Why Ada?

[DRoy]

DRoy.
Are you aware of Mark Ripper's article in Ripperologist #125, apparently he made a case for this attacker being her husband.
Can you access this? (see post 2.):
http://www.jtrforums.com/showthread.php?t=14748

Jon,

Thanks for that, hadn't seen that before. I don't have the Ripperoligist article but will be looking for it.

I hope his article will help me cross Ada off the list of possible Ripper victims.

Cheers
DRoy

[DVV]

"The husband who never was". That's the title.

[Ben]

Thanks again for the explanation! What you've said makes sense.

I wouldn't be so easily swayed, DRoy. I thought you had it bang on the first time.

There are perfectly good reasons for concluding that prostitutes who lived alone may not always have taken clients home, and you offer some very convincing reasons for this yourself. If we want a reliable indication of what someone in Kelly's position would do if she were truly concerned about impending rent-collection, we can do no better than Mary Cox, who, despite having her own room, serviced her clients on the streets. Why? Well, two very obvious reasons have already been expounded. 1) It was her only "sanctuary" away from work and didn't want it sullied. 2) It was more lucrative as it meant more clients could be "got through" quicker.

Taking clients home also carried the risk of not being able to get rid of some smelly intoxicated lump after the deed was done, in contrast to an outdoor transaction, from which the prostitutes can simply walk away afterwards.

In the Kelly murder, specifically, the case can obviously be made that Blotchy was a client, but this needn't hold true necessarily. She did seem to be singing for a some considerable time with him in the room, which appears to argue against a wham-bam type of transaction. It also argues very heavily against the oft-touted premise that Kelly was overly concerned about getting rent money.

A final point on the Kelly murder before returning swiftly to Ada, but despite the erroneous claims above, there is good reason to conclude that Kelly was murdered by an intruder who pushed open the unlocked door and attacked her as she slept, as opposed to a client.

I'm astonished that Jon thinks there was "nothing unusual" about men plying an alcoholic east end prostitute with booze and food in order to get their "wicked way". These weren't high class courtesans, Jon, and having a grotty hovel would not have prompted prostitutes with that "luxury" to pretend they were. The desperate circumstances of these women were such that they needed the clients far more than the clients needed them. The idea that some prostitutes would only hold out for clients who were willing to wine and dine them falls significantly short of reality.

[DRoy]

Ben,

Thank you for sharing your opinion. I'm not convinced either way at this point. I'm sure some people took their clients home and I'm sure some didn't.

I didn't want to get in to MJK too much as I know there is an argument as to whether her killer was a client or not. As I mentioned, MJK had her friend prostitues staying with her before and after Barnett moved so what is the likelihood of her bringing clients home during that time? We'd be speculating but I would assume not too likely or at least not too often.

Which brings us to Ada. Would she bring clients home even if she was a prostitute? Possible but I'm not sure whether probable or not. There still is no proof she was a prostitue to begin with.

Thanks again Ben.

Cheers
DRoy

[DRoy]

With all do respect to Mark's article, I don't think there is any reason to suggest this incident didn't happen exactly the way Ada and Rose say it did. We'll have to continue to speculate on who stabbed her but I'd say it is more likely to have been someone other than her husband.

If her stabber was the young man that Rose saw then she was either letting him in or out. Regardless, he didn't run away immediately because Rose saw him. Instead of leaving through the door after stabbing her, he would have to have gone back down the hall for some reason then turn back around and rush through the door. That doesn't sound right to me. I believe Ada told the truth and her stabber was someone else.

After being stabbed Ada screams, and those screams alarm Rose who then rushes to the stairs and begins going down them. Ada notices Rose since she yells out "Stop that man for cutting my throat". Using the word 'stop' suggests that the man is moving away from where Ada was. So she couldn't possibly have meant the young man that Rose saw.

The papers say that a neighbour chased after the man who stabbed Ada so perhaps the young man Rose saw rush out the door past Ada was a neighbour? I don't think Ada or Rose stated who chased after the man who stabbed her so who was it that told the papers? It might have been the young man who gave that info. Perhaps he really was a neighbour or said as much instead of saying he was Ada's customer?

When you consider the timing between Ada screaming and Rose rushing down the stairs, it seems illogical that within those seconds she'd make up a story to protect either the other man that Rose saw leave or her husband. I find it difficult to believe that seconds after her "terrible screams" she'd compose herself to protect someone she knew and then faint immediately afterwards.

Cheers
DRoy