Is Kosminski still the best suspect we have?

[Abby Normal]

And this is the issue for many, they are judging what Anderson wrote based on their view of the man, a view that others would argue with.

However that does not explain away MM or Swanson, who at least it appears both considered him.

Yes there is no official records, although for all of its faults, of which there are many, the memorandum must have been intended as a briefing for someone surely?


Yes , The Swanson marginalia could be wholly or partially faked; although the evidence of providence and handwriting does not really support such a view.

Yes , Anderson may have been antisemitic, its an opinion all need to asses themselves and not rely on the words of others.

And yes the memorandum is full of mistakes and it is unclear why it was written.
The old theory that it was done to clear Cutbush because he was related to a VERY senior officer, has fallen has it now seems they were not related.

So why was it written? That is a real mystery, and who for?



And so we can call all 3 sources into question, one should not however forget the other half source, that of Littlechild, who derides Anderson's theory, so he must have known about it too, right?


And the truth remains we have no evidence, other than the disputed ID.

However we do know that he was probably not a babbling idiot at his court appearance in the dog incident, thus countering the often made claim that he would not have been able to commit the murders because of his mental state, a claim based on a report given when he was incarcerated, and which appears to be at odds with the court appearance.

We do know that he at one stage lived right next door to the Stride murder.
We know he was taken into "care" briefly 6 months before his final committal the reason for this is unclear.
We know that when incarcerated finally, to begin begin with at least, he could be violent.
We know that eventually he was incapable of anything.
We also know he was buried away from the rest of his family.

That is it, all we know.


While I personally do favour Koz, i also always make it clear that I am more than happy to accept that we have the wrong Koz, indeed I am happy to accept that it was someone like him whom Sagar and Cox followed.

Indeed I think on many counts Levy is a far better suspect.


I think the closest we can get at present is to say that by the mid 90's some officers had the opinion that the killer was called Kozminski.

Another small group, MM and Littlechild had heard of this but did not agree.

That suggests to me he was a "suspect" maybe for some a strong one, for others a weak one.




Steve

Good post El.
again I would add, mainly because many people use his apparent non violent behavior as reason against his validity, that his threatening his sister with a knife is significant. at least IMHO.

[Abby Normal]

Can you agree that at the very least its reliability can be called into question, given that it is not an official record?

In my view we have at different tiers of suspect.

Tier 1a
People who were investigated by the police as a suspect, and where we do not have a compelling reason to dismiss them. I believe Kosminski falls into this category. I would not put Druitt into this category but some would. George Chapman may be in this category.

Tier 1b
People who were not investigated by the police as a suspect, but who can be placed at a murder scene. Hello, Hutchinson and Cross.

Tier 2
People who were investigated by the police as a suspect, but where we have a compelling reason to dismiss them. Ostrog, for example.

Tier 3
"They were in London at the time" - most suspects.

Tier 4
"We can't even prove they were in London at the time" - Vincent Van Gogh, James Maybrick, etc.

In this view, Kosminski is indeed one of the stronger suspects, but it's a tallest midget contest.

LOL. Tallest midget contest-hahahaha. Exactly-or as I always say-theyre all weak suspects, some just less weak than others.

[Abby Normal]

Certainly, Jason: I don't feel that the evidence is strong against any of them. That's not a cop-out, by the way.

I'll expand on that a little. Stronger cases have been made for Bury, Klosowski and even George Hutchinson, in the first two instances because they were known misogynists who murdered women, and in the second for details of Hutchinson's whereabouts, movements and (arguably) suspicious behaviour at the time of Mary Kelly's death. I don't believe that either was Jack the Ripper, but they have stronger claims to infamy than Kosminski, whose "foreign madman" status might have been sufficient reason, perhaps the only reason, to have brought him to the attention of the police.

Hi again Sam
and again agree with you here-I put hutch, Bury, chapman, as well as Kelly ahead of Koz too, for the resons you indicate.

[Abby Normal]

That's anecdotal, as opposed to direct evidence, in a book written by a man who appeared to be disdainful of Jews. Not the best source one could hope for in this context.

well I agree about Anderson. nonethe less I'm not so sure you can write it off as "anectotal". they were there, police reports have been lost-which Koz might have been in. and MMs memorandum is in the files is it not?

But I do struggle with Koz as a suspect for many reasons, especially because of Anderson, but I cant throw the baby out with the bath water.

[Elamarna]

That's anecdotal, as opposed to direct evidence, in a book written by a man who appeared to be disdainful of Jews. Not the best source one could hope for in this context.

And this is the issue for many, they are judging what Anderson wrote based on their view of the man, a view that others would argue with.

However that does not explain away MM or Swanson, who at least it appears both considered him.

Yes there is no official records, although for all of its faults, of which there are many, the memorandum must have been intended as a briefing for someone surely?


Yes , The Swanson marginalia could be wholly or partially faked; although the evidence of providence and handwriting does not really support such a view.

Yes , Anderson may have been antisemitic, its an opinion all need to asses themselves and not rely on the words of others.

And yes the memorandum is full of mistakes and it is unclear why it was written.
The old theory that it was done to clear Cutbush because he was related to a VERY senior officer, has fallen has it now seems they were not related.

So why was it written? That is a real mystery, and who for?



And so we can call all 3 sources into question, one should not however forget the other half source, that of Littlechild, who derides Anderson's theory, so he must have known about it too, right?


And the truth remains we have no evidence, other than the disputed ID.

However we do know that he was probably not a babbling idiot at his court appearance in the dog incident, thus countering the often made claim that he would not have been able to commit the murders because of his mental state, a claim based on a report given when he was incarcerated, and which appears to be at odds with the court appearance.

We do know that he at one stage lived right next door to the Stride murder.
We know he was taken into "care" briefly 6 months before his final committal the reason for this is unclear.
We know that when incarcerated finally, to begin begin with at least, he could be violent.
We know that eventually he was incapable of anything.
We also know he was buried away from the rest of his family.

That is it, all we know.


While I personally do favour Koz, i also always make it clear that I am more than happy to accept that we have the wrong Koz, indeed I am happy to accept that it was someone like him whom Sagar and Cox followed.

Indeed I think on many counts Levy is a far better suspect.


I think the closest we can get at present is to say that by the mid 90's some officers had the opinion that the killer was called Kozminski.

Another small group, MM and Littlechild had heard of this but did not agree.

That suggests to me he was a "suspect" maybe for some a strong one, for others a weak one.




Steve