Howard Brown
03-04-2011, 04:51 PM
Brief article featuring Wolf Vanderlinden on Tumblety.
Scotland Yard inspector used Jack the Ripper case as cover for espionage
Life Examiner (USA)
September 17, 2009
Author : Dan Norder
Over the years a number of authors have claimed that Jack the Ripper's murders were committed as a political cover-up. Although those conspiracy theories have no historical basis, a Canadian researcher has now demonstrated that a Scotland Yard inspector misled a reporter into believing he was in North America chasing a Ripper suspect to draw attention away from an illegal and politically-motivated mission for England's Criminal Investigation Department.
Toronto-based author Wolf Vanderlinden reveals that, despite statements to a journalist that he was pursuing Dr. Francis Tumblety in connection with the infamous series of murders in London's East End, Inspector Walter Andrews actually returned back home without going anywhere near where the notorious doctor was known to be staying.
Vanderlinden, in an essay scheduled for publication in a crime history journal this month, provides the name of the ship Andrews traveled on and the date it sailed for England, proving that the inspector did not conduct any investigations related to the Jack the Ripper case during that trip.
"The story of the mission to the United States in connection with the Whitechapel murders was only a way of getting rid of a nosy reporter," Vanderlinden said. "It was a ruse, a bit of misdirection."
Previous writings by Vanderlinden have argued that the trip was made by Andrews under directions from CID Assistant Commissioner Robert Anderson to try to find evidence linking Irish political leader Charles Parnell to Fenian terrorist activities. Vanderlinden says he now has additional evidence to support that theory. He notes that such a mission would have been illegal and that Andrews had every reason to mislead the public about his true goals.
The story of Tumblety reportedly being arrested in connection with the Jack the Ripper murders but escaping to New York City with Scotland Yard following shortly after has been featured in many books, both nonfiction and fiction, but much of what has been written has been found by more recent research to be incorrect.
For example, records show that Tumblety's London arrest was actually for homosexual acts, which were considered a crime in Victorian England. After he made his escape while on bail for those offenses, American reporters wrote that his flight was connected with the Jack the Ripper killings, then a hot news item. Dr. Francis Tumblety
However, the first document by any member of England's police force that mentions the doctor in that connection was written 25 year later by John Littlechild, who is not known to have been directly involved in the Whitechapel murders investigation and was writing a private letter to George Sims, a journalist with a personal interest in the case.
Historian Timothy B. Riordan has also done extensive research into the facts of Tumblety's life and presented many of his findings at the most recent international conference about Jack the Ripper, which was held in Knoxville, Tenn., in October of 2008. Riordan's new book, Prince of Quacks: The Notorious Life of Dr. Francis Tumblety, Charlatan and Jack the Ripper Suspect, will expand on this information. It is scheduled for release later this year by publisher McFarland & Company.
Scotland Yard inspector used Jack the Ripper case as cover for espionage
Life Examiner (USA)
September 17, 2009
Author : Dan Norder
Over the years a number of authors have claimed that Jack the Ripper's murders were committed as a political cover-up. Although those conspiracy theories have no historical basis, a Canadian researcher has now demonstrated that a Scotland Yard inspector misled a reporter into believing he was in North America chasing a Ripper suspect to draw attention away from an illegal and politically-motivated mission for England's Criminal Investigation Department.
Toronto-based author Wolf Vanderlinden reveals that, despite statements to a journalist that he was pursuing Dr. Francis Tumblety in connection with the infamous series of murders in London's East End, Inspector Walter Andrews actually returned back home without going anywhere near where the notorious doctor was known to be staying.
Vanderlinden, in an essay scheduled for publication in a crime history journal this month, provides the name of the ship Andrews traveled on and the date it sailed for England, proving that the inspector did not conduct any investigations related to the Jack the Ripper case during that trip.
"The story of the mission to the United States in connection with the Whitechapel murders was only a way of getting rid of a nosy reporter," Vanderlinden said. "It was a ruse, a bit of misdirection."
Previous writings by Vanderlinden have argued that the trip was made by Andrews under directions from CID Assistant Commissioner Robert Anderson to try to find evidence linking Irish political leader Charles Parnell to Fenian terrorist activities. Vanderlinden says he now has additional evidence to support that theory. He notes that such a mission would have been illegal and that Andrews had every reason to mislead the public about his true goals.
The story of Tumblety reportedly being arrested in connection with the Jack the Ripper murders but escaping to New York City with Scotland Yard following shortly after has been featured in many books, both nonfiction and fiction, but much of what has been written has been found by more recent research to be incorrect.
For example, records show that Tumblety's London arrest was actually for homosexual acts, which were considered a crime in Victorian England. After he made his escape while on bail for those offenses, American reporters wrote that his flight was connected with the Jack the Ripper killings, then a hot news item. Dr. Francis Tumblety
However, the first document by any member of England's police force that mentions the doctor in that connection was written 25 year later by John Littlechild, who is not known to have been directly involved in the Whitechapel murders investigation and was writing a private letter to George Sims, a journalist with a personal interest in the case.
Historian Timothy B. Riordan has also done extensive research into the facts of Tumblety's life and presented many of his findings at the most recent international conference about Jack the Ripper, which was held in Knoxville, Tenn., in October of 2008. Riordan's new book, Prince of Quacks: The Notorious Life of Dr. Francis Tumblety, Charlatan and Jack the Ripper Suspect, will expand on this information. It is scheduled for release later this year by publisher McFarland & Company.