Did Tumblety Write The Lusk Letter?

[Richard E. Nixon]

According to a handwriting expert on the History Channel, Tumblety wrote the "From Hell" letter. I was wondering if anyone saw this documentary and what thoughts you may have.

I have always found Tumblety interesting and a far more plausible suspect than any of the "modern" suspects, but I tended to shy away from him as the Ripper because:

1. He was over six feet tall and therefore didn't match any witness descriptions. He would have stood out, in my opinion.

2. He was over 50 years old in 1888. Most of these killers are younger.

3. He was said to be homosexual which would most likely rule out female victims.

and

4. He was a con man.

However, eyewitness descriptions are said to be very faulty. And we still don't know if any of the "witnesses" actually saw the Ripper. The man they saw with the victims could have been another customer. Also, there's no proof that Tumblety was exclusively homosexual. It's possible that he was bisexual or just experimented with homosexuality. And many experts in the area (Jogn Douglas, for example) have stated that age is one of the most difficult traits to determine.

So, the handwriting expert employed by the History Channel has made me take another look at Tumblety.

[mark]

I saw it and the idea that Tumblety did one of the letter is interesting and it needs to be looked into more

[miss_anna]

At about the middle of this YouTube video a handwriting expert looks at a sample of Tumblety's handwriting and gives her analysis.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Up8yopm-T_I&NR=1

[Gentleman Jack]

Hey there
I tend to shy away from Tumblety for many of the same reasons you have presented. But, in all fairness, if the story concerning his reason for hating women is correct, he's not purely homosexual and is indeed attracted to women. Hence, you can't really put him out of the race based upon this.
Now, while he's not my favorite suspect, I must admit that the handwriting is quite similar in the examples presented. If there were some way to indeed confirm that the kidney belonged to Catherine Eaddows, I'd have to re-evaluate my position on Tumblety.

[JTRSickert]

Hey there, Jack.
I just want to point out that there is no basic evidence that says Tumblety lusted after women. The only corroboration we have is from an alleged witness who claimed Tumblety told him that he married an older woman when he was a young man and, discovering she was still working as a prostitute, led him to separate with her and began a deep hatred of women. However, no marriage license has ever turned up and we only have this 1 witness to claim for this story. Tumblety's attitudes towards women are well-documented and research has shown him having numerous affairs with men including Hall Caine; also, in fact, it might be implied that Tumblety had a preference for young or adolescent boys because, according to Paul Begg's [I]The Facts[I] on pg. 240, Tumblety allegedly began an affair with the nephew of ex-US Congressman Frederick Golladay. On pg. 248, it states that, while in Liverpool, Tumblety "soon gathered a coterie of young men around him and was generally thought to be homosexual." Also, the gross indecency charges he was arrested for in London were all due to liasions with 4 different young boys. So, there is practically little or no evidence that Tumblety had a sexual interest in women, while the evidence for his homosexuality is plentiful. Also. the witness who stated he was once married and hated women, a Colonel Dunham, only revealed this after Tumblety was known to be a Ripper suspect in the American press. So, it's quite possible he made up this story for personal reasons and to further make Tumblety seem more like a likely a suspect than he really was.

[Gentleman Jack]

Well, then, no wonder I haven't been able to find a marriage liscense. And I had, for who knows what reason, thought that the story had came out before the whitechapel murders. But thank you for clearing that up.
Personally, I shied away from him based on his height and age. Also, craving notoriety the way he did, do you think that he's the kind of man who would have confessed on his deathbed?

[c.d.]

I would not be at all surprised if Tumblety simply made up his marriage story to explain why he was never seen in the company of women.

Good point about the death bed confession. If there was ever a likely candidate for such a thing it had to be Tumblety.

c.d.

[JTRSickert]

Jack, in my opinion, no. Tumblety was a con man and possibly a pedophile (if the age of the boys were significantly younger), as well as maybe procuring botched abortions, but there is nothing in his background to indicate that he was homicidal. So, while he may have tried to crave attention by making bolsterous claims (such as various medical degrees, which were likely forgeries, and his herb medicinal properties), serial murder is something different and I don't think he would want to take the credit for that.

[jonwilson]

No, I don't believe Tumblety was the ripper. He would have been 55 years old in 1888. He was also close to 6 feet tall and had a large mustache. He would have stood out. I truly believe that Jack the ripper wasn't any of the well known suspects we know of today. To me, he was an unknown man who appeared normal and no one would ever suspect him of being a serial killer who mutilates women. Tumblety is a suspect that would stick out. He was arrested for gross indency.

[mklhawley]

I am less convinced about his stature as cancelling him out as a viable suspect. According to Stewart Evans, Scotland Yard considered him a suspect, and the recently posted press article of October 1888, a 5' 10" tall man with a mustache was arrested and questioned. The area was poorly lit at night, and just because you are a few inches taller to me is meaningless. Tumblety himself admitted he was a suspect in the Ripper killings.

I compared some Tumblety handwriting with the From Hell letter again. Even with quite convincing arguments against Tumblety on casebook.org, the matching handwriting is hard to ignore.

Sincerely,

Mike

[mklhawley]

By the way, I made a short PowerPoint with the From Hell letter and a sample of Tumblety's other writings. I do not know if it is a copywright infringement thing, because is comes out of Michelle Dresbolds book. If anyone is interested, I will check on the infringement part.

Mike