Portrait of a Killer: Jack The Ripper�Case Closed

Jack the ripper

Well after almost 114 years, since the last reported murder committed by Jack the Ripper, they think they have solved the mystery, so claims Patricia Cornwell with her new book Portrait of a Killer: Jack The Ripper�Case Closed.

The murders were not connected to the Mason and the protection of the crown, like the evidence as pointed to for years. But it was none other then the artist Walter Sicket, or so they think. The Sickert theory is hardly new. It has been around for years (long enough that I've forgotten the name of the book in which it was popularly put forth in the 1970s or so), and pretty thoroughly debunked, from what I've read.

Steven Knight's _Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution which I have read through makes a very good point and produces a lot more of an in-depth investigation and produces some strong evidence. Knights evidence seems to slap you in the face with nearly all avenues pointing to the Royal Family, The prince of Wales Edward VII's son Prince Eddy Duke of Clarence and Avondale, and of course the Mason, i.e. Sir Robert Anderson, Sir William Gull, and Sir Charles Warren. Although Knight didn't have Sicket as the Ripper, but he does say he was a co-conspirator, because of his connection to the Masons. Sickets son Joseph Sicket claimed his father had hinted that he knew of what was happening as regards to the White chapel murders but never did he hint to anyone that he, Walter, was the Ripper.
It seems that Patricia Cornwell is just trying to promote her next book in which she is hoping to make allot of money. She has created a great promotional scheme Evan having a TV documentary made about her new findings in the Ripper case, With some great bitterness towards Sicket I must add.

She claims to have spent over $6,000,000 on her research for her new book this expenditures can be written off (for the most part) if she produces a best seller.
Check out her own personal website.
www.patriciacornwell.com...

Mary Kelly as she was found in her bed at 13 Miller's Court.

Yes, I just read a few days ago that DNA evidence in fact pointed to this "artist at the time" as having done the murders, he died in 1947 I believe, maybe 1942, but I didn't know his name, now it looks like I do.

Finally the Mason name is cleared

Sincerely,
no signature

See how deep you have to dig to find the truth

i knew this about a year back she was on tv docu about it she was even at manchester art gallery looking at the paint that wasm alledgely done by jack the ripper

From what I remember, she got DNA evidence from one of the JTR letters (I think it was from the 'Dear Boss' one). The problem is that it only 'proves' that Sickert wrote the letter, not that he was the killer.
In fact, it was widely believed even at the time that the letter was written by someone other than the killer himself.

Casebook: Jack the Ripper - Sickert & Cornwell

[Edited on 2-3-2004 by Pisky]

I've read the book, and as much as I'd like to say the killer is Walter Sickert and be done with it, there are still holes in her theory. the Casebook Jack the Ripper site used to have an interesting rebuttal of Cornwell's book, but I can't seem to find it on the site right now

I also came across a listing of articles relating masonry to the Ripper case here.

I caught Patricia Cornwell on some sort of 20/20 like newsmagazine program; I think she's got an ongoing series with one of those programs. anyone know which one and when it airs?

edit: Pisky beat me to it. and, talk about thread necromancy! this thread is originally from November of 2002

[Edited on 3/2/2004 by MorningtonCrescent]

I remember watching a documentary about the book and how Patricia Cornwell came to her conclusions. As something of a Jack the Ripper buff, I have to say that I don't agree with her findings.

Pisky & MorningtonCrescent have already linked to the Casebook site, so I won't repeat it, and will only say that it is definitely the site for Jack the Ripper info.

More than one person probably carried out the murders attributed to Jack the Ripper, a former detective has claimed.
Former murder squad detective Trevor Marriott pointed to the "double event murders"- where both victims were found within 12 minutes of each other.

news.bbc.co.uk...

guess you have been reading the metro you beat me to it

According to the Casebook site (and other books that I have read), the murders occurred at 1:am (Stride) and 1:45 (Eddowes). The killer did have enough time to get from Berner Street to Mitre Square especially if he was hurrying. I have walked through that area and know its quite possible.

One earlier theory, which backs your idea of two killers, Fortean, is this: One person murdered Stride - possibly one of her 'clients' - during an argument (she was not mutilated). 45 minutes later, while the cops were running around Berner Street, Jack himself murdered Eddowes in Mitre Square, leaving his trademark mutilations.

[Edited on 9-3-2004 by Pisky]

Double post

[Edited on 9-3-2004 by Pisky]

This thread stirred something up in my memory that I think I remembered my mum telling me some time ago, She is deeply into family history and I'm sure I can remember her telling me that my grandmother lived in the house next door to Walter Sickert at some point. So I had a search around and yes indeed, he lived in my area from 1934 until 1938. I will have to ask my mum about it when I next see her, I don't know if there will be much to tell, but I'll post it here if there is.

Apparently my mom was born in the same street as Catherine Eddowes. A long time afterwards though.

I heard on a documentary that it was an American doctor that may have done it, BUT it came to the conclusion that there was NO Jack the Ripper. All the murders were totally unconnected, but were all, coincidentally, committed in the Whitechapel area.

The American doctor was Francis Tumblety.

From what I have learned, there definitely was a 'Jack the Ripper', but it is doubtful that he actually gave himself the name. It is widely believed that the name 'Jack the Ripper' was given to the murderer by a journalist in an attempt to fuel the frenzy for news. JTR was originally known as 'The Whitechapel murderer' and 'Leather Apron' (Although the 'real' Leather Apron turned out to be a cobbler called John Pizer, who was at one point believed to be the killer but later released).

Even though it has long been declared a forgery the Maybrick diaries are still a good read for any ripperologist.

One of the things that bothers me about the whole investigation was that the entire angle of the killings suddenly stopping does not seem to get enough research it seems. Modern criminal psychology kind of proves the fact that a serial killer usually never stops killing. Just the fact that Jack stopped tells me that he was either incarcerated, died or moved to another less "hot" locale to keep his spree going. Are there any records of similar murders taking place outside of the Whitehall area?

Fascinating stuff people. Thanks for posting the links and information.

Like most of us here, I love a good mystery, and the less explainable the better. So I guess it's no surprise that I've done quite a bit of reading on the Ripper case.

I don't believe the Masonic conspiracy, or any of the Royal conspiracies, for the simple reason that there's absolutely no evidence to place any of these alleged suspects in Whitechapel at the time of one or more of the murders.

I don't believe it was Dr. Tumblety, because I don't think a killer with the mania evinced by the Ripper homicides would simply return to the States and not take up his knife again.

I certainly don't think it was Kosminsky/David Cohen, who, being indigent and a foreigner, would never have been able to gain the trust of these women at the height of the Whitechapel murders.

Nor do I think it was Walter Sickert, although I think he was probably a rather warped young man who certainly wanted to be part of the Ripper furor going on around him and probably did write several of the "Ripper" letters.

But there are a couple of suspects that I keep in mind. One is a man named William Henry Bury. Bury fits the psychological profile the FBI Behavioral Science Division put together on the Ripper - a white male in his 30s, who worked in the Whitechapel area as a sawdust hawker. He married (and later murdered) a former prostitute, which of course ties him to the class of women the Ripper preyed upon. He murdered his wife following an argument of some kind, strangling her and then cutting her abdomen open, although he did not remove organs and carry out the full range of mutilations upon her that the Ripper victims suffered. He then stuffed the body into a trunk. When apprehended, he claimed that she was dead when he found her and that he had stabbed her only after death while trying to fit her in the trunk. It is possible, however, that if he was the Ripper, he may have stayed his own hand at the repeat of the classic mutilations because since it was his own wife, it would be seen as a clear connection to him. He is said to have made a cryptic remark to the hangman, something to the effect of "I suppose you're very proud of yourself, getting the chance to hang ME, aren't you?" Incidentally, the murder of Mrs. Bury and his subsequent execution was not long after the murder of Mary Kelley in November 1888.

Another possibility is Kelly's own live-in lover, Joe Barnett. He supposedly worked as a fish porter (gutting and cleaning fish, perhaps) and moved in with Kelly, keeping her from prostitution. When he lost his job, she returned to the streets over his objections. Soon after, prostitutes started dying. Witnesses indicated that Barnett would frequently spend what little money he had on newspapers so he could read the details of the crimes to Mary and implore her not to go back out to the streets. Mary, seemingly intent on getting rid of Barnett once and for all, allowed another prostitute to move in with her, and Barnett left in a huff, although he did continue to visit and give Mary money when he had any. Some speculate that Barnett's main motive was to frighten Kelly off the streets (and out of the arms of other men) but, when that failed, he snapped and frightfully mutilated her - removing her heart, perhaps the one thing he'd always wanted from her.

ewwwwwwwwwww weres that girls face or legs or arms????all i see is a chest, head and all the stuff from her inside , on the outside

Yes, it's rather graphic. But her arm is there, clearly visible lying across her abdomen, and her legs are there, spread and bent at the knees.