Cross The Ripper?

[Fisherman]

And she believed you? Well done , Fish. You deserve the CAL Golden Blag award. It's like an Oscar, but wearing a wrinkled apron.

What I didn´t tell her was that I hade taken a fancy to that horse ...

Fisherman

[MrBarnett]

Be careful, Fish. Even if you use a false name the Mrs always finds out.

MrB

[Fisherman]

Be careful, Fish. Even if you use a false name the Mrs always finds out.

MrB

Having twenty rods and thirty reels in the basement, together with innumerable boxes of flies and lures, two downriggers, kilometres of fishing line, four nets and a boat on the driveway, "Fisherman" was never gonna do the trick anyway...

Others may be more clever choosing their noms-de-guerre, mind you.

Fisherman

[MrBarnett]

Like an angry man who calls himself Cross?

[MrBarnett]

Having twenty rods and thirty reels in the basement, together with innumerable boxes of flies and lures, two downriggers, kilometres of fishing line, four nets and a boat on the driveway, "Fisherman" was never gonna do the trick anyway...

Others may be more clever choosing their noms-de-guerre, mind you.

Fisherman

I think the ratio of rods to reels may be the giveaway. Could turn out to be your Achilles reel.

[Fisherman]

Like an angry man who calls himself Cross?

Okay, you may have a point there. Hadn´t thought of that one ...

The best,
Fisherman

[Fisherman]

I think the ratio of rods to reels may be the giveaway. Could turn out to be your Achilles reel.

Yeah? When I started out, I was told fishing was the reel thing, and I swallowed that, hook, line and sinker ...

Fisherman

[MrBarnett]

Okay, you may have a point there. Hadn´t thought of that one ...

The best,
Fisherman

I've come over 'all unnecessary'. MrsB is fanning me with a copy of the Romford Recorder. I thought you guys never gave an inch.

MrB

[Fisherman]

I thought you guys never gave an inch.

MrB

Once every three years we actually do. Next occasion coming up is late 2017. Be ready!

The best,
Fisherman

[MrBarnett]

2017? Is that when the Magnum Opus comes out?

Mmm... Just enough time to get my guy on to the stage.

Must dash, I have work to do.

MrB

[Roy Corduroy]

In this case what you forgot is that there are many things that point to Lechmere as being the culprit.

Forgot what?

There's nothing suspicious about Charles Lechmere to begin with. I've not heard anything from you or Ed that is in the least bit suspicious. Some platitudes about serial killers, or how inept the police were. Well duh, there was a serial killer and the police didn't catch him. Lemonade is made with lemons.

In fact, Fisherman, this feels like deja vu. As if you are premiering "Son Of Hutchinson."

So obviously, something is wrong with your assumption.

No my assumption is based on common sense. He gave the name Cross because he could. See, wasn't that easy?

Roy

[Lechmere]

Inspector Corduroy of the Yard insouciantly brushed aside the latest claim and continued his hunt for the Ripper.

[Fisherman]

Inspector Corduroy of the Yard insouciantly brushed aside the latest claim and continued his hunt for the Ripper.

More like Coeur du Roi, I would think. French pronounciation, like Closeau. Let´s wish him the best of luck.

The best,
Fisherman

[Natasha]

Hi Pinkmoon, MrB, Fisherman & everyone

Thanks for the info/suggestions. Pinkmoon: it’s quite possible that the killer was incarcerated or admitted to an asylum not necessarily in London, could also have died. I would like to embark on looking into asylum files etc as the answer may very well lay in there.

Mr B & Fisherman: the routes are quite fascinating. It has been said that Eddowes was a copycat murder, and I have said that Stride may not have been a ripper victim, which would fit if Cross was indeed the ripper. There is something strange/contradictory about the statement given by Mizen & Cross at the inquest.

The fact he never gave his real name sounds suspicious. I suppose there are reasons of an innocent nature
1: he didn’t want his wife to find out because this may have alarmed her
2: He was worried that his reputation may have been sullied
3: he did not trust the police and didn’t want to be made a scape goat.

Then there’s the nefarious reason for given false information
1: he was the ripper
2: he was guilty of another crime.

Stride may have been a robbery gone wrong. Eddowes may have been killed by a copycat. I will refer to the Yorkshire ripper (again) to exercise how it’s possible to have had another killer of the same ilk as the ripper running around at the same time. The murderer of Joan Harris has never been caught, and letters sent to the police contained detailed descriptions of that particular murder. Sutcliffe always denied involvement with this murder and subsequently was not charged for it, probably based on dna evidence. I think the Yorkshire ripper can tell us a lot about JTR.

[eighty-eighter]

There is a chance

I'm currently in the process of watching and re-watching this excellent documentary. The more I see it the more open I become deep down to just a handful of the allegations contained within. The input of the top modern detective and the barrister are not to be sniffed at lightly either.
I'm not particularly impressed with Cross/Lechmere (from now on C/L) geographical location of his home(s) or his timings; the east end was full of men getting up early for work and many worked at his depot too. Also I don't believe his background particularly relevant either, probably the majority of males residing in Whitechapel at that time came from broken families that would send FBI profilers into an ecstasy of delight! Hollywood Hills it wasn't.
Yet C/L's behaviour on that fateful morning was incriminating to say the least. Not to mention the fact he was the first to be proven to be present at the site of a VERY freshly slain Nichols, widely accepted as a ripper victim. That's huge. In fact I believe (if my memory of the program is right) Paul felt that she was in the throws of dying rather than dead; wow! Didn't C/L also say "no she was dead" but refused to move her body? Playing devils advocate did he know she was dead(ish) because he'd just slit her throat and did he refuse to move her because he knew her head would loll over and reveal his deeply cut handiwork? Then of course came his lies to the police, talk about digging a bigger hole.
The bit that I'm finding it hard to get my head around is the theory that he planned this killing on the way to work. Or could it have just been a spur-of-the-moment, unplanned killing? He probably kept a knife on him both for his job and self protection - especially at the hours he walked the streets. Could Nichols have propositioned him I wonder? Could he have hated whores so much that he just snapped? Certainly JtR was a risk taker wasn't he?
Then there was his bizarre behaviour towards Paul when approached, reportedly he was right in Pauls face and even touched him physically; brazen in the extreme. Could this have been his desperation to see whether Paul had actually witnessed him and he wanted to get his reaction? Sort of a fight or flight response, only it was too late to flee. Had Paul of accused him lord knows what could have happened next.
This is just an hypothesis of one possible outcome and of course there is no evidence beyond what we already know. But there is enough there; if we're just talking about the murder scene events I'd say definitely a possible. Ignoring that and talking about the rest of the accusations then I'd say unlikely - so gawd knows how I answer your poll!
The photo of himself that C/L had commissioned rang a little bell in my head too, most serial killers are egocentric characters at heart and I'm sure Jack, whoever he was, would have loved to become immortalized in image as well as words....