The case evidence and its implications

[Harry D]

I think most of the torsos were in fact the work of one killer, or a conspiracy. I don't think they were unconnected or random.

Pinchin St torso is intriguing. Why would the Torso Killer (if it was the same guy) step into Ripper turf? And a couple of months after the murder of Alice Mackenzie, no less. Hmmmm...

[Sam Flynn]

Pinchin St torso is intriguing. Why would the Torso Killer (if it was the same guy) step into Ripper turf?

Well, he didn't really, as Pinchin Street was a bit off the beaten track for the Ripper (as was Stride, if we're honest), and the PST doesn't exactly share too many characteristics with the Ripper murders. Furthermore, PST still had its arms attached, which is not something that we associate with "the" Torso Killer at all. It looks very likely to me that, whoever was responsible for PST, they were different from the perpetrator(s) of the "West London Torsos", and not Jack the Ripper either.

[Harry D]

Well, he didn't really, as Pinchin Street was a bit off the beaten track for the Ripper (as was Stride, if we're honest), and the PST doesn't exactly share too many characteristics with the Ripper murders. Furthermore, PST still had its arms attached, which is not something that we associate with "the" Torso Killer at all. It looks very likely to me that, whoever was responsible for PST, they were different from the perpetrator(s) of the "West London Torsos", and not Jack the Ripper either.

Come on, Sam. Let's not split hairs. It was still in Whitechapel, a district of less than a square mile.

And Nichols' murder is actually furthest from the group than any of them. You wouldn't preclude her on those grounds?

[FrankO]

Hi FrankO,

Dr. Neville examined the arm first and said the date of death was 3 to 4 days prior to his examination on the 11th/12th of September. He was confident Dr. Bond would conclude the same. Dr. Neville was not called to the inquest.

Thanks for the addition, Jerry!

[Sam Flynn]

Come on, Sam. Let's not split hairs. It was still in Whitechapel, a district of less than a square mile.

I'm not splitting hairs. The sites of Stride's murder and Pinchin Street were well below the line delimited by Whitechapel Rd/Whitechapel High St/Aldgate. All the murders which unequivocally featured "ripping" happened above that line.

And Nichols' murder is actually furthest from the group than any of them. You wouldn't preclude her on those grounds?

I'm not talking about distance, but about a killer who didn't cross the physical, and possibly psychological, boundary of Whitechapel Rd/High St/Aldgate. If, as I believe was likely the case, we base the killer in central Spitalfields, we can fan out for similar distances at either side to reach the scenes of the Eddowes and Nichols murders, with the sites of Chapman's and Kelly's sitting not far from the apex of this imaginary arc.