Jack the Ripper was an unidentifiedserial killer who was active in and around the impoverishedWhitechapel district of London, England, in 1888. In both criminal case files and the contemporaneous journalistic accounts, the killer was also called theWhitechapel Murderer andLeather Apron.
Attacks ascribed to Jack the Ripper typically involved women working asprostitutes who lived in the slums of theEast End of London. Their throats were cut prior to abdominal mutilations. The removal of internal organs from at least three of the victims led to speculation that their killer had some anatomical or surgical knowledge. Rumours that the murders were connected intensified in September and October 1888, and numerous letters were received by media outlets andScotland Yard from people purporting to be the murderer.
The name "Jack the Ripper" originated in the "Dear Boss letter" written by someone claiming to be the murderer, which was disseminated in the press. The letter is widely believed to have been a hoax and may have been written by journalists to heighten interest in the story and increase their newspapers' circulation. Another, the "From Hell letter", was received byGeorge Lusk of theWhitechapel Vigilance Committee and came with half a preserved human kidney, purportedly taken from one of the victims. The public came to believe in the existence of a single serial killer known as Jack the Ripper, mainly because of both the extraordinarily brutal nature of the murders and media coverage of the crimes.
Extensive newspaper coverage bestowed widespread and enduring international notoriety on the Ripper, and the legend solidified. A police investigation into aseries of eleven brutal murders committed in Whitechapel andSpitalfields between 1888 and 1891 was unable to connect all the killings conclusively to the murders of 1888. Five victims—Mary Ann Nichols,Annie Chapman,Elizabeth Stride,Catherine Eddowes andMary Jane Kelly—are known as the "canonical five" and their murders between 31 August and 9 November 1888 are often considered the most likely to be linked. The murders were never solved, and the legends surrounding these crimes became a combination of historical research,folklore andpseudohistory, capturing public imagination to the present day.
Background
Women and children congregate in front of one of the Whitechapelcommon lodging-houses close to where Jack the Ripper murdered two of his victims.[1]
In the mid-19th century, England experienced an influx ofIrish immigrants who swelled the populations of the major cities, including theEast End of London. From 1882,Jewish refugees fleeingpogroms in the Russian Empire and other areas ofEastern Europe immigrated into the same area.[2] The parish ofWhitechapel in the East End became increasingly overcrowded, with the population increasing to approximately 80,000 inhabitants by 1888.[3] Work and housing conditions worsened, and a significant economicunderclass developed.[4] Fifty-five per cent of children born in the East End died before they were five years old.[5] Robbery, violence, andalcohol dependency were commonplace,[3] and the endemic poverty drove many women toprostitution to survive on a daily basis.[6]
In October 1888, London'sMetropolitan Police Service estimated that there were 62brothels and 1,200 women working as prostitutes in Whitechapel,[7] with approximately 8,500 people residing in the 233common lodging-houses within Whitechapel every night,[3] with the nightly price for acoffin bed beingfourpence (equivalent to £2 in 2023)[8] and the cost of sleeping upon a "lean-to" or "hang-over" rope stretched across the dormitory being two pence per person.[9]
The economic problems in Whitechapel were accompanied by a steady rise insocial tensions. Between 1886 and 1889, frequent demonstrations led to police intervention and public unrest, such asBloody Sunday (1887).[10]Antisemitism, crime,nativism,racism, social disturbance, and severe deprivation influenced public perceptions that Whitechapel was a notorious den ofimmorality.[11] Such perceptions were strengthened in 1888 when the series of vicious and grotesque murders attributed to "Jack the Ripper" received unprecedented coverage in the media.[12]
The large number of attacks against women in the East End during this time adds uncertainty to how many victims were murdered by the same person.[13] Eleven separate murders, stretching from3 April 1888 to13 February 1891, were included in a Metropolitan Police investigation and were known collectively in the police docket as the "Whitechapel murders".[14][15] Opinions vary as to whether these murders should be linked to the same culprit, but five of the eleven Whitechapel murders, known as the "canonical five", are widely believed to be the work of the Ripper.[16] Most experts point to deepslash wounds to the throat, followed by extensive abdominal and genital-area mutilation, the removal of internal organs, and progressive facial mutilations as the distinctive features of the Ripper'smodus operandi.[17] The first two cases in the Whitechapel murders file, those ofEmma Elizabeth Smith andMartha Tabram, are not included in the canonical five.[18]
Smith was robbed andsexually assaulted inOsborn Street, Whitechapel, at approximately1:30 am on3 April 1888.[19] She had been bludgeoned about the face and received a cut to her ear.[20] A blunt object was also inserted into hervagina, rupturing herperitoneum. She developedperitonitis and died the following day atLondon Hospital.[21] Smith stated that she had been attacked by two or three men, one of whom she described as a teenager.[22] This attack was linked to the later murders by the press,[23] but most authors attribute this murder to general East Endgang violence unrelated to the Ripper case.[14][24][25]
Tabram was murdered on a staircase landing in George Yard, Whitechapel, on 7 August 1888;[26] she had suffered 39 stab wounds to her throat, lungs, heart, liver,spleen, stomach, and abdomen, with additional knife wounds inflicted to her breasts and vagina.[27] All but one of Tabram's wounds had been inflicted with a bladed instrument such as apenknife, and with one possible exception, all the wounds had been inflicted by a right-handed person.[26] Tabram had not beenraped.[28]
The savagery of the Tabram murder, the lack of an obviousmotive, and the closeness of the location and date to the later canonical Ripper murders led police to link this murder to those later committed by Jack the Ripper.[29] However, this murder differs from the later canonical murders because although Tabram had been repeatedly stabbed, she had not suffered any slash wounds to her throat or abdomen.[30] Many experts do not connect Tabram's murder with the later murders because of this difference in the wound pattern.[31]
The body of Mary Ann Nichols was discovered at about3:40 am on Friday31 August 1888 in Buck's Row (nowDurward Street), Whitechapel. Nichols had last been seen alive approximately one hour before the discovery of her body by a Mrs. Emily Holland, with whom she had previously shared a bed at a common lodging-house in Thrawl Street, Spitalfields, walking in the direction ofWhitechapel Road.[33] Her throat was severed by two deep cuts, one of which completely severed all thetissue down to thevertebrae.[34] Her vagina had been stabbed twice,[35] and the lower part of her abdomen was partly ripped open by a deep, jagged wound, causing her bowels to protrude.[36] Several other incisions inflicted to both sides of her abdomen had also been caused by the same knife; each of these wounds had been inflicted in a downward thrusting manner.[37]
29Hanbury Street. The door through whichAnnie Chapman and her murderer walked to the yard where her body was discovered is beneath the numerals of the property sign.
One week later, on Saturday8 September 1888, the body of Annie Chapman was discovered at approximately6 am near the steps to the doorway of the back yard of 29Hanbury Street, Spitalfields. As in the case of Nichols, the throat was severed by two deep cuts.[38] Her abdomen had been cut entirely open, with a section of the flesh from her stomach being placed upon her left shoulder and another section of skin and flesh—plus hersmall intestines—being removed and placed above her right shoulder.[39] Chapman's autopsy also revealed that heruterus and sections of herbladder and vagina[40] had been removed.[41]
At theinquest into Chapman's murder, Elizabeth Long described having seen Chapman standing outside 29 Hanbury Street at about5:30 am[42] in the company of a dark-haired man wearing a browndeerstalker hat and dark overcoat, and of a "shabby-genteel" appearance.[43] According to this eyewitness, the man had asked Chapman, "Will you?" to which Chapman had replied, "Yes."[44]
Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddowes were both killed in the early morning hours of Sunday30 September 1888. Stride's body was discovered at approximately1 am in Dutfield's Yard, off Berner Street (nowHenriques Street) in Whitechapel.[45] The cause of death was a single clear-cut incision, measuring six inches across her neck which had severed her leftcarotid artery and hertrachea before terminating beneath her right jaw.[46] The absence of any further mutilations to her body has led to uncertainty as to whether Stride's murder was committed by the Ripper, or whether he was interrupted during the attack.[47] Several witnesses later informed police they had seen Stride in the company of a man in or close to Berner Street on the evening of 29 September and in the early hours of 30 September,[48] but each gave differing descriptions: some said that her companion was fair, others dark; some said that he was shabbily dressed, others well-dressed.[49]
Eddowes's body was found in a corner ofMitre Square in theCity of London, three-quarters of an hour after the discovery of the body of Elizabeth Stride.[50] Her throat was severed from ear to ear and her abdomen ripped open by a long, deep and jagged wound before her intestines had been placed over her right shoulder, with a section of the intestine being completely detached and placed between her body and left arm.[51]
The left kidney and the major part of Eddowes's uterus had been removed, and her face had been disfigured, with her nose severed, her cheek slashed, and cuts measuring a quarter of an inch and a half an inch respectively vertically incised through each of her eyelids.[52] A triangular incision—theapex of which pointed towards Eddowes's eye—had also been carved upon each of her cheeks,[53] and a section of theauricle andlobe of her right ear was later recovered from her clothing.[54] Thepolice surgeon who conducted thepost mortem upon Eddowes's body stated his opinion these mutilations would have taken "at least five minutes" to complete.[55]
A local cigarette salesman namedJoseph Lawende had passed by a narrow walkway to Mitre Square named Church Passage with two friends shortly before the murder;[56] he later described seeing a fair-haired man of medium build with a shabby appearance with a woman who may have been Eddowes.[57] Lawende's companions were unable to confirm his description.[57] The murders of Stride and Eddowes ultimately became known as the "double event".[58][59]
A section of Eddowes's bloodied apron was found at the entrance to a tenement in Goulston Street, Whitechapel, at2:55 am[60] A chalk inscription upon the wall directly above this piece of apron read: "The Juwes are The men That Will not be Blamed for nothing."[61] This graffito became known as theGoulston Street graffito. The message appeared to imply that aJew or Jews in general were responsible for the series of murders, but it is unclear whether the graffito was written by the murderer on dropping the section of apron, or was merely incidental and nothing to do with the case.[62] Such graffiti were commonplace in Whitechapel.Police CommissionerSir Charles Warren feared that the graffito might spark antisemitic riots and ordered the writing washed away before dawn.[63][64]
The extensively mutilated anddisembowelled body of Mary Jane Kelly was discovered lying on the bed in the single room where she lived at 13 Miller's Court, offDorset Street, Spitalfields, at10:45 am on Friday9 November 1888.[65] Her face had been "hacked beyond all recognition",[66] with her throat severed down to the spine, and the abdomen almost emptied of its organs.[67] Her uterus, kidneys and one breast had been placed beneath her head, and otherviscera from her body placed beside her foot,[68] about the bed and sections of her abdomen and thighs upon a bedside table. The heart was missing from the crime scene.[69]
Multiple ashes found within the fireplace at 13 Miller's Court suggested Kelly's murderer had burned several combustible items to illuminate the single room as he mutilated her body. A recent fire had been severe enough to melt thesolder between a kettle and its spout, which had fallen into the grate of the fireplace.[70]
Official police photograph of the body ofMary Jane Kelly as discovered in 13 Miller's Court,Spitalfields, 9 November 1888
Each of the canonical five murders was perpetrated at night, on or close to a weekend, either at the end of a month or a week (or so) after.[71] The mutilations became increasingly severe as the series of murders proceeded, except for that of Stride, whose attacker may have been interrupted.[72] Nichols was not missing any organs; Chapman's uterus and sections of her bladder and vagina were taken; Eddowes had her uterus and left kidney removed and her face mutilated; and Kelly's body was extensivelyeviscerated, with her face "gashed in all directions" and thetissue of her neck being severed to the bone, although the heart was the sole body organ missing from this crime scene.[73]
Historically, the belief these five canonical murders were committed by the same perpetrator is derived from contemporaneous documents which link them together to the exclusion of others.[74] In 1894, SirMelville Macnaghten, AssistantChief Constable of theMetropolitan Police Service and Head of theCriminal Investigation Department (CID), wrote a report that stated: "the Whitechapel murderer had 5 victims—& 5 victims only".[75] Similarly, the canonical five victims were linked together in a letter written by police surgeonThomas Bond toRobert Anderson, head of the London CID, on10 November 1888.[76]
Some researchers have posited that some of the murders were undoubtedly the work of a single killer, but an unknown larger number of killers acting independently were responsible for the other crimes.[77] Authors Stewart P. Evans andDonald Rumbelow argue that the canonical five is a "Ripper myth" and that three cases (Nichols, Chapman, and Eddowes) can be definitely linked to the same perpetrator, but that less certainty exists as to whether Stride and Kelly were also murdered by the same person.[78] Conversely, others suppose that the six murders between Tabram and Kelly were the work of a single killer.[17] Percy Clark, assistant to the examiningpathologistGeorge Bagster Phillips, linked only three of the murders and thought that the others were perpetrated by "weak-minded individual[s] ... induced to emulate the crime".[79] Macnaghten did not join the police force until the year after the murders, and his memorandum contains serious factual errors about possible suspects.[80]
Later Whitechapel murders
Mary Jane Kelly is generally considered to be the Ripper's final victim, and it is assumed that the crimes ended because of the culprit's death, imprisonment,institutionalisation, or emigration.[24][81] The Whitechapel murders file details another four murders that occurred after the canonical five: those of Rose Mylett, Alice McKenzie, the Pinchin Street torso, and Frances Coles.[26][82]
Thestrangled body of 26-year-old Rose Mylett[83] was found in Clarke's Yard, High Street,Poplar on20 December 1888.[84] There was no sign of a struggle, and the police believed that she had either accidentally hanged herself with her collar while in adrunken stupor or committed suicide.[85] However, faint markings left by a cord on one side of her neck suggested Mylett had been strangled.[86][87] At the inquest into Mylett's death, the jury returned a verdict of murder.[85]
Alice McKenzie was murdered shortly after midnight on 17 July 1889 in Castle Alley, Whitechapel. She had suffered two stab wounds to her neck, and her leftcarotid artery had been severed. Several minor bruises and cuts were found on her body, which also bore a seven-inch long superficial wound extending from her left breast to hernavel.[88] One of the examining pathologists, Thomas Bond, believed this to be a Ripper murder, though his colleague George Bagster Phillips, who had examined the bodies of three previous victims, disagreed.[89] Opinions among writers are also divided between those who suspect McKenzie's murderer copied themodus operandi of Jack the Ripper to deflect suspicion from himself,[90] and those who ascribe this murder to Jack the Ripper.[91]
"The Pinchin Street torso" was a decomposing headless and legless torso of an unidentified woman aged between 30 and 40 discovered beneath a railway arch in Pinchin Street, Whitechapel, on10 September 1889.[92] Bruising about the victim's back, hip, and arm indicated the decedent had been extensively beaten shortly before her death. The victim's abdomen was also extensively mutilated, although her genitals had not been wounded.[93] She appeared to have been killed approximately one day prior to the discovery of her torso.[94] The dismembered sections of the body are believed to have been transported to the railway arch, hidden under an old chemise.[95]
Frances Coles was found with her throat cut under a railway arch in Whitechapel on 13 February 1891.[96]
At2:15 am on 13 February 1891, PC Ernest Thompson discovered a 31-year-old prostitute named Frances Coles lying beneath a railway arch at Swallow Gardens, Whitechapel.[97][98] Her throat had been deeply cut but her body was not mutilated, leading some to believe Thompson had disturbed her assailant. Coles was still alive, although she died before medical help could arrive.[99] A 53-year-oldstoker,James Thomas Sadler, had earlier been seen drinking with Coles,[100] and the two are known to have argued approximately three hours before her death. Sadler was arrested by the police and charged with her murder. He was briefly thought to be the Ripper,[101] but was later discharged from court for lack of evidence on3 March 1891.[101]
Other alleged victims
In addition to the eleven Whitechapel murders, commentators have linked other attacks to the Ripper. In the case of "Fairy Fay", it is unclear whether this attack was real or fabricated as a part of Ripper lore.[102] "Fairy Fay" was a nickname given to an unidentified[103] woman whose body was allegedly found in a doorway close to Commercial Road on26 December 1887[104] "after a stake had been thrust through her abdomen",[105][106] but there were no recorded murders in Whitechapel at or around Christmas 1887.[107] "Fairy Fay" seems to have been created through a confused press report of the murder of Emma Elizabeth Smith, who had a stick or other blunt object shoved into her vagina.[108] Most authors agree that the victim "Fairy Fay" never existed.[102][103]
A 38-year-old widow named Annie Millwood was admitted to the Whitechapel Workhouse Infirmary with numerous stab wounds to her legs and lower torso on25 February 1888,[109] informing staff she had been attacked with aclasp knife by an unknown man.[110] She was later discharged, but died from apparently natural causes on31 March.[103] Millwood was later postulated to be the Ripper's first victim, although this attack cannot be definitively linked to the perpetrator.[111]
Another suspected precanonical victim was a young dressmaker named Ada Wilson,[112] who reportedly survived being stabbed twice in the neck with a clasp knife[113] upon the doorstep of her home inBow on28 March 1888 by a man who had demanded money from her.[114] A further possible victim, 40-year-old Annie Farmer, resided at the same lodging house as Martha Tabram[115] and reported an attack on21 November 1888. She had received a superficial cut to her throat. Although an unknown man with blood on his mouth and hands had run out of this lodging house, shouting, "Look at what she has done!" before two eyewitnesses heard Farmer scream,[116] her wound was light, and possiblyself-inflicted.[117][118]
"TheWhitehall Mystery" was a term coined for the discovery of a headless torso of a woman on2 October 1888 in the basement of the newMetropolitan Police headquarters being built inWhitehall. An arm and shoulder belonging to the body were previously discovered floating in theRiver Thames nearPimlico on 11 September, and the left leg was subsequently discovered buried near where the torso was found on 17 October.[119] The other limbs and head were never recovered and the body was never identified. The mutilations were similar to those in the Pinchin Street torso case, where the legs and head were severed but not the arms.[120]
Both the Whitehall Mystery and the Pinchin Street case may have been part of a series of murders known as the "Thames Mysteries", committed by a single serial killer dubbed the "Torso killer".[121] It is debatable whether Jack the Ripper and the "Torso killer" were the same person or separate serial killers active in the same area.[121] Themodus operandi of the Torso killer differed from that of the Ripper, and police at the time discounted any connection between the two.[122] Only one of the four victims linked to the Torso killer, Elizabeth Jackson, was ever identified. Jackson was a 24-year-old prostitute fromChelsea whose various body parts were collected from the River Thames over a three-week period between 31 May and 25 June 1889.[123][124]
On29 December 1888, the body of a seven-year-old boy named John Gill was found in a stable block inManningham, Bradford.[125] Gill had been missing since the morning of 27 December.[126] His legs had been severed, his abdomen opened, his intestines partly drawn out, and his heart and one ear removed. Similarities with the Ripper murders led to press speculation that the Ripper had killed him.[127] The boy's employer, 23-year-old milkman William Barrett, was twice arrested for the murder but was released due toinsufficient evidence.[127] No-one was ever prosecuted.[127]
Carrie Brown (nicknamed "Shakespeare", reportedly for her habit of quoting Shakespeare'ssonnets) was strangled with clothing and then mutilated with a knife on24 April 1891 inNew York City.[128] Her body was found with a large tear through her groin area and superficial cuts on her legs and back. No organs were removed from the scene, though an ovary was found upon the bed, either purposely removed or unintentionally dislodged.[128] At the time, the murder was compared to those in Whitechapel, though the Metropolitan Police eventually ruled out any connection.[128]
The vast majority of theCity of London Police files relating to their investigation into the Whitechapel murders were destroyed inthe Blitz.[129] The survivingMetropolitan Police files allow a detailed view of investigative procedures in theVictorian era.[130] A large team of policemen conducted house-to-house inquiries throughout Whitechapel. Forensic material was collected and examined. Suspects were identified, traced, and either examined more closely or eliminated from the inquiry. Modern police work follows the same pattern.[130] More than 2,000 people were interviewed, "upwards of 300" people were investigated, and 80 people were detained.[131] Following the murders of Stride and Eddowes, theCommissioner of the City Police,Sir James Fraser, offered a reward of £500 for the arrest of the Ripper.[132]
Butchers, slaughterers, surgeons, and physicians were suspected because of the manner of the mutilations.[136] A surviving note from Major Henry Smith, Acting Commissioner of theCity Police, indicates that the alibis of local butchers and slaughterers were investigated, with the result that they were eliminated from the inquiry.[137] A report from Inspector Swanson to the Home Office confirms that 76 butchers and slaughterers were visited, and that the inquiry encompassed all their employees for the previous six months.[138] Some contemporaneous figures, includingQueen Victoria, thought the pattern of the murders indicated that the culprit was a butcher or cattle drover on one of the cattle boats that plied between London and mainland Europe. Whitechapel was close to theLondon Docks,[139] and usually such boats docked on Thursday or Friday and departed on Saturday or Sunday.[140] The cattle boats were examined but the dates of the murders did not coincide with a single boat's movements and the transfer of a crewman between boats was also ruled out.[141]
"Blind man's buff":Punch cartoon byJohn Tenniel (22 September 1888) criticising the police's alleged incompetence. The failure of the police to capture the killer reinforced the attitude held by radicals that the police were inept and mismanaged.[142]
Whitechapel Vigilance Committee
In September 1888, a group of volunteer citizens inLondon's East End formed theWhitechapel Vigilance Committee. They patrolled the streets looking for suspicious characters, partly because of dissatisfaction with the failure of police to apprehend the perpetrator, and also because some members were concerned that the murders were affecting businesses in the area.[143] The Committee petitioned the government to raise a reward for information leading to the arrest of the killer, offered their own reward of £50 – the equivalent of between £5,900 (inflation adjusted) and £86,000 (as a percent of GDP) in 2021[144] – for information leading to his capture,[145] and hired private detectives to question witnesses independently.[146]
Criminal profiling
At the end of October, Robert Anderson asked police surgeon Thomas Bond to give his opinion on the extent of the murderer's surgical skill and knowledge.[147] The opinion offered by Bond on the character of the "Whitechapel murderer" is the earliest survivingoffender profile.[148] Bond's assessment was based on his own examination of the most extensively mutilated victim and the post mortem notes from the four previous canonical murders.[76] He wrote:
All five murders no doubt were committed by the same hand. In the first four the throats appear to have been cut from left to right, in the last case owing to the extensive mutilation it is impossible to say in what direction the fatal cut was made, but arterial blood was found on the wall in splashes close to where the woman's head must have been lying.
All the circumstances surrounding the murders lead me to form the opinion that the women must have been lying down when murdered and in every case the throat was first cut.[76]
Bond was strongly opposed to the idea that the murderer possessed any kind of scientific or anatomical knowledge, or even "the technical knowledge of a butcher or horse slaughterer".[76] In his opinion, the killer must have been a man of solitary habits, subject to "periodical attacks of homicidal and eroticmania", with the character of the mutilations possibly indicating "satyriasis".[76] Bond also stated that "the homicidal impulse may have developed from a revengeful or brooding condition of the mind, or that religious mania may have been the original disease but I do not think either hypothesis is likely".[76]
There is no evidence the perpetrator engaged in sexual activity with any of the victims,[17][149] yetpsychologists have suggested that thepenetration of the victims with a knife and "leaving them on display in sexuallydegrading positions with the wounds exposed" indicates that the perpetrator derived sexual pleasure from the attacks.[17][150] This view is challenged by others, who dismiss such hypotheses as insupportable supposition.[151]
Speculation as to the identity of Jack the Ripper: cover of the 21 September 1889 issue ofPuck magazine, by cartoonistTom Merry
The concentration of the killings around weekends and public holidays and within a short distance of each other has indicated to many that the Ripper was in regular employment and lived locally.[152] Others have opined that the killer was an educated upper-class man, possibly a doctor or anaristocrat who ventured into Whitechapel from a more well-to-do area.[153] Such theories draw on cultural perceptions such as fear of the medical profession, a mistrust of modern science, or the exploitation of the poor by the rich.[154] The term "ripperology" was coined in the 1970s to describe the study and analysis of the Ripper case in an effort to determine his identity, and the murders have inspirednumerous works of fiction.[155][156][157]
Suspects proposed years after the murders include virtually anyone remotely connected to the case by contemporaneous documents, as well as many famous names who were never considered in the police investigation, includingPrince Albert Victor,[158] artistWalter Sickert, and authorLewis Carroll.[159] Everyone alive at the time is now long dead, and modern authors are free to accuse anyone "without any need for any supporting historical evidence".[160] Suspects named in contemporaneous police documents include three inSir Melville Macnaghten's 1894 memorandum, but the evidence against each of them is, at best,circumstantial.[161]
In addition to the contradictions and unreliability of contemporaneous accounts, attempts to identify the murderer are hampered by the lack of any confirmed survivingforensic evidence.[162]DNA analysis has attempted to tieAaron Kosminski (a Whitechapel barber) to crime scene evidence and Walter Sickert to letters (possibly hoaxes) claiming to be from the Ripper. Thescientific methodology used to advance these mutually incompatible claims has been criticised.[163] Themitochondrial DNA recovered from the uncorroborated crime scene evidence compared with undisclosed descendants of Kosminski (who had no children) is considered questionable.[164][165] DNA tests on extant letters is inconclusive;[166] the available material has been handled many times and is too contaminated to provide meaningful results.[167] The study linking Kosminski could not be replicated and the original data could not be located, leading theJournal of Forensic Sciences to later publish an officialexpression of concern.[168]
There are numerous, varied theories about the actual identity and profession of Jack the Ripper, but authorities are not agreed upon any of them, and the number of named suspects reaches over one hundred.[169][170] Despite continued interest in the case, the Ripper's identity remains unknown.[171]
Letters
Over the course of the Whitechapel murders, the police, newspapers, and other members of the public received hundreds of letters regarding the case.[172] Some letters were well-intentioned offers of advice as to how to catch the killer, but the vast majority were either hoaxes or generally useless.[173][174]
The "Dear Boss" letter, dated25 September andpostmarked27 September 1888, was received that day by theCentral News Agency, and was forwarded to Scotland Yard on29 September.[177] Initially, it was considered a hoax, but when Eddowes was found three days after the letter's postmark with a section of one ear obliquely cut from her body, the promise of the author to "clip the ladys (sic) ears off" gained attention.[178] Eddowes's ear appears to have been nicked by the killer incidentally during his attack, and the letter writer's threat to send the ears to the police was never carried out.[179] The name "Jack the Ripper" was first used in this letter by the signatory and gained worldwide notoriety after its publication.[180] Most of the letters that followed copied this letter's tone,[181] with some authors adopting pseudonyms such as "George of the High Rip Gang"[182] and "Jack Sheridan, the Ripper."[183] Some sources claim that another letter dated17 September 1888 was the first to use the name "Jack the Ripper",[184] but most experts believe that this was a fake inserted into police records in the 20th century.[185]
The "Saucy Jacky" postcard was postmarked1 October 1888 and was received the same day by the Central News Agency. The handwriting was similar to the "Dear Boss" letter,[186] and mentioned the canonical murders committed on 30 September, which the author refers to by writing "double event this time".[187] It has been argued that the postcard was posted before the murders were publicised, making it unlikely that acrank would hold such knowledge of the crime.[188] However, it was postmarked more than 24 hours after the killings occurred, long after details of the murders were known and publicised by journalists, and had become general community gossip by the residents of Whitechapel.[187][189]
The "From Hell" letter was received byGeorge Lusk, leader of the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee, on16 October 1888.[190] The handwriting and style is unlike that of the "Dear Boss" letter and "Saucy Jacky" postcard.[191] The letter came with a small box in which Lusk discovered half of a human kidney, preserved in "spirits of wine" (ethanol).[191] Eddowes's left kidney had been removed by the killer. The writer claimed that he "fried and ate" the missing kidney half. There is disagreement over the kidney; some contend that it belonged to Eddowes, while others argue that it was a macabre practical joke.[192][193] The kidney was examined byThomas Openshaw of theLondon Hospital, who determined that it was human and from the left side, but (contrary to false newspaper reports) he could not determine any other biological characteristics.[194] Openshaw subsequently also receiveda letter signed "Jack the Ripper".[195]
Scotland Yard published facsimiles of the "Dear Boss" letter and the postcard on3 October, in the ultimately vain hope that a member of the public would recognise the handwriting.[196] Charles Warren explained in a letter toGodfrey Lushington, PermanentUnder-Secretary of State for the Home Department: "I think the whole thing a hoax but of course we are bound to try & ascertain the writer in any case."[197] On7 October 1888,George R. Sims in the Sunday newspaperReferee implied scathingly that the letter was written by a journalist "to hurl the circulation of a newspaper sky high".[198] Police officials later claimed to have identified a specific journalist as the author of both the "Dear Boss" letter and the postcard.[199] The journalist was identified as Tom Bullen in a letter from Chief InspectorJohn Littlechild to George R. Sims dated23 September 1913.[200][n 1] A journalist named Fred Best reportedly confessed in 1931 that he and a colleague atThe Star had written the letters signed "Jack the Ripper" to heighten interest in the murders and "keep the business alive".[203]
Tax reforms in the 1850s had enabled the publication of inexpensive newspapers with a wider circulation.[206] These mushroomed in the later Victorian era to include mass-circulation newspapers costing as little as ahalfpenny, along with popular magazines such asThe Illustrated Police News which made the Ripper the beneficiary of previously unparalleled publicity.[207] Consequently, at the height of the investigation, over one million copies[208] of newspapers with extensive coverage devoted to the Whitechapel murders were sold each day.[209] However, many of the articles weresensationalistic and speculative, and false information was regularly printed as fact.[210] In addition, several articles speculating as to the identity of the Ripper alluded to localxenophobic rumours that the perpetrator was either Jewish or foreign.[211][212]
In early September, six days after the murder of Mary Ann Nichols,The Manchester Guardian reported: "Whatever information may be in the possession of the police they deem it necessary to keep secret ... It is believed their attention is particularly directed to ... a notorious character known as 'Leather Apron'."[213] Journalists were frustrated by the unwillingness of the CID to reveal details of their investigation to the public, and so resorted to writing reports of questionable veracity.[24][214] Imaginative descriptions of "Leather Apron" appeared in the press,[215] but rival journalists dismissed these as "a mythical outgrowth of the reporter's fancy".[216]John Pizer, a local Jew who made footwear from leather, was known by the name "Leather Apron"[217] and was arrested, even though the investigating inspector reported that "at present there is no evidence whatsoever against him".[218] He was soon released after the confirmation of his alibis.[217]
After the publication of the "Dear Boss" letter, "Jack the Ripper" supplanted "Leather Apron" as the name adopted by the press and public to describe the killer.[219] The name "Jack" was already used to describe another fabled London attacker: "Spring-heeled Jack", who supposedly leapt over walls to strike at his victims and escape as quickly as he came.[220] The invention and adoption of a nickname for a particular killer became standard media practice with examples such asthe Axeman of New Orleans, theBoston Strangler, and theBeltway Sniper. Examples derived from Jack the Ripper include theFrench Ripper, theDüsseldorf Ripper, theCamden Ripper, theBlackout Ripper,Jack the Stripper, theYorkshire Ripper, and theRostov Ripper. Sensational press reports combined with the fact that no one was ever convicted of the murders have confused scholarly analysis and created a legend that casts a shadow over later serial killers.[221]
The 'Nemesis of Neglect': Jack the Ripper depicted as a phantom stalking Whitechapel, and as an embodiment of social neglect, in aPunch cartoon of 1888
The nature of the Ripper murders and the impoverished lifestyle of the victims[222] drew attention to the poor living conditions in the East End[223] and galvanised public opinion against the overcrowded, insanitary slums.[224] In the two decades after the murders, the worst of the slums were cleared and demolished,[225] but the streets and some buildings survive, and the legend of the Ripper is still promoted by various guided tours of the murder sites and other locations pertaining to the case.[226] For many years, theTen Bells public house inCommercial Street (which had been frequented by at least one of the canonical Ripper victims) was the focus of such tours.[227]
In the immediate aftermath of the murders and later, "Jack the Ripper became the children's bogey man."[228] Depictions were often phantasmic or monstrous. In the 1920s and 1930s, he was depicted in film dressed in everyday clothes as a man with a hidden secret, preying on his unsuspecting victims; atmosphere and evil were suggested through lighting effects and shadowplay.[229] By the 1960s, the Ripper had become "the symbol of a predatory aristocracy",[229] and was more often portrayed in a top hat dressed as a gentleman.The Establishment as a whole became the villain, with the Ripper acting as a manifestation of upper-class exploitation.[230] The image of the Ripper merged with or borrowed symbols from horror stories, such asDracula's cloak orVictor Frankenstein's organ harvest.[231] The fictional world of the Ripper can fuse with multiple genres, ranging fromSherlock Holmes toJapanese erotic horror.[232]
Jack the Ripper features inhundreds of works of fiction and works which straddle the boundaries between fact and fiction, including the Ripper letters and a hoax diary:The Diary of Jack the Ripper.[233] The Ripper appears in novels, short stories, poems, comic books, games, songs, plays, operas, television programmes, and films. More than 100 non-fiction works deal exclusively with the Jack the Ripper murders, making this case one of the most written-about in the true-crime genre.[169] The term "ripperology" was coined byColin Wilson in the 1970s to describe the study of the case by professionals and amateurs.[234][235] The periodicalsRipperana,Ripperologist, andRipper Notes publish their research.[236]
In 2015, theJack the Ripper Museum opened in east London. It attracted criticism from bothTower Hamlets mayorJohn Biggs[239] and protestors.[240] Similar protests occurred in 2021 when the second of two "Jack The Chipper" fish and chip shops opened inGreenwich, with some locals threatening to boycott the shop.[241]
^Kershen, Anne J., "The Immigrant Community of Whitechapel at the Time of the Jack the Ripper Murders", in Werner, pp. 65–97; Vaughan, Laura, "Mapping the East End Labyrinth", in Werner, p. 225
^abcHoneycombe,The Murders of the Black Museum: 1870–1970, p. 54
^Evans and Skinner,Jack the Ripper: Letters from Hell, p. 1; Police report dated 25 October 1888, MEPO 3/141 ff. 158–163, quoted in Evans and Skinner,The Ultimate Jack the Ripper Sourcebook, p. 283; Fido, p. 82; Rumbelow, p. 12
^Rumbelow,Jack the Ripper: The Complete Casebook, p. 30
^Begg,Jack the Ripper: The Definitive History, pp. 131–149; Evans and Rumbelow, pp. 38–42; Rumbelow, pp. 21–22
^Marriott, John, "The Imaginative Geography of the Whitechapel murders", in Werner, pp. 31–63
^Haggard, Robert F. (1993), "Jack the Ripper As the Threat of Outcast London",Essays in History, vol. 35, Corcoran Department of History at the University of Virginia
^abcdKeppel, Robert D.; Weis, Joseph G.; Brown, Katherine M.; Welch, Kristen (2005), "The Jack the Ripper murders: a modus operandi and signature analysis of the 1888–1891 Whitechapel murders",Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling,2 (1):1–21,doi:10.1002/jip.22,ISSN1544-4759
^Begg,Jack the Ripper: The Definitive History, pp. 27–28; Evans and Rumbelow, pp. 47–50; Evans and Skinner,The Ultimate Jack the Ripper Sourcebook, pp. 4–7
^Begg,Jack the Ripper: The Definitive History, p. 28; Evans and Skinner,The Ultimate Jack the Ripper Sourcebook, pp. 4–7
^e.g.The Star,8 September 1888, quoted in Begg,Jack the Ripper: The Definitive History, pp. 155–156 and Cook, p. 62
^Begg,Jack the Ripper: The Definitive History, p. 153; Cook, p. 163; Evans and Skinner,The Ultimate Jack the Ripper Sourcebook, p. 98; Marriott, Trevor, pp. 59–75
^Holmes,Profiling Violent Crimes: An Investigative Tool, p. 233
^Naming Jack the Ripper: New Crime Scene Evidence, A Stunning Forensic BreakthroughISBN978-1-447-26423-1 p. 60
^abBegg,Jack the Ripper: The Definitive History, pp. 193–194; Chief Inspector Swanson's report,6 November 1888, HO 144/221/A49301C, quoted in Evans and Skinner, pp. 185–188
^e.g. Evans and Skinner,Jack the Ripper: Letters from Hell, p. 30; Rumbelow, p. 118
^Letter from Charles Warren to Godfrey Lushington, PermanentUnder-Secretary of State for the Home Department,6 November 1888, HO 144/221/A49301C, quoted in Evans and Skinner,The Ultimate Jack the Ripper Sourcebook, pp. 183–184
^Macnaghten's notes quoted by Cook, p. 151; Evans and Skinner,The Ultimate Jack the Ripper Sourcebook, pp. 584–587 and Rumbelow, p. 140
^abcdefLetter from Thomas Bond to Robert Anderson,10 November 1888, HO 144/221/A49301C, quoted in Evans and Skinner,The Ultimate Jack the Ripper Sourcebook, pp. 360–362 and Rumbelow, pp. 145–147
^abcEvans and Skinner,Jack the Ripper: Letters from Hell, p. 136
^abcVanderlinden, Wolf (2003–04). "The New York Affair", inRipper Notes part one No. 16 (July 2003); part two No. 17 (January 2004), part three No. 19 (July 2004ISBN0-9759129-0-9)
^InspectorDonald Swanson's report to the Home Office,19 October 1888, HO 144/221/A49301C, quoted in Begg,Jack the Ripper: The Definitive History, p. 205; Evans and Rumbelow, p. 113; Evans and Skinner,The Ultimate Jack the Ripper Sourcebook, p. 125
^Inspector Donald Swanson's report to theHome Office,19 October 1888, HO 144/221/A49301C, quoted in Begg,Jack the Ripper: The Definitive History, p. 206 and Evans and Skinner,The Ultimate Jack the Ripper Sourcebook, p. 125
^Marriott, John, "The Imaginative Geography of the Whitechapel murders", in Werner, p. 48
^Rumbelow, p. 93;Daily Telegraph,10 November 1888, quoted in Evans and Skinner,The Ultimate Jack the Ripper Sourcebook, p. 341
^Robert Anderson to Home Office,10 January 1889, 144/221/A49301C ff. 235–236, quoted in Evans and Skinner,The Ultimate Jack the Ripper Sourcebook, p. 399
^Begg,Jack the Ripper: The Definitive History, p. 57
^Donald McCormick estimated "probably at least 2000" (quoted in Evans and Skinner,Jack the Ripper: Letters from Hell, p. 180). TheIllustrated Police News of 20 October 1888 said that around 700 letters had been investigated by police (quoted in Evans and Skinner,Jack the Ripper: Letters from Hell, p. 199). Over 300 are preserved at the Corporation of London Records Office (Evans and Skinner,Jack the Ripper: Letters from Hell, p. 149).
^Begg,Jack the Ripper: The Definitive History, p. 165; Evans and Skinner,Jack the Ripper: Letters from Hell, p. 105; Rumbelow, pp. 105–116
^Wolf, Gunter (2008), "A kidney from hell? A nephrological view of the Whitechapel murders in 1888",Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation,23 (10):3343–3349,doi:10.1093/ndt/gfn198,PMID18408073
^Evans and Skinner,Jack the Ripper: Letters from Hell, pp. 32–33
^Letter from Charles Warren to Godfrey Lushington,10 October 1888, Metropolitan Police Archive MEPO 1/48, quoted in Cook, p. 78; Evans and Rumbelow, p. 140 and Evans and Skinner,Jack the Ripper: Letters from Hell, p. 43
^Quoted in Evans and Skinner,Jack the Ripper: Letters from Hell, pp. 41, 52 and Woods and Baddeley, p. 54
^Cook, pp. 94–95; Evans and Skinner,Jack the Ripper: Letters From Hell, pp. 45–48; Evans and Skinner,The Ultimate Jack the Ripper Sourcebook, pp. 624–633; Marriott, Trevor, pp. 219–222; Rumbelow, pp. 121–122
^Quoted in Cook, pp. 96–97; Evans and Skinner,Jack the Ripper: Letters from Hell, p. 49; Evans and Skinner,The Ultimate Jack the Ripper Sourcebook, p. 193; and Marriott, Trevor, p. 254
^Professor Francis E. Camps, August 1966, "More on Jack the Ripper",Crime and Detection, quoted in Evans and Skinner,Jack the Ripper: Letters from Hell, pp. 51–52
^"John Pizer". casebook.org. 1 January 2010.Archived from the original on 24 November 2020. Retrieved1 June 2020.
^Ignacio Peyro (29 October 2018)."Who Was Jack the Ripper?".nationalgeographic.co.uk.Archived from the original on 31 March 2021. Retrieved1 June 2020.
^Manchester Guardian,6 September 1888, quoted in Begg,Jack the Ripper: The Definitive History, p. 98
^Begg,Jack the Ripper: The Definitive History, p. 214
^e.g.Manchester Guardian,10 September 1888, andAustin Statesman,5 September 1888, quoted in Begg,Jack the Ripper: The Definitive History, pp. 98–99;The Star,5 September 1888, quoted in Evans and Rumbelow, p. 80
^Leytonstone Express and Independent,8 September 1888, quoted in Begg,Jack the Ripper: The Definitive History, p. 99
^Report by Inspector Joseph Helson, CID 'J' Division, in the Metropolitan Police archive, MEPO 3/140 ff. 235–238, quoted in Begg,Jack the Ripper: The Definitive History, p. 99 and Evans and Skinner,The Ultimate Jack the Ripper Sourcebook, p. 24
^Evans and Skinner,Jack the Ripper: Letters from Hell, pp. 13, 86; Fido, p. 7
^Ackroyd, Peter, "Introduction", in Werner, p. 10; Rivett and Whitehead, p. 11
^Marriott, John, "The Imaginative Geography of the Whitechapel murders", in Werner, p. 54
^Evans, Stewart P. (April 2003). "Ripperology, A Term Coined By ...",Ripper Notes, copies atWayback andCasebookArchived 16 October 2011 at theWayback Machine
Begg, Paul (2003).Jack the Ripper: The Definitive History. London: Pearson Education.ISBN0-582-50631-X
Begg, Paul (2004).Jack the Ripper: The Facts. Barnes & Noble Books.ISBN978-0-760-77121-1
Bell, Neil R. A. (2016).Capturing Jack the Ripper: In the Boots of a Bobby in Victorian England. Stroud: Amberley Publishing.ISBN978-1-445-62162-3
Cook, Andrew (2009).Jack the Ripper. Stroud, Gloucestershire: Amberley Publishing.ISBN978-1-84868-327-3
Curtis, Lewis Perry (2001).Jack The Ripper & The London Press. Yale University Press.ISBN0-300-08872-8
Eddleston, John J. (2002).Jack the Ripper: An Encyclopedia. London: Metro Books.ISBN1-84358-046-2
Evans, Stewart P.;Rumbelow, Donald (2006).Jack the Ripper: Scotland Yard Investigates. Stroud, Gloucestershire: Sutton Publishing.ISBN0-7509-4228-2
Evans, Stewart P.;Skinner, Keith (2000).The Ultimate Jack the Ripper Sourcebook: An Illustrated Encyclopedia. London: Constable and Robinson.ISBN1-84119-225-2
Evans, Stewart P.; Skinner, Keith (2001).Jack the Ripper: Letters from Hell. Stroud, Gloucestershire: Sutton Publishing.ISBN0-7509-2549-3
Fido, Martin (1987),The Crimes, Detection and Death of Jack the Ripper, London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson,ISBN0-297-79136-2
Gordon, R. Michael (2000).Alias Jack the Ripper: Beyond the Usual Whitechapel Suspects. North Carolina: McFarland Publishing.ISBN978-0-786-40898-6
Holmes, Ronald M.; Holmes, Stephen T. (2002).Profiling Violent Crimes: An Investigative Tool. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.ISBN0-7619-2594-5
