Is Kosminski still the best suspect we have?

[Wickerman]

Only Mary Ann Cox got a good look at the suspect,with Blotchy.

Macnaghten, in my opinion, had confused the two murders.

In the initial draft of his Memorandum he talks about three Jews interrupting him in Berner St.
Confusing the three Jews - Lawende & Co., with Diemschitz, who was alone.
So, his "City PC in Mitre Sq", may have been PC Smith in Berner St.
The man PC Smith saw was a genuine suspect, the police published his description in the press.

Macnaghten is bound to support a police constable's sighting of a suspect, in preference to a regular citizen (Cox, Long, Hutchinson).

[Wickerman]

Is this based on him being 23 and somehow a 23 year old couldn't have done this, or witness sightings which suggest an older man?

As a general statement, of course a 23 yr old can kill with a knife. It's just that general statements are by their nature, too vague.

If we're looking to identify a suspect, we need to be specific.
Your last point, is actually the first point - that no suspect was described by any witness as a 23 yr old. If I'm not mistaken, the lowest age was 28, the highest being perhaps 40?

Incorrectly identifying a person's age at night also is no excuse.
With the exception of Kelly, who was discovered by people who knew her. The other Canonical victims were all discovered by people who didn't know them, and in each case the victim's age was estimated too low. Which should mean if a 23 yr old was seen, he would have been described as 18-20?, people look younger in poor light.

The other point is one of practicality. We would need to entertain the idea of a 23 yr old hooking up with a 45 yr old prostitute. She would more likely slap him behind the ear, and send him back to his Mom., he's still wet behind the ears.
To which some might say they were half drunk and desperate, which then sends us down the path of Special Pleading.

Apart from those two obvious points, we are left with nothing to incriminate him throughout the series of murders. No-one can say he fit 'the description', or 'he was seen', because no-one knows what Kozminski looked like.
Sure, he lived in the area, along with thousands of others.
We also do not know his mental condition in 1888, he could have been a lunatic, or he could have been perfectly sane.
He was well able to turn up in court a full year after the murders (Dec. 1889) to defend a summons for 'Unmuzzled Dog'.

Nah!,...."Nothing to see here"....

[Wickerman]

....

I wonder why: 'no public good from come it' meant it wasn't a good idea to disclose the identity of the murderer.

FWIW.....I suspect he meant it would prove embarrassing for the police if he released the name.

[Varqm]

Only Mary Ann Cox got a good look at the suspect,with Blotchy.

[Fleetwood Mac]

My interpretation was that he believed violating police ethics by naming a suspect based on moral evidence was not worth it - although he was fairly certain.

While I think that is a reasonable interpretation, I'm not convinced it is the answer.

Anderson was quite happy to disclose that the murderer was 'a low class Polish Jew'.

I think that is bad manners and certainly not in the public interest given that no one had been convicted. We didn't have the same issues with anti-Semitism that they did in continental Europe, but we did have a very small minority capable of getting a mob together underpinned by racial prejudice, e.g. Mosley and associates. It wouldn't be in the interests of public harmony to declare the murderer was a 'low class Polish Jew' (assuming Anderson had in mind 'the public interest' when making his claim).

So, it is not clear to me why Anderson didn't go the whole hog and disclose the name. 'Not being in the public interest' doesn't stack up at this juncture.

On the police ethics point, I think it would be violating police ethics to disclose 'a low class Polish Jew' when no such man had his day in a court of law.

[Harry D]

When was Kosminski the best suspect in the first place?

I must admit, when I wrote it at the time I knew it was a loaded question And Kosminski is not my preferred suspect (if I had one).

However, he is a named suspect who official sources tell us was positively identified but escaped justice on a technicality.

We can question the validity of those claims and Kosminski's suitability, but we can't say this about any other suspect.

[Fleetwood Mac]

My interpretation was that he believed violating police ethics by naming a suspect based on moral evidence was not worth it - although he was fairly certain.

That's a reasonable interpretation. I wouldn't disclose the identity of a man who hadn't been put before a court of law either.

[Filby]

I was always intrigued by a line from Anderson which went something like: "I am tempted to disclose the identity.........but no public good would come from it".

Public good would have been derived from disclosing the name, given it would have demonstrated the police were/are capable of tracking down murderers which of course is more than useful to the public.

I wonder why: 'no public good from come it' meant it wasn't a good idea to disclose the identity of the murderer.

My interpretation was that he believed violating police ethics by naming a suspect based on moral evidence was not worth it - although he was fairly certain.

[Filby]

I felt House put forth a good argument for Kosminski being the prime suspect. But since I've been following these forums the past few years; any doubt I had has increased.

[Fleetwood Mac]

I was always intrigued by a line from Anderson which went something like: "I am tempted to disclose the identity.........but no public good would come from it".

Public good would have been derived from disclosing the name, given it would have demonstrated the police were/are capable of tracking down murderers which of course is more than useful to the public.

I wonder why: 'no public good from come it' meant it wasn't a good idea to disclose the identity of the murderer.

[Fleetwood Mac]

The marginlia s flawed, as is the content

www.trevormarriott.co.uk

When I looked at it a long while back, my hunch was/is that there is something not quite right with the marginalia, and so I didn't take it for granted.

Has there been any further developments in assessing the marginalia, in particular has anything come to light that reasonably diminishes its credibility?

[Fleetwood Mac]

I just can't see a 23 yr old being responsible for these murders. Kozminski was just too young.

Is this based on him being 23 and somehow a 23 year old couldn't have done this, or witness sightings which suggest an older man?

[Abby Normal]

Well... Kosminski lived in the area. He had mental health issues and had been aggressive towards his sister. That's about it really.

Maybrick was ... Well, without the diary, nothing at all. Every bit of the "stacks" of evidence comes from the diary.

Kosminski is an unlikely candidate, but he is at least a candidate.

hi al
well he is the only suspect that has a shred of evidence against him, the possible positive id, so theres that.

[John Wheat]

When was Kosminski the best suspect in the first place?

[Wickerman]

I just can't see a 23 yr old being responsible for these murders. Kozminski was just too young.