John Richardson

[Ms Diddles]

FWIW I genuinely see nothing suspicious in Richardson waiting until he's in Hanbury St to fix his boot for a second time.

It probably doesn't reflect very well on me, but I regularly come in from work knackered, dump all my work stuff and completely forget about it (and any necessary adjustments which are required) until I'm back at work the following day.

Purely anecdotal of course, but for me this is one of the weaker parts of the anti-Richardson argument.

[JeffHamm]

Hi Jeff

But what about his walk home the previous day from work, after supposedly fixing his boot, he would then have realised that he hadnt fixed it and stopped to fix it either at work or when he got home, or when he put his boots on the following morning before he left for Hanbury Street, why wait till he got to Hanbury Street doenst make any sense.

www.trevormarriott.co.uk

Hi Trevor,

Perhaps I'm forgetting something, but I thought he just said he fixed it the day before, and doesn't say the morning before. So if he did the initial repair in the evening, then the day of the murder is the first day he wore them sense. And a repair may seem fine until you walk in the boots a while - bits shift. Even if they seemed fine for a day or so, after wearing them and walking, repairs may require touching up, again, because things shift through wear. I really don't see a problem with his deciding his home repair required a bit more attention after wearing his boots for a while, and in fact, unless he were a cobbler, it makes perfect sense to me. Boots get put under a lot of strain and various forces, so if something is out of place, you can fix it temporarily, but the problem area may require attention on a few occasions to get it right.

- Jeff

[JeffHamm]

But he admitted he didn't repair the boot, so the converse equally applies.

Cheers, George

Hi George,

Well I'm not sure that applies here. He admitted his repair wasn't adequate due to the dullness of the knife, not that he didn't repair it to some degree. The important thing is he worked on it, it was the lack of an edge on the knife, not the lack of light, that resulted in an incomplete repair.

- Jeff

[JeffHamm]

Hi Jeff,

Just to add to Jon and Trevor's remarks about differing reports by journalists, this is from the Daily News report of the inquest 14 Sep, the coroner questioning Chandler:

The Coroner: Did you find anything else in the yard? - There was a leather apron saturated with wet about two feet from the water tap. I have shown it to the doctor.

Anything else? - A box commonly used by case makers for holding their nails. It contained no nails. There was also a piece of flat steel which has since been identified as the spring of a perambulator.

Best regards, George

Hi George,

I think reports indicate a piece of flat steel and a spring; I believe it's the spring that gets identified as part of his leggings not the flat steel. I'm sure I saw a news story posted recently that includes both the flat steel and a spring, so it seems both were found, even if both are not reported in every paper - this is something one could easily see being edited down as bits of junk in the yard are not exciting news.

- Jeff

[The Macdonald Triad]

Hi George,

I think reports indicate a piece of flat steel and a spring; I believe it's the spring that gets identified as part of his leggings not the flat steel. I'm sure I saw a news story posted recently that includes both the flat steel and a spring, so it seems both were found, even if both are not reported in every paper - this is something one could easily see being edited down as bits of junk in the yard are not exciting news.

- Jeff

Is it just a bit possible (if Richardson was the killer) that the metal from his boot got there because Chapman was flailing around and grabbed at anything she could? I'm inclined to believe Chapman was sleeping at the spot where killed.

[JeffHamm]

Is it just a bit possible (if Richardson was the killer) that the metal from his boot got there because Chapman was flailing around and grabbed at anything she could? I'm inclined to believe Chapman was sleeping at the spot where killed.

I suppose anything is possible, but that seems improbable to me. If Chapman was looking for a place to sleep rough then it makes far more sense for her to have chosen to lie down inside the passageway of the house, where it is at least protected from the elements. Sure, she might get tossed out, but that would apply to the backyard with the privy too, but at least she wouldn't be on the ground until then.

- Jeff

[The Macdonald Triad]

I suppose anything is possible, but that seems improbable to me. If Chapman was looking for a place to sleep rough then it makes far more sense for her to have chosen to lie down inside the passageway of the house, where it is at least protected from the elements. Sure, she might get tossed out, but that would apply to the backyard with the privy too, but at least she wouldn't be on the ground until then.

- Jeff

Hi Jeff.

Very true, unless she had been run out of the passage before by Richardson. I believe she ironically thought herself safe there because Amelia had bought her stitching before and was supposedly a godly woman. This would ruin the witness statement who saw her out front. In my minds eye I can see Richardson opening the back door, sees her, his face changes to rage and he jumps (the thumping against the fence) at her choking her where she lay and she says "no." I always thought it strange that Cadosch describes the word he heard without a scream, it was almost a calm "no." A statement more than an exclamation. A big stretch yes but what else is there except postulating?

[JeffHamm]

Hi Jeff.

Very true, unless she had been run out of the passage before by Richardson. I believe she ironically thought herself safe there because Amelia had bought her stitching before and was supposedly a godly woman. This would ruin the witness statement who saw her out front. In my minds eye I can see Richardson opening the back door, sees her, his face changes to rage and he jumps (the thumping against the fence) at her choking her where she lay and she says "no." I always thought it strange that Cadosch describes the word he heard without a scream, it was almost a calm "no." A statement more than an exclamation. A big stretch yes but what else is there except postulating?

Well, Richardson's visit is long before Cadosche hears the thump and "no", so in the above Richardson has to be lying about the time he was there. Given he says he then goes on to work, he could very easily get caught in a lie of course, but we would have to presume he wasn't checked up on. Also, I think such a dramatic attack, jumping at her, etc, is unlikely. There were people just above the crime scene but no noise gets reported. I think JtR grabbed Annie quickly, and unexpectedly, chocking her to unconcisousness without any chance for her to struggle much or make a call for help; basically, no jumping, etc. And that, to me, suggests that just prior to the start of the attack Annie was not uncomfortable or worried, which I think she would tend towards if she was caught sleeping in their yard/house.

With regards to the "no" heard, Cadosche says he heard that on the way to the toilet, and the thump upon his return. And as you say, there's nothing in his statement, that I recall at least, that suggests it was said in anything other than as part of a conversation, so I don't think that's the start of the attack, though the thump later heard suggests it is underway (whether that's Annie being lowered to the ground, or JtR shifting position as Cadoshe approaches and accidently bumps the fence, etc, is anybody's guess).

- Jeff

[Joshua Rogan]

Hi George,

I think reports indicate a piece of flat steel and a spring; I believe it's the spring that gets identified as part of his leggings not the flat steel. I'm sure I saw a news story posted recently that includes both the flat steel and a spring, so it seems both were found, even if both are not reported in every paper - this is something one could easily see being edited down as bits of junk in the yard are not exciting news.

- Jeff

Jeff,
The flat piece of metal and the spring were one and the same thing, as Chandler explained (Telegraph 14 Sept);

'There was also a piece of steel, flat, which has since been identified by Mrs. Richardson as the spring of her son's leggings."

[Trevor Marriott]

Hi Trevor,

Perhaps I'm forgetting something, but I thought he just said he fixed it the day before, and doesn't say the morning before. So if he did the initial repair in the evening, then the day of the murder is the first day he wore them sense. And a repair may seem fine until you walk in the boots a while - bits shift. Even if they seemed fine for a day or so, after wearing them and walking, repairs may require touching up, again, because things shift through wear. I really don't see a problem with his deciding his home repair required a bit more attention after wearing his boots for a while, and in fact, unless he were a cobbler, it makes perfect sense to me. Boots get put under a lot of strain and various forces, so if something is out of place, you can fix it temporarily, but the problem area may require attention on a few occasions to get it right.

- Jeff

Hi Jeff

Then he would have said the evening and not the day before, and besides as I stated he had the chance to repair them the previous day after initially working on them, and the previous night, and the following morning before he went to Hanbury Street or perhaps he was to busy listening to Nancy Sinatra singing "These boots are made for wallking"

https://www.trevormarriott.co.uk

[Trevor Marriott]

Jeff,
The flat piece of metal and the spring were one and the same thing, as Chandler explained (Telegraph 14 Sept);

'There was also a piece of steel, flat, which has since been identified by Mrs. Richardson as the spring of her son's leggings."

Now how was she able to do that?

https://www.trevormarriott.co.uk

[The Macdonald Triad]

Now how was she able to do that?

www.trevormarriott.co.uk

Good point. Mom to the rescue, especially if the spring wasn't there because of his so-called boot work but the boot work was an alibi for losing it during a struggle perhaps? Truth is that yard was littered with his crap. A boot spring, wet apron, another knife.

[Abby Normal]

Now how was she able to do that?

www.trevormarriott.co.uk

because she washes his clothes and stuff. like his apron.

[Abby Normal]

Good point. Mom to the rescue, especially if the spring wasn't there because of his so-called boot work but the boot work was an alibi for losing it during a struggle perhaps? Truth is that yard was littered with his crap. A boot spring, wet apron, another knife.

another knife?

[The Macdonald Triad]

another knife?

According to someone in this thread there was a separate knife that had nothing to do with the dull one supposedly used to cut up his rabbits carrot. I remember it being from either an news article or the inquest article. I'm too lazy to go find it, maybe someone else knows what I mean.