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If the diarist is to be believed, James Maybrick, a ‘gentle man born’ was turned into a serial killer as a result of his wife’s affair. He displaces his anger with her by murdering the prostitutes of London.
There are many reasons for doubting this as a possible motive for the Ripper murders.
Firstly, James Maybrick would not have just stood back and allowed his wife to have had an affair. Florence flirted with Alfred Brierley at the Grand National in March 1889 and he hit her.
Secondly, although James was capable of violence, he would not have travelled to London and killed prostitutes as a proxy for his wife. He had never shown any hatred towards prostitutes. During his time in Norfolk, Virginia, before his marriage, he had spent many a night in Mary Hogwood’s brothel. If James was going to kill anyone, then Brierley would have been top of his list. Just after James died, Charles Ratcliffe sent a letter to John Aunspaugh in which he provided a detailed account of events at Battlecrease at that time. The letter included the sentence that James had found out about events at Flatman’s Hotel and he expected him to ‘plug Brierley at any time.’
Thirdly, the diarist, if he is to be believed, abruptly stopped his murderous campaign after supposedly rediscovering his love for his wife. This flies in the face of everything that we know about serial killers; they do not stop unless they are caught, arrested for another offence, or die.
For those of you who still feel James Maybrick remains a credible candidate to be Jack the Ripper, then you have a serious question to answer. Thomas Stevenson, in a letter written to the Home Office (HO 144/1638/A50678/D16), recalls a conversation between himself and Dr Humphreys which had taken place on the last day of Florence’s trial. Humphreys told Stevenson he had treated Florence after she had suffered a miscarriage in early 1889. Humphreys said James Maybrick had told him he had not had sexual intercourse with his wife for a lengthy period of time and, as a result, he wanted to know “how old is this thing.” When Humphreys told him it was 4 or 5 months, James then told Humphreys he couldn’t possibly be the father of it. If James had truly been Jack the Ripper and his motive for murder was his anger at his wife, then this news would have made him angry beyond belief. He would have killed again. Yet none of that happens; instead, if the diarist is to be believed, he just has loving thoughts about his wife. This is simply absurd.
It is also notable that the diarist never once mention Florence’s miscarriage. This would have a major event. It would have been at the forefront of James’ mind. Why then is it not mentioned in the Diary? There is only one possible reason, the diarist did not know about the miscarriage and that in turn can only mean the person who wrote he Diary was not James Maybrick. It is yet another reason for coming to the clear and obvious conclusion that the Diary is a modern forgery.
Chris Jones, Author of the Maybrick A to Z and co-author of The Maybrick Murder and the Diary of Jack the Ripper: The End Game. (See www.brickmaypublishing.com)
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