discussion of Aaron Kosminski's psychological profile

[Natalie Severn]

I am referring to the additional information provided by the certifying medical officer, EK Houchin, in which he provides a synopsis of Kosminski"s symptoms as expressed by Kosminski to him ,presumably during an initial assessment . Houchin interprets or accepts Kosminski"s symptoms as stemming from auditory hallucinations viz
Houchin: " He declares that he is guided and his movements altogether controlled by an instinct that informs his mind,he says that he knows the movements of all mankind,he refuses food from others because he is told to do so,and he eats out of gutters for the same reason.

The other comments which follow refer to what Jacob Cohen said about Aaron Kosminski viz
Jacob Cohen,51 Carter Lane,St Paul"s EC says he goes about the streets and picksup his bits of bread out of the gutter and eats them,he drinks water from the tap and refuses foos at the hands of others.He took up a knife and threatened the life of his sister.He is very dirty and will not be washed.He has not attempted any kind of work for years.

There is no mention in either statement about masturbation or "self abuse".
His notes refer to it but only in the sense that his family have reported it.
The notes give "background information" supplied by his family.
From "JtR The Definitive History" by Paul Begg.

[Chris]

The other comments which follow refer to what Jacob Cohen said about Aaron Kosminski viz
Jacob Cohen,51 Carter Lane,St Paul"s EC says he goes about the streets and picksup his bits of bread out of the gutter and eats them,he drinks water from the tap and refuses foos at the hands of others.He took up a knife and threatened the life of his sister.He is very dirty and will not be washed.He has not attempted any kind of work for years.

There is no mention in either statement about masturbation or "self abuse".

The problem is that some of these published versions of Cohen's statement are incomplete. The original records do include a reference to self-abuse.

This is the statement as it appears in LMA StBG/ME/107/8, no 1558 (Orders for reception of lunatics into asylums, 1889-1891):
(b) Facts communicated by others, viz.:-
Jacob Cohen 51 Carter Lane St Pauls, City of London says that he goes about the streets and picks up bits of bread out of the gutter & eats them, he drinks water from the tap & he refuses food at the hands of others. He took up a knife & threatened the life of his sister. He says that he is ill and his cure consists in refusing food. He is melancholic, practises self-abuse. He is very dirty and will not be washed. He has not attempted any kind of work for years.

And this is the statement as it appears in LMA H12/CH/B13/39 (Colney Hatch Case Book Male Side new series no 20):
2. Other facts indicating Insanity communicated to him by others
Jacob Cohen, 51, Carter Lane, St Paul's, E.C. says that he goes about the streets and picks up bits of bread out of the gutter, and eats them, he drinks water from the tap & he refuses food at the hands of others. He took up a knife and threatened the life of his Sister. He says that he is ill and his cure consists in refusing food. He is melancholic, practises self-abuse. He is very dirty and will not be washed. He has not attempted any kind of work for years.

[robhouse]

It is a bit odd that Begg left this out. I assume it was just a simple error(?)

[Natalie Severn]

Yes,thanks Chris.That explains.It is a bit odd that Rob,I agree.

[Chris]

It is a bit odd that Begg left this out. I assume it was just a simple error(?)

I assume so, but unfortunately it has propagated through several publications, including the new "A to Z." Sugden did include the missing sentences, though.

[JtRMordke]

Hmmm... that appears strange too. I believe this must have been a human error since the whole sentence is cut out, however it is a slight concern if the cut down version was included in the new version of the A-Z. Was it included in the older copy? I cannot recall this as I borrowed it from the library a few months ago.

[Robert]

I know I am being dense here, but in those days and in that area, where else could Aaron have got water, except from the tap?

[JtRMordke]

I don't think they would have mentioned it unless there was something significantly odd about it - but I believe they may have been referring to one of the outside taps that contained dirty water (not that the water quality would have been great anyway) which I think I have seen in some of the old Whitechapel photographs. Perhaps it was one of those communal outside taps that they are talking about Aaron drinking out of. This is only an assumption so correct me if I'm wrong.

[GregBaron]

Possible Schizophrenic?

Roberts point about the tap is amusing but perhaps they meant he slurped from the tap rather than filling a glass or something. I'm sure everyone in the East end had impeccable manners right! Anyway, this Kosminski mental conditon thing has been whacked around(pun intended) in the past.
Perhaps the question should be, and I hope I'm not hijacking the thread, is it likely or even possible that JTR was a schizophrenic? My own view is that it's very unlikely but I do know that schizophrenics have periods of lucidity. Maybe Koz performed these evil acts when in a more clear thinking time frame. Maybe a psychopath and schizophrenic existed in the same mind? Again, I think this exceedingly unlikely but it can make for an interesting discussion.




Greg

[Chris]

I think the point is that he drank it direct from the tap so that no one could tamper with it - for the same reason that he refused food at the hands of others.

[JtRMordke]

That is very possible! I like your idea on that since it links in with what the rest of the sentence implies!

And on to your question - an obvious comparison would be with the Yorkshire Ripper who was also apparently suffering from schizophrenia. I know there is the assumption that schizophrenics are not dangerous, and under normal conditions they are not, but if Aaron had access to alcohol then it could have made his condition a lot worse, and we do not know in enough detail what the voices in his head were telling him. Plus, from what I know of the illness, it comes in bursts. I agree that whatever happened, he would have had some days where he was a bit more 'out of it' than others. But since I do not personally know any people with schizophrenia, I have very limited knowledge on the mental illness.

[robhouse]

Perhaps the question should be, and I hope I'm not hijacking the thread, is it likely or even possible that JTR was a schizophrenic? My own view is that it's very unlikely but I do know that schizophrenics have periods of lucidity. Maybe Koz performed these evil acts when in a more clear thinking time frame. Maybe a psychopath and schizophrenic existed in the same mind? Again, I think this exceedingly unlikely but it can make for an interesting discussion.

Hi Greg,

This is obviously a very important question. To start, I think your point about the coexistence of psychopathy and schizophrenia (ie. psychosis) is very likely. The more I read about this, it seems that violent schizophrenic serial killers are more likely to be motivated to violence by a combination of the two than by positive schizophrenic symptoms alone (ie. command hallucinations, orders to kill etc.)

The more I read about schizophrenic serial killers, the more likely it seems to me that JTR may have been in this category. So I am talking about people like Robert Napper, Herbert Mullin, Tsutomu Miyazaki, Richard Chase, Ottis Toole, Hadden Clark, Marc Sappington, James Clayton Lawson. The common denominator of all these serial killers is that they did post-mortem mutilation on the victims, and would be classified as "lust murderers." They take organs from the victims, and target their mutilation at the sexual organs and breasts, they eviscerate the victims, they engage in cannibalism. So, yes... there is a great similarity between schizophrenic serial killers, and what is known about Jack the Ripper. Robert Napper is, perhaps, one of the best direct parallels, and his murder of Samantha Bissett is said to have had a striking similarity to the Mary Kelly murder and mutilation (as just one example).

Rob H

[robhouse]

Hello JTR Mordke,

I actually do not include Sutcliffe or Berkowitz in my list of schizophrenic serial killers, because there is a high probability that either of these two faked insanity.

While it is indeed true that most people with schizophrenia are not violent, this is not really a very relevant point, since you could say the same of people in general. Most people are not violent. But where does that leave us. Most recent research on this does indicate a slightly higher incidence of violence among schizophrenics than in the general population. But in my opinion (and in the opinion of much modern research on the topic) the violence is often (not always) driven by psychopathic traits as opposed to the schizophrenia itself. I realize I am repeating myself here, but this is a very important point.

RH

[Robert]

With the tap, perhaps also that he didn't boil the water first?

I don't suppose Aaron's case notes make any mention of his eating habits once institutionalised. One might expect him to have rejected his meals initially, until hunger got the better of him.

[JtRMordke]

The more I read about schizophrenic serial killers, the more likely it seems to me that JTR may have been in this category. So I am talking about people like Robert Napper, Herbert Mullin, Tsutomu Miyazaki, Richard Chase, Ottis Toole, Hadden Clark, Marc Sappington, James Clayton Lawson. The common denominator of all these serial killers is that they did post-mortem mutilation on the victims, and would be classified as "lust murderers." They take organs from the victims, and target their mutilation at the sexual organs and breasts, they eviscerate the victims, they engage in cannibalism. So, yes... there is a great similarity between schizophrenic serial killers, and what is known about Jack the Ripper. Robert Napper is, perhaps, one of the best direct parallels, and his murder of Samantha Bissett is said to have had a striking similarity to the Mary Kelly murder and mutilation (as just one example).

Rob H

Hello Rob! (Just a note to say I am extremely excited for your book coming out later this month.)

That is an extremely interesting and important point to make about the JtR murders and there appears to be obvious correlation. The nature of these later examples of 'lust murderers' could be almost identical to what we see from Jack. In knowledge of this, I would say that it would surprise me if Jack the Ripper wasn’t a sufferer from schizophrenia.