Casebook Examiner No. 2 (June 2010)

[Tom_Wescott]

I'm getting ready to leave work and have printed out RJ's essay to read tonight. I can't wait. I completely avoided the forums today in case of spoilers. LOL. But I can't wait to see what Vanderlinden, Chetcuti, Wood, Hainsworth, Hawley, etc. have to say. If I'm able to read RJ's tonight I'll print off more stuff. It's a rather huge issue, in case no one has noticed. Like 148 pages. I read Jennifer Shelden's editorial and it was great - her writing is better than ever. Guess that's what marriage to Neal does for you.

And as already mentioned, even illiterate Ripperologists will love the Examiner for the photos provided by Rob and Chris, so I'm sure Don and Spry will get a big thumbs up from Jeff Leahy. Ripperologist might be more popular with the ladies for its photos of Howard Brown, but you're not a real man unless you read Casebook Examiner.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

P.S. If Don's the editor, would Spry be considered the publisher? Not sure how that works with electrozines.

[Jonathan H]

The second issue is another triumph!

It will be a classic of its kind for a long time to come.

I have only read, in-depth, R J Palmer's second piece about Tumblety and it is a masterpiece of research and judicious argument -- and just a pleasure to read. He is able to make the past come back to life that is just wonderful. Also, the examination of fragmentary and ambiguous sources is masterly and I hope to learn much from his extraordinary trilogy.

To me, for what it is worth, it again shows that Tumblety was a major Ripper suspect of 1888, if not THE major police suspect [traces of whom can be discerned in the 'drowned Doctor' of a later era] and I think part of the desperation surrounding Sadler, in 1891, was to prove that the American Quack was not the fiend -- an objective which utterly failed.

In this issue there are also two excellent sketches of Montie Druitt which I will blow up and pin onto my board at work.

[The Grave Maurice]

I'm still working my way through Tom's Le Grande piece. Seems pretty sound so far, but my attention span isn't what it used to be. I must say, however, that I enjoyed the book reviews, Jon.

[mklhawley]

I'm getting ready to leave work and have printed out RJ's essay to read tonight. I can't wait. I completely avoided the forums today in case of spoilers. LOL. But I can't wait to see what Vanderlinden, Chetcuti, Wood, Hainsworth, Hawley, etc. have to say. If I'm able to read RJ's tonight I'll print off more stuff. It's a rather huge issue, in case no one has noticed. Like 148 pages. I read Jennifer Shelden's editorial and it was great - her writing is better than ever. Guess that's what marriage to Neal does for you.

And as already mentioned, even illiterate Ripperologists will love the Examiner for the photos provided by Rob and Chris, so I'm sure Don and Spry will get a big thumbs up from Jeff Leahy. Ripperologist might be more popular with the ladies for its photos of Howard Brown, but you're not a real man unless you read Casebook Examiner.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

P.S. If Don's the editor, would Spry be considered the publisher? Not sure how that works with electrozines.

I did ask Joe Chetcuti for something and you'll find it here. It's a San Francisco article first time on the internet which is quite pertinent to Tumblety.

http://forum.casebook.org/showthread.php?t=4666&page=10

Sincerely,

Mike

[protohistorian]

kudos

Very well done. I enjoyed all the pieces greatly. It is a pleasure to read something and realize how little I know and how grateful I am for the perspectives of others. Dave

[Chris]

Thanks to Rob and Tom for their comments. I think the real credit is due to Joseph's descendant (who prefers to remain anonymous) for generously sending me the photograph and giving permission for it to be published.

For my part I am looking forward to reading Tom's article, and was very interested to see Rob's, with its photograph of the home of Israel Schwartz - another witness of interest...

[Monty]

Though Ive not seen the piece Chris, I hear its quite something.

I think I can speak on behalf of everyone here when I ask if you can pass on our gratitude to Lewandes decendant for allowing the use of Josephs photo.

And thank you for presenting it.

Monty

[Tom_Wescott]

Chris,

Before I forget, could you please clear up a minor mystery - the pronunciation of Joseph's last name. I take it to be like 'luh-wen-dee', but am not sure.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

P.S. I'm shocked there's not more discussion about RJ's article. I read it last night and found it to be VERY much worth discussion.

[Chris]

Before I forget, could you please clear up a minor mystery - the pronunciation of Joseph's last name. I take it to be like 'luh-wen-dee', but am not sure.

I'm not sure what the exact pronunciation would have been, but I think the "w" would have to be pronounced as a "v" - I believe it always is in Polish, and that would be consistent with the fact that he anglicised it as "Lavender".

[Phil Carter]

Through the mouth and round the gums...

I'm shocked there's not more discussion about RJ's article. I read it last night and found it to be VERY much worth discussion.

Hello Tom,

Speaking for myself...I am still winding my way through your lengthy piece. As one great singer, Johnny Cash, once sang... "One piece at a time"...

There are various different things in Ex.2 that need looking at carefully. Now I know why it comes out once every 2 months.... it needs digesting properly.

"Through the mouth and 'round the gums, look out stomach, here it comes."

best wishes

Phil

[Tom_Wescott]

Thanks for that, Chris.

I appreciate you taking the effort to read through it, Phil. I look forward to your feedback.

I thought RJ's essay was fantastic and cannot wait for part 3 to hear what he has to say about the Toronto question, which is a sticking point for me after having read Simon Wood's 'Smoke and Mirrors' (strangely not acknowledged by RJ) and Tim Riordan's chapter. I read Vanderlinden's Ripper Notes series, but that's been some years, and I should re-read it now that I have a better understanding of what he was talking about. Vanderlinden, as usual, was on the cutting edge of his subject material, as RJ appears to be now.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[Natalie Severn]

I am over halfway with Tom"s masterpiece! Looking forward to reading RJ"s, the Lawende photo is brilliant Chris---looking forward to your article too and Stewart"s---a really fantastic edition and yes--an original editorial Jen that cut through the crap!

[Trevor Marriott]

It is already being said that this is the best issue of any Ripper journal ever produced in history, and for good reason.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

Tom
First may i congratulate you on a well written article in The Casebook Examiner

However I hope you wont mind and take exception but i have gone through your reasons you have advanced suggesting he was The Ripper and added my own comments.

1.Le Grand was cruel, vicious, violent, accurately described himself as “void of all human feeling”; he lived for years off prostitutes and took joy in beating them in the open street. Unlike Tumblety, Druitt, or Kosminski, Le Grand was a verifiable sociopath.

The Ripper was completely the opposite. All murders away from the public eye. Le Grands assaults appear to have been with prostitutes he was actively involved in pimping. No evidence that any of Whitechapel victims were involved with pimps. Quite the opposite.

2. Le Grand was accustomed to wearing silent shoes as a ‘private investigator’ and required the patrolman of the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee to wear them as well. He was accustomed to keeping changes of clothes hidden about when following people and kept more than one address at a time.

No evidence to suggest the Ripper did this.

3. Le Grand, alone among the suspects, could have depended on an accomplice if necessary.

No evidence to suggest Ripper had an accomplice

4. Le Grand, alone among the suspects, inserted himself into the investigation by joining the WVC.

So did many other men from in and around Whitechapel

5. Le Grand alone would have known the whereabouts on any night of the WVC patrolmen, as he was in charge of placing them. Through his police contacts he would also know the beats of policemen in any area of London.

There is no evidence to suggest the Ripper knew or used this information to his advantage

6. Le Grand, because of his status as a PI and his position with the WVC, could have and did walk the streets of the East End with impunity. If stopped by a constable, he would not be detained.

Many people would have been stopped and spoken to by the police and many allowed to go lawfully on their way
7. The WVC met at the Crown Tavern at 74 Mile End Road, a short distance from Berner Street. They let out for patrol after midnight. This means that we can accurately place Le Grand in the very neighbourhood in which Stride was murdered at the very hour of her murder.

Along with about 100 + other men

8. Israel Schwartz described ‘Pipeman’ as 5ft 11in, 35 years old, and fairhaired. There were exceptionally few men in the East End fitting this description, and certainly very few likely to have been in the neighbourhood and on the street at the time Schwartz walked through Berner Street. And at 6ft, age 35, and fair-haired, Le Grand was probably the only man in the area who fit Schwartz’s description and was also a violent sociopath with a history of abusing prostitutes.

Schwartz description cannot be relied upon for many different reasons.

9. Following the Star’s publication of Schwartz’s story, Le Grand went on a disinformation frenzy, conjuring up the Packer suspect and the Batty Street Lodger, two fabrications that successfully put the police and to serve as red herrings right up to the present. As has been shown, his motive could not have been driven by financial gain or a desire for publicity, and if his own history is anything to go by, Le Grand is quick to purchase lies and alibis only for the sake of self-preservation. It is not an understatement to suggest that Le Grand emerges as the probable murderer of Liz Stride.

There is no evidence to prove or disprove the Batty St lodger

10. Le Grand was exceptionally intelligent as well as cunning. He possessed an intense hatred for the police and arrogantly gave clues to them in his 1891 ‘threat letters’. Le Grand would have taken delight in intentionally murdering two women in the same night but in the jurisdictions of two different police forces.

Conjecture on your part

11. Le Grand, alone among the suspects, possessed a collection of knives and was alleged to have been skilled in the use of them.

Every butcher, doctor, vet, anatomist would have had a collection of knives and be skilled in the use of them. Not to mention other occupations where knives were used on a daily basis.

12. Le Grand, so alleges Jabez Balfour, was suspected both by detectives and personal acquaintances of having been Jack the Ripper.

No police files or anything mentioned in officers memoirs to date mention Le Grand as being a Ripper suspect

13. Le Grand referenced the Whitechapel murders in his 1891 letters in such a way that he was deceitfully pretending to be more ignorant of the crimes than he really was.

He was pretending to be ignorant in the knowledge of the crimes because he probably didn’t know anything

14. Le Grand went to prison only months after the murder of Mary Kelly and was hounded by police immediately upon his release in 1891. Within months he was back in the docks, rushed through a speedy trial, and was given a sentence described by a former member of parliament as a “glaring anomaly of…judicial absurdity” and determined by no less than the Home Secretary to be extreme. This occurred at the peak of the police investigation of Le Grand as the Ripper and indicates he was put away until old age as a consolation for not being able to take him to trial for the Ripper murders. Even if the police did come to possess evidence which could have secured a conviction, Le Grand’s ties to the police department, possibly the Times and the Parnell Commission, and other important individuals, would have made such a gamble impossible.

Conjecture yet again

15. Mary Kelly was a prostitute who put on French airs and claimed to have travelled to Paris with the captain of a merchantman. Le Grand was a pimp who put on French airs, made occasional trips to Paris, and on occasion used the alias ‘Captain Anderson.

The back ground of Mary Kelly has never fully been proved.

It will be very intersting to see what the ledgers reveal if an when we get them made public as i said previous I suspect there will be few shocks with some of our likley suspects perhaps disappearing off the radar for ever !

[Chris]

On a more serious note, that typo at the top of page 124 has just ruined the whole issue for me.

[The Grave Maurice]

I take it to be like 'luh-wen-dee', but am not sure.

Never been sure myself, but I assume that the "w" was pronounced as a "v". So, it probably would have sounded like "La-ven-da" which would account for the Anglicized form of Lavender.