A Reasonable Suspect...

[Chava]

I posted on the Suspects thread about this, but I wouldn't mind discussing my candidate here as well, since there is one Kelly-sized problem in an otherwise convincing hypothesis.

A number of witnesses described a very similar-sounding man who was seen with 3 of the canonical victims and one possible in the moments before the attacks. Ada Wilson, who may or may not have been a victim, describes a short fair man with a sunburnt face. A short fair man was seen with Stride, Eddowes and Kelly before their murders, and the Kelly sighting had him as 'blotchy-faced'. Which could have been what Wilson was getting at with her 'sunburned face'. All the descriptions have him as between 5'5 and 5'7". They all have him as fair haired and two have him with ruddy or blotchy complexions. He's not described as overly stout or thin. One description has him at medium build, and I assume the others would have agreed with that. Two descriptions have him with a wideawake/billycock hat. One has him with a dark moustache, but another has him with an auburn moustache, and auburn could well have read darker under gaslight. I think this guy is an excellent candidate for the Ripper.

But.

We know he went in with Kelly at 11.45 pm. We know that he didn't kill her immediately. She was still belting out parlour songs until at least 1.10 am. It's possible he left and came back hoping she was asleep--and this could mean he was the man standing in the entrance to Millers Court with the wideawake hat. A couple of witnesses in the other killings describe the man they saw as having such a hat. But it doesn't seem to me that Our Guy hangs around. When he gets the chance, he kills 'em. And I can't explain this away. The best I can come up with is that he knew Cox had seen him go up into the court with Kelly, so thought it wasn't prudent to kill her there and then, but came back in order to do so. Waited until she was asleep and crept in on her. It doesn't sound right. I don't know if the Ripper would have had that kind of self-control. So maybe Blotchy Face is just another punter/drinking acquaintance. But on the other hand, Blotchy, or a man that sounds very like him, was seen with a bunch of other victims just before they were killed...

[caz]

Hi Chava,

I have no problem with this at all. I also think it would make perfect sense for Blotchy to have plied Mary with booze (the quart pot of ale) thinking she would soon fall asleep, but underestimating her capacity for alcohol, resulting in the extended singing session instead. A combination of Cox having seen him go in, and Mary's singing being audible to others (and therefore noticeable if she stopped very suddenly in mid-warble) may have caused discretion to take over from instant gratification.

I'm not sure self-control would have been that big an issue, if he had always managed to wait until he got his previous victims from a main road picking-up point to a suitably private environment, probably of their own choice, and all potential witnesses like Lawende and co had made themselves scarce, before finally giving himself permission to let rip.

He could well have been more wary this time, anticipating this special indoor operation with its different set of risks, especially if he killed Stride and had learned a lesson about jumping the gun when conditions were not ideal.

Love,

Caz
X

[Chava]

Excellent point about the singing, Caz. I hadn't thought of that! Maybe he waits until she undresses for bed, makes sure she's good and sleepy so that she won't start up on another round of that 'orrible dirge she was singing, and then...

[Crystal]

I reckon she was drunk and had gone to bed - how hard would it have been for the killer to get in and do his work? And she wouldn't have made a fuss, because it would have been over before she had time to react. Makes sense to me, anyway.

[Malcolm X]

Her singing is very interesting indeed....and has always bothered me

what if:- the killer heard her singing whilst strolling past Millers court, what would he do, because she was singing quite loudly ?..

would he stoll down there and take a look..... wait outside, come back later and wait outside yet again....

her window is broken and it's easy to break in, well; it's easier for an unemployed building labourer to break in; than it is for you and i....

[Ben]

Seems a very reasonable suggestion to me, Chava.

Blotchy's 11:45pm appearance could have been a reconnaisance mission of sorts.

[Malcolm X]

Seems a very reasonable suggestion to me, Chava.

Blotchy's 11:45pm appearance could have been a reconnaisance mission of sorts.

yes, this is mentioned on the web too....he was part of a dastardly duo, but i dont think so; i favour a lone killer..i think blotchy face was simply a boozy friend/ customer etc etc.......... plus he was too careless to be the ripper..i.e he was seen too often with her...

not the ripper's style at all....

[perrymason]

Seems a very reasonable suggestion to me, Chava.

Blotchy's 11:45pm appearance could have been a reconnaisance mission of sorts.

Im not sure that is anywhere in the evidence myself Ben or Chava...all that is certain to me anyway is that Blotchy face is the last man to be seen with Mary officially, and is therefore first on a short list of suspects as her murderer. He may be a generic match in some respects to other suspects seen with victims just before their deaths, but not strikingly so at all. A roughly 8 year age variance, hair color, facial hair and a few inches height variance in all those other sightings cannot be reconciled to the description of Blotchy man.

He was either a client, a guest, a friend and perhaps ultimately a killer....or maybe a combination of those. But only the first option points to Jack the Ripper. The other 2 point to known by Mary......and that is not the lowdown on this Ripper fellow....it is believed he kills strangers.

I still hold firm to the belief that only the resulting damage to Mary has anything in common with a Ripper crime...and not all that much either....other than perhaps any level of mutilation as a "concept" goal.

If... much to the chagrin of others...Mary was not killed by the man they nicknamed The Ripper, that points the spotlight directly on the man that arrived with her and the one we dont see or hear leave later....which would then logically make the damage done to her corpse an intentional means to lessen her chance of being properly identified,...or a clever way of introducing a maniac to the room as the killer....rather than a guest, or friend, or even a common client.

If Blotchy killed her....or anyone of the short list of suspects that are logical based on her location and demeanor....and did that intentionally to confuse the investigation....meaning he was not also the Ripper......he succeeded brilliantly.

Cheers Ben, Chava...all.

[Ben]

He may be a generic match in some respects to other suspects seen with victims just before their deaths, but not strikingly so at all.

Pretty strikingly so, all things considered, Mike.

You should hear some of the wildly contrasting descriptions from other crimes than nonetheless all apply to the same serial killer. Makes the ones mentioned by Chava seem pretty uniform by comparison.

He was either a client, a guest, a friend and perhaps ultimately a killer....or maybe a combination of those. But only the first option points to Jack the Ripper.

Well, not really.

Any of those options could potentially point to Jack the Ripper. It's not as if there's any mutual exclusivity between "a guest, a friend and perhaps ultimately a killer" and Jack the Ripper. He could have been several of those things.

Best regards,
Ben

[perrymason]

Well, not really.

Any of those options could potentially point to Jack the Ripper. It's not as if there's any mutual exclusivity between "a guest, a friend and perhaps ultimately a killer" and Jack the Ripper. He could have been several of those things.

Best regards,
Ben

If he is a guest or friend in her room, he is by definition, not a stranger. Isnt the book on Jack that he doesnt know his victims prior to meeting and killing them?

Blotchy Face had endeared himself to Mary in some form...in my opinion, by getting her loaded. Does the Ripper now spend nights drinking with potential victims the same night he eventually kills them? Even politely walking them home first? Does he allow them to serenade him first now? Is he content killing only women he knows now? Interesting ideas...but where is the evidence?

Cheers Ben.

[Ben]

Isnt the book on Jack that he doesnt know his victims prior to meeting and killing them?

Not quite, Mike.

The book on Jack is that he doesn't need to know his victims prior to meeting and killing them. We don't restrict the suspect list to acquaintaces of one/some of the victim, but what we certainly don't do is rule out suspects because they are acquainted with one/some of the victims.

Does the Ripper now spend nights drinking with potential victims the same night he eventually kills them?

We don't know.

What we do know is that serial killers are perfectly capable of adapting to situations. I do fear sometimes that you're still a little trapped in the perception of serial killers as robots or slaves to meticulously prepared criminal criteria. That's not a criticism, just a well-meant suggestion. I don't know if Blotchy was the killer or not, but we're obliged to take him seriously as a potential suspect in Kelly's death.

Regards,
Ben

[halomanuk]

The Ripper IMO didn't need drink,he would have had a charm to put the ladies at ease.
These ladies were wiley and experienced in the street,to be able to put them at ease and to still keep himself sharp and alert was a clever art and involved familiarity or trust..

[perrymason]

I do fear sometimes that you're still a little trapped in the perception of serial killers as robots or slaves to meticulously prepared criminal criteria. That's not a criticism, just a well-meant suggestion. I don't know if Blotchy was the killer or not, but we're obliged to take him seriously as a potential suspect in Kelly's death.

Regards,
Ben

Conversely, I believe you much too lenient on potential border lines that are present, and that you dismiss repetitive almost identical murders as being incompatible with a constantly changing and evolving killer. Some killers try a bunch of methods...some repeat more than once. Those are the signs of a serial killer, not a string of randomly enacted and strung along unsolved murders.

How does anyone piece together that serial killings are occurring? By finding commonalities among assorted unsolved murders. So why would dissimilarities interest me?

We are obliged to take Blotchy Face seriously as Marys Killer...there is no doubt about that statement.....there is to one that suggests that he was therefore likely Jack.

Best regards

[Mascara & Paranoia]

Is Blotchy Face the short and stout man MJK was seen with carrying a beer can? 'Cause if he is then he's probably no more than just a drinking buddy of hers.

[Ben]

How does anyone piece together that serial killings are occurring? By finding commonalities among assorted unsolved murders.

Commonalities, yes.

But the discernment of commonalities doesn't mean we restrict our criteria to the extent that we fine tune a serial killer's technique to only encompass the most robotically consistent ones. If we did that with most serial cases, we'd be arguing that several of the victims did not fall victim to a serial killer, despite DNA evidence conclusively proving us wrong.

Best regards,
Ben