Charles Lechmere: Prototypical Life of a Serial Killer

[PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR 1]

Or at least some of them in France. But instead, the theory is he kept going back to England to commit all of the murders in a very small area of East London.

That is not quite correct, because one of the murders was committed in the City of London.

However, the City of London was within easy reach of the East End.

I think your argument is a powerful one.

The fact that the murders took place within a small area of London suggests that the murderer lived within easy walking distance of all the murder sites.

If the murderer was in fact living in France when most of the murders were committed, then he could more easily have committed murders in other places, in both England and France.

[Fiver]

This is supposedly a Lechmere thread, but it seems to be dominated by people shrieking about Druitt, Maybrick and Sickert.

Perhaps I can bring it back on topic by posting the long awaited fourth episode in the House of Lechmere 'Evidence of Guilt' series...

https://youtu.be/tqhckimhD4s

I've had nothing to do with its content; but I do feel obliged to mention that it further reinforces my conviction that, while all serial killers are unique, Lechmere is the uniquest of the lot...

M.

Long awaited by the Church of Lechemre, Unholy Be His Name.

There's some legitimate geneological research. There's also the nonsense of claiming John Allen Lechmere was not a bigamist, while his wife was. And I rolled my eyes at "known to some as Old Ma Lechmere" - nobody would have called her that in her lifetime.

There's also pure speculation like "this is largely a tale of resentment, a frustrated sense of entitlement". And outright lies like "luck and fortune had fallen all around, but missed one target Charles Allen Lechmere". Fortune had missed lots of Lechmeres, but Charles Allen Lechmere went from carman to running his own business and left his family 262 pounds. In contrast with his cousin George Capel Scudamore Lechmere, who is mentioned on the video, an alcoholic, mostly unemployed barber who was in and out the workhouse who tried to kill his wife by slitting her throat and did time for it.

In the end, the video shows no evidence, let alone evidence of guilt in the Ripper killings.

[Al Bundy's Eyes]

. And I rolled my eyes at "known to some as Old Ma Lechmere" - nobody would have called her that in her lifetime.
.

I'd like to see a source for that.

[Fiver]

Fifth episode...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrUO4nj9a9Y

As before: I feel obliged to mention that it further reinforces my conviction that, while all serial killers are unique, Lechmere is the uniquest of the lot...

M.

If you're interested in random trivia, circular reasoning and speculation, this is the video for you.

If you're interested in evidence, let alone evidence of guilt, they're completely absent from this video.

"The leading suspect"?

Who ever coined the name Jack The Ripper might have been inspired by tales of Springheeled Jack? That's been suggested at least as far back as 2005.

Charles Lechemre might have read penny dreadfuls? Just like every other kid.

There was a bookseller named Charles Fox over two miles away from where CAL lived?

The possible body of the Ratcliffe Highway murderer was unearthed in 1886? An event that happened when Lechemre was 37 was an influence on him growing up?

A tiger escaped in 1857 near on Betts Street?

Thirty years later CAL's children attended school on Betts Street?

Speculating that "Lipski" was shouted at BS Man instead of by him, piled on speculation that the shouter was Lechmere?

Graffiti near the Pinchin Street Tirso said "Lipski"?

"probative connections"?

More false accusations of bigamy.

Hearing these stories of violence is evidence of guilt? Based on that reasoning everybody in the East End was the Ripper.

[Fiver]

I'd like to see a source for that.

She became Mrs Cross as age 33. The widow Cross at age 44. Mrs Forsdyke at 47. The widow Forsdyke at 64.

[Al Bundy's Eyes]

She became Mrs Cross as age 33. The widow Cross at age 44. Mrs Forsdyke at 47. The widow Forsdyke at 64.

Hi Fiver,

I meant I'd like to see a source for her being known as "Old Ma", other than a post by Gary Barnett.

[Herlock Sholmes]

Error….wrong thread.

[Lewis C]

Speculating that "Lipski" was shouted at BS Man instead of by him, piled on speculation that the shouter was Lechmere?

That one sounds so amusing that I may watch the video now just so I can see that.

[Fiver]

Charles Allen Lechmere married Elizabeth Bostock on 3/7/1870 at Christ Church on Watney Street. He was a few months shy of his 21st birthday. Elizabeth was 19.

Less than two years later they had their first child. And the kids kept coming for nearly twenty years:

Charles Allen - 1872 (named for Dad; died at 3 yrs of age in 1875)
Elizabeth Emily – 1873 (named for Mom)
Mary Jane – 1875
Thomas Allen – 1877 (named for Mom's brother Thomas Bostock)
George William - 1878 (named for Mom's brother George Bostock)
James Alfred – 1880 (named for Mom's brother James)
Louisa Annie – 1882 (named for Dad's mother Louisa Roulson)
Charles Allen – 1884 (named for Dad and his brother who died in 1875)
Albert Edward – 1885
Harriet Emma – 1888 (Died in 1891)
Harriet Emma – 1891 (named for her sister who died earlier that same year)

All tolled, Charles and Elizabeth had 11 children. A few years after they'd stopped having children of their own, the grandchildren started coming. This is likely only a partial list:

Thomas Henry Charles - 1900
Alfred F - 1900
Dorothy Rossiter Victoria - 1901
Charles - 1903 (Named for Grandpa)
Ethel Louisa - 1906 (Named for Grandma)
Florence Harriet - 190

In 1920, after fifty years of marriage the couple was living in Roundton Rd., Poplar. Charles died December 23, 1920 at 71. He left £262 to Elizabeth.

In 1921 Elizabeth was still living in Roundton Rd., Poplar. 1922 saw her move to Ealing where she died in 1940.

Lets look at those kids and who they might have been named for.

Charles Allen I & II - clearly named for their father,

Elizabeth Emily - CAL's wife was Elizabeth, his sister was Emily.

Mary Jane – CAL's sister-in-law was Mary Jane Bostock. CAL's mother was Maria. He had an aunt and a grandmother named Mary Lechmere. He had a aunt Jane Lechmere

Thomas Allen – CAL's stepfather was Thomas Cross. CAL's father and brother-in-law were Thomas Bostock. CAL's grandfather was Thomas Roulson

George William - CAL's brother-in-law was George William Bostock

James Alfred – CAL's brother-in-law was James Bostock.

Louisa Annie – Louisa was CAL's mother's middle name

Albert Edward – I can't find any family connection. Perhaps named after Albert Edward, the Prince of Wales?

Harriet Emma I & II – CAL had aunts Harriet Lechmere and Emma Lechmere. He also had an aunt Harriet Roulson

Notable in their absence are his father John Allen Lechmere and his uncles Whitmore and Edwin Lechmere. Yet all four Lechmere aunts are covered by Mary Jane and Harriet Emma.

[Newbie]

It may suprise you but for years I totally believed lech was the ripper. By chance I stumbled on the c5 docu and it seemed so obvious and simple. For years following that docu I regularly checked on casebook to see the latest thinking on lech, partly because I was uneasy about the actual case against lech. At that point the only other suspect name I could have told you was tumblety. It wasn't until the first lockdown that I was so unsure that I started going through each suspect case by case. So I was a fully signed up true believer of lech, not just a knee jerk reaction dismissing lech out of hand. And I believe I was right to dismiss lech because when all said and done the case is really wafer thin imo

Could you refer me to the c5 document? I've been gone from here for about a year .... nothing has changed.

I was last here wasting time arguing about sensory perception with someone who claimed to be an expert. Turns out he didn't know much.

[Newbie]

I notice that you have posted that comment before, but it does not make it any less true.

Neither does it make it true. Fit that under the category of not even being clear enough to be wrong.

[Newbie]

I've been on a similar journey. After I first saw The Missing Evidence: Jack the Ripper, he became my #1 suspect. As I've looked closer at him, I still wouldn't rule him out as a suspect, but I don't think there's very much reason to think that it was him.

As I see it, the reasons for thinking it might be him boil down to:

1. He found the body of one of the victims.

2. He walked through the area where the murders occurred on the way to work, except for the double event locations, which weren't far from where his mother lived.

3. He was in the Whitechapel area the entire time that the murders occurred.

4. He didn't grow up in a stable 2-parent family.

What's the best reason for suspecting Lechmere besides the 4 that I've listed above? I've heard other reasons given: He used his stepfather's surname rather than the one on his birth certificate at the inquest. He was at the inquest on Monday rather than Saturday. He wore his work clothes to the inquest. His recollection of his conversation with the policeman was different from that of the policeman. (I find Lechmere's version more likely.) I don't find any of these reasons convincing.

Let me try to remember the others:

5. Not only was he in the white chapel area, but the murders took place in areas right next to one of two possible routes he would take to work, or next to his mother's house on a weekend; and for the 2nd murderer that night, the fleeing murderer traveled along one of Lechmere's old routes to work (from when he was living near his mother)

6. One of the Ripper's undisputed bloody rags, abandoned after committing the Catherine Eddows murder, was deposited in a location that is in a direct line between the murder site and Lech's home. There were 3 - 4 times in which some thing could have exonerated Lech, but it didn't break his way.

7. He gave the surname of Cross instead of Lechmere, which was the name of his deceased step father. Some find that curious. By itself, it is not damning.

8. There was a dispute between what Lech said to the beat cop: something to do with him not being clear to the cop that he came across the body of a woman who appeared to be murdered. He used very curious language...language that by the surface appearance seemed geared towards not having the cop take him back to the murder site. At the very least, it was an odd sentence construction.

9. His description of encountering Polly Nichols body, given at the inquest (note: what exactly he said varies between newspapers), includes the circumstance of a man trailing behind him, a short undetermined distance. The lack of either party seeming to hear the other marching forward in boots on a cobbled street in the black of night in a very dangerous neighborhood, strikes some as extraordinarily odd. It seems to defy the laws of physics: the street would have acted as a wave guide, and the human auditory system is geared towards focusing on unexpected changes to the repetitive sounds of one's own feet. Some here still believe that is a valid argument: but it runs contrary to all studies on how the neurosystem works in processing sounds. Lech claimed that he noticed the supine body, moved to the center of the street and then turned around when he heard footsteps .... footsteps that were very convenient in explaining what he was doing standing in the middle of the street next to a murder victim, and yet footsteps he was entirely ignorant of a few seconds earlier. The trailing person also didn't seem to hear anything.

10. Included in his testimony seems to be the statement that he wasn't sure if the Polly Nichols was dead or not. At the very least, that means he wasn't the nice guy that he's made out to be - but somewhat of a creep.

11. No one in Lechmere's family seemed aware that he testified at the inquest: it is not in the family history. Why did Lech keep it a secret from his family?

12. He looks ******* scary in his photo. Actually, I read somewhere, someone analyzing the photo pointing out the drooping left (right?) side of his face. He claimed it indicated a possible stroke or other medical condition. Lech might of had a stroke well before that photo.

13. There was a family business that Lech's mother maintained that could have allowed Lech a place in which to store his favorite purloined organs.

14. There's more .... but none of this (save the scary photo description - he's a sweet heart) is disputable. These are odd facts that require an explanation grounded in human psychology. They are curious items, but by themselves cannot lead to anything absolutely conclusive. That is the nature of this site for all candidates.

[Newbie]

Doesn't that suggest that the uncaught ones are likely to be of higher intelligence ? Or just luckier ?

A bit of both. Family lore is that Lech was a very intelligent guy and a bit of an odd duck.

A lot of disturbing behavior for the non famous gets lost over time.
If Dennis Raeder wasn't caught, but was proposed as a suspect for the serial killings in Wichita Kansas 100 years from now, nobody would know then that he enjoyed torturing animals.

[Abby Normal]

A bit of both. Family lore is that Lech was a very intelligent guy and a bit of an odd duck.

A lot of disturbing behavior for the non famous gets lost over time.
If Dennis Raeder wasn't caught, but was proposed as a suspect for the serial killings in Wichita Kansas 100 years from now, nobody would know then that he enjoyed torturing animals.

Exactly. You could do the same for many serial killers if they weren’t caught. Joseph di Angelo, Gerry Brudos, Bundy etc. having a double life is there whole reason of existence.

[Dickere]

Lets look at those kids and who they might have been named for.

Charles Allen I & II - clearly named for their father,

Elizabeth Emily - CAL's wife was Elizabeth, his sister was Emily.

Mary Jane – CAL's sister-in-law was Mary Jane Bostock. CAL's mother was Maria. He had an aunt and a grandmother named Mary Lechmere. He had a aunt Jane Lechmere

Thomas Allen – CAL's stepfather was Thomas Cross. CAL's father and brother-in-law were Thomas Bostock. CAL's grandfather was Thomas Roulson

George William - CAL's brother-in-law was George William Bostock

James Alfred – CAL's brother-in-law was James Bostock.

Louisa Annie – Louisa was CAL's mother's middle name

Albert Edward – I can't find any family connection. Perhaps named after Albert Edward, the Prince of Wales?

Harriet Emma I & II – CAL had aunts Harriet Lechmere and Emma Lechmere. He also had an aunt Harriet Roulson

Notable in their absence are his father John Allen Lechmere and his uncles Whitmore and Edwin Lechmere. Yet all four Lechmere aunts are covered by Mary Jane and Harriet Emma.

So aside from Catherine we have all the victims' names. Hmmm, a clue !