Violenia's identification

[Michael W Richards]

In a side-note, Simon, when "Delbast" aka Violina was in the dock awaiting his doom, he was described as a "negro," and the court exploited his linguistic skills by having him serve as an impromptu interpreter for a couple of Germans who were also in court that day on other charges. Quite a scholar, evidently. I'd say his credibility against Pizer was almost nil.

Bingo rj. Why this myth was perpetuated by a policeman isnt clear to me, and why they took the rather unusual step to clear him at an Inquest that he was not believed to have had any role in, are the real questions. The fact that someone harrassed and threatened street prostitutes while in a leather apron is likely more about local buisness people being opposed to streetwalkers, or trying to shake them down for their earnings on a prticular night, than anything to do with Ripper murders.

[Joshua Rogan]

Only 512lbs? Pah! Henri Toch could wield one weighing 365kg! Well....until it somewhat sadly exploded.

This handy site lists several cannon-wielding strongmen of the era. My favourite is John Holtum. Never mind carrying the cannon, he caught the cannonballs!
https://www.oldtimestrongman.com/blog/tag/cannon/

[rjpalmer]

This by no means proves that Violina was genuinely associated with the circus, but the trick he describes of firing a cannon from his shoulder was, apparently, a genuine circus act of the 1880s. The following dates from July, 1880. P.S. My previous post should have said "So were Muhammad and Malvo." The point being that whether a man can be dismissed as a suspect because he is old, tall, black, yellow, young, or has bright red-hair entirely depends on how much weight one wants to give the various witness statements.

[Joshua Rogan]

The man seems to have been descibed in various ways;

Star of 11 September:
"A middle-aged man, with a face of negro cast, but not black"

Bucks Herald 8 Dec 1888
"A coloured man named Delbast"

Piser described him as "of negro caste"

Jackson's Oxford Journal
18 May 1889
"Emanuel Dalbast Violina, a man of colour"

Of himself he was reported to have said at his trial for indecent assault that;
"the attraction for both boys and girls was that he was a "dark man,""

[rjpalmer]

Um maybe because he was black?

So where Muhammad and Malvo. The profilers, the multiple witnesses, and the armchair theorists were all gloriously wrong.

And anyway, Violina was described in one report as having white skin, despite his African features.

I'm not suggesting that he is the Ripper, but the man appears to be a cypher and well-worth studying. The fact that he was a newlywed and busted for multiple counts of sexual assault is troubling. I've been looking through the links that Joshua provided (thanks) and I am unable to find this guy in any other public record, beyond the 1888 marriage certificate. The young son mentioned living in a workhouse in Oxford in 1890 looks like the best bet for tracing the family, but doesn't show up in the 1891 census. One wonders if Violina is even the man's correct name.

[Joshua Rogan]

I keep wondering if Violenia was the "stalwart man" who interrupted when Piser was being hassled by the woman in Hanbury Street the week before the Chapman murder. Presumably Piser would have recognised him though?

Evening News 12 Sept, two excerpts from the interview with Piser;

"Last Sunday week I was approached in Church-street by two females unknown to me. One asked me, "Are you the man?" presumably referring to the Buck's- row murder. I said "God forbid, my good woman." A stalwart man then came up and said "Come in, man, and treat me to half a pint." I went on."

Then at the line-up identification;
"He is a stout, stalwart man of negro caste. He came towards me, and without saying a word he deliberately placed his hand on my shoulder. I promptly replied, "I don't know you. You are mistaken." His statement that he saw me threaten a woman in Hanbury-street is false, for I can prove, as I have already said, that I never left this place from Thursday night until the time I was arrested"

[Herlock Sholmes]

Violenia doesn’t sound like the kind of citizen that would have been averse to pointing a false finger at Pizer to ‘’help’’ the police.

[Abby Normal]

Here's the court case. Violina seems to have had a thing for little girls, along with burglary, and falsely accusing the local Jewish chaps. Nice guy. He had recently landed in Hanbury Street and was supposedly on his way to Australia. What happened to the land down under? And why exactly is this guy a worse suspect than Hutchinson? Everything Hutch supposedly did, this guy actually did do! Cheers.

Oxfordshire Weekly News, 3 July, 1889.

Um maybe because he was black?

Anyway good stuff on violenia. Interesting character.

[Joshua Rogan]

Fantastic, thanks RJ!

Here's a couple of old threads which shed a little more light on the chap.

https://forum.casebook.org/forum/ripper-discussions/witnesses/4302-emmanuel-delbast-violina-the-facts-so-far

http://www.jtrforums.com/archive/index.php/t-13212.html

It seems that the circus connection may have been a con - obtaining free accommodation by pretending to be booking it on behalf of the entire circus (which presumably never arrived to pay the bill).

[rjpalmer]

In a side-note, Simon, when "Delbast" aka Violina was in the dock awaiting his doom, he was described as a "negro," and the court exploited his linguistic skills by having him serve as an impromptu interpreter for a couple of Germans who were also in court that day on other charges. Quite a scholar, evidently. I'd say his credibility against Pizer was almost nil.

[rjpalmer]

Here is another version of the above; the arrested Police-Officer claims that Violina was about to go for a knife; this version also blames his broken teeth on Violina's wife, and not him.

[Simon Wood]

Hi RJ,

Violena sounds a thoroughly unpleasant piece of work. I'd be surprised if he didn't offer to show the young girl Gabriel's Horn.

Regarding Hutchinson, I just read the Stephen Sinise article in Rip 146. It has less going for it than Christer's denunciation of Charles Cross.

Regards,

Simon

[rjpalmer]

By late November/December, 1888, Violina had made his way to Aylesbury, where he netted thirty days for stealing pork and assaulting a policeman, breaking two of his teeth. (Imprisoned under the name Emanuel Delbast).


I don't know if he was a backsliding Muslim or Jew with this pork consumption? The Circus reference is interesting.

[rjpalmer]

Simon -- There is a long write-up on Violina's case in the Oxford Times for June 29th, if you are interested. A nasty piece of business. The girls ranged from 11 to 15, and some of them were in his employment. These were premeditated assaults; he would send the shop boy away before attacking the girls. In one case the girl tried to scream and he put his hand over her mouth. He admitted to having led a "rovish and wild life," but had been converted to Christianity, and went around "preaching." That said, in at least one of the rapes he lured the young girl into a backroom in order to show her "his bible." 14 months for 4 rapes; it was a good thing that Major Barbara of the Salvation Army had recently saved his soul, or the jury wouldn't have recommended mercy. RP

[rjpalmer]

I don't recall Hutchinson being guilty of odious assaults upon young girls.

It was boys, actually. A long story, written up by a guy named Stephen Senise and discussed on the "Hutchinson" threads. George supposedly falsely implicated Jews in the WC Murders, killed the women himself, and then headed down to Oz, where he molested a couple of school-boys. Conjecture, obviously, but Violina, by contrast, seems to have been the "real deal."