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Jack the Ripper
Jack the Ripper was the nickname for a serial killer that stalked the general area in and around Whitechapel in London, England during 1888. Nothing is known for sure regarding the identity of this killer or the exact number of victims.
404 Questions
What was Jack the Ripper's physical appearance?
Although no one was ever positive it was thought he was about 5"7, had a pale complexion, although this was one of the least certain things because the fumes from factories were so thick you couldn't see your hand sometimes, he had a moustache , wore a knee length black cloak, had a deerstalker hat, gloves, black waistcoat and trousers and underneath he wore a white shirt.
"Jack the Ripper" is best known name given to an unidentified serial killer who was active in the largely impoverished areas in and around the Whitechapel district of London in 1888. The name originated in a letter, written by someone claiming to be the murderer, that was disseminated in the media. The letter is widely believed to have been a hoax, and may have been written by a journalist in a deliberate attempt to heighten interest in the story. Other nicknames used for the killer at the time were "The Whitechapel Murderer" and "Leather Apron".
Attacks ascribed to the Ripper typically involved female prostitutes from the slums whose throats were cut prior to abdominal mutilations. The removal of internal organs from at least three of the victims led to proposals that their killer possessed anatomical or surgical knowledge. Rumours that the murders were connected intensified in September and October 1888, and letters from a writer or writers purporting to be the murderer were received by media outlets and Scotlan Yard. The "From Hell" letter, received by George Lusk of the Whitechapel Vigilance commite, included half of a preserved human kidney, supposedly from one of the victims. Mainly because of the extraordinarily brutal character of the murders, and because of media treatment of the events, the public came increasingly to believe in a single serial killer known as "Jack the Ripper".
Extensive newspaper coverage bestowed widespread and enduring international notoriety of the Ripper. An investigation into a series of brutal killings in Whitechapel up to 1891 was unable to connect all the killings conclusively to the murders of 1888, but the legend of Jack the Ripper solidified. As the murders were never solved, the legends surrounding them became a combination of genuine historical research, folklore. The term "ripperology" was coined to describe the study and analysis of the Ripper cases. There are now over one hundred theories about the Ripper's identity , and the murders have inspired multiple works of friction. "Jack The Ripper" killed people all over the UK.
The killings of "Jack The Ripper" took place within a mile area and involved the districts of Whitechapel, Spitalfields, Aldgate, and the City of London proper. He was also called the Whitechapel Murderer and "Leather Apron."
Who did Jack The Ripper live with?
about 1858 - 1888+
//Since the killer known as Jack The Ripper was never identified we can only speculate the date of his birth and death. It is safe to say he was most active as a killer in the Victorian era.
How did the police try to catch Jack the Ripper?
They printed up fliers, added extra police to patrol the streets of the East End, but the technology was not advanced enough to catch him.
Nobody that has done any research into the crimes of JTR can say that Scotland Yard did not try their best to catch the man. There were many in law enforcement, from the lowest "bobby" to the highest detective, that put 110% into his capture. Unfortunately, the Victorian era did not have the science yet to catch a killer of his sophistication. I'm sure Abberline went to his grave with feelings of frustration at not being able to apprehend the biggest case of his career.
What knife did Jack the Ripper use?
Here you have the ripper's knife from a Museum in Docklands posted in the related links box below.
There was never a weapon recovered in the Ripper murders. From what is left of the autopsy notes the weapon was described only as a sharp knife/dagger* about 6 inches in lenght. It could never be distiguished whether the weapon was double-edged or not. They just didn't know enough about determining the type of weapon by the wounds made by it.
*It could not be determined if the Ripper used a knife or a dagger.
How would Jack the Ripper kill?
He strangled them and then slit their throats. Some victims were also mutilated.
The theory that JTR strangled his victims first has been prevelant for over 120 years. If you look at what is left of the autopsy reports contained in the original file it is improbable that any of the victims were strangled. Strangulation is not an easy or quick way to die. It can take up to 5 minutes or longer. The Ripper was killing these women out in the open streets and sidewalks where he could be interrupted at any time. He had to get in and get out in record time. In fact, the night of the 'double event', when he killed two women, the 2nd murder was because he was interrupted and almost caught. He had to flee or be captured. So he made the 2nd kill to finish what he had started. The point being, he most likely slit their throats from behind. That would silence them immediatly and keep alot of the spurting blood off of him. The later victims took some time to finish. He had no time to waste on strangulation. His fear of discovery must have been enormous. There was some bruising on the face of at least one victim, but not from strangulation. He most lilely put a hand over the mouth and held the knife in the other hand. This method can be carried out very quickly and almost completely in silence.
That was John Wayne Gacy. Between 1972 and 1978, the year he was arrested, Gacy raped and murdered at least 33 young men and boys, mostly teenagers. He was dubbed the "Killer Clown" because he entertained kids at parties as "Pogo The Clown." He was eventually convicted and sentenced to death. On May 10, 1994, Gacy was executed by lethal injection.
Whose liver got sent by Jack The Ripper?
The Ripper did not send a liver but one half of a kidney most likely belonging to Katherine Eddows. The kidney was sent to Dr. Oppenshaw to examine. His conclusion was as follows:A human kidney in the advanced stages of Brights disease. It was well documented that Eddows suffered from Brights. Dr.Oppenshaw also confirmed that it was female and from the left side which was stated in the From Hell letter supposedly from Jack
Why were the police not to blame for the Jack The Ripper murders?
In some ways the police force were not to blame for not capturing Jack the Ripper because of the harsh conditions that they had to work in. A newspaper article describes the streets of Whitechapel as "containing some headquarters of infamy" and "The sights and sounds are an apocalypse of evil" This gives a very negative image of the streets of Whitechapel and leads us to feel sympathetic towards the Police because they had to work in these conditions. The conditions would also affect a policeman's efficiency and make him less alert. //Jack The Ripper lived and killed in a time where the detection of the guilty was not the science it is today. There where no crime scene analysts, DNA or hair and fiber comparison under microscopes. The best they could hope for was an eyewitness that wasn't too drunk to recall what he had seen and articulate it to the proper authrorities. The simple reason the Ripper was never caught was that forensic science was not yet advanced enough for serial murder. Stranger murder is among the most difficult to solve. It is a challenge for modern law enforcement with all the available tools at their disposal. How much more difficult for the likes of Inspector Frederick Abberline trying to basically 'pull a rabbit out of a hat'. The Ripper was not caught simply because the police were not equipted with the tools needed to catch a killer of this type.
How did Jack the Ripper get away with it?
The following points have been attributed to how the Whitechapel murderer was able to avoid detection:
1. He likely lived in the Whitechapel area. The locations he took his victims and the speed with which he killed them indicates he was familiar with the movements of local constabulary.
2. His appearance was common. He was not a well dressed figure, as in the lower East End of London a well dressed gentleman was such an uncommon sight as to have drawn immediate attention.
3. All of his victims, with the exception of Mary Kelly, were killed within areas where butcher-shops and slaughterhouses were common. A man calmly walking, even bespattered with blood, would not have caused undo alarm in these areas.
To put is simply, he was a killer ahead of his time. In the Victorian era forensics were non-existant. Fingerprints were known buy not used with any consistancy. Blood typing was science fiction. You almost had to be caught in the act or nothing could be proved. There are many serial killers that have above average IQs. I believe JTR was one of them.
Why was Francis Thompson a suspect of being Jack The Ripper?
Like many other Ripper suspects, Thompson was associated with Jack The Ripper only by the flimiest of circumstances. Thompson had trained as a medical doctor and he lived just south of Whitechapel. Other than that I could find no other reason for him to be a suspect.
Aron Kosminski is named by many as the most likely Ripper suspect. He was a mentally ill woman-hating Polish Jew that lived and worked in London's east end. But by most accounts he was not even available for several of the murders. This in and of itself eliminates him from the suspect list.
How does blind man's buff mean in telling us that Jack the Ripper never got caught?
"Blind-man's Buff" is a punch cartoon that came out on September 22 1888. It critizes the police for it's incompetence and the failure to capture the ripper. The cartoon also mocks the police's methods of detection. It doesn't tell us but shows a picture that the ripper is not going to be caught by the police of that day.
Who is generally accepted to be the first victim of Jack the Ripper?
The first "canonical" victim was Mary Ann (also known as "Polly") Nicholls, who was killed on 31 August 1888, but it is now fairly widely accepted by commentators and theorists that Martha Tabram, who was killed on 7 August 1888, was most likely an earlier Ripper victim. There are also a number of non-fatal attacks on women earlier in 1888 which potentially fit the Ripper's modus operandii.
Last name of the first canonical victim?
She was born with the last name Walker. Her name was Mary Ann Nichols. She was discovered at about 3:40 a.m. on Friday 31 August 1888 in Buck's Row which is now named Durward Street, Whitechapel. She was the daughter of locksmith Edward Walker. She married William Nichols.
What weapon did Jack the Ripper use?
he used very sharp weapons like knifes :)
'Knives" =) -The Informant
What is the biggest mistake people make in the case of Jack The Ripper?
By far the biggest mistake that most people make when trying to identify JTR would be to assume the start and stop of his murders. Especially in a case so old, errors get passed down so many times that they are eventually taken as fact.
I have read so many JTR books that claim to know the identity of the Ripper, yet instead of starting at the begining and sticking to just the facts, meaning the autopsy reports, or what is left of them, whatever Scotland Yard has retained in the way of evidence, and building on these things.
Contrary to what most people know and believe about the Ripper's crimes, he most likely did not begin with Polly Nickols, and it may not have been Martha Trabam either. And more important to the case is the supposed last victim Mary Kelly. Scotland Yard knew Kelly was not the last victim. The murders went on for years. Although I have never uncovered this in my years of studing this criminal, for some reason the papers stopped almost completely their stories of the Ripper's crimes. It could have come from the higher-ups at Scotland Yard, but I have not found that to be a fact. When the crimes stopped made for much speculation about what happened to the Ripper. Many suspects were applied to the crimes based on this one faslehood.
For reasons I'm not sure anyone can pinpoint, Mary Kelly got the false label of 'last victim'. If and when the Ripper stopped had a profound influence on the suspect list. I have found only 2 books that start from the beginning and stick to the facts not the folklore and fable that have attached themselves to these crimes. By applying modern forensics and psychological criminal profiling and studying the case files and sticking to the facts we could get a much better idea of who Jack The Ripper really was.
Where was Annie Chapman found?
Annie Chapman, age 47, found with her throat slit and torso mutilated on Hanbury St., Spitalfields. In the case of Chapman, the killer once again displays incredible nerve to kill under the nose of witnesses. 29 Hanbury St. was a busy place on the early morning of September 8. Jack took great risks in murdering Chapman with people coming and going, even in the pre-dawn hours when the body was discovered.
What can we tell from the mutilations carried out on the bodies of the victims of Jack The Ripper?
With the exception of victim Elizabeth Stride, it is very obvious that the Ripper had nothing but contempt and rage toward women. What caused this rage we can only guess at, since JTR was never caught. He may have had a demanding, abusive mother or mother-figure. His choice of weapon also tells us that the murders were very personal to him. There are many different ways to kill a person. This particular killer had to make physical contact with the victim in order to kill them with a knife. He also mutilated many of his victims faces, in effect, making them less human, in his eyes, at least.
Green River killer Gary Leon Ridgeway, killed at least 62 women, mostly prostitutes from the SEA-TAC area of Seattle, WA. When he was finally arrested he explained to detectives that he felt he was doing his civic duty by removing 'undesirables' from society. In his mind, these women were less than human. And as with most serial killers, Ridgeway had no remorse whatsoever.
So it is possible that Jack The Ripper may have had similar reasons when he killed prostitutes in London's east end. Whatever his reasoning, by the time he killed Mary Kelly in November of 1888, he was in a virtual frenzy of rage and violence.
How did Whitechapel help Jack the Ripper?
I have been taught by my teacher about this so its very accurate
This is a very insightful answer and it makes some very good points. The only thing I would add is that although the Ripper did not have to live or even work in the East End, he would have to know the area very well, and he would have to be able to blend in to the environment, so if he didn't live or work there he had to at least dress like the natives.
What was the Autumn of Terror?
The Autumn of Terror was the time period from August 1888 to November 1888 in Victorian London's east end or Whitechapel. The Ripper was on the loose and no woman felt safe, especially the prostitutes that lived and worked those streets for their livelyhood.
Since Jack The Ripper was never caught we have no way of knowing if he was 'Gothic' or not. But the term gothic is a modern trend, unheard of until the late 20th century, I doubt that JTR was.
Who found Mary Ann Nichols body?
Mary Ann Nichols' body was discovered at approximately 3:45 a.m., August 31 on a small street called Buck's Row by a carman named Charles Cross.
7th September 1888, Annie Chapman became the second victim of Jack the Ripper.
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