Jack the Ripper

Introduction

The first pop serial killer in history, Jack the Ripper, is contemporary.
from pulp fiction (Sherlock Holmes, Jekyll and Hyde, The War of the Worlds) and
from the sensationalist press, which covered his crimes in detail.
Five prostitutes from Whitechapel, a poor neighborhood in London, were
savagely stripped by Jack between August and November 1888. The
the killer was never captured, which inspired conspiracy theories
completely crazy. The most popular, defended by the writer Stephen
Knight in Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution (Grafton Books, 1977),
served as the basis for the ambitious graphic novel From Hell (Via lettera,
2002), by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell, and for the film of the same name.
The thesis is as follows; Jack the Ripper was Sir William Gull, doctor of
English royal family, who would have committed the crimes at her request.
Queen Victoria. The confusion is said to have started with Prince Albert Victor,
Duke of Clarence, grandson of the queen and second in the line of succession. The
the prince is supposedly going to secretly marry a certain Annie
Crook, pastry counter attendant, with whom he had a daughter. The woman,
besides being plebeian and poor, she was Catholic. Five of Annie's friends, all
prostitutes knew the story and decided to blackmail the crown. To
to eliminate the problem, the queen summoned Sir William Gull, a man of her
extreme trust (he had discreetly taken care of the prince's syphilis).
Gull was a Freemason and counted on the silence and complicity of the order to
 Jack the Ripper
cover up his actions. The doctor, however, betrayed the brotherhood by carrying out the
ritualistic murders that refer to Masonic mysteries.
One of the victims had their belly opened, the intestines pulled out and
thrown over the right shoulder. Another had their heart torn out and
burned in a fireplace. The mutilations would be a reference to punishment
imposed on Jubela, Jubelo, and Jubelum, the three murderers of Hiram Abiff,
legendary architect of the temple of Solomon and founder of FREEMASONRY.
Gull, suggests Stephen Knight, believed that Annie's friends
they deserved the same punishment, for they were traitors to the Crown.
This thesis is reinforced by the mysterious inscription found on a wall.
from Goulston Street, also in Whitechapel, next to the piece
bloodied dress of one of Jack's victims: "The juwes are the
"men who will not be blamed for anything." The graffiti was erased.
quickly by order of Police Commissioner Sir Charles Warren, who
he was a Freemason. Warren argued that the phrase associated the Jews ('jews',
in English) to the crimes, and that this could provoke turmoil in the neighborhood,
where many immigrants lived. Stephen Knight claims that the expression
"juwes" is used in Masonic texts to refer collectively to the
brothers of the order. William Gull would have made the inscription to reaffirm his
mission is to exonerate the companions. Warren would have erased it to
cover up the connection between the murderer and the order.
But Stephen Knight's thesis is not taken very seriously outside of
conspiracy circles. The Freemasons say that the term "juwes" does not
it exists and is pure invention of the writer. Moreover, they swear that William Gull
never belonged to the order. The idea of ritualistic murder also
falls easily: one of the punishments imposed on the traitors of Hiram Abiff was
the amputation of the tongue, a mutilation that did not occur in any of the
victims of the ripper.
John Douglas and Mark Olshaker, authors of Criminal Minds and Crimes
Scary (Ediouro, 2002), concludes that the serial killer was not a
meticulous criminal, but disorganized and rushed. They
they ridicule Knight's speculations and attribute the crimes to a
poor and crazy Polish immigrant who lived in Whitechapel at the same time
era. According to them, the inscription that talks about the 'juwes' has nothing to do with
see the case and it is probably just a racist and illiterate graffiti
that refers to the 'Jews' who lived in the region.
The most recent hypothesis about Jack's identity was formulated by the
American writer Patricia Cornwell in the book Portrait of a Killer: Jack the
Ripper - Case Closed (Putnan Pub Group, 2002). It states that...
The murderer was the painter Walter Sickert, famous for his gothic paintings.

Jack the Ripper

 Jack the Ripper

Talking about the E.D. known as Jack the Ripper is difficult. First
during the time of the crimes, more than a hundred years ago. According to the aura
the mystique that the case received, which paved the way for numerous theories,
some with an air of conspiracy, others with no reason whatsoever.
It seems that many people have formed opinions about the crimes that occurred.
in Whitechapel, in 1888.
Every serial killer, in itself, causes fascination. The nature of their
crimes lead many to believe that it is an intelligent individual and
superior. When the crime is not solved, this image is only amplified,
but it's not quite like that. So let's start with the facts:
England was a land of success, owner of colonies and great
part of the world's wealth at the time. London was the center of progress,
with all its industries. It was said that the sun never set for
London. However, in the London East End, there was a sore on the healthy
England, a deplorable neighborhood called Whitechapel.
The population of Whitechapel was made up entirely of
miserable. There were not enough jobs, which increased the
informal work, including prostitution. A large part of the population
I used to sleep in paid shelters, usually dirty, cramped, and deplorable. The
diseases were rampant due to the lack of hygiene in the area. There were gutters.
infected with human feces, open sewage and infestation of
insects and rats. In other words, Whitechapel looked like a piece
extirpated from India, implanted in London.

The Autumn of Terror in Whitechapel

There are disagreements among researchers about what was the first
Jack's crime, most accept that there were five, in fact five would be the
official number of victims at the time, but some believe that the first
the victim was Martha Tabram.
 Jack the Ripper

Martha Tabram, a possible victim

Monday, August 6, 1888, a national holiday, 10 o'clock in the

night. Martha Tabram, around 36 years old, nicknamed Emma, and her
friend Mary Ann Connolly, known as Pearly Polly, were
sitting at the Angel and Crown bar, with two soldiers who were supposedly
they would be from the Grenadier Guard. Like many poor women
from Whitechapel, Tabram and Polly were making plans. They were
confident, believing that they would secure the money for the accommodation
that day. Before midnight, Polly and Tabram said goodbye, going
Polly towards Angel Alley and Tabram to High Street in
Whitechapel.
At 4:45 AM the following morning, John Reaves, tenant of the Georgy building
Yard was startled when he went out to work. He came across the
corpse of a woman, lying on her back with her legs open in the
building level. The woman was wearing a long black coat, green skirt and
brown slip, these were raised up to the waist, suggesting a
possible sexual assault. The woman had been stabbed numerous times.
times. Reaves dragged his body to a street and looked for the police. The
the body belonged to Martha Tabram.
 Jack the Ripper
A witness, Elizabeth Mahonney, tenant of George Yard, said
that arrived at the building at 01:50, and saw no one. Alfred
Crow, a taxi driver, said they spotted a woman lying down,
arrived at the building, an hour and forty minutes after Elizabeth. He
didn't pay much attention to the case, as he was used to seeing drunks
thrown on the sidewalk. None of the residents reported hearing any
noise, except for the building's janitor's wife. She claimed to have heard a
female scream: "murderer". The murderer allegedly strangled the victim,
before cutting your neck.
Dr. Timothy Killeen, who had examined the body, still by
early morning, determined that Martha had been murdered between 2:00 and
3:30 in the morning, that is, time before Alfred Crow sees her fallen.
The victim was stabbed 39 times, including the breasts, abdomen, and genitals.
most affected. Only by an injury to the sternum was it possible
deduce the weapon used in the crime, a dagger or bayonet.
The guard who accompanied Tabram that night was immediately regarded
as a suspect in the crime. Mary Ann Connolly refused, or was unable to,
identify the soldier, and he was acquitted.

Mary Ann Nichols

 Jack the Ripper

Mary Ann "Polly" Nichols, just like Martha Tabran, was one of the most
of a thousand prostitutes who gathered on the streets of Whitechapel. Nichols
1.60m tall, was 45 years old and had a toothless mouth (was missing teeth)
five front teeth). Like other women who were prostituting, Polly
via no alcohol a relief for her sad destiny. Mary had five children and
I had come out of a disastrous marriage. The custody of the children was given
to the husband.
Shortly after 1:00 AM on August 31, 1888, Polly
I was trying to get a room at the hostel on Flower and Dean Street, where
I had been sleeping for a week. Polly had spent the previous month in
another boarding house, where I shared a small room with other prostitutes. At that
At night, Polly did not have the necessary money for the accommodation, besides
so, she was drunk. The person in charge of the accommodation did not allow her to
would stay without paying. Polly Nichols asked the young man to reserve a
bed for her: "Soon I will get the money to sleep. Just look at that
Beautiful hat I'm wearing! The hat had been a gift from a client,
and it made her feel more attractive.
 Jack the Ripper
Polly went out and met a friend with whom she had shared a room on the Street
Polly and Ellem stopped to see a
fire. Ellen would later report that Polly was so drunk that she
leaned against the wall to avoid falling.
Ellen insisted with Polly to accompany her to Thrawl Street,
but Nichols insisted on getting the money herself for the
I managed today three times the money necessary to pay for a
"Four, but I've already spent it on drinks. I won't take long to be back."
Polly Nichols staggered towards Flower and Dean Street.
Around 3:40 AM, two cart drivers, Charles A. Cross and Robert Paul,
they were walking along the Buck Alley, a block away from
London hospital, located on Whitechapel Street. Charles noticed
something fallen on the other side of the street, near the entrance of a stable. He
decided to examine, and found that it was a female corpse.
Robert Paul placed his hand over the woman's face and checked that it was still
it was hot, but Charles, holding the hands of the deceased, checked
that the woman was already dead. The two decided to call the police. They
they found Jonas Mizen, a metropolitan police officer who was patrolling the street
Hanbury nearby. The three returned to the place where the corpse was located and
they found the police officer John Neil, who had just discovered the corpse.
He signaled to another officer, Jonh Thain. Neil asked Thain to
call the other Ress Llewllyn, a general practitioner who lived nearby
local. Mizen called the ambulance (which at the time was a cart.
big).
Dr. Llewelly noticed that the woman had been stabbed multiple times.
neck. The doctor declared that the woman had died less than
half an hour. He also noted that there was little blood at the scene of the
crime. The body was taken to the morgue of the hostel's infirmary.
Old Montague. The police inspector, Jonh Spratling, arrived around
At 4:30, he encountered a crowd that was forming. He
immediately sent police to look for evidence at the crime scene,
and in the surrounding area. Together with the other Llewellyn, Spratling headed towards the
morgue.
In the morning, Dr. Llewellyn conducted a more detailed autopsy on the
corpse. There was an incision, circular in shape, so deep that
will section all the tissues up to the vertebra, as well as the arteries of
neck. Llewellyn believed that the killer might know a
a little anatomy, and that he was probably left-handed. The body was of
Mary Ann "Polly" Nichols, she had not returned to sleep.
Scotland Yard, the London Metropolitan Police, was uncomfortable
with the situation. But the crimes did not shock the population.
Crimes against prostitutes and homeless people were common, especially in
miserable neighborhood of Whitechapel. There was no reason for the good citizens
to worry about this.
 Jack the Ripper

Annie Chapman

Shortly before 6:00 AM, September 8, 1888, the carter

John Davis left his apartment, where he lived with his wife and
with three children, at 29 Hanbury Street. As they went down the stairs that led
On the street, Davis came across a corpse between the stairs and the fence.
from the property yard. The dress was pulled up over the head,
her belly was torn, and the intestines thrown over the shoulder
left. John went to the police, accompanied by other residents,
among them, Henry Holland, who found a policeman in a market
next. The police officer could not accompany him, as the strict laws of the time
I will prevent a soldier from leaving his post.
Police inspector Joseph Chandler arrived at the crime scene, covered the
corpse, and called Dr. George Bagster Phillips, the medical examiner of
division H, area where the crime occurred. Phillips examined the corpse,
arranged in a ritualistic way:

The left arm was crossed over the left breast; the
legs bent. The feet resting on the ground and the knees turned
outside. The face, all swollen, turned to the right side. The
tongue, very swollen, projected between the front teeth, but
did not surpass the lips. And these front teeth, perfect until the
molar, both the upper and lower ones were very good. The
body, terribly mutilated… The throat showed a cut
deep; the incisions on the skin, all irregular, reached around the
neck... On the wooden fence between the courtyard in question and the
neighbor, spilled blood could be seen, corresponding to the
the place where the head of the dead woman fell.
 Jack, the Ripper
Dr. Phillips continued his observations. He noticed that everyone
wounds had been inflicted with a sharp and bladed instrument
narrow and the evisceration indicated some medical knowledge. The
Complete mutilation would have taken at least one hour. Just like
in the case of Nichols and Tebran, there were no signs of struggle. The murderer
neutralized its victims before they could defend themselves.
Inspector Frederick George Abberline, of the homicide division of
Scotland Yard was alerted about the crime. He was considered a police officer.
legendary, although little is known about his life. He started as
patrol officer was promoted to sergeant and then to inspector.
Abberline would lead all the detectives in the investigation of the crimes.
in Whitechapel..
Abberline ordered to investigate the crime scene thoroughly. The pocket
the woman's clothes were torn and her personal items, two combs,
a piece of muslin and an envelope with pills, were
scattered. Near the crime scene was a leather apron,
used by butchers or shoemakers.
At that time, there were no resources to determine if the blood was
human or cow. The blood on the apron was dry and the connection between it
and the crime was questionable.
Dr. Phillips believed that the objects had been arranged.
carefully: The muslin and the combs near the victim's feet and
the envelope near your head. There were also two coins nearby
to the body, but this detail was kept secret, to help the
to elucidate the case.
The body, still unidentified, was taken to the Morgue.
Whitechapel, on Eagle street. The autopsy was performed by Phillips himself, at
afternoon of that day. The deep lacerations on the throat showed the
attempt to separate the head from the torso, a type of curiosity
perverted. The intestines were separated from their ligaments in
abdomen and placed under the shoulder. Uterus, half of the vagina and part of the
The bladders had been completely removed - they seemed to be cut with some precision.
They were not close to the body. Murders of prostitutes do not
They were uncommon, but crimes with those characteristics were a novelty.
for the Victorian English. Even if it were not a victim of the killer, the
the woman would not live for a long time. She had chronic lung diseases and
to the meninges.
The victim was identified by a laundress named Amelia Palmer, as
Annie Chapman. Prostitute, stocky, 1.56 m tall, hair
brown hair and blue eyes.

Annie before the crime

 Jack the Ripper
Chapman was staying with other prostitutes in a
community shelter, on Dorset Street, where it became known as
briguenta and Thief. At the time of the crime, she was wearing three cheap rings,
none of them were found. The killer took them either to keep them from
souvenir, or to sell for a pittance.
Chapman met with his friend, Amélia Palmer, to whom he told that
I was very sick, but I needed to work to have money for
sleep. Annie was seen in the kitchen, drunk, when she took two pills.
that was inside a box. The box fell and broke, Annie picked up
he picked up an envelope from the floor and put the remaining pills inside it.
Annie Chapman went out, she drank during the night on Friday and during
the early morning of Saturday, September 8, 1888. He returned to the hostel
At 1:35 am, but she didn't have any money. She asked the attendant, John.
Evans, do not rent your bed to anyone, as I would go out to fix the
money. All the witnesses reported having seen Annie drunk, but it is
likely that the disease weakened her body. The autopsy
revealed a little alcohol in your body.
Several testimonies, often contradictory and confusing, were
Many people claimed to have seen Annie near the market.
Spitalfields, no barTem Bells, at 5:00 in the morning, but
apparently people confused Chapman with someone else.
A prostitute named Elizabeth Darrel claimed to have witnessed the
Annie's conversation with a foreign-looking man. She listened.
When the subject asked, 'Are you going?', to which Annie replied: 'yes'.
Albert Cadoche, a carpenter living at number 27 Hanbury Street
thought they heard a violent argument and someone shouting "No!" in the
building next door, number 29. The police, however, did not take it very seriously.
Albert's testimony.
Inspector Abberline and his colleagues from Scotland Yard concluded: Who
killed Chapman, killed Polly Nichols. The population of East End
was terrified by the possibility of a killer who was murdering women
defenseless. Any woman in the street, especially prostitutes, ran
risk to life. However, even with fear, these women needed,
earn money to have a bed to sleep. Without an alternative, they
continued scattered in the streets.

John Pizer: The Leather Apron

Whitechapel began to attract the attention of Londoners. Police and

reporters were everywhere. The crime scenes were cordoned off
daily by curious people. The minister was advised to offer
a reward for anyone who had any news of the "Assassin of
Whitechapel,” or “The Knife,” as it was called, but believed that the
the reward would attract opportunists with false leads.
 Jack the Ripper
A suspicion prevailed over the leather apron found nearby.
to Chapman's body. The police started to interrogate people in
streets, and one of the rumors that circulated was that a bully, known
as Leather Apron, would be the culprit for the crimes. Leather Apron
was always on the streets, taking money from prostitutes and assaulting
women. Many believed that he could be the killer.
Another individual, very similar to the description of the victims, was John.
Pizer, a shoeshiner. A resident of Hanbury Street identified him as
being the man who threatened a woman with a knife, in the morning of
September 8. Pizer had a reputation for participating in fights and
mistreat prostitutes. He was arrested at his home on Mulberry Street on 10
in September. The police found several long-bladed knives. In
police station, a woman did not recognize him. The man of
Hanbury Street confirmed that Pizer was the man who threatened a woman.
with a knife, he also stated that Pizer was the Leather Apron.
the man did not recognize Chapman as being the woman that Pizer
threatened. The places where Pizer was on the day were verified
Nichols and Chapman, and the alibis proved to be solid. John Pizer was released.
after a day and a half.
Neither the police nor the media were ever able to find the real Apron of
Leather.

Double homicide and the inscription on Goulston Street

Police positioned themselves throughout Whitechapel in an attempt to catch

the killer, including undercover police disguised as women. In the early hours of
Sunday, September 30, 1:00 AM. Louis Diemschutz,
jewelry masquerade, was returning from an event at the International Club
Educational of Workers, Berner street, an aid organization
mutual founded by Jews. He was riding down Berner Street in his cart,
when he turned the corner with Dutfield. The animal got scared and stopped.
Louis noticed something strange lying on the ground, as he approached and lit it up.
a match, realized that it was a woman lying down, must be
drunk. He believed he could be her husband, went down and went to the
the club where she worked. He found out it wasn't her. Louis returned with
some club members. They examined the woman more closely, and
they realized that his throat was cut. Quickly, two
people from the group ran to call the police. They found
another man, who joined the duo, and they went to the street corner
Faircloug with Grove Street, where they found police officer Henry Lamb.
four returned to the crime scene.
Dr. William Blackwell was called and arrived around 1:16 AM. He
declared that the woman had been killed less than 20 minutes ago. From this
since the body was not mutilated, that is, it is likely that the murderer had
 Jack the Ripper
was surprised by Diemschutz before performing his task.
While Louis Diemschutz went to the club to look for his wife, the
The assassin, who was hiding in some location, managed to escape.
Dr. Blackwell believed that the woman was murdered while standing, having her
cut throat. There was abundant blood at the crime scene,
different from what happened in previous crimes. Some injuries to the hands
of the victim indicated a struggle. Mary Malcon, wife of a tailor, identified
the victim as his sister, Eliazbeth Watts Stokes, from a bite
from a snake on the leg.
At 1:30 AM, thirty minutes after the discovery of the corpse at the end of the street.
Berner, police officer Ed Watkins, from the London police force, was passing by
Mitre Square, which was empty and deserted. In London, to this day, there are
overlapping police jurisdictions. London has its own police force,
it is separate from the metropolitan police.
Between 1:40 and 1:42, Officer James Harvey was patrolling on Church, three
routes to Mitre square. Meanwhile, Watikins was taking another round
around the square, this time going to the opposite side of where it
He found. He noticed something fallen on the ground, as he approached, he realized
it was about the body of a woman. Watikins illuminated the site, and
he saw that there was a puddle of blood under the woman. He had his
cut throat and two garments were raised, his abdomen opened
and the intestines pulled out. He ran to call for reinforcements and
returned to watch over the body. An officer responded to the call and brought
I obtain Dr. George Willian Sequeira, who determined that the woman
will die in a few minutes. Some time later, Dr. arrived at the scene.
Frederick Gordon Brown, the medical examiner of the city police. He made a
meticulous examination of the corpse. A thimble was found near the
fingers of the corpse. intestines arranged at the right shoulder. The uterus and kidneys
had been removed and were not at the crime scene. The face and the
the right ear was very mutilated. The death was the result of a
hemorrhage due to a ruptured carotid. All the mutilations
they were post-mortem.
While the police were searching for the murderer, Alfred Long, a police officer
metropolitan, passed through Goulston Street at 2:20 AM, where he spotted a
a piece of bloody cloth, still damp, fallen on the landing of
entrance of the Wentworth Model Dwellings, a housing complex, in
numbers 108 to 119. Long checked that the piece of fabric was
similar to that used by the victim of Praça Mitre. On the wall near the
where the piece of fabric was, there was a chalk inscription: "The
Jews are the men Who will not be Blamed for anything.
The head of Division H, Thomas Arnold, upon arriving at Goulston Street, was
I feared that the registration would awaken anti-Semitic feelings in the
population. There was a large concentration of Jews in Whitechapel,
mainly immigrants. They worked, usually, in butcher shops,
 Jack the Ripper
shoe stores and barber shops. Arnold wanted the inscription to be erased,
but some police officers protested, saying that it would soon dawn and that
photos could be taken. Police Commissioner Charles Warren
arrived at the location and ordered that the inscription be erased. There was
afraid that someone would want to blame the Jews. The inscription was
turned off before sunrise, at 5:30 am.

The victim of Berner Street

On October 1st, the victim from Berner Street was finally identified.
Although Mary Malcon identified as her sister, Elizabeth
Watts Stokes, Stokes appeared very alive. The body was of another Elizabeth:
Elizabeth "Liz" Stride, a 44-year-old Swedish immigrant. She was identified.
by police officer Walter Frederick Stride, nephew of her ex-husband. The only
Elizabeth Stride's photo is posthumous, in the morgue. There were signs that she
suffering from chronic diseases.
On September 29, Elizabeth Stirde was seen at the Queen's Head bar,
around 6:30 PM. One hour later, at the corner of Flower with the
Dean. At 11:00 PM, two men were seen leaving the Briclayers' Arms bar, in
Settles street. She was with a man who looked like a proper Englishman.
dress, measuring approximately 1.65m. The two mocked Liz
Striding, shouting at her to be careful with the leather apron.
Minutes later, another man spotted Elizabeth in the company of the same one.
man, on Berner Street. After a kiss, the man said: 'You don't
will speak no more than your prayers." Minutes later, a seller of
fruits called Matthew Packer sold grapes to the man who them
others saw with Liz. The couple remained in front of Pecker's store, at
rain for more than half an hour. Officer William Smith also saw the
couple. James Brow, a stevedore, claimed to have seen Stride leaning.
a woman was saying on a wall, along with a man, on Fairclough Street.
something like: "Not tonight, maybe some other night." Brown identified.
positively the body of Stride as the woman who turns in the street
Fairclough.
At the same time, a Hungarian Jew, Israel Schwartz, stated this.
returning from the International Workers' Club, on Berner Street,
when he saw a man knock Liz Stride to the ground. As he crossed the street,
the man shouted 'Lipski', an anti-Semitic insult that referred to a
Jewish murderer who had been hanged. Schwartz noticed another
subject, smoking a pipe, next to there. Afraid of being
assaulted, Israel Schwartz fled. He also recognized Liz Stride as
the woman who becomes involved in the incident. In other words, more time has passed or
less than 15 minutes from when Schwartz saw Liz Stride being attacked until
Louis Diemschutz finds the corpse.
 Jack the Ripper
The victim of Praça Mitre

Unlike Liz Stride, the victim of Mitre Square was easily

identified, as she carried some personal belongings, including a
a tin containing two pawn tickets. They were in the name of Anne Kelly.
Mary Anne Kelly had been found drunk on the sidewalk that night.
Saturday, and she was taken to the Bishopgate police station, where they treated her
drunkenness. The following Tuesday, John Kelly, an unemployed man, went to
police afraid that the bills were in his wife's name,
Catherine Kelly, also known as Catherine Conway, whose ex-
husband was a soldier named Thomas Conway. John Kelly discovered
that it was really about his wife. Catherine was better known
by the nickname, Kate and also by the maiden name Eddowes.
Catherine and John Kelly had returned on Thursday from a trip to
Kente, where they did temporary rural work. They spent one night.
together at the Aléia Shoe Shelter, where they were old acquaintances. On Friday-
fair, Kate gave some coins so that John could stay in a
accommodation and headed to the Mile End shelter to try to sleep
before working the next day. The couple met again at the
Saturday morning. Catherine pawned some of John's boots.
Catherine looked for her daughter to ask for a loan, but did not
managed to find her. That night, September 29, the incident occurred
from the police station, when she was found drunk lying on a sidewalk,
by Police Officer Louis Robinson, from the City Police. She was taken to
the Bishopgate police station. She was released around 1:00 AM. "I will
get a real beating when I get home," she would have said as she left.
Around 1:35 am, the cigarette vendor Joseph
Lawende, the furniture dealer Harry Harris and the butcher Joseph.
Levy believed they saw Catherine Eddowes at one of the entrances of
Mitre Square, talking to a well-dressed man. It was not possible.
to see the subject's face.

The letters Dear Boss and Jacky the Rascal: Jack, the Ripper emerges

On Monday, October 1st, on the same day that the corpse of

Stride was identified, two correspondences - A letter and a card
postal - were published in the morning Daily News and in the afternoon Star.
They had been sent to the Central News Agency. The police,
on his own account, distributed copies, in the hope that the handwriting
it was recognized by someone. The letter was written in red and
pastel, in a well-crafted and fluent letter. Here is its content:

September 25, 1888

 Jack the Ripper
Dear Boss,
I keep hearing that the police caught me, but
For now, they won't be able to fix me.
I find it funny when they seem so clever and say
that are on the right track. The joke about the
leather apron made me have real fits of
Laughter. I'm chasing the prostitutes and I'm not going to stop.
strip them until I get tired. The last job was
formidable. I didn't give the lady time to scream.
How can they catch me now? I like my
work, and I want to start over. Soon you will
You will have news about me and my little games.
Funny. I kept a bit of that material.
red in a bottle of ginger beer,
after the last job, to write with him,
but it became very thick, it looked like glue, I couldn't use it.
I think the red paint is already good, ha, ha! In
next job, I'm going to cut the woman's ears and
send them to the police just for fun, you don't
Would they do the same? Keep this letter until I do more.
Something, then distribute it soon. My knife
it's so good and sharp, that I want to work
immediately, as soon as I have the opportunity.
Good luck.
Sincerely
Jack the Ripper
Don't take it the wrong way if I only sign my name
artistic.

This was the first mention of the name Jack, the Ripper. This remained.
known as the letter 'Dear Boss'. The previous nickname of E. D.
The Whitechapel killer would be replaced forever. The letter was
received on September 27. The postcard, sent four days later,
also written in red ink and pastel, it brought:

I wasn't joking, dear old boss, when

I gave you the tip, tomorrow you will find out about the
Double event by Jacky Safado. This time number
one shouted a lot and I couldn't finish quickly. I didn't have
Time to get the ears for the police. Thank you.
 Jack the Ripper
to keep the last letter until I come back again to
work.
Jack the Ripper

The two correspondences raised the police's suspicions,

mainly because Jack would not have fulfilled the delivery of the ears,
even having time to have done this. The second letter would have been sent
at the end of Sunday or the beginning of Monday, when everyone learned about the
news of the double murder.
Jack was a popular name (like João or Zé in Brazil), used as
generic names, just as in Brazil the expressions João-without- are used
arm, Joe Nobody, etc. In England they used Jolly Jack Tar as
generic name for sailors. Public executioners were nicknamed
of Jack Ketch, and so on. The Ripper emerged because the newspapers
they used the fear to strip, and not to eviscerate. It is likely that both
correspondences were the work of a journalist.

Notable case experts, such as FBI profiler John

Douglas and the journalist Paul Roland also doubt the authenticity of the
letter.

To hell

On October 16, another correspondence was sent. This time it was a

box, sent to the superior of the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee,
George Akin Lusk. The cardboard box contained a stamp from the agency of
London post. Inside it, there was half a kidney, preserved.
in [Link] around the kidney, there was a letter, with a handwriting
rude and full of mistakes:

Mr. Lusk
Sir
I send you half of a kidney that I took from a
I saved the other piece for you, I fried the other one.
I ate and it was very tasty, can I send it too?
the knife that took him out if you wait longer
a little
Sinado
But take me when you can
Mr. Lusk
 Jack the Ripper
Lusk thought the letter was a prank, and that the kidney would not be human. He
however, it led the authorities for analysis. Dr. Thomas Openshaw, from
London hospital, it was believed to be a human kidney, from someone
aged between 40 and 45 years, suffering from chronic alcoholism. Many
other specialists examined the kidney, but the opinions diverged.
the possibility of the kidney being from Kate Eddowes was never dismissed. The letter
is considered by many as the only authentic one in the case.

Mary Jane Kelly

Friday morning, November 9. Thomas Bowyer, retired military.

from the Indian army, known as Indian Harry, was sent by his
boss, to receive a rent in the building of your property, in Miller's
Court, number 13. It was practically next to the Spitalfields market and
a few steps from Goulston Street, to the south, and to the northeast of street
Hanbury, where Chapman was murdered.
Bowyer knocked on the door of Mary Jane Kelly, also known as
Ginger, Fair Emma and Black Mary, for their customers and friends. She had
coming from Ireland and was 24 years old, very beautiful and attractive. Around
10:45 AM, when Bowyer arrived, he knocked several times on the door, but did not
there was a response, he started to suspect that she didn't have money, and
thought about forcing the door, but realized that, in a window with a
broken glass, there was a coat and a blanket that served as
curtain. He decided to push aside the blanket and peek through the window. Thomas remained
paralyzed by the terrible sight he had. In the bed, there was a corpse.
brutally punished. The corpse was so mutilated, so torn and its
guts were spread, having lost their outline and their
human characteristics.
Bowyer took a deep breath and ran to a candle shop, where he reported
what he saw for the owner, McCarthy. The two returned to the place where Mr.
McCarthy peeked at the corpse inside the house. He asked Thomas to...
called the police. Boyer returned with Inspector Walter Beck and with
detective Walter Dew. This was a crime committed in the interior of a
house, that's why the crime scene was preserved. The door was only opened at
1:00 PM, when Superintendent Thomas Arnold arrived.
The bed and the whole room were stained with blood. According to Dr. George
Bagster Phillips, that would be the ultimate delirium of the killer. The face
was severely mutilated and the head, almost severed from the body. The
breasts had been cut off, the abdomen opened and the internal organs
spread across the room. In many parts of the rest of the body, including the
pubic area, the thigh and the right gluteus, the meat was removed from the bone. The
the heart was taken out of the scene. The criminal did not only try
to defame the victim, but rather to dehumanize her. The cause of death was the
section of the carotid, but all the mutilations took, at least,
 Jack the Ripper
two hours to be completed. This time, the killer had more
privacy to put your fantasies into practice.
Inspector Frederick Abberline arrived and examined the crime scene.
concluded that the ashes in the fireplace were remnants of clothing, which the
the assassin will burn there, he also used fire to illuminate the room
during the crime.
Mary Kelly was seen on the night of Thursday, November 8, among the
7:00 and 8:00 PM, in the company of her friend, Lizzie Allbrook., by Joseph
Barnett, a fisherman with whom Kelly had an affair years earlier.
Barnett abandoned Kelly at the end of October because she brought a
a prostitute friend to live there. He visited her often, and sometimes,
left a little money. He probably wanted to get Kelly out of
streets. The prostitute Mary Cox claimed to have seen Mary Kelly in the company of
a strange man, with marks on his face, mustache, and hat. She was
drunk. The neighbors claimed they heard Mary Kelly's singing.
between 24:00 and 1:00. Other witnesses claimed to have seen Kelly at the bar
Britannica in the company of a young person, around 11:00 PM.
At 2:00 in the morning, she approached George Hutchinson, a worker
unemployed, a former acquaintance of yours, and asked for a coin. Hutchinson
there was no money at the moment. Kelly was approached by another man,
George saw when the two were talking and laughing. He thought he heard the man
say: 'You serve very well for what I want to do!' Hutchinson
followed the couple to Miller's Court and heard Mary say: 'It's okay, dear,'
Come. You will be comfortable.” George Hutchinson could not see
the face of the man.
In the early hours of Friday, around 3:45 AM, neighbors heard a
scream: "Oh, murderer!". If the scream was from Mary Kelly, these were her
last words. Mary Kelly was pregnant at the time of her
murder.

Medical Report

No evidence of rape;
The element killed the victims quickly;
The element controlled the victims during the attack;
The element removed the internal organs of the victims demonstrating
agility, perhaps he was a butcher;
There is no evidence of torture;
The mutilations were post-mortem;
Evidence of strangulation with the hands;
In general, the blood concentrated in the restricted areas;
rings from one of the victims were taken;
The last victim was killed inside a room, which caused
was more mutilated;
 Jack the Ripper
The deaths occurred during the early morning.

Medical knowledge?

The fourth victim, Kate Eddowes, had her uterus and one kidney removed. This
led Dr. Brown to believe that the murderer would be someone with
average knowledge. He would have taken possession of the organs to
anatomical experiments. However, it is much more likely that the
the killer may have managed to remove the organs purely by chance, after pulling
the intestines out. Even Dr. Brown agreed that this crime
could have been the work of someone used to cutting animals, like
there were many butchers in Whitechapel...
The expert George Sequeira agreed that it was not the work of a
an expert, but someone who was not completely ignorant of its use
from a knife. It is more likely that the injuries were caused by a
Butcher, than by a doctor.

Suspects

William Henry Bury

 Jack the Ripper

On February 10, 1989, a good-looking man went to a

police station, in the city of Dundee, Scotland. He reported that his
wife had committed suicide. When the police went to her house,
the woman's body was found with abrasions on the neck and cuts
 Jack the Ripper
in her genitals. She had been strangled, decapitated, and brutally
mutilated. There were messages written in chalk: 'Jack the Ripper is behind
from the door" and "Jack the Ripper is in this basement." A thorough search
revealed a chest, containing a bloody axe and two rings
made of fake gold, very similar to those ripped from Annie's fingers
Chapman. William was arrested and interrogated. The police became convinced that
was in front of the Whitechapel killer, Bury was fitting into the
description of various witnesses, mainly of William Marshall,
witness to the murder of Elizabet Stride. He also corresponded
with the psychological profile, created later, by the FBI.
Bury was a compulsive liar, suffered from paranoia, and also practiced
thief. He was armed with knives and had a hatred for women. He believed he was
carrier of a venereal disease. Bury had no alibis for the nights
of the crimes in Whitechapel. The police believed that Bury could be the
Ripper. Inspector Abberline went to where Bury was, but Bury
refused to speak. When he was hanged, Abberline stated: 'We are
well satisfied with the fact that they hanged Jack.
George Chapman: The Serial Killer

Chapman was born in Poland in 1863, Severin Antoniovich Klosowski.

He took the name George Chapman in an attempt to distance himself from the
British authorities, who were beginning to suspect his involvement
at the death of his wives. Chapman had worked as an assistant
of the surgeon, while he lived in Poland, but he did not qualify. He was
to England in 1887, and got a job as an assistant of
barber. Later, he would manage to open his own barber shop in
Cable Street, 126. Located near the crime scene.
Chapman was tried in 1903 for a series of murders. He
he showed sporadic signs of violence. He was seen several times
 Jack the Ripper
wandering in the early morning through the East End, did not work on weekends
week, when the murders occurred. The time of the crimes
it also matched the time when Chapman came and left
Whitechapel. The problem in relating it to the crimes in Whitechapel is
that, Chapman killed the wives by poisoning, hardly
a killer would change their Modus Operandi so abruptly. Besides
Thus, Chapman did not match the description provided by the witnesses.
Another issue to observe is that Chapman was sexually insatiable, and
none of the victims were sexually assaulted, on the contrary, the
mutilations seem to indicate someone sexually inhibited. Chapman was
executed on April 7, 1903.
Francis Tumblety

Dr. Francis Tumblety was not a potential suspect. He was born in

Ireland, in 1830, moved to New York during childhood.
Tumblety learned medical rudiments from a pharmacist, and if
established as a 'doctor' in Detroit. Moved cities when his
farce was discovered. On November 7, 1888, he was arrested in London,
for violent assault on decency and armed aggression. While waiting
trial, escape to France, and from there, again to the USA, where
he established himself with a false name. He learned that the police suspected
and when the Scotland Yard inspector arrived in New York, Francis
moved to a city. He returned to Rochester, where he lived with his sister
until his death in 1903.
Neill Cream
 Jack the Ripper

Dr. Neil Crem had a history of arson, blackmail, and practices of

abortions. He was convicted in 1892 for the murder of 4 prostitutes for
poisoning, in London. While on the gallows, in
moment of his death, he declared: "I am Jack, the..." but could not finish.
complete the sentence.
 Jack the Ripper
Roslyn D’Onston: The Devil's Doctor

Dr. Roslyn D’Onston (in fact, his name was Robert Donston)
Stephenson was a guy who enjoyed deceiving the police,
sending letters telling untruths and tempting clues. He was a
self-proclaimed satanist, practitioner of black magic and extremely boastful.
I loved to say that I had knowledge about the crimes, especially
for friends and for the mistress. According to him, Jack would use parts of the
victims in satanic rituals, he wrote this in an article in Pall Mall
Gazette. Also had an addiction to drugs and alcohol. Because of his
nickname, "Sudden Death", many investigators began to suspect
He was gone. His lover, Mabel Collins, found what could be a clue.
Important: A black suitcase containing several little ties with blood
dry. They could have been kept for the murderer to remember his
crimes. After the murder of Mary Kelly, D’Oston allegedly became
be a Christian.
Suspects of Melville L. Macnaghten
Suspect number 1: Montague John Druitt
 Jack the Ripper

Druitt was one of the three names mentioned by Melville, chief of

Department of Criminal Investigations, in 1889. Druitt was educated.
in law and taught at a school, in addition to being a great player of
cricket. Although it is at the top of the suspect list,
Montague Druitt was an unlikely candidate. We will see the facts that he
they were linked to the crimes:
Druitti committed suicide by jumping into the Thames. After his death, the
crimes have ceased;
I had an office in Whitechapel;
Was dismissed due to inappropriate sexual conduct;
His family believed he was the murderer of Whitechapel.
Now let's look at the facts that go against Druitt's culpability.
Druitt lived in Blackheath and not in East End. It would be difficult for him to return.
to the house stained with blood without being noticed.
Druitt committed suicide, something that is incompatible with his personality.
Ripper;
The witnesses described a muscular and robust guy, always
well-dressed. Druitt was thin;
 Jack the Ripper
Druitt participated in a cricket match on September 1st, in Dorset,
on the morning after the murder of Polly Nichols, and on September 8,
Blackheath, hours after the murder of Annie Chapman;
Melville presented Druitt as a suspect after discovering that he had
studied medicine. But Druitt, despite being part of a family of
doctors, never studied medicine.
The list doesn't stop there. With so many facts that go against, the presence of
Druitt on the list would apparently be a sign of desperation in pointing out
suspects.
Suspeitos 2 & 3: Aaron Kosminski e Michael Ostrog
Kosminski and Ostrog were the other suspects of Melville, as well as
Druitt, your appearances on the list seem like a desperate attempt to
point out a suspect.
There was no evidence linking Kosminski to the killer of
Whitechapel. Melville presented a report based on falsehoods.
For example, the date of death. Kosminski did not die in 1889.
but almost thirty years later. He spent part of his life in a
asylum, because he was mentally disabled. In fact, he was known throughout the
East End, like a docile retard. He was a dirty Polish Jewish immigrant.
the ragged one, besides eating food from the trash, completely different
two accounts from the witnesses of Whitechapel. The only thing that could
linking him to the crimes was a repulsion for women.
Ostrog was a compulsive lying thief, but just like the
previous, there is nothing that connects him to the homicides in Whitechapel.
Michael Ostrog was born in Russia, had medical experience and
criminal records dating back to 1863. He had been detained in Osford
with fake documents, and, on several occasions, for thefts and robberies. In
September 1887, he was declared mentally insane, and
attempted suicide by jumping in front of a train while being escorted.
Ostrog was released and was in Whitechapel during the 'autumn of
terror," but never showed any violent act. He could be
fit the profile of the killer, but, at the time of the crimes, Ostrog
he had a long and thick beard, which certainly would not go unnoticed
unnoticed.
Thus, we can rule out Melville's list...
Theories
The case of the Ripper is a fertile ground for theories, some
amazing. I decided to include four of the main ones:
Royal Conspiracy
A conspiracy theory involving Prince Albert Victor - His
The Real Highness or the Duke of Clarence, known as Prince Eddy, said
that he had the habit of visiting Whitechapel. He fell in love with
Annie Crook who ended up getting pregnant. The two got married.
secretly. Afraid that the family name would be tarnished.
 Jack the Ripper
The queen ordered that Annie be committed to a psychiatric hospital. However, Annie
had confided your secret and entrusted your son to a friend:
Mary Jane Kelly. Mary, on one occasion, ended up letting slip the
secret for Annie Chapman, Catherine Eddowes, Polly Ann Nichols and
Elizabeth Stride. How to avoid ruin in the Royal Family? The way would be to kill
all those involved. Thus, the queen's doctor, Sir William Gull, would make the
dirty service.
Another version of this theory would be that Prince Albert himself would be the
Ripper. Who would hate women and have homosexual affairs.
Being an excellent hunter, Albert would have the skill to assassinate the
victims.
Neither of the two versions is reliable. In fact, they are absurd:
They did not appear at the time of the crimes, but rather in the 1960s.
The main problem is that Eddy would not go unnoticed by the
witnesses. He also had an alibi for every occasion of the
homicides. Indeed, there was a woman named Annie Crook, but
she has never been to any sanatorium. And about the real doctor, Willian
Gull, he was a victim of a stroke in 1887, besides being with
more than 70 years. It would be impossible for someone in these conditions to kill and
to strip someone.
Jill, the stripper
At the time of the crimes, Inspector Abberline seriously considered this.
theory. Perhaps out of frustration for not having caught the killer
and avoided more murders. Abberline debated the possibility of the
Ripper is a Ripper, maybe a midwife, as she would have
Enough excuses to walk around dirty with blood. It could be
an abortionist. Wilian Stuart, author of the book Jack the Ripper: A New
Theory, emphasized this theory.
Walter Sickert: The Murderous Painter

Another nonsensical theory would be the one proposed by the American writer.
Patricia Cornwell, author of notable crime novels. She said that,
 Jack the Ripper
Once, upon seeing the portrait of the Impressionist painter Walter Sickert, she became
convinced that he was Jack, the Ripper. It started like this then a
series of analyses, often questionable.
When you find evidence of something, you propose a theory. If
as the studies and evidence point elsewhere, your
the theory should follow the path, right? But it seems that this is not happening
In the case of Cornwell. He conducted the studies with the certainty that Sickert
he was the killer, and dragged the evidence, until it was left
according to your will. She spent more than 4 million dollars
buying paintings by Sickert (some, incredibly, were destroyed
to search for 'hidden messages'), stating that they portrayed the
crime scenes. But the only crime scene depicted was Mary’s.
Kelly, the other photos were taken at the morgue. How did Patricia know?
how the crime scenes were. A DNA test, in the letter 'Dear
"Boss" was done, the result: negative. She then went for the test.
mitochondrial, which tested positive. However, mitochondrial DNA can be
shared by several people, with only the nuclear DNA being valid.
Walter Sickert was just a brilliant painter. The fact that most of
their models being prostitutes is due to the fact that prostitutes
will agree to be portrayed naked, which many women in society
they wouldn’t accept. Another cold shower is that Sickert was in
Scotland at the time of one of the crimes.
Film
In 2008, FBI professionals created a profile of
Ripper. John Douglas believes he was another suspect, less
known, called David Cohen. Paul Roland, author of the book Ther
Murderers of Jack the Ripper believe that the butcher Jacob Levy.
he may have been the Ripper, but be responsible for only 3 crimes.
Whoever it is, he has never paid, nor will he pay, for his crimes. It is
likely that Jack as we know him was just a
figure invented by the London media. It is worth noting that during its
crimes, the sale of newspapers increased. Many believe that the figure more
the enigmatic one of history, perhaps never existed. But only God, the Devil,
or Jack himself can answer.
By João Mendonça