Quote Originally Posted by TonyMay View Post
Hi All,

Firstly can I say thank you to Jericho for his response to my request for further info on just why he feels/felt able to dismiss the diary so quickly. Like Chris however I do find it strange to hear you say that you still believe Maybrick could be a strong candidate in light of the reasons you have given for dismissing the diary. As far as I can see, if you accept that Michael Barrett (or anyone else for that matter) forged the diary then there really cannot be any other reason to suspect that James had anything to do with the murders whatsoever. He was not connected to the enquiry at the time, and had not even been thought of as a suspect until the diary came to light so, in fairness to him, If we believe the diary to be a fake I think we should all acknowledge his innocence. Once again Jericho please do not take these comments of mine the wrong way, I do not intend to 'have a go' at you or decry your opinion but am simply responding to what you've said in an honest way.

All the best,



Tony.
You and Chris are such rationalists! My basic premise is that it will never be possible to prove the Ripper's identity conclusively. Any criminal investigator knows that non-familial murderers are hard to find. I read somewhere that there's a window of about two weeks to track them down and then it becomes increasingly difficult to find them unless they have a psychological need to get caught or slip up through complacency. Most serial killers don't have this need and don't slip up. I can't remember the estimates but the FBI has stated that at any one time there are approximately x serial killers on the lose in the States who will probably never get caught.

Retrospectively applying this analysis to Jack. Need I say more. After all this time...

In terms of Maybrick, I take a 'murder-she-wrote' stance. One moment I'm dipping a madeleine into a cup of tea and the next moment, peverse synchronicity, call it what you will. It comes to me. The 'diary' reveals a hidden knowledge, an accumulated understanding that points in one direction. I'm even prepared to accept that parts of it are real, but embellished by little ol' wine drinking Barrett.