Rippercast

[twnorman]

I have to say, I love listening to the Rippercast. I hope it will continue.

[jmenges]

Thank you. We're currently in the planning stages for a new episode, and many more in the pipeline.

Stay tuned,

JM

[Fantomas]

All excellent, always questioning, full of fascinating contributions and strangely comforting in the camaraderie among regulars. Lovely stuff!
A "Spring-Heeled Jack" episode and/or an episode with David Baxa - fairly approachable set designer of 'From Hell' (probably the most factual about the movie) would be my humble suggestions for future eps. Thanks.

[jmenges]

Thanks for your compliments, it's appreciated. I'm about to start a list of topics we've yet to cover, which even going on 70 episodes is a considerable amount as most people know, and Spring Heeled Jack will be on it. I like the idea a lot. Thanks for the suggestions and any more you (or anyone) have feel free to PM me.

JM

[Simon Wood]

Hi Jonathan,

My lips are sealed.

Regards,

Simon

[Phil Carter]

trio.

Not that it will ever happen of course.. but the trio of Bruce Robinson, David Orsam and Jeff Leahy would make for an interesting programme perhaps.

Here one would get a wide and varied discussion relating to suspects, background scenarios and ripperology.


Phil

[sjking]

Rippercast

Jonathan, Ally etc..

I wanted to thank everyone associated with Rippercast, over the years I've listened to every podcast multiple times and have enjoyed every moment.

The effort and dedication you guys have put into this pet project is immense and I'm sure everyone who has an interest in this subject is eternally greatful.

How about a Rippercast of HH Holmes? That would be very interesting.

Once again thankyou all.....absolutely brilliant.

Cheers

Simon

[jmenges]

Thanks Simon (both of you )

I had actually discussed with the "team" a show on H.H. Holmes a week or so ago as I'm in contact with someone with a pretty big interest in him as Jack the Ripper. But, alas, there are many reasons why the theory that Holmes was JtR is not taken very seriously so I'm not sure that a podcast on him as a suspect would be successful. Many listeners may come away from such a show with the feeling that the panelists are just stating the obvious faults that the current theory has. That being said, I do find H.H. Holmes' proven murderous career very interesting and so, like the episode we did about Mary Pearcey, a Rippercast on Holmes is possible even if we only briefly touch on his Ripper suspect candidacy.

If you have arguments that could sway me to consider a Holmes show more seriously, I'd be happy to hear them.

And a new episode of Rippercast should be released in the coming couple of weeks (if not sooner), so stay tuned for that.

Thanks again for your support.

JM

[twnorman]

HH Holmes

Well, while HH Holmes might be a good one to cover I think there are some better choices out there. You might consider HH Holmes as an example of why he is not a suspect and in that case you might also look at why others are not suspects as well. I won't name them here as I don't want to stir up too much controversy if I mention someone that someone believes should be considered. Personally I would like to expand the podcast to include Ripper-like cases. Not necessarily by their method of operation but more in the fact as that the murderer is still unknown. Perhaps there are cases where someone was arrested as the murderer but as the years have past it has been proven that they were indeed innocent and the real murderer was never truly identified. But after having said all that I would not want us to neglect the White Chapel murders in the process. It is ok to detour a bit, but let's not get off track.

[jmenges]

Thanks,

I anticipate speaking to Robert Anderson on a one-on-one during which we'll probably end up discussing the Long Island Serial Killer which is a case that interests us both. Absent that, he's also giving a talk on LISK at the Baltimore conference in April which we will release as a part of our conference coverage.

Regarding Holmes, what I find difficult to believe in the theory that he is Jack the Ripper is that the theorist I'm aware of also accuses him of the Austin Servant-girl murders, the killing of Carrie Brown in NYC and the murder of Mr & Mrs Borden in Fall River. The Holmes a JtR theory is based on handwriting comparisons to 'Dear Boss', his similarity to the 'Freddie Mercury' photofit, a few newspaper illustrations of the suspect and, most ridiculously, to Sergeant William Thicke. Plus that his whereabouts cannot be ascertained. When you throw all of this into a Ripper theory, especially all of these other famous crimes, it really sweeps away every particle of plausibility.

A much more interesting suspect theory with some similarities to the Holmes-as-Ripper one would be Joseph Lis (Silver). I attempted to have the author of The Fox and the Flies on the show many years ago but it fell through, but I'm considering giving that another try.

JM