The cross/lechmere theory - a newbie's thoughts

[PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR 1]

This is twice that we’ve agreed on something PI.

Are you getting worried?

Yes.

But I could easily find something to disagree about.

I am making a monumental effort not to mention a certain Latin word which is five letters long.

[Herlock Sholmes]

Yes.

But I could easily find something to disagree about.

I am making a monumental effort not to mention a certain Latin word which is five letters long.

I have just got back from the pub so perhaps I can blame the beer but I can’t think what the word is. No doubt I’ll kick myself when you tell me.

[Newbie]

Police also testified it would have been very easy to walk off, reach the main roads, and disappear into the crowds. Police also testified that the nearby slaughterhouse would mean blood on the hands or clothes would not be immediately suspicious. Noticeable, but not suspicious.

5) Lechmere didn't give any name to PC Mizen. Neither did Robert Paul. At the inquest, he said he was Charles Allen Cross, who lived at 22 Doveton Street and had worked for Pickfords at the Broad Street Station, with his shift beginning at 4am. No digging would have been required to find him.

6) Another consideration is that plenty of innocent people wouldn't go to the police. Robert Paul sure didn't, the police had to track him down, haul him out off bed, and drag him off to be questioned. In a high crime neighborhood, deliberately going to the police would risk getting the reputation of being a snitch.

9) Though not up to modern procedures, the police did a lot. The surrounding area was searched for blood stains or other clues. House to house inquiries were made. Witnesses were identified before giving testimony. (PC Mizen IDed Lechmere, Alfred Mulshaw IDed PC Thain), People were interviewed separately to see if their stories matched. (The three slaughterman.) Unknown people who walked by after the murder were sought for questioning. By the Stride murder everyone nearby was being carefully examined for signs of blood on them.

There's also the press. The 30 September Lloyd's Weekly showed they had done followup interviews with Robert Paul, John Richardson, Albert Cadosch, Elizabeth Long, and John Davis. You'd think they would want to interview Lechmere as well. And Lechmere's address was on record. Even if they'd missed it in open court, Lloyds could have gotten 22 Doveton from the court or from the paper that did print his address.

So the press could have easily found Lechmere if they wanted to. And who wouldn't want to interview the first man to find the body? But it appears Charles Lechmere chose not to talk to the press.

Now lets look at the Lechmerian portrayal - a bold risktaker who deliberately sought out Robert Paul, PC Mizen, and the Inquest. A man who ran rings around all of them and outwitted them all. Yet they expect us to believe a man like that wouldn't jump at the chance to talk to the press when they showed up at his door. They expect us to believe that a man like that would wait for the press to find him instead of seeking them out.

It's another part of the theory that makes no sense.

Thanks for your detailed reply to my points. My approach to this is very much along the lines of 'what makes sense', and I've no intention of doing research on it - relying on others (much credit to Christer).

But your point on the police is very strong, especially contrasting Paul with Lechmere in their co-operation. I'd add that making oneself known to them was far more significant then than now, since they had not much other way of finding people - no central records let alone databases, of everyone.

So, as you say, there's the East End taboo AND the fact that any criminal would know that the most idiotic thing to do would be to get in their sights.

A bold risk taker, well the Ripper was certainly that; but he wasn't stupid.

Keeping a low profile would be pretty consistent with a guy who committed the murder but doesn't want to attract attention,
prefering to slink back into the recesses of anonymity.

Of all the newspaper accounts, how many papers printed his address fiver?

No one claims anymore that his purpose in using Cross & not state his address was in trying to hide from authorities, but from wife & neighbors reading about him in the paper.

.

[Fiver]

A bold risk taker, well the Ripper was certainly that; but he wasn't stupid.

Keeping a low profile would be pretty consistent with a guy who committed the murder but doesn't want to attract attention,
prefering to slink back into the recesses of anonymity.

If Lechmere was the Ripper, he took a series of grossly stupid risks. People who take lots of grossly stupid risks don't settle into anonymity for over three decades.

Of all the newspaper accounts, how many papers printed his address fiver?

Why are you asking me when you were replying to Paul Sutton?

No one claims anymore that his purpose in using Cross & not state his address was in trying to hide from authorities, but from wife & neighbors reading about him in the paper..

He publicly identified himself as Charles Allen Cross, a carman for Pickfords for the past couple decades, whose shift began at the Broad Street Station at 4am, and who lived at 22 Doveton Street. Who would ever suspect that might be Thomas Cross' stepson Charles Allen Lechmere, a carman for Pickfords for the past couple decades, whose shift began at the Broad Street Station at 4am, and who lived at 22 Doveton Street?

The idea that he was trying to hide his identity from anyone is laughable.