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Jack the Ripper

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Jack The Ripper Sketch

Jack The Ripper Sketch

Real Name: Unknown
Case: Serial Killer
Location: London, England
Date: 1888

Case[]

Details: Jack the Ripper was an unidentified serial killer who murdered at least five women in London, England, in 1888. At the time, London was the largest city in the world, with a prosperous West End and a poor East End. Whitechapel, a district within the East End, was overcrowded, having about 80,000 inhabitants in 1888. Work and housing conditions were poor. Alleyways and courts were infested with rats. Many residents were homeless and slept under stairs or bridges. They barely had enough money to survive. Some were starving to death. Alcoholism and violence were also rampant.
According to crime historian Lindsay Siviter, many single women in the East End could not afford their own homes. Every day, they tried to scrape together fourpence to sleep in a bed in a common lodging house, or "doss-house". In reality, many "beds" were coffins lined up in rows against the walls. About 8,000 people lived in 233 houses.
Many of the jobs for women had seventeen-hour shifts for only tenpence. According to crime historian Adam Wood, many women resorted to casual prostitution to pay for their beds. In 1888, about 1,200 women in Whitechapel worked as prostitutes. They were called "unfortunates".
Siviter believes that Jack the Ripper chose these women because they were easy targets. According to author and tour guide Richard Jones, the victims knew the streets well. They knew the places to take their clients where there would be little danger of interruption. Unwittingly, they chose the "perfect" place to be murdered.
In the early hours of Friday, August 31, 1888, Police Constable John Neil walked down his beat in Whitechapel. At 3:45am, he discovered a woman lying in a darkened doorway in Buck's Row. He shined his lantern on her and saw that her throat had been cut. According to Siviter, several people lived close to the scene, but no one saw or heard anything.
At the mortuary, doctors found a deep, jagged wound on the woman's body that went from the breastbone to the abdomen. It completely severed the tissue in her stomach. Her bowels protruded from her abdomen. Her throat had been cut from ear to ear and was severed by two deep cuts, one of which went down to the vertebrae. She had also been stabbed twice in the vagina.
Markings on the woman's clothing led the Metropolitan Police to question residents of a nearby workhouse. They identified the woman as forty-three-year-old Mary Ann "Polly" Nichols. She had five children from a previous marriage. Unfortunately, she became an alcoholic, which led to a downward spiral. In the summer of 1888, she moved alone to the East End. She struggled to earn a living through casual prostitution.
On the night of her murder, Polly had been drinking. At 2:10am, she was ejected from a doss-house because she had insufficient money to pay for a bed. She went out to find a client and raise the money for a bed. She told the doss-house's deputy, "I'll soon get my doss money. See what a jolly bonnet I've got now." She was last seen at 2:30am walking toward Whitechapel Road. An hour later, she was found dead.
Detective Inspectors from the Central Office at Scotland Yard were sent to assist the investigation. Inspector Frederick Abberline took charge, having spent years as a detective in the East End. Because murders were uncommon in the area at the time, the police assumed Polly's death was a "one-off".
[File:00aa ripper.JPG|thumb|right|400px|Period Sketch of the Ripper]] Just one week later, on Saturday, September 8, 1888, forty-seven-year-old Annie Chapman was found murdered in the backyard of a house at 29 Hanbury Street in Spitalfields. This was also in the East End, less than a mile from where Polly was killed.
Annie was the oldest of the victims. She and her husband, who died in 1886, were both alcoholics. Their two children lived with their grandmother. According to police reports, she had no income whatsoever. To survive, she started selling trinkets on the streets. When that did not work, she resorted to casual prostitution. On the night of her murder, she did not have the money to pay for a bed. At 1:45am, she left the doss-house on Dorset Street.
Witnesses reported seeing Annie walking around Spitalfields, looking for a client. At 5:30am, Elizabeth Long saw Annie talking to a dark-haired man outside the front door to 29 Hanbury Street. She did not see his face, but he appeared to be a "shabby-genteel" foreigner based on his clothing. He was wearing a brown deer-stalker hat and a dark overcoat. He was around the age of forty and slightly taller than Annie. It is believed that he was Jack the Ripper.
Elizabeth heard the man ask Annie, "Will you?" and she replied, "Yes." After this sighting, it is believed that he and Annie went through the unlocked entrance to 29 Hanbury Street. A dark passageway led to the backyard, where she was later found murdered.
Albert Cadosch was staying at the house next door, 27 Hanbury Street. Around 5:30am, he entered the backyard to use the bathroom. He heard a woman cry, "No, no!" and a thud against the fence. It is believed that he heard Annie being attacked and her body hitting the fence. Had he looked over, he probably would have witnessed her murder.
At 6am, an elderly resident discovered Annie's body. She was lying on her back with her face towards the steps. Her throat had been severed by two deep cuts that went from left to right, back to the spinal column. Like Polly, she had terrible mutilations. She had been "ripped" up from the abdomen to the breastbone. Her intestines had been taken out and placed over her right shoulder. A piece of flesh from her stomach was placed on her left shoulder.
The killer cut out Annie's uterus, anus, and sections of her bladder and vagina. He also cut open her calico pocket and placed the objects inside it, including a comb and piece of paper, almost "systematically" at her feet. Siviter describes this action as "bizarre".
The police believed that the same person killed Polly and Annie based on the similar mutilations. They were excited to find a freshly washed leather apron in the corner of the yard where Annie was found. After Polly's murder, they investigated a suspect known as "Leather Apron". The prostitutes in Whitechapel had told the police about a man who habitually wore a leather apron. They said he ran an extortion racket amongst them and threatened to "rip" them open if they did not give him their money.
On September 10, 1888, the police brought in John Pizer for an interrogation. He lived in Whitechapel, was known as "Leather Apron", and wore a leather apron for his job as a cobbler. He also had a prior conviction for stabbing someone. However, he had "cast-iron" alibis for the nights of the murders.
The police soon learned that the leather apron found in the yard had nothing to do with Annie's murder. It belonged to a resident who had cleaned it and laid it over the fence to dry. On September 11, Pizer was released. He was the first of many suspects in this case.
Jones believes Jack the Ripper killed Annie to acquire her uterus. At the inquest for her murder, the Divisional Police Surgeon, Dr. George Phillips, theorized this as well. Coroner Wynne Baxter stated that a curator of a pathological museum at a London medical school had told him that an American doctor offered the curator money for a uterus. Coroner Baxter theorized that the offer led someone to kill Annie for her uterus. However, many medical professionals dismissed this theory.
For the police, it was clear that a dangerous killer was on the loose in Whitechapel. Residents feared they would be next. They wondered what sort of "monster" would commit these crimes. The killer seemed to know his way around Whitechapel. The area was made up of many narrow alleyways. Jones believes the killer knew which alleyway to use to make his way to a busier road, such as Whitechapel Road or Commercial Street, where he could easily disappear into the crowds.
Officers were sent to the East End to search for Jack the Ripper, restore order, and calm the public's fears. Early on, the police decided not to speak to the press about their activities or lines of investigation. The press was looking for sensational stories and became frustrated when there were no leads to act on, except for "Leather Apron". Some journalists tried to bribe the police or get them drunk to get information from them. Some even went to the East End and questioned people who knew the victims, asking them who they thought the killer was.
On September 27, 1888, the Central News Agency received a letter dated September 25 and written in red ink: "Dear Boss, I keep on hearing the police have caught me, but they won't catch me just yet." It then mockingly boasts about what the killer has done and how the police cannot catch him: "I am down on whores…I shant quit ripping them till I do get buckled...How can they catch me now." It was signed: "Yours truly, Jack the Ripper".
Author and historian Paul Begg considers the "Dear Boss" letter the most important document in this case because it gives the killer his nickname. Siviter describes it as a "newsman's dream". However, most police officers at the time believed that Thomas Bullen, a Central News Agency journalist, wrote the letter. Siviter believes he did it to generate "excitement" for the press.
At that point, the police did not have a solid suspect or line of inquiry. Desperate for a breakthrough, they released the letter to the public. However, that proved to be a mistake. Over the next few weeks, the police, the press, and public figures were inundated with letters from people claiming to be Jack the Ripper. Each one had to be read, assessed, followed up on, and its author traced, if possible. Consequently, the "overstretched" detectives were stretched almost to a breaking point.
For three weeks, no murders occurred, possibly due to an increased police presence. Then, on Sunday, September 30, 1888, just three days after the "Dear Boss" letter was received, Jack the Ripper struck again. This time, he carried out two murders in less than an hour in what became known as the "Double Event".
At 1am, Louis Diemschutz pulled his horse and cart into Dutfield's Yard off Berner Street in Whitechapel and discovered the body of forty-four-year-old Elizabeth Stride. She was from Sweden and moved to London in her early twenties. She initially worked as a nanny, then a house cleaner, before becoming a prostitute.
On September 29, 1988, Elizabeth earned sixpence for cleaning the doss-house she was staying in. That night, she went out to spend her money. At around 12:40am, a witness saw her with a man at the corner of Berner Street, close to Dutfield's Yard. The man was of average build and wearing a long black coat. The witness heard her say, "No. Not tonight. Some other night."
When Elizabeth's body was found, her scarf was tied tightly around her neck and twisted to one side. A large, jagged cut ran almost level with the scarf, as though Jack the Ripper had used it as a guide. The cut severed her left carotid artery and her trachea. A large amount of blood was running from her throat down into the gutter on the opposite corner.
Unlike the other victims, Elizabeth only had her throat cut. There were no other mutilations done to her body. It was theorized that Jack the Ripper was disturbed by Diemschutz coming into the yard. Jones believes that because he was denied the "satisfaction" of mutilating Elizabeth's body, Jack the Ripper went out and looked for another victim.
Forty-five minutes later, at 1:45am, the body of forty-six-year-old Catherine Eddowes was found in a corner of Mitre Square in the City of London. She was originally from Wolverhampton. When she was fifteen, her parents died, and she and her siblings were placed in an orphanage. She later married, had three children, and moved to London. Once there, she became involved in casual prostitution. She also became an alcoholic.
On the evening she died, Catherine was taken to the Bishopsgate Police Station to "sober up". She was released at 1am, less than an hour before her body was found. At 1:35am, three witnesses saw Catherine on a walkway to Mitre Square with a fair-haired, shabby-looking man of medium build. One witness thought he had the appearance of a sailor.
Ten minutes later, Police Constable Edward Watkins discovered Catherine's body as he walked into Mitre Square. She had been "horribly" mutilated: her throat had been slashed from ear to ear, she was cut open from the breast down to the abdomen, "V's" were cut into her cheeks and eyelids, and part of an earlobe and the tip of her nose was cut off.
Like Annie, Catherine's abdomen was ripped open and her intestines were taken out and placed over her right shoulder. A section of her intestine was cut out and placed between her body and left arm. Her uterus and left kidney were removed. A police surgeon stated these mutilations would probably have taken at least five minutes to complete.
Policeman Richard Pearce and his family were the only ones living in Mitre Square. They were asleep when the attack occurred and heard nothing. Surprisingly, PC Watkins did not hear or see anything either.
When Catherine's body was taken to the City of London mortuary and undressed, doctors noticed that a portion of her blood-stained apron was missing. Meanwhile, at 2:55am, Police Constable Alfred Long discovered blood in the entrance to model dwellings on Goulston Street, about ten minutes from Mitre Square. In the blood, he saw a piece of material. It was identified as the missing piece from Catherine's apron.
It is believed that Jack the Ripper used the apron piece to wipe off his hands and his knife. However, it is not known why he placed it in that specific doorway. Adam Wood speculates that he may have cut himself during the attack on Catherine and that some of the blood found was his. Unfortunately, there was no way to test it at the time.
Right above the apron piece was a message written in chalk: "The Juwes are The men That Will not be Blamed for nothing". It is unknown if Jack the Ripper wrote this message, or if it was written by someone else.
The next day, October 1, 1888, the Central News Agency received a postcard allegedly from Jack the Ripper. It mentioned Elizabeth and Catherine's murders and had handwriting similar to the "Dear Boss" letter. It is unknown if the killer sent it.
In some Jack the Ripper letters, he threatened to send a body part to the police. On October 16, two weeks after the "Double Event", local builder George Lusk received a small package in the evening mail. Inside was a letter that read, "From Hell". With it was a box that contained half a human kidney preserved in ethanol.
Lusk was head of the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee. Its group members went out at night, patrolled the streets, and kept suspicious characters under surveillance. They also tried to raise money for a reward. They were dissatisfied with the police's efforts to find Jack the Ripper. They also felt that the murders were affecting their businesses.
The letter Lusk received read, "Mr. Lusk, sir, I send you half the kidney I took from one woman. Preserved it for you. T'other piece I fried and ate. It was very nice. I may send you the bloody knife that took it out if you only wait a while longer." It was signed, "Catch me when you can, Mister Lusk." Its handwriting differed from the "Dear Boss" letter and postcard.
The police and doctors were unsure if the piece of kidney sent was Catherine's. However, Thomas Openshaw of the London Hospital determined the kidney was human and from the left side. Catherine's missing kidney was also on the left side. Siviter believes the letter (and kidney) is genuine, but Jones disagrees. He thinks it was a joke sent by a medical student, as it was common for them to have access to body parts.
In October 1888, the police organized a house-to-house search in Whitechapel. Several hundred homes were searched, and over a thousand people were investigated. However, with few investigatory tools, they had little to go on. Their investigation mostly depended on a search of the area and the hope that evidence could be found.
However, none of the traditional methods of criminal investigation were working. Witnesses reported suspicious characters, but no one knows if they saw Jack the Ripper or not. They described him as being about 5'6" or 5'7" – the average height for a man at that time. His age was between his twenties and forties. The clothing descriptions differed.
Wood notes that the murders took place at night with limited lighting, which makes eyewitness identification difficult. Siviter notes that witnesses can often give inaccurate descriptions for various reasons. As a result, no one knows what Jack the Ripper looked like.
Along with the police, there were civilians in disguise trying to catch Jack the Ripper. At least three medical students were used as decoys to lure him out. Men dressed as women and wandered around the East End. They hoped they could catch him if he tried to attack them. Women, especially prostitutes, armed themselves with knives, guns, and scissors. Many were forced to remain out on the streets to make money for a bed.
There were no murders in October 1888, possibly due to the increased police presence. Then, on Friday, November 9, a fifth murder occurred that was more brutal than the rest. Twenty-five-year-old Mary Jane Kelly was much younger than the other victims. She was originally from Ireland. Like the others, she worked as a prostitute. She was also a domestic servant, a widow, and an alcoholic. She rented a room at 13 Miller's Court in Spitalfields, close to where Annie's body was found. She originally lived there with Joseph Barnett, but he moved out on October 30.
At 2:45am on November 9, George Hutchinson, an acquaintance of Mary Jane's, saw her and a man of "Jewish appearance" enter her room. He was the last person to see her alive. At around 10:45am, Thomas Bowyer went to her room to collect her rent. He knocked on the door but received no answer. He went around to a broken side window, moved the curtain, and discovered her mutilated body.
The police took a photograph of Mary Jane's body lying in her bed. It is believed to be one of the earliest crime scene photographs available. Her murder was the only one to take place indoors. Wood notes that Jack the Ripper was in a locked room with her, so he could do "whatever he wanted" to her. Her body was completely eviscerated.
Mary Jane's throat was cut down to the spine. Her face was completely cut off. Her uterus, kidneys, and one of her breasts were cut off and placed beneath her head. Three flaps of her flesh were cut off and left on the bedside table. Several sections of her abdomen were cut out and placed around her body. Flesh was sliced off her thigh, exposing her thigh bone. Her heart was also cut out; it was never found.
Dr. Thomas Bond, the divisional police surgeon to Scotland Yard, performed the postmortem on Mary Jane as she lay in her room. He theorized that she died between 2 and 8am. Wood believes she was asleep when she was attacked. Sir Robert Anderson, Assistant Commissioner of Scotland Yard, sought the opinion of Dr. Bond on the five murders. Anderson sent him the inquest reports on the other four cases.
Dr. Bond consulted on England's most notorious cases of the 1870s and 1880s. After working for Scotland Yard for several years, he became interested in a killer's psyche. He wanted to understand how and why a murder was committed rather than just the physical and medical side of things. He produced one of the first attempts at a criminal profile.
On November 10, 1888, Dr. Bond submitted his report to Scotland Yard. He theorized that the same person committed all five murders, which took place within a mile of each other. He found no evidence of a struggle at the scenes. He believed the killer quickly overpowered the victims and rendered them unconscious. They had no chance to defend themselves.
Dr. Bond concluded that the victims were killed while lying down. Thumb and finger marks were found on their necks, indicating they were strangled at least until they were unconscious. In the first four cases, the throat was cut from left to right. Dr. Bond believed the killer used a knife that was at least six inches long and one inch thick, sharp and pointed at the top. He theorized that the killer was strong and "daring". He did not believe the killer had an accomplice.
According to Wood, the idea of a serial killer did not exist in the 1880s. The general public did not believe that there were "motiveless" killers. So, they came up with suspects like a deranged doctor, a midwife, a butcher, and a slaughterhouse worker because they had the skills that Jack the Ripper had.
The police investigated local butchers and slaughterhouse workers and eliminated them as suspects based on alibis. Begg notes that a butcher would have anatomical knowledge but not surgical skills. A doctor would have both.
At the time, doctors were uncertain whether Jack the Ripper had surgical skills and anatomical knowledge. Dr. Bond did not think so. Some doctors felt the wounds were too "crude" to be from a professional. However, it appeared that the killer had some anatomical knowledge since he extracted certain organs. Sometimes, he operated in complete darkness. Begg thinks the killer had some anatomical knowledge or surgical skills.
Wood notes that the murders were not done for robbery, revenge, financial gain, or jealousy. Jones believes they were done for the satisfaction of carrying out the mutilations. Wood theorizes that the mutilations became more intense as the murders progressed because the "lower level" mutilations were not enough for Jack the Ripper to get the sexual thrill that he was seeking. Dr. Bond also theorized that sexual pleasure may have been part of the killer's motive. This type of motive had not been looked at before.
Dr. Bond gave his opinion of Jack the Ripper's character in his report. He believed the killer was a quiet, solitary, well-respected man. He had a room he could "retire to" where he could clean himself up after a murder. He either had a private pension or private income. He was living with his family, and they may have been shielding him.
Meanwhile, the public believed that Jack the Ripper was an evil and unwell-looking "lunatic". Wood thinks that the idea of the killer walking down deserted streets with a top hat and a black bag has stayed with the public ever since. A man carrying a black bag was seen near Elizabeth Stride's murder scene. However, he had a cast-iron alibi and was ruled out as a suspect. Despite this, the black bag stuck with the image of the killer.
Begg believes that Jack the Ripper would have stuck out like a sore thumb in the East End if he wore a top hat and carried a black bag. He believes Jack the Ripper walked the streets without anyone noticing him. Jones notes there were many slaughterhouses in the area, so it was common to see people in bloodstained clothing walking around at night.
Just after Mary Jane's murder, the murders stopped. But why? Had Jack the Ripper satisfied his bloodlust through the horrific mutilations of Mary Jane? Did he die, possibly by suicide? Was he in ill health? Was he arrested for another crime? Did he end up in an asylum? Did he leave the country or go on holiday? Was he a sailor who left the area after committing the murders?
The police investigated over 300 individuals and brought eighty suspects in for questioning. Every person seen acting suspiciously or matching Jack the Ripper's description was followed up on. Since the murders took place around weekends and within a short distance of each other, the police theorized the killer was in regular employment and lived locally.
One suspect in the police reports was Montague John Druitt. He was a barrister and assistant schoolmaster at a boarding school in South London. He was the son of a surgeon and reportedly had an interest in surgery. On November 30, 1888, he was dismissed from his schoolmaster position. In early December, he disappeared. On December 31, his body was found floating in the River Thames.
One theory was that the murders stopped because Jack the Ripper committed suicide. The police looked into all the suicides that took place after the last murder. One of those was Druitt's. According to police reports, his family thought he was Jack the Ripper. His brother, William, testified that he had been mentally unstable for some time. William found a note from Druitt that said, "Since Friday I felt that I was going to be like mother, and the best thing for me was to die." Their mother and grandmother also had mental health problems.
However, there was no evidence that Druitt ever visited Whitechapel. He had a "probable" alibi for two of the murders. Inspector Abberline dismissed him as a serious suspect. Wood notes that he was only a suspect because he died shortly after the murders stopped.
Jones believes American "quack" Dr. Francis Tumblety is one of the most intriguing suspects. He was connected to the death of one of his patients but was never prosecuted. He was living in a boarding house in Whitechapel at the time of the murders. Several people said he hated women and prostitutes. One witness said he talked about disemboweling prostitutes. Some of his friends claimed he showed off a collection of uteruses.
On November 7, 1888, Tumblety was arrested on charges of gross indecency, apparently for having sex with another man. He was released on bail soon after. On November 20, he fled to the United States. While in New York, he was interviewed. He claimed he was arrested because he went to the crime scenes to "look at the murders." According to Jones, there is no evidence to suggest he was Jack the Ripper.
Another suspect at the time was a man named "Kosminski". The police reports described him as a Polish Jew who was put into an asylum. A search of asylum records turned up a Jewish man named Aaron Kosminski. He was born in Poland and immigrated to London in 1881. He worked as a hairdresser and lived in Whitechapel. He reportedly hated women, especially prostitutes. He is believed to have been a paranoid schizophrenic.
In 1891, Aaron was admitted to the Middlesex County Lunatic Asylum after he threatened his sister with a knife. He was sent to Leavesden Asylum in 1894 and died there in 1919. Wood notes that Aaron was still in Whitechapel three years after the last victim was killed. This does not fit the theory that Jack the Ripper was taken off the streets soon after the last murder. Also, Aaron was never described as violent or homicidal.
The highest-ranking officers in this case, Sir Robert Anderson and Chief Inspector Donald Sutherland Swanson, thought that the man named "Kosminski" was Jack the Ripper. Anderson wrote in his memoirs that the killer was "a low-class Polish Jew who was sent to an asylum". He also said that a witness identified "Kosminski" as the killer. However, the witness refused to testify against him. "Kosminski" also fit the suspect profile: he was a "sexual maniac" who lived near the murder scenes.
Jones notes that Anderson and Swanson would have known all the evidence against the suspects. If they thought the evidence against "Kosminski" was stronger than any other suspect, he should be high on the list of suspects. The only problem is that no one can say if Aaron Kosminski is the "Kosminski" referred to in the police reports.
Author Martin Fido theorizes that "Kosminski" was another Polish Jew, David Cohen. Swanson said that "Kosminski" had died shortly after entering an asylum (Aaron died decades later). Fido studied asylum records to find another "Kosminski". Although he did not find one, he did find Cohen, who had a history of violence and was admitted to the asylum on December 7, 1888, shortly after the last murder. He died there in October 1889.
Fido speculates that "David Cohen" was an alias for Nathan Kaminsky, a bootmaker who lived in Whitechapel and was treated for syphilis. He found no record of Kaminsky after May 1888. He wonders if Kaminsky was accidentally spelled "Kosminski" in the police reports.
Another suspect at the time was William Bury, who lived close to Whitechapel. He married a prostitute and moved to Scotland in 1889, shortly after the last Jack the Ripper murder. He later mutilated and murdered his wife. When he was about to be executed, he allegedly told the hangman he was Jack the Ripper. There was also graffiti on his back door that read, "Jack the Ripper was here." However, when questioned by the police, he denied being the killer, even though he made a full confession to his wife's murder.
In 1894, The Sun newspaper published an article that claimed that Jack the Ripper was Thomas Cutbush, a twenty-seven-year-old medical student. In 1888, he allegedly contracted syphilis from a prostitute. In 1891, he was sent to Lambeth Infirmary, suffering from syphilis-related delusions. Later that year, he was arrested in London for stabbing two women in the buttocks.
Cutbush was declared "insane" and sent to the Broadmoor lunatic asylum. While there, he was aggressive and threatened to "rip people apart". On one occasion, his mother went to visit him. When she went to kiss him, he tried to bite her nose off. The Sun alleged that he was related to Superintendent Charles Cutbush, a senior member of Scotland Yard.
Sir Melville Macnaghten, the assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, wrote a report refuting the claim that Cutbush was Jack the Ripper. He listed three key suspects who were "more likely" to have been the killer than Cutbush. Two of the suspects were Druitt and Kosminski. The third was Michael Ostrog, a Russian-born thief, conman, and physician who had been in and out of prison. Using different aliases, he traversed Europe and England.
According to Jones, there was no evidence to suggest that Ostrog was violent. There is also evidence that he might have been in a French prison at the time of the murders. Jones notes that Macnaghten got "a lot" of information wrong. He considers Cutbush a more likely suspect.
In 1903, George Chapman, a Polish immigrant, was convicted of murdering three of his common-law wives by poison. He was executed later that year. Inspector Abberline considered him a suspect. It was discovered that he was in Whitechapel at the time of the murders. The murders stopped when he moved to the United States. He also had surgical training. Others, however, note that it is unlikely for a killer to switch from stabbing to poisoning.
Over the years, several new suspects and theories have come out. Wood notes that the film "From Hell" and the 1988 TV series "Jack the Ripper", some of the most well-known fictional versions of this case, both featured the royal doctor, Sir William Gull, as the killer. Since the 1970s, he has been linked to the case as part of the "Royal Conspiracy Theory".
According to the theory, Queen Victoria's grandson, Prince Albert Victor, had an affair with an East End prostitute, and they had a baby girl named Alice. Alice's nanny was Mary Jane Kelly. She and the other victims blackmailed the royal family with their secret knowledge about Alice. Gull was ordered to kill them to keep them quiet.
The problem with the theory is that Gull had a stroke in 1887, and it would have been almost impossible for him to commit the murders. Furthermore, the police never considered him a suspect. His name did not appear in any police files or other documentation. Despite the theory being debunked, it remains in the public consciousness.
One new suspect is James Kelly. He contracted a sexually transmitted disease from a prostitute and hated them. He had friends near Whitechapel. In 1883, he killed his wife. In January 1888, he escaped from the Broadmoor lunatic asylum. The day after the last murder, the police searched his mother-in-law's house for him. In 1927, he voluntarily returned to the asylum.
Another new suspect is Hyam Hyams. He was a "violent lunatic" who attacked his wife and others with a knife. She said he had epilepsy and became more violent as his mental state declined. He was institutionalized after Mary Jane's murder. He grew up on Mitre Street, where Catherine Eddowes was killed. Her body was found outside of his uncle's shop. He also had an unusual gait, which matched a witness's description of Jack the Ripper.
Other new suspects include author Lewis Carroll; royal wigmaker Willy Clarkson, who admitted that one of his custom-made wigs was found near one of the murder scenes; American serial killer H.H. Holmes; Charles Lechmere, who discovered Polly Nichols' body; wealthy Liverpool merchant James Maybrick; and British artist Walter Sickert, who was reportedly fascinated with the murders. Some have even alleged that a woman, nicknamed "Jill the Ripper", was responsible.
Siviter notes that people will blame almost anyone alive at the time of the murders, especially those named in police documents. She thinks many people have been blamed without evidence because few surviving records exist.
The Jack the Ripper Murders are believed to have occurred mainly in the autumn of 1888. However, a Metropolitan Police file called the "Whitechapel Murders" file ranges from 1888 through 1891 and covers the murders of eleven women in the East End. It is not known how many of the other victims, if any, were also killed by Jack the Ripper.
The first victim mentioned was forty-five-year-old prostitute Emma Smith. At around 1:30am on Tuesday, April 3, 1888, she was attacked on Osborn Street in Whitechapel. She was struck repeatedly in the face, and a blunt object was inserted into her vagina.
Emma initially survived the attack and was taken to London Hospital. She told the doctor who treated her that a group of two or three men had attacked her. The injury to her vagina caused peritonitis, and soon after, she lapsed into a coma. On the morning of April 4, she died. Begg does not believe Emma was a victim of Jack the Ripper. However, Jones notes that her death led the police to open the "Whitechapel Murders" file.
At 5am on August 7, 1888, two weeks before Polly Nichols' murder, thirty-nine-year-old prostitute Martha Tabram was found murdered on a staircase landing in George Yard, off Whitechapel High Street. She had been stabbed thirty-nine times, with wounds to her throat, chest, abdomen, and vagina. Earlier in the evening, she and a friend met two soldiers who bought them drinks at various pubs. She and her friend later separated and went to different places to conduct "business". That was the last time she was seen alive.
The police were unable to identify or locate the soldier Martha was last seen with, but he was believed to be her killer. Some experts do not think she was a Jack the Ripper victim because her throat had not been cut and she had not been disemboweled. However, others note that her throat and abdomen were stabbed, which he did to his other victims. Many officers who worked on the case believed she was one of his victims.
On December 20, 1888, a few weeks after Mary Jane Kelly's murder, twenty-six-year-old Rose Mylett was found strangled in Clarke's Yard, Poplar. There were no signs of a struggle. The police thought she had either committed suicide or accidentally hanged herself with her collar while in a drunken stupor. However, several doctors disagreed. Faint markings found on her neck suggested a cord had strangled her. After an inquest, a jury ruled her death a murder by person or persons unknown.
Shortly after midnight on July 17, 1889, Alice McKenzie was found murdered in Castle Yard, off Whitechapel High Street. She had been stabbed twice in the neck, and her left carotid artery had been severed, but her body was not mutilated. However, there were several scratches on her abdomen, one down from her breastbone, that looked like attempts at evisceration.
Dr. George Phillips, who examined three previous victims, claimed that Alice could not have been a victim of Jack the Ripper because she only had her throat cut. However, Jones points out that Elizabeth Stride only had her throat cut as well. Dr. Bond also believed that Alice was a Ripper victim.
On September 10, 1889, the decomposing, mutilated torso of an unidentified woman in her thirties was found beneath a railway arch on Pinchin Street in Whitechapel, a short distance from where Elizabeth was killed. Bruising on the victim's back, hip, and arm indicated that she had been beaten extensively. Her abdomen was mutilated as well. She appeared to have been killed the day before she was discovered.
At 2:15am on February 13, 1891, Police Constable Ernest Thompson discovered twenty-five-year-old prostitute Frances Coles beneath a railway arch in Swallow Gardens, Whitechapel. Her throat had been deeply cut, but the rest of her body had not been mutilated. Some believe that Thompson disturbed her killer before he had the chance to mutilate her.
Sailor James Sadler was seen drinking with Frances earlier that night. He was an alcoholic with a temper. They were known to have argued a few hours before her death. He sold a clasp knife shortly afterward. He was later arrested and charged with her murder. It was initially suspected that he was Jack the Ripper. However, it was discovered that he was at sea when the first four murders took place. He also had an alibi for Frances' murder. On March 3, he was released due to lack of evidence. It is not known if Frances was a Ripper victim. She is the last name listed in the "Whitechapel Murders" file.
According to Begg, there is a "suspects" file that lists the people questioned and suspected by the police. Unfortunately, it is missing. It is believed that during the 1880s and 1890s, several documents and evidence from the case files were taken away, some by souvenir hunters. Other documents were destroyed by German bombing during World War Two.
Dr. Bond's report was missing for decades. In 1987, it was sent anonymously to Scotland Yard. The "Dear Boss" letter also went missing. However, it was also returned. Some photographs of the victims went missing as well and have turned up in recent years. Some Jack the Ripper experts hope the case may finally be solved by applying modern forensic techniques and technology to the new and rediscovered evidence.
In 1988, criminal profiler John Douglas was asked to examine this case. He found a "triangular configuration" when connecting the locations of the second through fifth murders. He considered it a secondary "comfort zone" for Jack the Ripper. The killer left his primary "comfort zone" (where he likely lived or worked) because of the investigation following his first murder. Douglas believes the killer committed other crimes in that area.
Douglas believes Jack the Ripper was a white male in his late twenties to mid-thirties, was of average intelligence, and looked normal but dressed affluently around his victims. He had an overbearing, alcoholic, promiscuous mother and a passive or absent father. As a result, he did not receive proper care, had a poor self-image, and could not interact well with others.
Douglas believes that as Jack the Ripper grew older, he developed a hatred of women and a fantasy for dominating, attacking, and mutilating them. He probably worked alone and had weekends off to commit his crimes. Possible jobs include butcher, mortician's helper, medical examiner's assistant, or hospital attendant.
Douglas believes Jack the Ripper was not married, was sexually inadequate, and only had relationships with prostitutes. He may have received a sexually transmitted disease from one, which made him hate them even more. He may have stopped for fear of getting caught. The police may have interviewed him at some point.
In 1998, a geographic profile was created for this case based on the locations of the crime scenes. The victims lived near Flower & Dean Street and Thrawl Street. Jack the Ripper dropped a piece of evidence between Mitre Square and Flower & Dean Street, suggesting that he may have lived in or near the latter location.
In 2007, researcher Russell Edwards purchased a silk shawl that was reportedly found next to Catherine Eddowes' body. The shawl was allegedly taken by Metropolitan Police Officer Amos Simpson and passed down through his family until Edwards obtained it. In 2011, he asked forensic geneticist Dr. Jari Louhelainen of Liverpool John Moores University to examine it.
Dr. Louhelainen identified dark spots on the shawl as stains "consistent with arterial blood spatter caused by slashing". He also found semen and evidence of kidney removal. Mitochondrial DNA recovered from the shawl matched a direct descendant of Catherine's. Other mitochondrial DNA matched a descendant of suspect Aaron Kosminski's sister.
Edwards believes the shawl belonged to Aaron because it was "too fine" a quality to be owned by Catherine. Another scientist used nuclear magnetic resonance to determine that the shawl was made before 1888, likely near St. Petersburg, Russia. Edwards believes Aaron acquired the shawl while in Poland.
In 2019, another forensic examination was conducted on the shawl. Once again, forensic scientists extracted mitochondrial DNA from the shawl and matched it to Aaron's living relatives. The results were posted in a peer-reviewed journal.
However, many critics dispute these findings. Forensic scientists note that mitochondrial DNA can only reliably eliminate a suspect. The shawl could have been contaminated over the years since it was not stored properly. There is no evidence that it was actually at the crime scene. It was not in the "detailed" inventory of Catherine's possessions. Also, Simpson did not work for the Metropolitan Police at the time of the murder.
Today, Jack the Ripper is one of the most famous unsolved murder cases. His crimes continue to baffle historians, law enforcement officials, and others. For Siviter, it has been frustrating as a crime historian to be unable to identify him. She wants the murders solved for the victims' families and descendants.
Jones notes that the more people look into this case, the more facts come to light, which causes the story to develop and evolve. Begg hopes that people will bring forward any new information they may have. Jones thinks that there might be documents in people's homes. Someone might open a trunk one day and find the evidence that names Jack the Ripper. But until that happens, it will remain a mystery.
Suspects: Over the years, the police and researchers have considered numerous suspects and candidates in the history of the case. Many of these candidates include:

  • HRH Prince Albert Victor, Duke Of Clarence - A reputed homosexual whose crimes were allegedly covered up by Sir William Gull, artist William Sickert and a royal coachman named John Netley. A contrary theory names James Kenneth Stephen, the Duke's tutor at Cambridge who was a homosexual and woman-hater.
  • Montague John Druitt - A failed lawyer who drowned himself in the River Thames in December 1888. The fact the Ripper's murders stopped with his death has seemed as incontrovertible proof as his guilt.
  • Dr. Thomas Neill Cream - When he was hung in 1892 for poisoning women, he reportedly cried out, "I am Jack the..." just as he dropped to his death. Unfortunately, Cream was in prison in the United States during the Ripper's carnage. Efforts to prove Cream was illegally released early for him to have actually been the Ripper proved groundless when it was revealed that Cream was visited in prison by the executor of his father's will in 1889.
  • H. H. Holmes (real name: George Hermann Mudgett) - A serial killer and fraudster who created a Murder Castle during the Chicago World's Fair. Several researchers have noted his absence in the United States during the Ripper murders in White Chapel.
  • George Chapman (real name: Severin Klosowski)- A wife poisoner whom Abberline believed was the Ripper. Although he later retracted the accusation, many believe he was actually correct. Chapman was also considered a suspect in Ripper-style murders in New York City.
  • Michael Ostrog - Homicidal Russian doctor who was later institutionalized. His whereabouts during the Ripper murders have never been verified.
  • Dr. Francis Tumblety
  • Aaron Kosminski - A Polish Jew who lived in White Chapel. He was taken to a lunatic asylum for his hatred of women and great homicidal tendencies.
  • Dr. Roslyn D'Onston Stephenson - An esoteric author who reputedly confessed to having committed the murders as part of a Black Magic ritual. He vanished in 1904.
  • Dr. Herbert Stanley - On his deathbed, Stanley confessed to being Jack the Ripper, and the story ended up in a Spanish journal. Unfortunately, no such person is listed anywhere in the Medical Records of the General Medical Council Of Great Britain.
  • Dr. Alexander Pedachenko - He claimed that he was really Michael Ostrog and that he was a Russian barber surgeon connected to the Russian Secret Police.
  • Frederick Deeming- After he was arrested in 1892 for killing two his two wives and children, Deeming boasted that he had already killed five prostitutes in White Chapel. Although he was already in prison during the Ripper murders, a plaster cast was made of his face after death was displayed as belonging to Jack the Ripper. The cast was reportedly later used to create wax figures of the killer.
  • William Bury -
  • Thomas Cutbush -
  • Sir William Gull -
  • James Kelly -
  • Hyam Hyams -
  • Walter Sickert - A recent theory parallels the Ripper with this painter's morbidity and violence. Coincidences abound in Sickert's hand writing samples and the Ripper letters. In fact, saliva found on the envelopes of the Ripper letters could have been compared to Sickert if he hadn't been cremated.
  • Dr. Adolph C. Brunrichter - A German physician who experimented on female corpses in the 1890s who fled to the United States in 1900. However, there is no historical evidence the figure existed especially since he only appears as a fictional history of the Congelier House of Pennsylvania.
  • Jill the Ripper- A theory used to propose the fact that the murders were caused by a deranged mid-wife.

Extra Notes:

  • This case was first released on July 31, 2024 as a part of the fourth volume of the Netflix reboot.
  • In 1988, Cosgrove-Meurer Productions (who also produce "Unsolved Mysteries"), released a TV movie, The Secret Identity of Jack the Ripper. Experts examined five suspects to try and determine who most likely committed the murders. They chose Aaron Kosminski.
  • There are dozens of books, shows, and movies about this case. In 2019, British historian Hallie Rubenhold wrote the book, The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper about the victims. She claims that Polly Nichols, Annie Chapman, and Catherine Eddowes were not prostitutes and that they were targeted because they were homeless.
  • Some sources state: that Polly was forty-two; Annie was forty-eight or forty-five; Elizabeth was forty-five; she had nine children; her husband and two of her children died in a steamboat accident; and Catherine was forty-eight or forty-three.

Results: Unsolved
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