I agree with you about Sickert, but you didn't mention the fact that Sickert was on holiday in France at the time of the murders - just one of the people who 'definitely' was the Whitechapel Murderer who was far away at the time - Prince Albert Victor and Michael Ostrog being the others. Lechmere could not have been the murderer either, being about ten years too old to fit the only description of the murderer given to police. The murderer's modus operandi when outdoors was to make his escape as quickly as possible. That rules out Lechmere, who actually drew the attention of a passer-by to the dead body!

You don't know much about Sickert. First, Sickert, like his father would wonder around for days without his wife or family knowing where he was. Sickert was known to have 2 bolt holes at once in different parts of the city. No one not even any of his three wives knew where they were. He was cruel to his wives but not physically. With his first it would be her birthdays and maybe he'd show up and bring her a gift and maybe he wouldn't. He sounds like he could have been Narcissistic. Once, they made dinner directions for her b'day and she waited and waited, but good old Sickert never showed up. So no, he would have at least in his mind no need to be alone with his wife. As far as some of his drawings go, he drew at least 3 that looked exactly like the women at the crime scene. When I read her book she showed the drawings and before I read the notation underneath I immediately recognized all of them looked so much like the crime scenes. As far as where his bolt holes were we don't know, but he once said, I'm paraphrasing because I'm writing all of this from memory "Don't give me the pretty ones to draw. That's not for me. I want the fat or really skinny ones, the dirty ones." I want the ugly ones." Now, that doesn't tell us he was staying in the East End, but the word 'ugly' stands out to me. I don't think physically dirty women would be found in the places he lived or where his friends lived. He was gone to Dieppe, France on a day that one of the ladies was murdered. She explains that in the book and that he'd been there several days already. He loved the coasts because he loved to swim. I'm not sure, but he could have taken a barge back to England depending on where he landed he could have taken a train back to London. It sounds like a longshot, but her book makes it's plausible. One more thing. Patricia found out from a friend, Michael Raffael, who had been there doing a piece for Food & Travel magazine and happened to be staying at a place then "Rockland Bed & Breakfast." The lady who owned was a Mrs. Hill and she began telling stories of the people who'd stayed (this was 2001) there in this house who at that point had been opened 125 years. So, eventually she gave him a guest book dated from 1877-1888. Michael went through it a while and found out crude drawings, corrections of people's spelling and rating people's poems. He did this throughout the book. I'm not going into what any of it said unless someone wants me to because this is a much longer text than I had planned to write. I just kept remembering something as I was writing. Anyway, when he came across the drawings someone had labeled them as being Jack the Ripper. I forgot to mention that this was done July of 1888 so about a little longer than a month before the killers started and no one knew that now infamous name. How would anyone except the killer would have known? It's all circumstantial evidence but when she first started investigating this 2001 and went to London she met with now retired Michael Grieve who worked for Scotland Yard. I think his rank was Deputy Assistant Commissioner. When she went back to him with all her evidence she asked him, " what would you done back then with the evidence I brought you?" He replied," Well, I'd have to find where his bolt holes were and after finding them I would feel confident enough with the information you've brought me that I would bring it before the Crown Prosecutor!" Again, I apologize for writing something as long as the "Declaration of Independence." There's so much more in her book.

@@l.plantagenet It doesn't matter how unpleasant or secretive Sickert may have been; he was in France when at least two of the murders took place!

@@l.plantagenet: Thank you for the detailed and informative response which provides me with information I didn't know. Much appreciated.

@@jonsilence I'm glad I was able to help. Now, I got most of it from P. Cornwell's book but I've also heard and read some from other sources. Another thing is that Walter's father acted in similar ways and he was an artist who wrote for Punch and Judy which kids love to this day, but what was it about? A deadbeat father and husband who slapped his wife and child around. That's what Oswald Sickert wrote. Walter also several brothers and sister. I think Walter may have been the only one who got married. They abused their sick sister. Walter didn't have a good upbringing as regard to women except I think he loved his mother. There's also a story of him being dropped off at a London hospital because he had to had a fissure corrected on his penis. He didn't know much of the English language because I think up until that point he lived in Germany where his father was born or in France. It was at a time when drs didn't always give anesthesia. If they did it was chloroform with would make someone wretch when they woke up. Either way trauma for anyone but especially a young child.

...or my ouija board!!!!

amen to that !

Or QC James Scobie. His name was Charles Allen Lechmere (the man who was found at the scene of Polly Nichols' murder).

Or members of your past family 🤔

@@Wolflairhx1 ?

There’s no evidence for sickert. Being fascinated with a crime doesn’t make you guilty. Hell if that’s the case Cornwell is a ripper suspect!

She was trying to solve a murder mystery. Sickert was doing it for pleasure and his life fits the timeline which means it's plausible he could have been the ripper

More of a big howler than a compelling case. What Cornwell does not mention is that Sickert was in France at the time of the murders. He had cast iron alibis for the first two murders and probable alibis for the next two. He was in the habit of going on holiday there in early August and returning to England in early October. People in the art world treat Cornwell's claims as nonsense while people who are unaware of the French holiday treat her as a genius.

@@philipskalla4312 so he was in the "habit" of going there. What evidence for the "cast iron" alibi? Imagine Cornwell built an enormous chunk of her career on such major mistakes. Doesn't sound likely.

@@jillscheintal4600I think you think what I wrote 'doesn't sound likely' because you have rather too high an opinion of the investigative skills of an ex-waitress! Walter Sickert arrived in Dieppe on 1 August 1887. The following year, he arrived there in early August, his last London sketch being dated 4 August and his next one 4 October. On 6 September, his mother, who was with him, wrote from France that he and his brother were enjoying swimming and painting - about 40 hours before the Hanbury Street murder. The artist Blanche visited Walter Sickert and his family on 16 September. There is no evidence that Sickert caught a ferry to England on 7 September, committed a murder in Hanbury Street the following morning, and then returned to France in order to meet Blanche a week later, all without his brother or mother noticing his absence. There is no evidence that Sickert ever travelled between England and France DURING his holidays in France. According to Sickert's biographer, Wendy Baron, he was in France from early August till late September, but his 'October Sun' is widely believed to have been painted in 1888, which is consistent with his next London sketch being dated 4 October. In 1885 and 1890 he stayed in France till October. In descriptions of and references to The October Sun, it is often dated 1888 and often dated c. 1888. Its current owner, Michael Palin, believes it to have been painted in 1888. Walter Sickert was on holiday in France in the month of August in 1885, 1887, 1888, 1889, 1890, and 1894. He could not have committed the Bucks Row murder, which occurred on the last day of August. He was in France at the time of the Hanbury Street murder. He was probably in France at the time of the double murder. He did not live anywhere near Spitalfields, where the last murder was committed, but about seven miles away. The murderer must have lived in Spitalfields, a point which obviously escapes Ms Cornwell's eagle eyes, but being in France - as was another so-called suspect, Michael Ostrog - is enough to rule him out. This comes as no surprise to anyone familiar with the Sickert/JTR supposed connection. Walter Sickert started the whole thing himself, claiming to have rented accommodation in which the murderer lived. This was reported by Osbert Sitwell in 1947, then turned into a verbal hoax by Joseph Gorman in 1973, which was developed into a book by Stephen Knight in 1976, and then a slightly different hoax by Jean Overton Fuller in 1990 - in every case implicating Sickert in the murders. Patricia Cornwell was a late-comer.

@@philipskalla4312 yes and he painted a picture called "Jack the Ripper's Bedroom" when he did stay in the room in the house he was told was where JTR stayed. I'm not going to get into the other things you mentioned because I have several posts where I've touched on them except that he had bolt holes on the East End so he very possibly could have stayed at those while he was killing. Also, that P.C. herself talked with some modern day Ripper experts like the retired Deputy Assistant Chief Investigator Michael Grieves who said that she provided enough evidence that he would feel confident to go to the Crown Prosecution with a case against him if he had lived back then. He's also the one who got her into looking at W.S. as a possible suspect. He's been on several docus about Jack. She was in London for something totally different and was going to relax in Ireland, but received a call about touring Whitechapel. She really didn't want to, but she did out of respect for the invitation. She barely knew anything about Jack, nor him MO, nor that all of his victims were prostitutes. I know there are other suspects that are just as viable and I'm not saying that he definitely was JTR, but he's one of my suspects.

@@l.plantagenet The Crown Prosecution Service, or its then equivalent, would not have been interested because Sickert was in France with his mother and brother and meeting French friends there when most of the murders were committed.

He left England shortly after 4 August, was definitely still in France at the time of the second murder, and was probably still there at the time of the double murder. The only murder for which he definitely was in England was the last one.

Read the book.👀

If you're convinced by her weak and often fictitious tale then I hope you're never called into jury duty.

If you had been on a jury hearing the case against Walter Sickert, you would have heard the evidence of his mother and brother and French artists that he was in France at the time of at least two (and probably four) of the murders. You would not even have got a chance to vote guilty.

But none of those people have the mountain of forensic evidence against them that Sickert does. Great Britain doesn't want it solved and they don't want it to be Sickert even more so but facts and evidence don't bend to people's desires.

I read the book and the evidence is def not moody

@@MyXxx77 Sickert was in France not Spitalfields!

I think that Mary's killer was more likely her 'lover' Charles than it was Jack. The damage to her body was so much worse. If Jack needed privacy to do that sort of thing to those girls in he would have lured them away. Jack seemed to like the thrill of doing it on the street and the potential to be caught. It is a huge leap in violence from the other victims. But I don't believe Charles did the other murders however.

Of course he is. He just stopped killing after Mary Kelly and went on to live a normal life without killing ever again right? Makes perfect sense for a sadistic serial killer to do that (sarcasm).

amen to that !!!!1one

Charles lechmere was believed to have killed most of those women on his way to work.

Sickert.

Bro, it’s, Sickert. What about the handwriting on the guestbook vs ripper letters and the doodle? That was huge evidence against sickert

SPQR it’s not sickert. He’s the weakest suspect ever

What Sickert was doing at the time of the murders is a matter of record. He left England shortly after 4 August and did not return to England until late September or early October. He was in the habit of going to France in early August and returning in early October.

understanding what

Well go ask her. Tweet her, email her...

I'd imagine that those right-wing Christian preachers follow their religion's teaching that one should hate the sin and not the sinner, and that while they disapprove of her lifestyle, they still recognise her as a fellow human being with good intentions. Likewise, Cornwall, being equally as reasonable and measured in her views, recognises the right-wing Christian preachers as also having good intentions, despite their views conflicting with her lifestyle. It's not too difficult to understand tbh. Just don't try and shove your beliefs down people's throats (regardless of whether it's in a religious or political sense) and people can learn to just get along.

She may have been a talented waitress, but a detective is expected to establish where a suspect was at the time of a murder before accusing him before the whole world.

The bodies were not moved! That idea seems to have been started by Joseph Gorman in 1973. There was no trail of blood in any of the murders. Annie Chapman walked down a corridor into the yard where she was then murdered. There was no blood in the corridor. Liz Stride was murdered in a yard, but the murderer was interrupted before he could mutilate her. There was no trail of blood. Catherine Eddowes was seen chatting with the murderer about three minutes before she was murdered. There was no trail of blood. Marie Kelly was murdered in her room - not dumped there!

@@philipskalla4312 The complete history of jack the ripper by Philip Sugden . The police notes are exact. Inspectors Helson and Spratling in their reports observed that their was no blood jet on the wall or floor from the throat cut and it seemed as if not a lot of blood was spilt. They stated maybe the clothes soaked some up but still the area had very little. Two possibilities. 1, they were killed by knife elsewhere like in a coach and Inspector Spratling stated he saw blood drips from the road but later withdrew that statement. 2, they were strangled or poisoned elsewhere then transported to the final scene and then mutilated after death and there would be no blood splurt and much blood. Am referring to Mary Ann Nichols found on Bucks row. So you never know.

@@rizmark5522 In the case of Mary Ann Nichols, the murderer must have been interrupted before he could even start to mutilate her, which rules out transportation of the body.

@@philipskalla4312 But it doesn't! It gives my reasoning credibility. There was a slight laceration of the tongue. There was a bruise running along the lower part of the jaw on the right side of the face caused by pressure from a thumb. There was a circular bruise on the left side of the face which also might have been inflicted by the pressure of the fingers or the chloroform container and also No blood was found on the breast, either of the body or the clothes. It means she was dead already. The facial trauma was from a hand holding chloroform anesthetic sponge. The cause of death also includes possible cardio toxic chloroform effect and asphyxia as a result of mechanical respiratory tract obstruction in other words putting pressure on the throat while administering chloroform on a sponger stops the lungs! Laceration of the tongue is a side effect of chloroform. You bite you tongue! The Ripper used chloroform to keep the victims quiet. No reports were ever made by anyone of any screams or sounds at the scenes of the crimes in the dead of the night.

@@rizmark5522 I don't know what you are driving at. If you are replying to my argument that the bodies couldn't have been moved (KZfaq are not allowing me to see which comment of mine you are replying to) then the chloroform theory is irrelevant to the question of where the murder took place.

Does the book mention since Sickert was an actor, he had access to many costumes and couldn't be identified bc eye witnesses claimed to have seen these women with a different man? If the studio was near by where the crimes took place, that would have given him easy access to the studio and change of clothes. I'm almost certain this was mentioned during her interview on 20/20, years ago.

Oh dear. Sickert was discounted years ago as he was in France at the time of the murders. Cornwell had a very strange obsession and her 'evidence' has been torn to shreds by the British researchers and authors of 30+ years standing. Try not believe everything you read including her books on JtR.

@@moragmackay3597 in France?? Where is the proof??

@@veronica.99 Google it. There are letters that prove he was in France at the time as his mistress lived in Dieppe with their child. '......there is evidence to suggest that he may not even have been in England when the murders were committed. A number of letters from several family members refer to him holidaying in France for a period that corresponds with most of the Ripper murders'.

@@veronica.99 You were given the proof but were too insecure to reply. Of course you were.

Lol ur a clown

Because he wasn't the killer. Her accusations are based on very little. The mitochondrial DNA being the most compelling, but there is stronger DNA evidence against another Ripper suspect, one that's more logical than the painter she points a finger at (who was reportedly in France when these murders took place).

There's zero evidence and her books are laughable.

Tell your research then

She loses me with her insistence on finding DNA on the letters. First off by the time she did this 120 ish years had passed and it’s not like the were in air tight evidence bags. And second most serous scholars including the inspectors at the time believe the letters were hoaxes. I don’t think he’s the killer, he was definitely in Paris for 2 of the murders. But I could be convinced that he wrote some or all of the letters. He does seem the type.

learn to write a sentence

He had to be living in Spitalfields!

Lechmere was too old to have been the murderer and also too slow - hanging around a dead body in the street when the murderer was long gone.

an interesting theory, but one point would trouble me about this. witnesses claim that they saw the victims being attacked by more than one man. if Lechmere was one of these men, then who was his partner in crime?? just another low life street scavenger like himself?? or perhaps someone like Walter Sickert, who also knew the streets from having repeatedly walked them time and time again in between doing this painting and another in his little Whitechapel studio apartment. another person who did a lot of walking, but probably in the nicer areas was Arthur Machen. some say Sickert was in France, but to take a carriage from his home to the ferry only took one hour. and taking the ferry across the English Channel only took two hours. if he had a carriage waiting for him, a close friend or servant driving, he could quickly get to work and then get back in time to eat breakfast with his mistress. three to four hours to get there. three to four hours to get back. 8 hours tops which is what most people work each and every day, but they still manage to get home in time for dinner. Walter Sickert also had a friend who worked at the London Hospital in the Whitechapel district. the surgeon Dr. Henry Tonks. the famed Elephant Man was also in residence at this hospital. and Dr. Robert Donston Stephenson checked into this hospital while the Jack The Ripper murders were happening. Stephenson was rich and could easily have paid off the night watchman and rented a carriage and henchman before he checked into the hospital to be ready and waiting for him each night. they could have easily worked out a signal. like a white handkerchief or something. lots of characters here and lots of possibilities. and don't forget 22 Batty Street. that was planned out ahead of time. the building where outside was Elizabeth Stride's dead body was being rented by a Jewish man to host a worker's party of Polish and Russian Jews. the killer (or killers) planned this out. meaning that they were anti-Semites. they paid off false witnesses. and they were intentionally trying to baffle and confuse the police and the Whitechapel coroner W.E. Baxter (a Freemason and a Jew). that's almost a double whammy! Stephenson worked as a part-time writer for the Pall Mall Gazette, and he intentionally spread false information (using a pseudonym) as well as exonerating himself from having done any crimes. it's interesting that people choosing the Jewish suspects as most likely automatically appear to be anti-Semites with a hate agenda especially considering how many thousands and thousands homosexuals were murdered in England before the anti-Buggery law was repealed in 1861. before that homosexuals who were caught were sentenced to death. in much the same way that witches were sentenced to death for casting spells and reading people's fortune cookies. what a mad mad mad mad world we are living in. and there seems to be a great deal of misogyny going on as well. not only the Jews are capable of misogyny. every man on this planet and even some women are capable of misogyny. he lied about the timing, or just wasn't sure because he was too poor to own a watch?? we'll never know without fingerprints and a semen sample.

@@terry63lee No-one claimed they saw the victims being attacked by more than one man! The only witness who described an attack on a victim was Schwartz, but he saw Stride being attacked 15 minutes before she was murdered. Lechmere was not a 'low-life street scavenger'. He worked as a carter, possibly 14 hours a day, had a wife and nine children, and no time to wander the streets looking for prostitutes. Sickert was in France at the time of the first four murders.

Please never serve on a jury. Thanks!

The one they called Eddy? He had valid alibies for most of the murder dates. Who committed the crimes for him? Is this the Masonic theory?

Prince Albert was at Balmoral when one of the murders took place

@@l.plantagenet He had alibis for ALL of the murders!

@@philipskalla4312 I know that's what I said.

No he wasn't! 🙄