There we are - classic Casebook: 66 pages in and the ever-reliable Robhouse thankfully posts some actual evidence (an image of the damn thing) that puts to rest page after page of fruitless debate about the Ripper/Eddowes/Simpson being burdened with a supposedly unwieldy 8ft length of heavy fabric. Clearly it was nothing of the kind and could easily be tucked inside a jacket or a large enough pocket. Or indeed, folded for use as a type of shawl. Thank you robhouse.
Tom Wescott - I did try to plug your excellent summation of the shawl earlier in the thread, though I feel your hypothesis of who the shawl might actually have belonged to was a bit of a shot in the dark.
I decided not to download the kindle edition of Naming JtR until/if I read some positive reviews here from people who know more than I do, which is most of you. I am ready to be convinced, if the book can clearly demonstrate:
(a) the fabric does not post-date the murders
(b) it bears at least a passing resemblance to some item Eddowes owned
(c) there is a logical route by which it came into the possession of Simpson
(d) the fabric definitely has blood and/or semen on it
(e) the methods used to extract and develop the genetic material are not insanely controversial
(f) the results give a degree of individual identificational certainty greater than 1 in 40,000 or 400,000 or whatever it is
(g) controls and alternative suspects were tested for
(h) the descendants really are descendants
(i) no anagrams are involved
(j) the evidence is not bolstered by a convenient Victorian pocket watch
(k) fewer than six exclamation marks per page!!
(l) Vincent Van Gogh!!! Dead dogs!!!!! Solved!!!!!!!
Sounds reasonable to me.
Tom Wescott - I did try to plug your excellent summation of the shawl earlier in the thread, though I feel your hypothesis of who the shawl might actually have belonged to was a bit of a shot in the dark.
I decided not to download the kindle edition of Naming JtR until/if I read some positive reviews here from people who know more than I do, which is most of you. I am ready to be convinced, if the book can clearly demonstrate:
(a) the fabric does not post-date the murders
(b) it bears at least a passing resemblance to some item Eddowes owned
(c) there is a logical route by which it came into the possession of Simpson
(d) the fabric definitely has blood and/or semen on it
(e) the methods used to extract and develop the genetic material are not insanely controversial
(f) the results give a degree of individual identificational certainty greater than 1 in 40,000 or 400,000 or whatever it is
(g) controls and alternative suspects were tested for
(h) the descendants really are descendants
(i) no anagrams are involved
(j) the evidence is not bolstered by a convenient Victorian pocket watch
(k) fewer than six exclamation marks per page!!
(l) Vincent Van Gogh!!! Dead dogs!!!!! Solved!!!!!!!
Sounds reasonable to me.
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