The Enduring Mystery of Jack the Ripper
The name 'Jack the Ripper' has become the most infamous in the annals of murder. Yet, the amazing fact is that his identity remains unproven today. In the years 1888-1891 the name was regarded with terror by the residents of London's East End, and was known the world over. So shrouded in myth and mystery is this story that the facts are hard to identify at this remove in time. And it was the officers of Scotland Yard to whom the task of apprehending the fearsome killer was entrusted.
They may have failed, but they failed honourably, having made every effort and inquiry in their power to free London of the unknown terror.
Over the years the mystery has deepened to the degree that the truth is almost totally obscured. Innumerable press stories, pamphlets, books, plays, films, and even musicals have dramatised and distorted the facts to such a degree that the fiction is publicly accepted more than the reality.
Suspects
Suffice to say genuine suspects are far fewer than the prolific authors of the genre would have us believe. In fact, to reduce them to only those with a genuine claim having been nominated by contemporary police officers, we are left with a mere four. They are:
Kosminski was certainly favoured by the head of the C.I.D. Dr. Robert Anderson, and the officer in charge of the case, Chief Inspector Donald Swanson. Druitt appears to have been Macnaghten's preferred candidate, whilst the fact that Ostrog was arrested and incarcerated before the report was compiled leaves the historian puzzling why he was included as a viable suspect in the first place.
The fourth suspect, Tumblety, was stated to have been "amongst the suspects" at the time of the murders and "to my mind a very likely one," by the ex-head of the Special Branch at Scotland Yard in 1888, ex-Detective Chief lspector John George Littlechild. He confided his thoughts in a letter dated 23 September, 1913, to the criminological journalist and author George R Sims.
For a list of viable suspects they have not inspired any uniform confidence in the minds of those well-versed in the case.
Indeed, arguments can be made against all of them being the culprit, and no hard evidence exists against any of them. What is obvious is the fact that the police were at no stage in a position to prove a case against anyone, and it is highly unlikely a positive case will ever be proved. If the police were in this position in 1888-1891, then what hope for the enthusiastic modern investigator?
To clear the confusion for the new student of the case we have to return to factual basics. Just who was 'Jack the Ripper,' and what were the 'Whitechapel murders'?
The crimes
What has to be understood is the fact that the 'Ripper' murders and the 'Whitechapel murders' are not the same thing, although the latter does include the 'Ripper' murders. So to set the scene, the list of the eleven Whitechapel murders, (all of which at some stage have been looked upon as 'Ripper' murders), was as follows:
Throat cutting attended the murders of Nichols, Chapman, Stride, Eddowes, Kelly, McKenzie and Coles. In all except the cases of Stride and Mylett there was abdominal mutilation. In the case of Chapman the uterus was taken away by the killer
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In 1888 the Whitechapel area of London was the scene of some of the most brutal murders ever recorded in history. Five women, all of whom were prostitutes, were horribly and viciously murdered by a man most commonly known as 'Jack The Ripper'. The months of August through November of that year have collectively been named 'The Autumn of Terror'. Yet the case of Jack the Ripper remains unsolved.
One theory links the murders with Queen Victoria's grandson, Prince Albert Victor, also known as the Duke of Clarence, although the evidence for such a theory is unsubstantial.
An assertion that the killer could have been a doctor is based on the evidence of weapon and technique. All five women - Mary Ann Nicholls, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes, and Mary Jane Kelly - were found horribly disfigured, often with organs missing. The first four women to die were in their 40's, while Mary Jane Kelly was only 25.
Violence to prostitutes was not uncommon and there were many instances of women being brutalized. In April 1888, a woman named Emma Smith died from an infection because a group of men, probably demanding protection money, forced an object into her womb. Life as a prostitute in Victorian London was certainly hazardous.
A quarter of a mile from the scene of Catherine Eddowes' murder, the words 'The Juwes [sic] are not the men to be blamed for nothing,' were found scrawled on a wall in chalk, and were thought to have perhaps been written by the killer. The murderer is also sometimes thought to have made contact by letter with several public figures: these letters, however, like the chalk message, have never been proved to be authentic, and may have been hoaxes.
Jack the Ripper may have enjoyed baiting the nation, but he was never caught, and he is not thought to have killed after November 1888. Was he dead, did he just suddenly stop killing, or was he hidden away or perhaps in prison? We may never know. The most recent theory was played out in the movie FROM HELL, starring Johnny Depp. However, the legacy of the most famous serial killer in history remains a mystery and a perennial thriller!
The name 'Jack the Ripper' has become the most infamous in the annals of murder. Yet, the amazing fact is that his identity remains unproven today. In the years 1888-1891 the name was regarded with terror by the residents of London's East End, and was known the world over. So shrouded in myth and mystery is this story that the facts are hard to identify at this remove in time. And it was the officers of Scotland Yard to whom the task of apprehending the fearsome killer was entrusted.
They may have failed, but they failed honourably, having made every effort and inquiry in their power to free London of the unknown terror.
Over the years the mystery has deepened to the degree that the truth is almost totally obscured. Innumerable press stories, pamphlets, books, plays, films, and even musicals have dramatised and distorted the facts to such a degree that the fiction is publicly accepted more than the reality.
Suspects
Suffice to say genuine suspects are far fewer than the prolific authors of the genre would have us believe. In fact, to reduce them to only those with a genuine claim having been nominated by contemporary police officers, we are left with a mere four. They are:
- Kosminski, a poor Polish Jewish resident in Whitechapel;
- Montague John Druitt, a 31 year old barrister and school teacher who committed suicide in December 1888;
- Michael Ostrog, a Russian-born multi-pseudonymous thief and confidence trickster, believed to be 55 years old in 1888, and detained in asylums on several occasions;
- Dr Francis J. Tumblety, 56 Years old, an American 'quack' doctor, who was arrested in November 1888 for offences of gross indecency, and fled the country later the same month, having obtained bail at a very high price.
Kosminski was certainly favoured by the head of the C.I.D. Dr. Robert Anderson, and the officer in charge of the case, Chief Inspector Donald Swanson. Druitt appears to have been Macnaghten's preferred candidate, whilst the fact that Ostrog was arrested and incarcerated before the report was compiled leaves the historian puzzling why he was included as a viable suspect in the first place.
The fourth suspect, Tumblety, was stated to have been "amongst the suspects" at the time of the murders and "to my mind a very likely one," by the ex-head of the Special Branch at Scotland Yard in 1888, ex-Detective Chief lspector John George Littlechild. He confided his thoughts in a letter dated 23 September, 1913, to the criminological journalist and author George R Sims.
For a list of viable suspects they have not inspired any uniform confidence in the minds of those well-versed in the case.
Indeed, arguments can be made against all of them being the culprit, and no hard evidence exists against any of them. What is obvious is the fact that the police were at no stage in a position to prove a case against anyone, and it is highly unlikely a positive case will ever be proved. If the police were in this position in 1888-1891, then what hope for the enthusiastic modern investigator?
To clear the confusion for the new student of the case we have to return to factual basics. Just who was 'Jack the Ripper,' and what were the 'Whitechapel murders'?
The crimes
What has to be understood is the fact that the 'Ripper' murders and the 'Whitechapel murders' are not the same thing, although the latter does include the 'Ripper' murders. So to set the scene, the list of the eleven Whitechapel murders, (all of which at some stage have been looked upon as 'Ripper' murders), was as follows:
Throat cutting attended the murders of Nichols, Chapman, Stride, Eddowes, Kelly, McKenzie and Coles. In all except the cases of Stride and Mylett there was abdominal mutilation. In the case of Chapman the uterus was taken away by the killer
------------------------------
In 1888 the Whitechapel area of London was the scene of some of the most brutal murders ever recorded in history. Five women, all of whom were prostitutes, were horribly and viciously murdered by a man most commonly known as 'Jack The Ripper'. The months of August through November of that year have collectively been named 'The Autumn of Terror'. Yet the case of Jack the Ripper remains unsolved.
One theory links the murders with Queen Victoria's grandson, Prince Albert Victor, also known as the Duke of Clarence, although the evidence for such a theory is unsubstantial.
An assertion that the killer could have been a doctor is based on the evidence of weapon and technique. All five women - Mary Ann Nicholls, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes, and Mary Jane Kelly - were found horribly disfigured, often with organs missing. The first four women to die were in their 40's, while Mary Jane Kelly was only 25.
Violence to prostitutes was not uncommon and there were many instances of women being brutalized. In April 1888, a woman named Emma Smith died from an infection because a group of men, probably demanding protection money, forced an object into her womb. Life as a prostitute in Victorian London was certainly hazardous.
A quarter of a mile from the scene of Catherine Eddowes' murder, the words 'The Juwes [sic] are not the men to be blamed for nothing,' were found scrawled on a wall in chalk, and were thought to have perhaps been written by the killer. The murderer is also sometimes thought to have made contact by letter with several public figures: these letters, however, like the chalk message, have never been proved to be authentic, and may have been hoaxes.
Jack the Ripper may have enjoyed baiting the nation, but he was never caught, and he is not thought to have killed after November 1888. Was he dead, did he just suddenly stop killing, or was he hidden away or perhaps in prison? We may never know. The most recent theory was played out in the movie FROM HELL, starring Johnny Depp. However, the legacy of the most famous serial killer in history remains a mystery and a perennial thriller!