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Hi all,
I’ve been thinking about the witness statements lately, especially Mrs. Long’s and Lawende’s. First of all, I’m not quite sure how these witness statements were acquired. Are these word by word transcripts from the Inquests or what the police have allowed to be revealed or what the press had been fed etc… ?I’m sure someone can enlighten me on this process but putting that aside for a moment I’m interested in dissecting these descriptions for a minute. I’m particularly interested in Mrs. Long’s saying that she didn’t see his face but thought he was dark! How does she know that if she didn’t see his face! Well, perhaps as she walked by she glanced over and saw the man in profile. Here she may have made out a dark mustache perhaps or saw a bit of dark hair or maybe a less than ivory complexion. It’s then stated that she says she believes the man was foreign. Was he foreign because when he asked ‘Will you?’ it was with an accent of some sort? Or did he have on a hat and coat that might have been more associated with Jews or foreigners than with standard working class gentiles? Or a third choice, did she glance and see a ‘darkness’ that indicated to her a foreigner? Even more astonishing to me is the statement that she couldn’t say his age but that he appeared to be over 40! If she couldn’t guess his age how did she guess his age? How accurate can an age guess be in the early dawn on a man with his back to you covered in a long dark coat and wearing a hat? As you pass maybe you see a mustache or a profile perhaps but is this enough to guess an age? Could she see his ‘crow’s feet’ or graying sideburns? Doubtful. I won’t go into Lawende’s supposed description too much but he also said age about 30. Now he may have gotten a better view under a lamp and could make a decent guess. But again, everyone has hats, mustaches and handkerchief’s. Can you really tell 23 from 30 or 30 from 40 under a gas lamp? What got me thinking of this was putting Kozminski in these 2 spots and seeing if the descriptions could be reconciled? Any information anyone has about the method of getting these descriptions or what value the police placed in them or any other general opinions or observations would be most appreciated. Thanks.
Greg
I’ve been thinking about the witness statements lately, especially Mrs. Long’s and Lawende’s. First of all, I’m not quite sure how these witness statements were acquired. Are these word by word transcripts from the Inquests or what the police have allowed to be revealed or what the press had been fed etc… ?I’m sure someone can enlighten me on this process but putting that aside for a moment I’m interested in dissecting these descriptions for a minute. I’m particularly interested in Mrs. Long’s saying that she didn’t see his face but thought he was dark! How does she know that if she didn’t see his face! Well, perhaps as she walked by she glanced over and saw the man in profile. Here she may have made out a dark mustache perhaps or saw a bit of dark hair or maybe a less than ivory complexion. It’s then stated that she says she believes the man was foreign. Was he foreign because when he asked ‘Will you?’ it was with an accent of some sort? Or did he have on a hat and coat that might have been more associated with Jews or foreigners than with standard working class gentiles? Or a third choice, did she glance and see a ‘darkness’ that indicated to her a foreigner? Even more astonishing to me is the statement that she couldn’t say his age but that he appeared to be over 40! If she couldn’t guess his age how did she guess his age? How accurate can an age guess be in the early dawn on a man with his back to you covered in a long dark coat and wearing a hat? As you pass maybe you see a mustache or a profile perhaps but is this enough to guess an age? Could she see his ‘crow’s feet’ or graying sideburns? Doubtful. I won’t go into Lawende’s supposed description too much but he also said age about 30. Now he may have gotten a better view under a lamp and could make a decent guess. But again, everyone has hats, mustaches and handkerchief’s. Can you really tell 23 from 30 or 30 from 40 under a gas lamp? What got me thinking of this was putting Kozminski in these 2 spots and seeing if the descriptions could be reconciled? Any information anyone has about the method of getting these descriptions or what value the police placed in them or any other general opinions or observations would be most appreciated. Thanks.
Greg
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