John's Echo Interview

[richardnunweek]

Hi Lynn,
Indeed a puzzling press report.
What struck me as odd, was the conversation ''allegedly'' between Kate and Kelly on the Saturday 29TH, did she not mention the word ''Jack''?
The Famous Dear Boss letter , although written on the 25TH was not posted until the 27TH, and not seen till that very day[ 29TH] by the authorities.
that was the first time the infamous name was used. so a ''apt'' choice of word allegedly spoken by Kate? or a good guess..
Regards Richard.

[lynn cates]

folow up

Hello All. As I promised earlier, I now submit the following features of John’s “Echo” interview—features which seem contrary to his inquest version.

1. Notice that John and Kate’s meeting with the other couple on the road takes place 3 weeks before the interview. This would coincide with the story in “The Echo” from 5 September, in which the hop pickers are returning to London on account of the bad harvest. Notice too that John’s story seems to have Kate and him returning to London; the other couple going north.

2. He speaks of many days without work and some days without food. This seems more days than the 72 hours in which John and Kate were supposed to have reappeared in London.

3. John speaks as if the boots were pawned late in the day. That is certainly congruent with the pawn ticket which indicated a Friday pawning; not, however, amenable to John’s alleged Saturday morning trip to the pawn shop.

4. Most troubling is that when Kate leaves Cooney’s, John advises her to beware the knife. She gives a cheery retort and leaves. He then claims he does not see her again until she is dead. This story differs vastly from his inquest story about parting from Kate at 2.00PM in Houndsditch.

Any ideas for harmonisation would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers.
LC

[lynn cates]

Hello All. Whilst researching John and Kate's movements for the time period from Thursday until Kate's demise, I once again came across the interview with John in "The Echo" 3 October, 1888.

Although this has been read before, and the given caveats about newspaper stories have been duly noted, there are some troubling features of the interview.

I propose to make a list of those features for a subsequent post. Until then, it might be useful to read and absorb this interview.

Cheers.
LC