Who did Jack the Ripper kill?
The tale of Jack the Ripper dates all the way back to August 31st 1888. Deep in Whitechapel, London a deceased woman is found in an alleyway. Her throat has been cut and she’s been disembowelled. The victim was 43 years old; an alcoholic struggling to earn a living and working as a prostitute. She was found at 3.45am. This begins a string of murders where our assailant, dubbed Jack the Ripper, targeted sex workers because they were easy targets.
Annie Chapman was also found dead with terrible mutilations. The killer cut out her womb and she was 47 years old. Now, eyewitnesses report someone “foreign” taking her into an alleyway at 5.30am before she was then killed. Although police found a leather apron there, it doesn’t have ties with the case.
On the 30th September the same year, there’s a double murder; Elizabeth Stride was a nanny and only had her throat cut. Catherine Eddows is the second victim that night and a sex worker. She was also the most horribly mutilated, with her uterus and kidney cut out, plenty of slashes and a generally gruesome crime scene to boot.
At this point, women started to arm themselves to protect themselves from Jack the Ripper. The police also pose as decoys and pretend to be women in the hopes of catching him out. October comes and goes without incident, leading us to 9th November, where the next murder occurs.
Mary Jane Kelly is also a sex worker and her face was cut off completely. Her breasts were removed, entrails all over the place and she was also the only murder victim to be found inside rather than on the street. Along with flaps of skin from her abdomen and thigh around the body, Jack also cuts out her heart which is never found again.
Who was Jack the Ripper?
The actual identity of Jack the Ripper is unfortunately lacking in many respects. There’s a seeming hoax letter sent signed by Jack the Ripper (which is where the name stuck) but the more serious note comes from a letter with the title “From Hell”. This is sent to Mr Lusk alongside a kidney on the 16th October and it seems to be from the actual killer. It seems like he may be a cannibal but there’s a 50/50 chance of this letter being genuine.
One thing we do know is that Jack seems to know Whitechapel well given he can just get down the bolt holes and escape quickly from the crime scene, given it’s full of narrow alleyways and passages.
It’s widely accepted that the victims were lying down at the time of death but others are divided over whether Jack the Ripper had medical knowledge or was a doctor. Now, given he cut out organs, he would need some sort of knowledge for knowing where they are. The crimes though were done for the satisfaction of the mutilations and became more intense over time, like a sexual thrill.
What about Jack the Ripper’s iconic appearance?
Jack the Ripper’s iconic image is something borne from old silent movies. The black briefcase and cape were adapted from fiction and also from someone nearby walking at the time of Elizabeth’s murder.
After Mary Jane Kelly’s death though, the murders stopped. But why? Well, some deduce that he may have left the country or had enough, or even been a sailor and only been in London for an extended leave before sailing away. There’s also the asylum theory where he went to the asylum and turned himself in.
So who were the suspects?
Montage John Druitt is one such man; a barrister in South London and a teacher. November 1888 he was dismissed and he commit suicide around the time of the last murder. His own family thought he was a murderer but there’s no firm evidence linking him in Whitechapel.
There’s also Dr Francis Tumblety. He was an American and given bail where he skipped back to the US. Apparently he was fascinated by the murders and wanted to have a look and was arrested for this. Could this have matched the “foreigner” look eyewitnesses claimed?
Finally, there’s the possible culprit called Kosminski. Aaron Kosminski lived in Whitechapel and turned himself into the asylum. He didn’t turn himself in until 1891 though and it doesn’t really fit with the idea of the killer going there afterwards.
Sir William Gull has been linked to the murders since the 70s and it stems from a coup where five women – those being the victims – had knowledge of a sordid affair between one of the Crown and a prostitute. The royal doctor was sent out to kill them… but then Gull had a stroke in 1887 so this seems like a bit of a far cry.
Very few records actually exist though, throwing a lot of this into question. There could have even been many more but we’ll never know. But what about you guys? What do you think happened? Let us know in the comments below!