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Frank van Oploo
Chief Inspector
Username: Franko
Post Number: 562
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - 5:10 pm: | 
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Hi all,
Perhaps many out here know his name already, but only yesterday I came across him when, in connection with the recent discussions on the Stride thread, I was looking for info on murders similar to the ones Jack committed. Like George (Philip) Hutchinson said somewhere else on these boards, this man may be the closest the UK has to the Ripper (together with Robert Clive Napper). Earlier this evening (today) I’ve found out that his name has popped up here and there on Casebook (AP also mentions him in his “Jack the Myth”).
So here it goes.
Gordon Frederick Cummins was allegedly the illegimate son of a titled member of the peerage. His claims of noble birth led others to call him “The Count”. He married a theatre producer's secretary in 1936. When World War II began in September 1939, he enlisted in the R.A.F.
From the start of that conflict, the streets and buildings of London were kept dark as a precaution against aerial bombing by the Luftwaffe. Street lamps were not lit; the windows of houses, shops, offices and factories were painted over, shuttered or screened off with thick curtains. Showing even a chink of light could lead to an appearance in court and a heavy fine. As bombs fell upon the capital, Londoners took refuge in cellars, underground train stations and public air raid shelters.
In a period of six days in February 1942, in the midst of a darkened, blitzed city, Cummins (then 28 years old) murdered four women and attacked two others. Three of his victims were mutilated after death. The newspapers dubbed him “The Blackout Ripper".
On the morning of Sunday 9th February, the body of teacher Evelyn Hamilton (aged 40 or 42), was discovered in an air raid shelter in Montagu Place in the Marylebone district. She had been strangled, her handbag (containing £80) was missing. There were no signs of sexual assault; her body was not mutilated. The killer had either placed her in the shelter after death or launched his attack when he found himself alone with her within its walls.
On Monday 10th February, Evelyn Oatley (aged 35) was found dead in her Wardour Street flat (apartment) in the Soho district. Oatley had turned to prostitution and was using an assumed name - “Nita Ward”. The actual cause of death was strangulation. Her throat had been cut; she was naked and her body had been sexually mutilated with a tin opener. That implement was found close by - covered in Oatley’s blood; it provided fingerprints. An examination of the body yielded the fact that the killer was left-handed.
On the next day, Tuesday 11th February, another prostitute, Margaret Florence Lowe (aged 42 or 43, also known as “Pearl”), was murdered in her flat in Gosfield Street. She had been strangled with a silk stocking and mutilated with both a knife and a razor blade. Her body was not discovered until three days later. The pathologist Bernard Spilsbury stated, after examining this victim’s body, that the murderer was “a savage sexual maniac”. The similarities between the killings and mutilations convinced the police that the same killer was responsible.
On Wednesday 12th February, Mrs Doris Jouannet (aged, depending upon different sources, 32 or 40 - also known as “Doris Robson”) was murdered in a 2 room ground floor flat in the Paddington district that she shared with her husband (a hotel manager). Jouannet was known to be in the habit of picking up servicemen in Leicester Square. She had been strangled (with a scarf) and her naked body sexually mutilated.
Greta Hayward was attacked on Friday 14th February, near Piccadilly Circus. A delivery boy on his rounds interrupted her assailant and Hayward was able to escape. Cummins fled - but left his RAF-issue gas mask behind at the scene (another air raid shelter). The gas mask container was marked “525987”. The number was easily traced and linked to Cummins, but even as the police were working on that lead, he struck again.
A prostitute called Catherine Mulcahy (also known as “Kathleen King”) was attacked in her flat located near Paddington Rail Station. She resisted Cummins so effectively that he abandoned his murderous intentions, gave her an extra £5 and left quickly.
On 16th February, the police arrested Gordon Frederick Cummins in the St. John’s Wood district. His fingerprints matched those on the bloody tin opener and a search of his quarters turned up several items that belonged to his victims.
On 27th April, Gordon Cummins was tried for the murder of Evelyn Oatley at the Old Bailey (before Mr Justice Asquith). He was charged with only one murder - presumably so that the authorities could immediately charge him with any of the other 3 homicides in the unlikely event of an acquittal in the Oatley case. The Prosecution was handled by Mr G.B. McClure; Cummins was represented by Mr J. Flowers. The trial lasted only a single day and the jury took a mere 35 minutes to find Cummins guilty of the murder of Evelyn Oatley. He was sentenced to death by hanging.
Lord Chief Justice Humphreys dismissed Cummings’ appeal and confirmed the sentence. On 25th June, “The Blackout Ripper” was executed at London's Wandsworth Prison; an air raid was in progress over the city as he was led to the gallows.
Here's a picture of him:
There may be two interesting things in connection to Stride’s murder and the double event. On the one hand, like the Ripper may have done, this man made two attempts on one day when he failed at the first. On the other, he fled when he was confronted with a witness and he fled again when his intended victim effectively resisted him.
Sadly, I haven’t found any information about what sort of man Gordon Cummins was, how he behaved shortly before and during the days he committed the crimes and such. Perhaps there’s someone out there who’s able to tell more.
All the best,
Frank
"Every disadvantage has its advantage."
Johan Cruijff
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AP Wolf
Assistant Commissioner
Username: Apwolf
Post Number: 1920
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - 5:24 pm: |
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Thanks Frank
I know Gordon very well indeed.
Here is a chap who probably never had sex with a woman in his life and we have good old Bernard Spilsbury calling him a 'savage sexual maniac', which is what Gordon wanted.
For he was one of these complicated virgin killers, killing that which he could not have or possess, and in his warped thinking - promoted by upper class twats like Spilsbury - he did think that he could have sex by killing sex.
Stand up Wilson and have a pat on the head.
'Pass me the gatling gun, Watson, I fear I see a virgin sexual serial killer on the horizon and a bevy of profilers behind him.'
Frank, if you want to know Gordon Cummins ask TE Lawrence. |
Glenn G. Lauritz Andersson
Assistant Commissioner
Username: Glenna
Post Number: 3344
Registered: 8-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - 5:50 pm: |
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Frank,
Very interesting and illuminating. One of those cases that has totally eluded me.
Thanks for that.
All the best
(Message edited by Glenna on March 30, 2005)
G. Andersson, author/crime historian
Sweden
The Swedes are the men That Will not be Blamed for Nothing
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Chris Scott
Assistant Commissioner
Username: Chris
Post Number: 1873
Registered: 4-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - 6:16 pm: |
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A fascinating case the Cummins one. Also another that has grabbed my attention recently and has proved intriguing is that of "Bible John."
Chris |
Chris Scott
Assistant Commissioner
Username: Chris
Post Number: 1874
Registered: 4-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - 6:21 pm: |
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Sorry to go off topic but re. Bible John I found the other day regarding a new lead from the end of last year:
Sunday Mail (Glasgow, Scotland); 12/19/2004
Byline: EXCLUSIVE By CHARLES LAVERY
THE hunt for serial killer Bible John has been narrowed down to one Scots family, the Sunday Mail can reveal.
The breakthrough in the search for the 60s killer who preyed on women in Glasgow's Barrowland ballroom came through a crime in the city within the past two years.
The crime is said to have been a minor one - but DNA taken from the scene was found to be an 80 per cent match for that found on one of the three victims of Bible John.
And experts say that means the criminal involved is almost certainly related to the killer. ...
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Jeffrey Bloomfied
Chief Inspector
Username: Mayerling
Post Number: 593
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - 8:35 pm: |
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Hi all,
Although there have been many comments on the Gordon Cummins Case, it has never been the subject of an in depth study (there is no volume in the "Notable British Trials" series on it, although the "Wigwam" murder trial of August Sangret has a volume in that series). There are probably three reasons for the lack of studious attention to Gordon Cummins:
1) His killing spree was during a greater one known as World War II (in this case during the Blitz). It's not like the Ripper in the fairly quiet period of 1888. Also, since it is a murder during that war, it is roped together with other murders that occurred in England in that period (the above mentioned Sangret Case - involving a murder by a Canadian soldier of his girlfriend; the Harry Dobkin Case - where a husband uses the blitz to make his wife disappear, only to find that forensics trace her remains back to his killing her). One could add the "Clef Chin" cabbie murder in 1945 by an awol American G.I. and his English girl friend. There are other cases, similar to Gordon Cummins, in other war theatres. The "Melbourne" Black Out murders of 1942 involving an American G.I. come to mind.
2) Unlike Jack, Gordon got caught. There is a remarkable degree of apathy directed at criminals who get caught (as opposed to those who get away or remain unknown).
3) No really singular legal or forensic developement is associated with the Gordon Cummins case (he got caught by a fluke clue - he dropped his gas mask with it's identification number). The Sangret case was a field day for forensics due to identifying the Victim's remains, and due to the background of Sangret as a Canadian Indian. Oddly enough it is more unique than Gordon Cummins, which is why it ended up in the N.B.T. series.
Perhaps someone reading this, with time and inclination, could try to dig into the background and find enough for the full length study of Gordon Cummins that we need.
Best wishes,
Jeff |
Frank van Oploo
Chief Inspector
Username: Franko
Post Number: 563
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, April 02, 2005 - 6:35 am: |
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Thank you guys and possible gal (just to keep the mystery about you going, AP) for your comments!
Many thanks, Chris, for the snippet about Bible John – very interesting. At the moment I am reading a book by Ian Ranking, titled ‘Black & Blue’, which is about Bible John and a possible modern ‘follower’ of his, who’s dubbed Johnnie Bible in the book.
Thanks, Jeff, for your elaborations about why Cummins might not have gotten the attention we would’ve have liked him to.
Forgive me for perhaps being ignorant, AP, but who’s the TE Lawrence you refer to (I assume it’s not Lawrence of Arabia!) and how can I ask him or her to tell me more about Cummins? I’d really be interested.
Thanks again,
Frank
"Every disadvantage has its advantage."
Johan Cruijff
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AP Wolf
Assistant Commissioner
Username: Apwolf
Post Number: 1927
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, April 02, 2005 - 12:25 pm: |
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No worries Frank
I’m afraid I had slaughtered a bottle of fine Spanish Soberano that night and when your drink a bottle of Soberano the one thing you ain’t is Soberano!
Therefore I may well have been slightly influenced by some magical thinking of my own.
But I do remember what was going through my mind at the time.
Yes, I did mean the TE Lawrence better known to us as Lawrence of Arabia.
You see in the period after the Arab wars he demoted himself from a colonel to a simple ‘aircraftman’ and changed his identity to that of ‘aircraftman Shaw‘.
Lawrence was a confused homosexual with a great passion for bondage, masochism and to not be polite about it, sodomy… but he was a great hero and represented an almost iconic position in the armed forces of the British Empire.
Young and ambitious men of the exact period that Gordon Cummins evolved in would have held Lawrence in the highest esteem and have attempted to emulate his staggering achievements by any means they could.
For over a quarter of a century you could not pick up a newspaper without Lawrence being blazed all over the headlines, even as humble aircraftman Shaw he was still there, saving people and situations like some comic book hero… and then the tumble to disaster, the rumours of beating and buggary, the white hero enveloped in a bubble of black, the beautiful and athletic Lawrence cast down in the sand of the Seven Pillars of Wisdom as a woman hater… and then all the little aircraftmen and cadets agog with a weird mixture of adoration and repulsion.
Here is a poisonous bubbling mixture bound to take its toll on young and impressionable men on who one hand want to emulate Lawrence and make the headlines of the newspapers day-after-day, and on the other hand might well be repulsed by a male dominated special society of elite workers where homosexuality is tacitly approved…
And Gordon Cummins was a cadet aircraftman.
Sorry, Frank, you see this is what happens when I drink fine Spanish brandy to excess, but my one solid point is that Gordon Cummins did make the headlines day-after-day in the only way he probably ever could, by the wanton murder of innocent women, and in the end he was probably expressing the same sentiments towards the female of the species that TE Lawrence was in his ‘Seven Pillars of Wisdom’ which is considered a literary masterpiece today.
I do know that the poem written by Lawrence in the introduction is very likely one of the best poems that was ever penned by a human, almost of the quality of my beloved Blake, but quite frankly I found the Seven Pillars to be composed mostly of bull dung.
I have of course found some interesting detail concerning this case but my honest opinion is cast in the Seven Pillars of Wisdom.
Cummins was dancing the Gay Gordon. |
Frank van Oploo
Chief Inspector
Username: Franko
Post Number: 564
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, April 02, 2005 - 3:46 pm: |
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Thanks for clearing things up a bit, AP.
"All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, to make it possible."
In the Ripper-context, by itself, this seems an interesting quote from Lawrence's "Seven Pillars", although what you wrote about him may put it in a slightly different light.
Ad fundum!
Frank
"Coincidence is logical"
Johan Cruijff
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Jeffrey Bloomfied
Chief Inspector
Username: Mayerling
Post Number: 598
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, April 03, 2005 - 5:08 pm: |
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Hi all,
I always liked that quote about the dreamers of the day. I hate to say that I thought it cool, but I did. But taking A.P.'s justifiable point of view one step forward, one can take that quote one step forward too. "While the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, those who dream in the day, and act in the night, are the most dangerous ones of all."
By the way, most people don't know this but T.E.Lawrence was close to another literary figure who figures in the Whitechapel Case. He moved near Bernard Shaw and his wife, who sort of adopted him as a son. In fact, one of the characters in Shaw's last play of merit, "Too True to Be Good" is based on Lawrence's character and history (printable history), and Lawrence actually helped write part of the play.
So go figure. Shaw admiring "some independent genius" in 1888. Shaw adopting and working with T.E.Lawrence in 1932-35. And T.E.Lawrence (with his history of flaggelation and homosexual passions) as possible role model to fellow airman soldier Gordon Cummins, who seems to be copying the "independent genius" only at the wrong time for social content to be noted.
Best wishes,
Jeff |
AP Wolf
Assistant Commissioner
Username: Apwolf
Post Number: 1937
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Monday, April 04, 2005 - 1:03 pm: |
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Yes, Jeff, exactly my meaning.
Going back to the ‘Colony’ example I posted some considerable time ago, this is a classic example of the subtle social signals I talked about at that time that were influencing certain individuals within society to act in one of two ways, as a constructive genius - in this case Lawrence - or as a destructive and instinctive soldier caste killer with clear instructions to rid the Colony of a competitive sex (female) - in this case Gordon Cummins.
The important point being that both men appeared to be receiving exactly the same subtle social signal but acted upon it in completely different ways… however they did seem to share a common purpose, that being the desire to rid the Colony of the competitive sex, female.
Or perhaps they were even acting as unwitting partners?
Lawrence’s task to publicly demonstrate that a social system was available within society that precluded the participation of the female species; and Cummins the soldier caste killer doing the groundwork, killing the women with the mark of the beast.
I’ve always thought this to be an essential component in the chemical make-up of serial killers who murder women in a non-sexual fashion.
Now all we have to do is find Jack’s ‘Lawrence‘, and then we will have found Jack.
My money is on Lord Grimthorpe or Gladstone. |
Natalie Severn
Assistant Commissioner
Username: Severn
Post Number: 1760
Registered: 11-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 05, 2005 - 4:28 pm: |
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But Gladstone was reputed to have been deeply committed to "saving"women who were prostitutes
or who found themselves on the streets through dire necessity!As I am sure you know he went around collecting various such waifs and strays who were taken home and given tea and sympathy from both himself and his[long suffering?] wife.
Of course its possible he had an unwritten script here but on the other hand it all seems to have been rather open and public and quite well known about at the time -almost to the extent thatit appeared as though he wanted to be seen to be the great philanthropist or whatever,unaware or maybe just dismissive of any gossip about his odd antics
-funny old codger though I must say-what the women concerned made of him is probably best left unsaid!
Natalie |
Jeffrey Bloomfied
Chief Inspector
Username: Mayerling
Post Number: 599
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 05, 2005 - 10:19 pm: |
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Hi A. P. and Natalie,
From what I have heard the women concerned tried to blackmail the Prime Minister, but he was able to dismiss their threats.
As for "Jack's" "Lawrence" model (if he had one -I'm sorry, but I still have to be somewhat questioning on it), a better one existed in 1888 than Lord Grimthorpe or Gladstone. The person I have in mind was probably General George "Chinese" Gordon, who had been recently martyred at the fall of Khartoum in 1885. I recommend (if you haven't read it) look at Lytton Strachey's account of "The End of General Gordon" in his classic, EMINENT VICTORIANS. While he was not an open mysogynist, his sexual proclivities were pederastic - possibly homosexual. And he was a national hero when Jack acted up.
Jeff |
AP Wolf
Assistant Commissioner
Username: Apwolf
Post Number: 1944
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 06, 2005 - 12:33 pm: |
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Yes, Natalie, of course you are right, but then again what Gladstone was doing was ’cleaning up the streets’ - okay in an honourable manner, but in a funny sort of peculiar manner Gladstone was doing exactly what Peter Sutcliffe was doing when he told his brother:
’I were just cleaning up the streets, our kid.’
And that was the arrow of my point concerning the ’Lawrence’ type of character in society, a person who appears on the one hand to be a force for very real good in society- as both Lawrence and Gladstone obviously were - but then on the other hand they are truly the motivating and driving force behind the warped magical thinking of serial killers like Jack or Gordon Cummins.
Gladstone brings the whores in off the streets and gives ‘em a cup of tea in his parlour, whereas Jack gets straight to the point and simply slaughters them out there on the street.
Different tactics. Same result. |
AP Wolf
Assistant Commissioner
Username: Apwolf
Post Number: 1945
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 06, 2005 - 12:43 pm: |
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Thanks, Jeff, for your thoughtful post.
General Gordon is a cracker for the type of character I am suggesting as a possible motive force behind the weird action of serial killers.
Please understand that these wild and wacky suggestions of mine are pure flirtation - I am convinced that such strange partnerships do exist in the magical land of killers, but I do not expect anyone else to run with that conception easily.
To be honest I haven’t given much thought to this yet, and I’m sure that there a number of suitable role models that could be found from the LVP.
I took Gladstone because of his obsession with ‘unfortunates’, and I took Lord Grimthorpe because of his super-hero status to anyone slightly interested in religious matter. |
Jeffrey Bloomfied
Chief Inspector
Username: Mayerling
Post Number: 601
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 06, 2005 - 6:55 pm: |
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Hi A.P.
I think it is a side issue, but given this LVP type, and my suggestion of "Chinese" Gordon, I think you might like to mull over this interpretation of a short story I have.
I am certain that you are acquainted with the "Father Brown" stories by Chesterton. Even if his overuse of paradox (and other flaws) bother many readers, he is a fascinating author. One of his Brown stories is "The Sign of the Broken Sword". It deals with Brown and his friend Flambeau discussing the question, "Where do you hide a tree? In a forest?" and expand it to "Where do you hide a body?". The answer becomes "In a forest of bodies - a battlefield."
Brown talks about a fictional event of modern history in South America. A Gordon-like general fought a battle against a Latin-American nationalist hero (I hesitate to call him a "Mahdi" type - more of a Bolivar or San Martin). They had a serious battle in which the Gordon - like general was defeated with huge slaughter, and after surrendering to prevent the massacre of his men he was killed with his own broken sword. It has been presumed that the Latin American leader ordered him killed. It is a stain on the latter's reputation.
Brown, through his own abilities as a detective (and by private sources of information), tells Flambeau the truth, which is a dark version of the "historic record" [I recommend reading the story to you and anyone else to find out what happened]. But the character of the "martyred" general is clearly based on the legend of Gordon, with his broken spear replacing the Arab lance or spear that supposedly ended his life (he may have been shot to death). You may find the story rewarding in this particular theory.
Best wishes,
Jeff |
AP Wolf
Assistant Commissioner
Username: Apwolf
Post Number: 1948
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, April 07, 2005 - 5:32 pm: |
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Thanks Jeff
I'll read that.
Meanwhile I thought the entire text of TE's dramatic poem that fronted the Seven Pillars to be worthy of reproduction here.
Careful!
'I loved you, so I drew these tides of men into my hands
and wrote my will across the sky in stars
To gain you Freedom, the seven-pillared worthy house,
that your eyes might be shining for me
When I came
Death was my servant on the road, till we came near
and saw you waiting:
When you smiled, and in sorrowful envy he outran me and
took you apart:
Into his quietness
So our love's earnings was your cast off body to be
held one moment
Before earth's soft hands would explore your face and
the blind worms transmute
Your failing substance.
Men prayed me to set my work, the inviolate house
in memory of you.
But for fit monument I shattered it, unfinished: and now
The little things creep out to patch themselves hovels
in the marred shadow
Of your gift.'
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Jeffrey Bloomfied
Chief Inspector
Username: Mayerling
Post Number: 602
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, April 07, 2005 - 8:32 pm: |
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Hi A P
Thanks for republishing the poem. Whatever one thinks of the reality of Lawrence, he was a brilliant man and writer. In fact, I keep thinking that if he had lived he might have left more literary work than the four or five books he did leave. Still, to write "The Seven Pillars of Wisdom" was quite an achievement.
Jeff |
AP Wolf
Assistant Commissioner
Username: Apwolf
Post Number: 1949
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Friday, April 08, 2005 - 1:13 pm: |
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Yes, Jeff, as much as I dislike some aspects of the Seven Pillars, it is a brilliant volume that was very useful to me when I spent ten years in the sands of the desert myself.
I cannot deny that I have always had this poem from Lawrence in my mind since the first day I became involved in this hunt for the personality and character of Jack the Ripper; and there is much in this poem I think that might well apply to the misunderstood relationship between killer and victim in these crimes.
The last few lines I find particularly compelling in this regard. |
Natalie Severn
Assistant Commissioner
Username: Severn
Post Number: 1764
Registered: 11-2003
| | Posted on Monday, April 11, 2005 - 5:34 pm: |
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This may be a fascinating glimpse into the mind of such men.
Thankyou AP for reprinting the poem.It certainly seems to
celebrate death and its mysteries - so no plain soldier doing his duty here but somebody who seeks sensual release and ecstasy ...and quite ...JtR may have been
just such a man.On the other hand it may just have been an attempt to come to terms with grief
while looking death in the face.
Natalie
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Library Lady
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Wednesday, October 12, 2005 - 1:03 pm: |
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Can anyone tell me where Evelyn Oatley was buried?
Please reply to my e-mail address |
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