Skinner's Ultimate.

Later guys and have a great Holiday season.

How

[thewastelandr]

Even if asked where he had been, Kidney likely wouldn't have fessed up to killing his girlfriend. He could have made up a story and had a couple of mates back him up. Maybe this is a naive view, but wouldn't that be possible?

[Sam Flynn]

Deputy Keeper, Wilkinson was asked to present the register for the Lodging House at the Eddowes inquest.

Indeed, Jon, at the inquest, and in answer to a specific question about whether any strangers had entered the lodging-house in the hours after Kate's murder. This question only arose during the inquest, it seems, and Wilkinson was asked to leave the chamber in order to retrieve his register. If it hadn't occurred to Crawford and/or the jurors to have asked the question, we might still be none the wiser - indeed, taken at face value, the fact that it took until then for the information to be requested might actually reflect rather poorly on the police. That aside, this episode by no means indicates that Kelly himself was under suspicion before the inquest itself.

[Ben]

Agreed on the 'tache front there, How, if I've read you correctly.

Hi all,

I've discussed the nature of common lodging houses before, but it really wouldn't have been a case of "signing in" when retiring to bed for the night. Most of these establishments catered for many individuals coming and going at irregular intervals throughout the night, and the chances of any doorman or deputy remembering a specific individual was very slim. Not that I'm in favour of Kidney as Stride's killer, but...

Best regards,
Ben

[c.d.]

Professor Brown,

I have not addressed you in some time. How are you, Sir?

A piece of advice -- common sense assumptions will get you into trouble around here. A word to the wise.

c.d.

[Howard Brown]

I see the comments about the moustache being bandied around...

A man with a small brown moustache looks closer to a man with no moustache when compared with a veritable feather boa like Kidney had.

I know people who have known me for 30 years who didn't and/or wouldn't recognize me without a moustache.

Schwartz would have remembered whether the "small brown moustached man" resembled Kidney had he been face to face with Kidney. Whether he was or not is another argument altogether.

To me,unless Kidney was retarded,Kidney would be cognizant of his moustache had he seen Schwartz on the night of Long Liz's death and had he feared whether he would be ever face to face with the man at some point, as the killer of Stride, done something about it. Its common sense.

[Jon Guy]

Hi Glenn

Kidney was living at 38 Dorset Street.