October 6th letter: Witness??

[JTRSickert]

Hello everyone. As some of you may or may not be aware, among the plethora of Ripper letters that was discovered, one of them was dated October 6th, 1888 and the content of the letter is very mysterious. It specifically is threatening a particular individual whom, based on the letter's context, seems to be a witness to one of the murders. The writer says the man is a fool "if you think I didn't see you" and he threatens to cut off the man's ears and send them to his wife if he goes to the police and to "finish you off" if he assists the police in any way. Again, this letter is signed Jack the Ripper. Now, I'm not saying this letter is from the actual murderer but it clearly was meant to go to a specific recipient. My question is: who? Since this letter was sent in the wake of the Double Event, the most likely ones would be either Israel Schwartz or Joseph Lawende. There are other possibilities though such as: William Marshall, James Brown, or Joseph Levy. Even though the Chapman murder had occured just under a month before, maybe Albert Cadosch is also a possibility. Does anyone here have an opinion?

P.S. It should be noted that the this letter was postmarked "London NW" and that the writing has a very distinct similarity to the Dear Boss letter.

[Howard Brown]

Dear JT:

As usual, you reminded me of something I had wanted to mention before...good going JT.:bowdown:

Not only is it a peculiar letter....for what you ascertain as a similarity in handwriting...but what I think peculiar is the writing which appears on the side of the missive, which is similar to "Dear Boss" in that respect.

It could very well be a copycat letter....but check this out:

If the person who wrote this missive had NOT seen the reproductions of Dear Boss...which were placed in the October 2nd issue of the Daily Telegraph and in some or many Met Police Stations... would it not be likely that it could be a missive from the killer ?

Anyone ?

JT...thanks again.

[JTRSickert]

Howard,

Glad I could help, man. lol

Yes, I didn't realize it at first but the post-script in this letter is similar to the Dear Boss, where it said "they say I'm a doctor now."

So, while the Dear Boss itself may be a fake, the real killer could have decided to use it as a basis for his own communication. Interesting hypothesis.

Any idea of who it was meant to go though?

[SirRobertAnderson]

The writer says the man is a fool "if you think I didn't see you" and he threatens to cut off the man's ears and send them to his wife if he goes to the police and to "finish you off" if he assists the police in any way.

"Finish you off" has the implication - at least to me - that something was "started".....which would certainly fit Schwartz's claim that he was followed by one man after the other shouted "Lipski".

Interesting. As always, skeptics will be able to poke holes in it.

[Howard Brown]

JT:

I'd agree with Bob that if it was relative to any murder site/scene witness(es), it would most likely be someone associated with the Berner Street murder. Not sure if it was Packer for the simple reason he, Packer, seemed to enjoy the limelight to a greater degree than any other witness or alleged witness...and it seems a little at odds with him NOT to capitalize on the notoriety of recieving a missive from El Hombre Que Frenan La Carne Fria ( Mr. Hold Back The Cold Meat....man,am I gettin' mileage outta that one line or what ?)...

[JTRSickert]

SirRobert,

While you're opinion is interesting, you must remember that the writer also says "if you think I didn't see you," implying that the encounter was brief and fleeting or that there was some obstruction between the witness and the killer.

Considering this, It sounds to me more like Lawende, Levy, or even possibly, Cadosch (maybe JTR glimpsed him a little bit through the small spaces in between the fence boards)

I'm not discounting Schwartz, mind you, but Schwartz had a prolonged look at the individual who then shouted Lipski, so Schwartz obviously knew the man had seen him, esp. if the Lipski comment was intended for Schwartz whom Abberline said had a "very Jewish appearance."

Just a thought though

[Howard Brown]

JT:

So your take...if the letter was written by Senor Cuchillo Sangrosa*...is that Mitre Square's trio would be equally likely or more likely than the Berner Streeters, eh ?

Never thought of it in that way...but now I will.

Cadosch as a recipient is interesting. He'd be easy to locate via post, wouldn't he ?





*Mr. Bloody Knife

[JTRSickert]

Well, Howard, please correct me if I am wrong (I could be) but I do believe Lawende said that the woman's back was to him, so the murderer probably would have been facing Lawende's direction. Even though Lawende said he wouldn't be able to identify the man, that doesn't mean the man didn't get a look at Lawende. And when Lawende's name appears at the Inquest, it puts him (and levy as well) in the spotlight, very easily to find out where he lives if the killer wanted to send him a threat.

As for Cadosch, just because Cadosch may have heard activity in the yard, that doesn't mean the Ripper didn't hear Cadosch when he came out. Since he would've been well-known in the papers by the time Oct. 6th, it would've been fairly easy to locate him to send him a threatening letter.

[Howard Brown]

JT:

Assuming that Cadosch heard something from within 29 ( Which we'll do for the moment....) and not 25 Hanbury....even if Cadosch was more concerned with the day ahead, the killer ( Asssuming he was in the yard whacking Chapman ) was definitely hip to Cadosch and every move he made.

Thats why its not a bad suggestion that Cadosch recieved the letter....because the killer knew Cadosch's address and possibly his name by way of Inquest reports in the press.