Open or Closed-Probabilities

[Garry Wroe]

I have to confess, Sam, I've never read Dew's book. From your description, though, it sounds right up my street!

Enjoy the sparklers.

Garry Wroe.

[richardnunweek]

Hi,
With reference to Dew, I have always felt it strange that the majority of Casebook place little inportance to his recollections.
Why are we suggesting that
a] He proberly was not even at the millers court scene
b] he proberly did not even enter room 13.
c] he proberly did not slip on the floor.
d] he proberly never, ever, knew Mjk.
e] he never interviewed a youth at commercial street station around 11am nov 9th
f] he never interviewed a youth in millers court after the body was discovered.
e]he could not distinquish the difference between a man in his fifties, and a 14 year old.
Infact at the time of penning his book, its a wonder if he knew his own name, for he [ according to casebook] was clearly a liar, or suffering from complete memory loss.
Fact is Inspector Dew, was a very good police officer, served the force well for many years, and made it clear in the book, that although many years have passed , the events of the 9th Nov 1888, were etched in his memory for ever.
And I can quite understand that...cant you?
Regards Richard.

[Sam Flynn]

Why are we suggesting that
a] He proberly was not even at the millers court scene
b] he proberly did not even enter room 13.
c] he proberly did not slip on the floor.
d] he proberly never, ever, knew Mjk.
e] he never interviewed a youth at commercial street station around 11am nov 9th
f] he never interviewed a youth in millers court after the body was discovered.
g]he could not distinquish the difference between a man in his fifties, and a 14 year old.

In order, Rich:

[a] He claims to have been on the spot, with Inspr Beck, and that the latter instructed him "For God's sake, Dew - don't look!". The only reference to this appears to be Dew's own memoirs. No mention of Dew was made by McCarthy or Bowyer at the time - and neither was Dew called to the inquest. Beck was called, but he doesn't mention Dew in his testimony. From this, it appears that Dew was not the first at the scene, as he claims, and - if that's the case - it must cast at least some doubt that he was ever there at all, at least whilst the body was in situ (see next point).

[b and c] It's possible that he was one of the officers who attended later, but his claim to have slipped in the "awfulness on the floor" doesn't seem to tally with the fact that the "awfulness" was either soaked into Kelly's mattress, actually on the mattress, or otherwise on the bedside table. This might be faulty recall, but if some newspaper accounts are to be believed, there was "awfulness" strewn all over Kelly's room. This suggests to me that Dew might have read one or more such accounts, using them to give the illusion that he knew what the inside of Miller's Court was like. We know otherwise.

[d] There is at least one reference (Kelly not wearing a hat) that may be traced back to contemporary newspaper reports. Whilst it's quite possible that this might have been Dew's personal recollection of Kelly, we can't be sure that he wasn't relying on press cuttings.

[e], [f], [g]. These, to me, are some of the most damning points against Dew's claimed involvement in the Kelly case, in that Dew mistakes the middle-aged (and some!) Thomas Bowyer for a "youth". I'm almost certain that this came about because Bowyer is described in numerous press accounts as McCarthy's "servant" who "helped at McCarthy's shop", and that Dew took this to mean that Bowyer was younger than his employer. Dew could not have been more wrong on this, and no amount of faulty memory can explain how a 50-something army veteran turns into an errand-boy.

[perrymason]

Dews personal recollections of the sight he saw in Room 13 cannot be accurate, as evidenced in the pictures that exist of that room and Marys remains. There were no "bulbous" organs or tissue hanging from the ceiling, for one.

Dews comments seems to be the easiest to debunk....although his comments that he often saw Mary with her hair out, with others of "her kind" and wearing a clean white smock do sound like they might be accurate. We do know that Mary knew Maria and Julia and Elizabeth and Mary Ann to some degree, all were assumed at least part time prostitutes.

Best regards