The six degrees of seperation from serial killers

[Thorn]

Well my BF used to talk about eating people (for real)... so sorta?

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by Thorn
Hey Boris you should unblock me on AIM and talk some time... you did block me right?

I don't recall ever having you on AIM. I don't use it anymore anyway. I'm on MSN.

[Thorn]

I don't recall you ever having me period.

[Boris Godunov]

Well, that's a given.

[Boris Godunov]

BC, hmmm...that's actually a great idea! Do you have any writing abilities? We could collaborate. I can provide the insight into the seedy underbelly of gay night life, and you can provide...well, whatever you can!

[Static Universe]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara

You seem to know a lot about SK's, Boris. Have you checked out the new book about the Ripper by the forensic investigator who claims he was Walter Sickert?

That book is rubbish. It's pretty obvious from reading it that Cornwell sold her Sickert=Ripper theory for publication and then managed the evidence to make Sickert fit in after no tangible proofs showed up.

The so-called DNA evidence only matches Sickert to the Ripper in the sense that it matches him to upwards of 100000+ men in Victorian London as well, any of whom could also be the Ripper*.

Most of her other evidence is just wild conjecture.

After the book was published last fall, casebook.org had some great forum threads dissecting her arguments, but unfortunately those are only available now on the archive CD I believe.

Edit: * Assuming of course that the Ripper letter she tested isn't a phony.

[Boris Godunov]

As far as we know, the only Ripper letter that is remotely genuine is the "From Hell" letter that had a piece of what is believed to be Catherine Eddowes' kidney. The kidney showed signs of a health condition that Eddowes had and matched her remaining kidney.

I don't believe Cornwell's tests were based on this letter, which throws them out the window, as far as I am concerned.

The other letters are almost certainly frauds, as they feature different hand writing and are actually signed "Jack the Ripper," an epithet devised by the media and which the real killer may never have sanctioned, since "From Hell" is not signed that way at all.

If th DNA evidence linking Sickert was conclusive, which it isn't, it would only prove he somehow was linked to a letter, not that he was the killer.

[Static Universe]

Originally posted by Boris Godunov
As far as we know, the only Ripper letter that is remotely genuine is the "From Hell" letter that had a piece of what is believed to be Catherine Eddowes' kidney. The kidney showed signs of a health condition that Eddowes had and matched her remaining kidney.

I don't believe Cornwell's tests were based on this letter, which throws them out the window, as far as I am concerned.

The other letters are almost certainly frauds, as they feature different hand writing and are actually signed "Jack the Ripper," an epithet devised by the media and which the real killer may never have sanctioned, since "From Hell" is not signed that way at all.

If th DNA evidence linking Sickert was conclusive, which it isn't, it would only prove he somehow was linked to a letter, not that he was the killer.

The letter she tested was one which had been in the possession of Ripperologist Donald Rumbelow for many years, which he had donated to the British Public Records Office. Therefore it was only "Ripper letter" not sealed in plastic, which was the way they used to preserve old documents.

It is almost certainly one of the letters sent around the time of the murders, but whether it was actually sent by Sickert requires a serious suspension of disbelief. For all we know, the DNA she got from the letter could just as well be Rumbelow's.