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Hi Rob,
You are absolutely correct that Macnaghten did not call Druitt a "sexual maniac" in either version of the memorandum in which Druitt iscited by name. But in Days of My Years Macnaghten wrote: "There can be no doubt that in the room at Miller's Court the madman found ample scope for the opportunities he had all along been seeking, and the probability is that, after his awful glut on this occasion, his brain gave way altogether and he committed suicide; otherwise the murders would not have ceased. The man, of course, was a sexual maniac, but such madness takes Protean forms, as will be shown later on in other cases."
Macnaghten either had Druitt in mind when he wrote this or he was thinking of somebody else. Since there is no real reason to suppose that he meant somebody else, and since he elsewhere said that Druitt was sexually insane and here says the murderer was a "sexual maniac", and since he thought that Druitt was the murderer, and since he later says that the murderer committed suicide in the Thames and Druitt committed suicide in the Thames, I'd say it is reasonable to suppose that he had Druitt in mind and was saying that Druitt was a "sexual maniac".
And what Macnaghten meant by "sexual maniac" is someone who killed because he liked it, a motive which he clearly states ordinary people did not understand: "Very few people, except barristers, doctors, and police officers, realise that such a thing as sexual mania exists, and, in a murder case similar to the two mentioned above, it is a most difficult task for prosecuting counsel to make a jury fully understand that it supplies and accounts for the complete absence of any other motive for the crime."
So, I suggest that Macnaghten was not attributing to Druitt any aberrant behavior or perceived aberrant behavior, such as homosexuality, but meant only that he lacked the conventional motives of other criminals and murderers.
You are absolutely correct that Macnaghten did not call Druitt a "sexual maniac" in either version of the memorandum in which Druitt iscited by name. But in Days of My Years Macnaghten wrote: "There can be no doubt that in the room at Miller's Court the madman found ample scope for the opportunities he had all along been seeking, and the probability is that, after his awful glut on this occasion, his brain gave way altogether and he committed suicide; otherwise the murders would not have ceased. The man, of course, was a sexual maniac, but such madness takes Protean forms, as will be shown later on in other cases."
Macnaghten either had Druitt in mind when he wrote this or he was thinking of somebody else. Since there is no real reason to suppose that he meant somebody else, and since he elsewhere said that Druitt was sexually insane and here says the murderer was a "sexual maniac", and since he thought that Druitt was the murderer, and since he later says that the murderer committed suicide in the Thames and Druitt committed suicide in the Thames, I'd say it is reasonable to suppose that he had Druitt in mind and was saying that Druitt was a "sexual maniac".
And what Macnaghten meant by "sexual maniac" is someone who killed because he liked it, a motive which he clearly states ordinary people did not understand: "Very few people, except barristers, doctors, and police officers, realise that such a thing as sexual mania exists, and, in a murder case similar to the two mentioned above, it is a most difficult task for prosecuting counsel to make a jury fully understand that it supplies and accounts for the complete absence of any other motive for the crime."
So, I suggest that Macnaghten was not attributing to Druitt any aberrant behavior or perceived aberrant behavior, such as homosexuality, but meant only that he lacked the conventional motives of other criminals and murderers.
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