Jack the Ripper

Jack the Ripper one of the few serial killers in our history that has become so popular that you can almost call him a celebrity, which as far as I know makes him the only celebrity whose real identity is still a mystery. For the few people who haven’t heard his name Jack the Ripper was a serial killer who murdered a number of prostitutes in the East End of London during 1888. The real identity of the Ripper is still unknown.

The exact numbers of the Ripper’s victims are debatable. Some experts say its five, others say its four yet others argue that it may be eleven. Although most experts agree that five of these murders are definitely the work of the Ripper. These five murders are known as the “Canonical Five”. Two murders took place before the “Canonical Five” which were believed to be the work of the Ripper, but most experts now claims that they don’t fit the Rippers modus operandi, as well as the murders that took place after the “Canonical Five” Which are now believed to be the work of copycats.

The “Canonical Five” victims are Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes and Mary Jane Kelly.

The first victim Mary Ann Nichols body was found on Friday August 31, 1888 at about 3:40 AM in Durward Street (then Buck’s Row), Whitechapel. Her throat was severed with two cuts, and her abdomen was partly ripped open with a jagged wound. Several other cuts were on the abdomen area caused by the same knife.

The second victim Annie Chapman’s body was found on Saturday September 8, 1888 at about 6 AM near a doorway in the back yard of 29 Hanbury Street, Spitalfields. Just like the first victim her throat was severed by two cuts, the abdomen was ripped open entirely and the uterus was removed from the body and taken by the killer.
The third and fourth murder took place at the same night, Sunday September 30, 1888. The third victim Elizabeth Strides body was found in Dutfield's Yard in Whitechappel at 1 AM. It is debated weather or not she was killed by the Ripper, for her abdomen was not mutilated like the others. Although her throat was slashed like the previous victims and it is believed that the killer was interrupted before he had a chance to mutilate the body. Which would explain the second kill on the same night, the Ripper hadn’t enjoyed the thrill of the kill properly. The fourth victim Catherine Eddowes was found in Mitre Square less than an hour after the third victim. Like the previous victims her throat was slashed and her abdomen ripped open with the left kidney and part of her uterus missing.

After discovering the bodies the police searched the area and found a piece of bloody apron at Goulston Street which was confirmed to be the apron worn by the fourth victim Catherine Eddowes. On the wall above where the apron was found there were some writing which became known as the Goulston Street graffito. The writings either read "The Juwes are the men that will not be blamed for nothing" or "The Juwes are not the men who will be blamed for nothing" or "The Juwes are not the men to be blamed for nothing". The exact words of the writings are unconfirmed because they were wiped off by the police, who feared an anti Jews riot, for the graffito suggests that the Ripper may have been Jewish though it may just be a coincidence that he dropped the apron in front of the graffito written by some one else.
The fourth victim Mary Jane Kelly was found lying on her bed in her single room home at 13 miller’s court on Friday November 9, 1888 at 10:45 AM. Her throat was severed all the way down to her spine and her abdomen was ripped open. Most of her organs including her heart were taken by the killer.

All the murders took place on weekends causing speculation that the killer had a regular job like most normal people.

One thing that separates the Ripper case from most serial killers is the amount of correspondence the police received that claimed to be from the Ripper. Hundreds of letters came in all signed by the supposed killer. In fact the name Jack the Ripper actually comes from one such letter which is now believed to be a fake as well as most of these letters. Even if the real killer have sent any correspondence, it is now impossible to separate it from all the fakes. Among all the correspondence received two letters and one postcard became more famous than the others.
The "Dear Boss" letter was received by the Central News Agency of London on September 27, 1888. It was than forwarded to the Scotland Yard on 29 September. The letter read:

Dear Boss,
I keep on hearing the police have caught me but they wont fix me just yet. I have laughed when they look so clever and talk about being on the right track. That joke about Leather Apron gave me real fits. I am down on whores and I shant quit ripping them till I do get buckled. Grand work the last job was. I gave the lady no time to squeal. How can they catch me now. I love my work and want to start again. You will soon hear of me with my funny little games. I saved some of the proper red stuff in a ginger beer bottle over the last job to write with but it went thick like glue and I cant use it. Red ink is fit enough I hope ha. ha. The next job I do I shall clip the ladys ears off and send to the police officers just for jolly wouldn't you. Keep this letter back till I do a bit more work, then give it out straight. My knife's so nice and sharp I want to get to work right away if I get a chance. Good Luck. Yours truly
Jack the Ripper
Dont mind me giving the trade name
PS Wasnt good enough to post this before I got all the red ink off my hands curse it No luck yet. They say I'm a doctor now. ha ha

The letter was believed to be a hoax like most correspondence received at the time but when on September 30, the next victim Catherine Eddowes was found with one earlobe severed just like it said on the letter; the police started to take it more seriously. And than it was on October 1, when the “Saucy Jacky” postcard was received which referenced the “Dear Boss” letter at a time when the letters contents still weren’t made public:

I was not codding dear old Boss when I gave you the tip, you'll hear about Saucy Jacky's work tomorrow double event this time number one squealed a bit couldn't finish straight off. Had not got time to get ears off for police thanks for keeping last letter back till I got to work again.
Jack the Ripper

The postcard refers to a double event, only one day after the Stride and Eddowes murder, it also talks about cutting the victims ear off, and some believes that it was mailed before the murders became public. Handbills with copies of both letters were published for the public in the hope that someone may recognize the handwriting, but this effort was unsuccessful.

These two letters are now believed to be hoaxes from a reporter name Tom Bulling, who being a journalist knew details about the murders before they became public. Of course, the regular public at the time didn’t accept them as hoaxes as the idea that the killer was sending taunting letters to the police became too popular.

Than two weeks later on October 15, 1888 the “From Hell” letter was received by George Lusk, then head of the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee, which many believes to be the only authentic Ripper letter. It read:

From hell
Mr Lusk,
Sor
I send you half the Kidne I took from one women prasarved it for you tother piece I fried and ate it was very nise. I may send you the bloody knif that took it out if you only wate a whil longer
signed
Catch me when you can Mishter Lusk

This letter stands out from the previous letters, because not only is it not signed Jack the Ripper, it also came with a box containing half of a human kidney preserved in ethanol. One previous victim was missing a kidney though the medical science of the time was not advanced enough to determine if it was from her.

After the sixth murder, with the exception of the few copycat killing that took place after wards the Rippers killing spree finally ended. Over the years there has been much speculation as to the Rippers real identity, but nothing definite has been proven. Though it should be remembered that the murders took place at a time when there was no forensic science or even finger print matching and none of the evidence survived the test of time for us to verify them using modern forensics. If the murders took place in our time than the possibility of capturing him would be much greater.