Rare photo of Marion Hedgepeth, the train robber?

[Juha Nakari]

Having owned Horan and Sann's Pictorial History of the Wild West since the 70's the photos in the book are very familiar to me and I have many times gone Google-hunting further pictures of famous outlaws and lawmen.

Today in a jumble sale I came across a Finnish magazine from 1965 and in it a translated story of Pinkerton and Holmes, the mass murderer. Obviously train robber Marion Hedgepeth's paths crossed Pinkerton's and Holmes' and it was quite a suprise to see Hedgepeth staring at me in a photo I've never seen before.

The article was written by one Peter Paul List and I guess the story has been originally published in some American magazine in the 50's or 60's. In the photo Marion is without the derby hat and overcoat, but clearly has the same tie and stick-pin. He looks a bit fuller in the face but has the same ears, chin and eyes. Mugshot I believe.

Here's the well-known photo:

And here's the photo I've never seen before:

Any further info on Peter Paul List and the photo would be greatly appreciated - are these two pictures part of the same set and are there any other known pictures of Hedgepeth? Thank you.

[anthony martin]

 Margaret,

   Although contemporary with the Ripper his motivation wasn't the same and his whereabouts can be clearly accounted for.He had a genuine contempt for people,counting on their emotions,greed or vanity to get what he wanted and his primary motivation was money and power.That he was a genuine sadist is clear but he operated quite differently than the Ripper.

[C. F. 'Charley' Eckhardt]

Jack the Ripper has been pretty thoroughly identified as a failed lawyer named Montague John Druitt.  His father was a physician, which is where he learned anatomy.  He eventually committed suicide by drowning himself in the Thames.  According to the report of the suicide, he had something on the order of £50 in gold in his pockets when he drowned.

[anthony martin]

 Charley,

 Interest in  Druitt as a suspect was posited after the publication of The Complete Jack The Ripper in the 1970's.At the time of his death one of the police inspectors suspected him"" as it were and we are no closer today to identifying The Ripper than anyone was in 1888.Druitt committed suicide following getting the sack at a boys school.

   Many think that the Ripper could have been a foreigner,simply leaving after the last murder.For all we know he could have been Tex the Ripper.

[Murray A. Gewirtz]

Anthony, It seemed at one time that every year a new book would be published naming someone else as Jack the Ripper! I think half the population of London at that time are JTR suspects.

[anthony martin]

  Murray,

    Yes,that's the problem-a city of tens of thousands with a police force composed of two policing entities that couldn't encroach on each other's authority and both psychologically unequipped at that time to even recognize a serial killer.Poor Druitt committed suicide shortly after the last killing and that doesn't make him a killer.He'd been fired from his teaching position and was subject to bouts of depression just as his mother was.

  The list is amazing- Neal Cream,Leather Apron,an unknown working man,the Duke of Clarence,the Queen's physician etc.and still all is speculation.Recently Patricia Cornwell wrote a book claiming that the artist Walter Sickert was the man and it is a silly,ill conceived work full of errors and really stretched reasoning.I was rolling my eyes and muttering expletives under my breath while reading that one!

   As for Montague Druitt, he was dead and the police investigator simply wanted to tidy up and call the matter closed.

[Gay Mathis]

Anthony, a descendant of Mudgett (aka Holmes) thinks he may have been Jack the Ripper.."Jeff Mudgett, author of Bloodstains"

http://www.bloodstainsthebook.com/jack-the-ripper.html

 

[anthony martin]

  Gay,

    Mudgett was certainly a sociopath and sadist but he was also highly intelligent and a master manipulator.I've never had the same sense about old Jack,who I think was more of a sexual deviant who acted very much in the moment.His killing and horrifying mutilation of Mary Kelley was the act of someone lost in his sick fantasy and frenzy.Besides,Holmes/Mudgett's movements are too well known.One thing about Ripper books,no matter how ridiculous or implausible the  theories or suspects ,they always sell in huge numbers.

[anthony martin]

  Gay,

    While I found the article fascinating(Casebook:Jack the Ripper is a site that I peruse fairly often)I found the comparison of the 19th century cursive writing to be unconvincing.All too often still another Ripperologist fixes on a favorite suspect and looks for "evidence that corroberates his or her particular bias and largely ignores the rest of the evidence.The Ripper letters are numerous and many styles of handwriting are evident.The letter written in red ink and signed"Yours Truly,Jack the Ripper"is most certainly a forgery by a journalist at that time and he was later fired from his paper over this matter.The only convincing letter remains the "from Hell "missive written to Mr. Lusk that was accompanied by part of a human kidney.The writing in that indicates someone very uneducated and very,very unstable.It looks like something written by someone dangerously out of control.Thanks for sharing this-it's fascinating stuff even if I thought the Mudgett connection implausible.You always come up with great information!

[Peter Van Camp]

I've only heard or seen the name "mudgett" at my grandfathers farm in Thorton/Campton ,New Hampshire.they were the original owners.sold to my grandfather @1925.the house and barn were on Sandwich Notch Road,an old Drovers road from Center Sandwich to Campton.Any background on Herman Mudgett?

[Gay Mathis]

Book--Dark and Tangled Threads of Crime: San Francisco's Famous Police Detective--Isaiah W. Lees--William B Secrest--2004--pg 240 from John Boessenecker Collection has another image listed as Marion Hedgepeth..Looks like the 2nd one you posted in the beginning wearing a hat with the same number "11,205"..

[Margaret-Anne Moore]

IF POSSIBLE, I WOULD LIKE TO SEE A COPY OF THE PHOTO YOU MENTIONED.  I HAVE READ SOME OF SECRET'S WORK, BUT DO NOT REMEMBER ANYTHING ON MARION.

[Gay Mathis]

Margaret, Link below to see the book, and image listed as Marion Hedgepeth, I mentioned--Dark and Tangled Threads of Crime: San Francisco's Famous Police Detective--Isaiah W. Lees--William B Secrest--2004--pg 240 from John Boessenecker Collection--Google book preview..Scroll to page 240..I think this link will work for you..

(Book Link)