Patricia Cornwell and Jack the Ripper

I read a book years ago called "Jack the Ripper, the final conclusion" and it stated that the grandson of Sickert had confessed on his behalf to the author. It, like Cornwell, points out the various connections with his paintings and a connection with the Camden murder that wasn't associated with Jack. However, rather than concluding that Sickert was the murderer, it states that he was in cahoots with William Gull (the much mentioned physician) and the coach driver. It was a plot to cover up the birth of an illigitimate son of the Prince of Wales and the symbolism of the masons was what held the details together. If you watch "From Hell" they make the same connections but leave Sickert out of it. They conclude that they were all killed because of knowledge of the child and the method was used as a cover and an excuse for the sick mind of Gull et al to run riot with their masonic fervour and hatred of women. There is another, very credible, suspect. I forget his name now but he was a business man from Liverpool and his diaries have recently been found. They are currently under investigation to discover their authenticity. He also left a watch with the names of the victims scratched on the inside cover. It wasn't discovered until recently too and the family motto is "time will reveal all". I'm torn between Sickert and friends and this Liverpudlian chap. (no pun intended)

oh la de da! d Don't I sound all posh when I'm goin' on like Sherlock Holmes or summat! there is another connection, Jack the Ripper shares the same middle name with Winnie the Pooh and Rupert the Bear! curious.

From Hell, the book by Alan Moore is a very good source book for Jack the Ripper - he pulls together a very credible theory, but is honest enough in a wonderful epilogue to point out how unlikely it is that anyone will ever know the truth and that by now, so many people have trampled over the evidence that we will never ever know. I am about to read Cornwell - I have to say that I think William Gull is the most likely - Cornwell seems to base a great deal on Sickert having painted pictures that feature murders during the sort of time that the murders were being committed. Which logic seems to suggest that Picasso ordered the bombing of Guernica. Sickert is in the From Hell book, as the friend of Prince Eddy, and the victim of the blackmail attempt by Kelly which set the murders in motion, so is credible that he could have been haunted by the murders and sought to work through this by painting how he felt about it.

Let's face it: Jack is the Loch Ness Monster of the crime world....mercurial by demand. It excites people to talk about something that gives them a ticklish revulsion...a ghost stories around the camp fire taste with a sprinkling of conspiracy theory for good measure. I feel that Cornwell, from evidence of recent interviews, has slowly been drifting into obsessional behaviour and more than a hint of paranoia. There is more than a little wildness in her eyes and this latest and very expensive venture is more than a little pointer. It is fascinating stuff and I am not adverse to as much speculation as the next Ripperite or Riperette. The letter written by the Queen was the most telling perhaps: 'This must not happen again'. After one murder in a capital rife with murder, this was a starnge statement. Still, the latent Daily Mail reader in me (I don't but it is in us all, brooding...waiting to strike) can't help speculating how much good $6 million could have done in present cases, rather than one in which all the corpses are dust. Apparently, Cornwell had to buy several Sickert paintings and having those stare at her must have fuelled her passion.... He may not be able to sue but what about relatives? How would you like a sexually motivated murderer in your family?

Two spelling mistakes there: should be strange and Ripperette. Bugger..

Crikey - this was on weeks ago ! I did watch it but it did seem like an overlong self-advertisement for Ms.Cornwell. I must admit i was impressed by all the evidence, but it fell down a bit when a criminal psychiatrist said that the kindof person murdering the women would have continued doing it until they were caught or died. Sickert lived on for quite some time after any Ripper murders, or possibly connected murders ceased. I reckon, like most others here, that he must have been in on it. That's as far as my detective skills go though !...lol.

The Liverpudlian whose diary was 'recently found' is James Maybrick... There was a recent series on Channel 5, discussing the use of geographical profiling to determine criminals - or at least to show the general area that they are most likely to be in... this is all based on the theory that they start close to home, in areas they know, and only 'strike' further afield the more offences they commit... They used a number of different cases to show the theory, although in one part they did apply the theory to the crimes of Jack the Ripper (assuming they really were done at the same hand)... out of all the currently named suspects, the only one that lived in an area that was highlighted as a potential 'base' was Maybrick... So, did Maybrick do it? Well, a lot rests on the authenticity of the diary... certainly the way it was come by is 'odd'... however, it does contain things that - if written at the time it was supposedly written - would require inside knowledge... That's not to say it was Maybrick - it could just as easily be someone else that hasn't ever been named, that lived in the same area as Maybrick, and that Maybrick knew - well enough to know details of the crimes that were not made public at the time... If you are interested, you might want to take a look at http://www.casebook.org - which is pretty much the best / most comprehensive Jack the Ripper source on the internet... And for anyone in London, I highly recommend the 'London Walks' Jack the Ripper walk....

The Discovery Channel has been broadcasting a series for over a year which demonstrates that it was probably an American named Tumelty. It sounded convincing to me. Never heard of this latest theory.