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Who was Jack The Ripper?
Who was Jack The Ripper?
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Jack the Ripper was name given by the press in the 1890's to a serial killer who was murdering and mutilating prostitutes in the east end of London. He was never caught and many theories have developed over the decades as to who he may have been, from a respectable American doctor to a member of the Royal Family!
If you click here, that will link you to a web-page which offers a list of suspects as long as your arm! Once there, click on the pictures for details on each of them. For general information on the case, click on the headings on the left-hand side of the opening page.
jack the ripper, was indeed the nickname given to him in the 1890's. no one actually knows his identity, but because of the precision of his mutilation on the prostitutes bodies, it was widely believed to be someone from the medical profession. rumours also speculate towards members of the royal family, particuary prince albert. to this day however, no one knows who he was and we will probably never know
The term "Jack the Ripper" came from a letter sent to the central news agency in 1888 during the period the murders were taking place, the letter and a subsequent follow up were published in the press in the hope that someone would recognise the handwriting. The link that Quizmonster posted list all the main suspects and there have been hundreds of books and films that have alluded to a range of suspects. Patrica Cornwell the crime novelist spent an awful lot of money examining the case with modern crime solving techniques and came to the conclusion that artist Walter Sickert was the Ripper, even claiming mitochondrial DNA evidence to support this - though realistically no-one will ever conclusively prove who the Ripper was.
I know who it wasn't - somebody famous or well known . Imagine if the Yorkshire Ripper hadn't been caught I'm sure there would be theories in a 100 years time to stating that the Ripper was a famous Yorkshireman (eg Geoff Boycott) or a renown Doctor (Dr Hilary). He was probably just a complete non entity like Peter Sutcliffe
its a fair point to make about runours would b whipped up in 100 yrs time about sutcliffe. but in 1888, the ripper, was very precise, and knew a hel of a lot to be able to remove a womans womb, or the kidneys which he sent to the press with his letter. so he had an expansive knowledge on human anatomy, any common man wouldnt back then, let alone have the precision to do so
The actual mutilations were fairly botched jobs (particularly the last one) - given the frenzied speed of the dissections this was no surprise . Many have argued that the culprit possessed the skills and knowledge of a butcher rather than surgeon .As buthchers were ten a penny in Victorian times ,this makes it more likely that the Ripper was of 'umble breeding.
...obviously none of the dozens of things allegedly sent to the police or press during this period were actually from The Ripper himself... if, indeed, he was a single person. Mass hysteria has a lot to answer for... Think Diana and Dodi.
The film "From Hell" (Johnny Depp, Heather Graham) combines most of the more interesting conspiracy theories surrounding the case. It's a good one.
Patrica Cornwell's book "portrait of a kill, jack the ripper case closed" offers a very compelling argument for it being Walter Sickert the artist. The dna evidence is a bit ropey but she does have loads of circumstantial evidence... but really thats all thats left after so long, original reports and evidence as deiappeared over the years. But he book is a very absorbing read, and well worth it
Various police officers who worked on the case named various suspects.all quite plausible on the surface,until you scratch underneath then serious doubts emerge against all of them.
Perhaps the most convincing was a polish jew named kosminski,who two of the most senior officers working on the case said was jack.
According to a programme on tv last week, a self taught American doctor, whose name escapes me was almost certainly the ripper. Apparently he had a profound hatred of women, lived in a B&B next to one of the killings, In fact, a bloody shirt was found in his room after he fled the country after one of the killings. And every time he left the country there were no more killings, Supposedly the police knew he was the ripper but, as with today, if they had no evidence they couldn't convict, and as there was no forensics back then. I'll find his damn name, i tells ya.
Most old towns in the South of England have a link with or claim to a suspect. Locally to where I live, located in Wimborne Cemetery is the grave stone belonging to one of the main suspects in the �Jack the Ripper� case. His name was Montague John Druitt who died in 1888 was and still is a chief suspect in the Jack the Ripper murders.
A graduate of Winchester College in Law, Druitt drowned in the Thames river on December 31, 1888 (Probable Suicide) although he probably died as early as the 1st of the month and definitely before the 11th, according to people who knew him at the time who testified that the cause of death inquest. At certain points in history, he was the number one suspect; however, it would seem that there was little evidence to back this up. He was the son of a Doctor, so theoretically he might have knowledge of anatomy. He had powerful upper body strength (not enough to swim to shore in the Thames though!)
He was heavily connected with the Blackheath area; close to and accessible by train to Whitechapel where the murders took place. He was a teacher at the Blackheath School, captain of the Blackheath Cricket team and many other locally-based sporting associations and he also lived in Blackheath.
The other evidence comes from eye-witness accounts. Druitt's age, build, hair colour and facial hair seems to match the description most common at the time from the few eye-witnesses that there were to the Whitechapel Murders.
The name Jack the Ripper was not given to the murderer by the press michael but actually he gave himself the name in one of his many letters to the police and press. Jack the Ripper was a man who went round Whitechapel, East End, in 1888, and murder and mutilated 5 prositutes that we know of. Personally i think that Jack the Ripper was the artist Walter Sickert and i also think that he commited the Camden Town murders as well but that is just one opinion of many.
I have recently read a non-fiction book by Paricia Cornwell. She has done forensic analysis on Ripper letters and other things. I can't remember the name of the book. But she names Walter Richard Sickert as Jack the Ripper. New Scotland Yard even helped her with her investigation. Read it. You'll be convinced.
Patricia Cornwell wasted a lot of money and a lot of time in her Walter Sickert "revelations" I read a book in the mid eighties (name escapes me, could have been the diary of Jack the Ripper) that contained all her "findings" about Sickert. I do believe the book did name someone else as the Killer, a bloke called James Maybrick.
