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Hello all,
There is press and dissertation information available on this Russian suspect here, and I would recommend it to anyone who hasnt reviewed it yet.
Nicolai(ay) Vasiliev has the distinction of being accused and convicted for 5 assaults/murders of prostitutes with a knife in Paris in 14 days, in the early 1870's...perhaps as late as 1875. He was suggested by newsmen in England and in some International news articles as being the likely perpetrator of The Whitechapel Horrors, and in November-Dec 1888, and was the subject of two American books released at that time on the crimes, "A History of The Whitechapel Murders: A full and Authentic Narrative of the Murders", self published by Richard Fox in New York, and in "Leather Apron, or, The Horrors of Whitechapel London", published in Philidelphia. Both books accused Vasiliev of being the most likely man connected to the murders.
He stabbed and mutilated prostitutes, leaving their money, belongings, purses, jewels...etc., and was caught redhanded with a street walker he attempted to kill in the Rue Lyon. His crusade against immoral women began in Paris in the early 1870's..again, perhaps as late as 1875, and led him to pursue a young street walker named Madeline, whom he fell in love with, and whom had fled from him. He found her, 2 months later, and stabbed her in the back, killing her. 2 days later, he killed another woman, and 3 days after that, another. Some 5 attacks in 14 days.
He was pleaded as insane by his lawyer, and incarcerated in an asylum in Bayonne, France so it would appear, and was released in January 1st, 1888. His last known whereabouts were reported to be departing for London just after his release. He disappears from that point.
Some interesting hi-lites;
-He was first suggested by the Weekly Herald on Oct 12th, just after the "Double Event".
-He was insane, and had been institutionalized.
-He was castrated....something done by his choice, prior to his killings, not by a legal decree.
-He had a modest income from familial sources, which enabled him to survive without working.
-He showed animosity towards those women who worked the streets, and called himself "The Saviour of Lost Souls"
-He was convicted of killing and mutilating "street" women in Paris, in approx 1875.
-He attacked and killed women outdoors.
Here is another interesting piece on Russian radicals in France at the time....
"At that time, the Foreign Bureau of the Tsarist Secret Service, the Okhrana, had its headquarters at the Russian consulate in Paris and maintained a network of agents in Switzerland. The Foreign Bureau used provocation primarily to persuade the French to take action against Russian radicals and cooperate with the Okhrana. The most notorious provocation occurred in Paris in 1890, when an Okhrana operative, Arkadiy Harting, organized a team of bomb-throwers whom he later betrayed to the Sureté. Their heavily publicized arrests helped convince the French public of the dangers posed by Russian radicals in France. "
Interesting that Anderson takes his rest in Switzerland perhaps.
Its difficult to put the owness for the crimes on someone who had no history of violence or anarchist ties, heres a man who had killed streetwalkers already, was insane, showed a pre-disposition to coverting or killing street whores, and was on his way to London at the beginning of the year that spawned "The Ripper".
Best regards all.
There is press and dissertation information available on this Russian suspect here, and I would recommend it to anyone who hasnt reviewed it yet.
Nicolai(ay) Vasiliev has the distinction of being accused and convicted for 5 assaults/murders of prostitutes with a knife in Paris in 14 days, in the early 1870's...perhaps as late as 1875. He was suggested by newsmen in England and in some International news articles as being the likely perpetrator of The Whitechapel Horrors, and in November-Dec 1888, and was the subject of two American books released at that time on the crimes, "A History of The Whitechapel Murders: A full and Authentic Narrative of the Murders", self published by Richard Fox in New York, and in "Leather Apron, or, The Horrors of Whitechapel London", published in Philidelphia. Both books accused Vasiliev of being the most likely man connected to the murders.
He stabbed and mutilated prostitutes, leaving their money, belongings, purses, jewels...etc., and was caught redhanded with a street walker he attempted to kill in the Rue Lyon. His crusade against immoral women began in Paris in the early 1870's..again, perhaps as late as 1875, and led him to pursue a young street walker named Madeline, whom he fell in love with, and whom had fled from him. He found her, 2 months later, and stabbed her in the back, killing her. 2 days later, he killed another woman, and 3 days after that, another. Some 5 attacks in 14 days.
He was pleaded as insane by his lawyer, and incarcerated in an asylum in Bayonne, France so it would appear, and was released in January 1st, 1888. His last known whereabouts were reported to be departing for London just after his release. He disappears from that point.
Some interesting hi-lites;
-He was first suggested by the Weekly Herald on Oct 12th, just after the "Double Event".
-He was insane, and had been institutionalized.
-He was castrated....something done by his choice, prior to his killings, not by a legal decree.
-He had a modest income from familial sources, which enabled him to survive without working.
-He showed animosity towards those women who worked the streets, and called himself "The Saviour of Lost Souls"
-He was convicted of killing and mutilating "street" women in Paris, in approx 1875.
-He attacked and killed women outdoors.
Here is another interesting piece on Russian radicals in France at the time....
"At that time, the Foreign Bureau of the Tsarist Secret Service, the Okhrana, had its headquarters at the Russian consulate in Paris and maintained a network of agents in Switzerland. The Foreign Bureau used provocation primarily to persuade the French to take action against Russian radicals and cooperate with the Okhrana. The most notorious provocation occurred in Paris in 1890, when an Okhrana operative, Arkadiy Harting, organized a team of bomb-throwers whom he later betrayed to the Sureté. Their heavily publicized arrests helped convince the French public of the dangers posed by Russian radicals in France. "
Interesting that Anderson takes his rest in Switzerland perhaps.
Its difficult to put the owness for the crimes on someone who had no history of violence or anarchist ties, heres a man who had killed streetwalkers already, was insane, showed a pre-disposition to coverting or killing street whores, and was on his way to London at the beginning of the year that spawned "The Ripper".
Best regards all.
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