Jack the ripper handwriting and Tumblety's

[jonwilson]

Has anyone seen that mysteryquest episode on Jack the ripper? In that episode they named Tumblety as a new suspect. A hand writing expert compared the hand writing of the person who wrote the letter sent to George Lusk and the handwriting of Francis Tumblety and she said that Tumblety's handwriting was very similar to the person who wrote the letter sent to George Lusk, the from hell letter. For those that have seen this episode, what are your thoughts on what the hand writing expert said?

[mklhawley]

Has anyone seen that mysteryquest episode on Jack the ripper? In that episode they named Tumblety as a new suspect. A hand writing expert compared the hand writing of the person who wrote the letter sent to George Lusk and the handwriting of Francis Tumblety and she said that Tumblety's handwriting was very similar to the person who wrote the letter sent to George Lusk, the from hell letter. For those that have seen this episode, what are your thoughts on what the hand writing expert said?

johwilson,

The handwriting expert is Michelle Dresbold. I emailed Michelle about the comparisons, and she replied back to me! To me, her arguments are convincing, but some felllow ripperologists are not so convinced. I created a PowerPoint with some sections of Tumblety letters and the From Hell letter, so that you can check for yourself. I just have to figure out how to upload the Powerpoint. Any help?

Mike

[lynn cates]

Tumblety

Hello Jon and MK. I have heard before that a forensic handwriting expert had made that identification. That sounds like the bizarre sort of thing that Tumblety would do. Of course, it would be a leap from there to an identification as Jack.

You might convert the file to a pdf and then upload it--if it's not too large.

The best.
LC

[mklhawley]

Hello Jon and MK. I have heard before that a forensic handwriting expert had made that identification. That sounds like the bizarre sort of thing that Tumblety would do. Of course, it would be a leap from there to an identification as Jack.

You might convert the file to a pdf and then upload it--if it's not too large.

The best.
LC

In the mean time, the following url is Michelle's book (Sex, Lies, and Handwriting) on Google books where she compares Tumblety's handwriting with the From Hell Letter.

http://books.google.com/books?id=kUNzGomsKI4C&pg=PT261&lpg=PT261&dq=michelle+dresbold+sex+lies+tumblety&source=bl&ots=YplCnOxhxa&sig=VfOQBnCoM0BjQsASOJZ-OAxLpF8&hl=en&ei=BKYpS93yAoqslAflyPClBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAgQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=&f=false

Mike

[jonwilson]

In the mean time, the following url is Michelle's book (Sex, Lies, and Handwriting) on Google books where she compares Tumblety's handwriting with the From Hell Letter.

http://books.google.com/books?id=kUNzGomsKI4C&pg=PT261&lpg=PT261&dq=michelle+dresbold+sex+lies+tumblety&source=bl&ots=YplCnOxhxa&sig=VfOQBnCoM0BjQsASOJZ-OAxLpF8&hl=en&ei=BKYpS93yAoqslAflyPClBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAgQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=&f=false

Mike

I like Tumblety as a ripper suspect, but he would have been 55 years old during the ripper killings and all of the physical descriptions from witness describe the ripper as being much young. Also, I have heard people say Tumblety was taller than most londoners at that time.

[D'Onston]

Hey Mike, Although Michelle Dresbold has had forensic training, her site clearly shows that she operates as a Graphologist.

Graphology is the pseudoscientific[1][2][3][4][5][6] study and analysis of handwriting especially in relation to human psychology. In the medical field, it can be used to refer to the study of handwriting as an aid in diagnosis and tracking of diseases of the brain and nervous system. The term is sometimes incorrectly used to refer to forensic document examination.

Graphology has been controversial for more than a century. Although supporters point to the anecdotal evidence of thousands of positive testimonials as a reason to use it for personality evaluation, most empirical studies fail to show the validity claimed by its supporters.[7][8]

This is taken from the Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphology

The analysis of the Tumblety letter on her own site relies on that pseudoscience rather than the actual science of forensic document examination. The only rational conclusion that can be drawn from her use of graphology to compare Tumblety's writing with the "From Hell" letter is that all her conclusions are Highly Suspect because of her use of a totally discredited, pseudoscientific methodology.

Best Wishes, Mike

[Adam Went]

I haven't seen that particular episode (seen the "Mystery Files" one but that was different, naming Jacob Levy as the suspect), but if they named Tumblety as a "new suspect", then they're already off to a bad start....

Cheers,
Adam.

[Kaspar]

I haven't seen that particular episode (seen the "Mystery Files" one but that was different, naming Jacob Levy as the suspect), but if they named Tumblety as a "new suspect", then they're already off to a bad start....

Cheers,
Adam.

Hi Adam, there are two shows; Mystery Files (with Jacob Levy as prime suspect) and Mystery Quest (with Mary Pearcey and Tumbelty as the suspects). Both I believe are 2009 productions and I have seen them both, with the Mystery Files easily the best one.
Mystery Quest had Stewart Evans in it as the Ripper Expert.

[Adam Went]

Thanks for that, Kaspar. I'll keep an eye out for the Mystery Quest one.....(they named Mary Pearcey as well? Wow....)

Cheers,
Adam.

[mklhawley]

Yes, it's the MysteryQuest episode. Stewart Evans is the primary ripper expert and they also use Don Rumblelow. Michelle certainly does get into graphology.

Mike

[Siobhan Patricia Mulcahy]

I like Tumblety as a ripper suspect, but he would have been 55 years old during the ripper killings and all of the physical descriptions from witness describe the ripper as being much young. Also, I have heard people say Tumblety was taller than most londoners at that time.

Hi folks,
I wrote an article for an Irish paper some years back, part of which looked at the Lusk letter because it appeared to have been written by someone using the phonetic spelling of a poorly educated person with an Irish accent, or someone trying to goad the police into believing the killer was in fact Irish. Could it have been Tumblety up to no good? By the way, the use of the word “Sir” (incorrect spelling in the Lusk letter), is sometimes used by we Irish as a mark of sarcastic disrespect. Yes, as Freud said, we are the only people immune to psychoanalysis.
In the article, I also stated that Tumblety was from Limerick (though have since lost the source for such a claim, sorry, damn journalists and their inaccuracies!) and tried to develop the theory that Mary Kelly's Irish accent was a “double trigger” for the killer, assuming that the killer was in fact Irish.
I have uploaded the article (2003) - for what it is worth - verbatim here.

Also, re Tumblety being too old, I think it has been proven that he was the master of disguise, wore make up to improve his looks (possibly to make him look younger) and as for the witness statements...they are so contradictory/ unclear that they are one of the reasons why the killer was never caught.
Best to all.
Siobhán

http://siobhanpatriciamulcahy.blogspot.com/

[Siobhan Patricia Mulcahy]

Tumblety's Signature here

Tumblety's signature (from JtR Writers Forum - thanks) and Lusk Letter (also known as 'From Hell' letter)
The squiggly bits after the 'y' in Tumblety's signature are very similar to the squiggly bits in the last line of the Lusk letter.
What do you think?
Best,
Siobhán

[The Good Michael]

Hi folks,
I wrote an article for an Irish paper some years back, part of which looked at the Lusk letter because it appeared to have been written by someone using the phonetic spelling of a poorly educated person with an Irish accent, or someone trying to goad the police into believing the killer was in fact Irish.

I think the writer knew that no one would think he was Irish and that he was just playing around in a silly fashion. I don't believe the author thought that police would go after the Irish because of this.

Cheers,

Mike

[caz]

I agree, GM. If anything, the sender shows as much sarcastic disrespect for the Irish as he does for Lusk. I see him as an all-round p-taker, who doesn't care who he offends as long as he is getting off on it.

Love,

Caz
X

[Scott Nelson]

The squiggly bits after the 'y' in Tumblety's signature are very similar to the squiggly bits in the last line of the Lusk letter.

What are you talking about? There is no similarity.