The Jack the Ripper Mystery is Finally Solved — Scientifically

[John Wheat]

Yes of course . As for Psych Profiles , well thats pretty broad, i guess lots of people fit that catagory in some form or another . In London during the C5 ?, well so were most Londoners. So not much to crow about Bury i should think. Proven Murderer fits tho .

Very few suspects fit the Psych Profiles as well as Bury if any. Admittedly being in London at the time is not much of a plus point but a number of suspects weren't even in London at the time. You forgot Postmortem mutilator. How many other suspects were proven murderers that performed Postmortem mutilation?

[FISHY1118]

Very few suspects fit the Psych Profiles as well as Bury if any. Admittedly being in London at the time is not much of a plus point but a number of suspects weren't even in London at the time. You forgot Postmortem mutilator. How many other suspects were proven murderers that performed Postmortem mutilation?

Thompson still comes up as a stronger suspect given what we know about him as opposed to bury..

Like I said his means ,motive and opportunity trumps bury by good ways .

[John Wheat]

Thompson still comes up as a stronger suspect given what we know about him as opposed to bury..

Like I said his means ,motive and opportunity trumps bury by good ways .

I completely disagree. I think you are wrong. I'm not even sure you know what your talking about as regards Bury.

[Herlock Sholmes]

* I've seen claims that Thompson was an arsonist. I've yet to see any evidence that he was.

It’s an attempt at shoehorning a suspect as you probably suspected Fiver.


Thompson the arsonist:

As an alter boy he took some candle lighters and started a fire at the alter - so it looks like a case of a boy playing around with matches. POSSIBLE ACCIDENT

On another occasion, after an argument, he spun an incense burner around his head and accidentally caused a small fire. ACCIDENT

Later he kicked over a lamp in his lodging house (probably under the influence) - ACCIDENT

He caused a small fire at the house of his editor by absent-mindedly leaving a lit pipe in his coat that he’d hung up. ACCIDENT


Francis Thompson wasn’t an arsonist.

[Herlock Sholmes]

carrying scalpels

The ripper didn’t kill using a scalpel. Thompson used a scalpel to shave when he was sleeping rough.

[Herlock Sholmes]

Thompson appears to have lived within 100 meters of 1 of the murder sites. This is true of many of the suspects and we have no evidence about how close Ripper lived to his victims. IIRC, we don't even know where, if anywhere, that Thompson was living for most of the murders, since he was frequently homeless.

In a book called Merry England, Thompson mention being outside the Providence Road Refuge. There’s no evidence that he ever stayed there. Or, even if he had, when.

[Herlock Sholmes]

None of his poems mention prostitutes.

[Herlock Sholmes]

Thompson’s biographer:

“How long a period of such doss-house misery and actual street Thomson endured remains uncertain - it was at least six months, perhaps as much as eight or nine - but the worst of it came to and end when he was rescued by from some particularly dire situation by one of the army of harlots that infested London’s West End. With this nameless prostitute he eventually entered a more or less steady relationship.“

[Herlock Sholmes]

Some time between October and December of 1888 Thompson spent around 6 weeks in hospital due to being in a state of near total collapse. Thompson was often in poor health.

[Herlock Sholmes]

Thompson, rather like Van Gogh, was a tragic figure. Mental health issues and drug addiction. Poor health in general. Absolutely no history of violence. Richard Patterson has woven a fantasy around him portraying him as some Dracula-type figure skulking around the East End with a violent vendetta against prostitutes. It’s nonsense.

Compared to Bury, Thompson only has the ‘advantage’ of medical knowledge and we can’t even be certain of what level of medical or anatomical knowledge the ripper had.

To even mention him on the same breath as Bury is in act of falling for a con job from the guy that produced the despicable tripe that Geddy highlighted in post #1.

[GBinOz]

It’s an attempt at shoehorning a suspect as you probably suspected Fiver.


Thompson the arsonist:

As an alter boy he took some candle lighters and started a fire at the alter - so it looks like a case of a boy playing around with matches. POSSIBLE ACCIDENT

On another occasion, after an argument, he spun an incense burner around his head and accidentally caused a small fire. ACCIDENT

Later he kicked over a lamp in his lodging house (probably under the influence) - ACCIDENT

He caused a small fire at the house of his editor by absent-mindedly leaving a lit pipe in his coat that he’d hung up. ACCIDENT


Francis Thompson wasn’t an arsonist.

That does seem to be a lot of "accidents".

[GBinOz]

Some time between October and December of 1888 Thompson spent around 6 weeks in hospital due to being in a state of near total collapse. Thompson was often in poor health.

Interesting. Isn't that around the time that there was a pause in the ripper murders?

[GBinOz]

Compared to Bury, Thompson only has the ‘advantage’ of medical knowledge and we can’t even be certain of what level of medical or anatomical knowledge the ripper had.

Hmm. I'm just trying to imagine a drunken little no-hoper falling off his sawdust cart and executing, in the dark, an abdominal hysterectomy, without damaging the bladder, and a kidney extraction with his trusty little penknife. Unless, of course, these were done afterwards.

[GBinOz]

The attacks on Farmer, Tabram and Mylett might conceivably be attributed to Bury, but I would label him as being capable of the attacks on Chapman, Eddowes and Kelly as tripe, were I not so fond of tripe, particularly with white parsley sauce.

[Patrick Differ]

Thompson, rather like Van Gogh, was a tragic figure. Mental health issues and drug addiction. Poor health in general. Absolutely no history of violence. Richard Patterson has woven a fantasy around him portraying him as some Dracula-type figure skulking around the East End with a violent vendetta against prostitutes. It’s nonsense.

Compared to Bury, Thompson only has the ‘advantage’ of medical knowledge and we can’t even be certain of what level of medical or anatomical knowledge the ripper had.

To even mention him on the same breath as Bury is in act of falling for a con job from the guy that produced the despicable tripe that Geddy highlighted in post #1.

Thompson clearly had medical knowledge. But so did the Doctors first at the scene of these murders. If I interpret their conclusions and first impressions at these scenes they did not believe a medically trained person performed the murders.

I could be wrong but there were only 3 suspects that lived in the area and can be proved - Chapman, Kosminski and Levy. Chapman and Kosminski both immigrants and Levy the only suspect born in Whitechapel.

As far as the Police and Witnesses are concerned they either had a complete bias toward immigrant Jews or some of what they said was likely true. If you want to talk mathmatical probability then consider the word foriegner in the equation. I would also consider the Legacy Jewish Englishman who had ample reason to implicate immigrant Jews. The Jewish Chronicle, as the voice of the Jewish Englishman, was not sympathetic. However would a gentile witness be able to distinguish one Jewish man from another? Only if they knew them possibly.

What is the mathmatical probability that the killer lived in the general area of the murders? My guess would be high since he hunted the same area and managed to always just disappear. The women all lived near each other and frequented the same pubs. Edmund Reid believed the killer did as well. Who knew the habits of the Whitechapel residents better than Reid? Its not clear he should be dismissed easily.

Modern day Police officers I know have told me that the higher probability of a murder is someone the person knew. With Serial Killers it was more about their childhood history and patterns of behavior over time. Prostitutes have always been easy prey. As are young boys and men. There are patterns that speak to the killer. Unfortunately not until after they were caught. In defense of using probability models its understandable why you might use it today.

if Thompson or any other suspect was living in Whitechapel at the time and it can be proven then I think they would have to be considered a viable suspect.

I dont believe this was a medically trained person. Although they were likely exposed to blood and guts and detached from
any emotion to the murder. They cut before and Nichols, Chapman and Eddowes were the same method. Had they done that before?

My observations. Thompson is a likely candidate if there is proof he lived there.