An emerging pattern?

[Stephen Thomas]

A lot of people like to think of Martha as the FIRST victim...but what if she was the LAST?

Errrr, what are you on, Tom?

[Simon Wood]

Hi All,

Tom may not be wholly off the mark.

Polly Nichols was not only the third victim of someone alleged to be Leather Apron, but also the first victim of a quite different person alleged to be Jack the Ripper.

It's quite an accomplishment.

Regards,

Simon

[SarahLee]

I thought this thread had died a death, but good to see the debate warming up again.

FWIW Personally I'm continuing to lean towards Tabram being the first in a progressive series. Sorry Tom but I'm not quite ready to come along with you on her being the last of an earlier pattern, but I'm looking forward to getting to grips with your reasoning on this - and my mind's still open.

I don't think we can discount her sleeping, but that doesn't feel quite right to me either (sorry Bridewell and Jimi). I keep coming back to the point about that suggesting her killer lived there, and I don't see him doing this on his own doorstep.

Hello Wolf. Thanks.

"impulsive yet calculated"

I see. And that's very difficult to reconcile. Of course, you're aware of that as your subsequent remarks show.

Good luck!

Cheers.
LC

Hi Lynn and Wolf,

I'm going to stick my neck out and say that strange as it sounds, this is just the scenario that I currently have in my mind too. Clearly that doesn't make it right or even the simplest . . . but it's the one that seems to be sticking with me at the moment, and IMO it's as plausible as any other.

If we accept that Tabram was his first killing (which I know is debatable in itself), I don't think it's too much of a stretch to say that he may have botched it to some extent - or at the very least that it was a learning curve.

I see a scenario where an attempt was made to subdue her - either a blow to the head or hands around the throat (and with her being a large woman she was difficult to control once limp, resulting in a heavy fall and banging her head on the floor.)

Despite seeming to be the only one in the world to think this, I still picture the stab to the heart as coming first, but not proving as instant or effective at dispatching her as hoped for. While she'd clearly be incapacitated, perhaps she let out a moan or made some sort of weak movement - something that was enough to throw our novice killer into a panic. He's ended up in a far from ideal location with occupied properties only feet away, he's failed to completely and immediately silence his victim, she's seen his face and he needs to shut her up - quickly.
In that situation, a panicked frenzied attack concentrated on her chest and throat - maybe with a hand over her mouth to ensure silence (thank you Tom for planting that thought in my mind) makes sense to me.

And what then, once she's finally still and silent and his panic is starting to subside? Could he possibly then turn to his area of primary interest? I see the lifting back of the skirts to reveal the lower body as a more deliberate action than something done in a blind panic, and while I don't have it on this PC, I've tried to match up the number of wounds in each area with the organs hit - My conclusion being that there seem to be far fewer injuries on her lower abdomen, suggestive of less frenzy.

So yes, I do see a more calculated sort of attack in stabbing the groin and cutting her lower abdomen *. I can also imagine that after the frenzy of the initial attack and perhaps in fear of having been heard his enthusiasm may have been somewhat dampened and he just wanted to get out of there . . . or perhaps he was just somewhat tentative in his cutting because this was his first?

Whacky, strange or downright loopy as it may sound, this is the scenario which is working best for me right now - and in my mind, it's the best way that I can piece together the way her wounds occurred.

* Incidentally, I think I found the source for the quote about "an incision in her abdomen". Seems to be more of a slice or slash than an incision, but the East London Observer 11th August has the lower body penetrated with a wound 3 inches long and 1 inch deep - which if factual is IMO clearly not a stab injury.