Jack The Ripper: A Legendary Killer In London, 1888

Jack the Ripper was one of the most famous and renowned killers in history. Even though he was not the first serial killer, he was the first killer to strike on a metropolis setting. Jack the Ripper was in his prime at a time when the media had a strong control over society and society as a whole was becoming much more literate. Jack started his killing campaign at a time of political controversy between the liberals and social reformers along with the Irish Home rule partisans. The reports of Jack the Ripper were collected and reported by the police, but then the different newspapers with their political influences slightly distorted the stories to give them their own effect. It has been more the one hundred years since the last murder

Jack the ripper the notorious and legendary London murderer started his reign of terror in the August of 1888. Jack the ripper is a fairly difficult character to find proper information on (regrettably noted) however his murders are not. It is speculated that he killed more than five people but the Canonical five are a definite. All of them where prostitutes from the Whitechapel area of London; a poor and deteriorating side of town. The first of these murders was Mary Nichols she was murdered on August 31st 1888 (www.jack the ripper.org). The murders that happened after followed in this order. Annie Chapman was the second of the five main victims she was murdered on September 8th 1888(www.jack the ripper.org). The third and fourth victims shared the same day of death with a peculiar twist. Jack the Ripper was known to deface and mutilate all the bodies in which he slayed, Elizabeth Stride the third victim was wholly intact(www.bbc.co.uk/history). Both Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddowes died on the same day September 30th 1888(www.jack the ripper.org). The final victim to be famously associated with the case of Jack the Ripper was Mary Kelly who was killed on November 9th 1888. All of the victims were more than likely unaware of their fates beforehand, he typically knocked them out before he would kill and maim them. Jack the Ripper's scenes in which he left the corpses were calculated, he was informed and educated on how it is he done what he did. It was believed at the time that he was potentially a doctor or a butcher due to the tools needed to do what was done to the bodies. In addition to this the cuts left on the body showed that the killer had knowledge of the human anatomy and the way it worked. He usually always started the

According to Exodus 20:13 “you shall not murder,” however the world consists of countless people who disobey this command. Murderers are especially horrific if they are serial killers because it is awful enough to kill one person, but to murder repeatedly is sickening. It is extremely depressing to know that some murderers never get caught. One of the most infamous serial killers whose identity was never uncovered is Jack the ripper. Numerous people have different theories relating to who Jack the ripper was, but none have been proven. One main theory is that America’s first serial killer, H. H. Holmes was London’s Jack the ripper. To find evidence to prove the theory of whether or not H. H. Holmes was Jack the ripper; crucial evidence to look at are the similarities between the killers.

The Whitechapel Murders and those of Jack the Ripper are not generally one and the same. Over a period of three years towards the end of the nineteenth century a number of prostitutes were murdered under different circumstances – the murder of prostitutes was not an especially unique occurrence during those times but several of the murders drew particular attention on account of the savagery with which the victim's bodies were mutilated. Within the Whitechapel Murders was a cluster of murders that demonstrated sufficient similarities as to suggest that they were committed by the same person. One of the first instances of serial murder was thus identified and sensationalised in the media as the work of ‘Jack the Ripper', nicknamed on the

Jack started with Mary Ann Nichols on August 31st, 1888. He cut her throat and dumped her in the area of Whitechapel. She was the first of “the “canonical" five victims” of the Ripper’s murders (Richard Jones). Next came Annie Chapman on September 8th, 1888. The Ripper brutally mutilated her and took off with a part of her womb.

While the murders that this infamous serial killer caused are well known, the real identity of "Jack the Ripper" remains unknown-128 years later. The murders occurred in in the late 1880's, in London, England. This masked killer terrorized the city for a little over a month, killing at least five prostitutes. The mutilation of the women was disturbing, but the accuracy was more sinister. This was someone who knew the anatomy of a human body.

The next two victims have many similarities in more ways than one, Elizabeth stride and Catherine eddows were murdered on Sunday September 30th within an hour of each other, they were both middle aged at around 45 and were both alcoholics with sordid histories and both divorced there was no real difference between the two. All of these aspects were the reasons why jack the ripper attracted so much attention but it was manly because all of the women were prostitutes and that they were murdered so horrifically, it was attracted more as nearly all the sex organs within the female body had been mutilated which in some way entertained the public. The first Ripper victim was Polly Nicholls her body was found a little after four a.m. on the 31st August 1888, she was found on her back with her skit pushing up to her waist and a deep cut across her throat, the decapitation of his victims would soon become a trade mark for the Ripper, Polly's abdomen was slashed and she was stabbed twice in her womb, the extent of the wounds inflicted on the victims suggest that the ripper murders were sexually motivated.

The British serial killer received his famous name “Jack the Ripper” from a letter written by an individual that claimed to be the person responsible for the killings. His murders took place with close proximity of each other. The killings of the Ripper took place in Whitechapl, Spitafields, Aldgate, and the city of London proper. “The metropolitan police file on the murders is known as the Whitechapel Murders file and it covers those murders committed in the East End between that of Emma Smith in April 1888 and Frances Coles in February 1891(The Forgotten Victims pg 65)”. Killings of prostitutes were nothing new during this time period.

Despite many Western countries having strong law systems and firm roots in Christianity, it might seem peculiar to think they also are obsessed with murder. From Nancy Drew to the TV shows Murder, She Wrote and How to Get Away With Murder, murder and crime investigation have become bestsellers in Western societies. There is just something intriguing about a good “whodunnit” crime, a good mystery that cannot be solved or explained, regardless of how many people and years have been spent speculating on it. In England, one of the most popular unexplained homicide cases is none other than the infamous 1888 murders of Jack the Ripper. While the killer was never found and convicted of the murders, several conspiracy theories have emerged over the years concerning Jack the Ripper’s identity and the motive behind the gruesome slayings.

August 31, 1888 the first victim of the murderer called "Jack the Ripper" was discovered in London. The name was picked up from a letter that was sent to the local newspapers of London. The letter was uninterruptedly reported to the police, and from then onward he was addressed as Jack the Ripper. It stated that the person writing the letter frowned upon prostitutes and whores, and that he had no problem in ripping apart their bodies. It leaves room to investigate and question, the education system as well as the actions the government had taken in response to Jack the Rippers killing spree

One of the people that Jack the Ripper murdered was Annie Chapman. There is an example of one of the crimes “ On September 8, 1888, he murdered a plump forty-five-year-old woman named Annie Chapman,” (Rosinsky, 19). Because of this murder he started a bunch more muders. He spread so much terror because of the crimes he committed, In the book Jack the Ripper , Natalie M. Rosinsky says about Jack the Ripper” terror spread throughout the city as police tried to find and arrest the savage killer,” (10). He was such a good killer that no one ever knew who he was. Since Jack the Ripper was never caught there were a lot of people suspected of being

The Whitechapel (H) Division of Scotland Yard played a key role in creating Jack the Ripper and aggravating tensions between the stories told by the press and the public of Whitechapel. Before the Ripper killings, Whitechapel was a filthy slum full of prostitutes, violent gangs, corruption and crime. In these "bad old days," the police were already dealing with a large scale of murders in the district.1 Some police were transferred to help out in 1887, including Walter Dew, who later became the detective that caught famed murderer Dr. Crippen in a transatlantic chase. According to Dew, the first few women reported were murdered in the brutal way that the famous Ripper victims were cut up, these murders were viewed as typical murders. A pattern was not detected until Mary Ann Nicholls body was found and she had similar wounds to the other two murders.

Jack the Ripper is remembered as one of history’s most famous serial killers. His technique of getting his victims to lay down before he slashed their throats, then disemboweling them in a matter of a minute or two with as little blood flow as possible distinguishes him as one of the most methodical, ruthless killers to ever live. He even performed some of his gruesome murders right in the street and left his victims to be found minutes later by people or policemen passing by. This demonstrates what extremes he would actually go to fulfill his desire for killing. Through my report I will create a brief profile of Jack’s victims as well as explore the methodical and horrendous ways they were murdered.

All together, over 100 people people have been accused since 1888, only contributing to the curiosity even more( “Jack the Ripper Biography”). Due to the inefficiency of forensic testing in 1888, it was impossible to test DNA in order to identify a criminal.The case is still on going, though it faces difficulties. This killer has been an interesting topic for more than 120 years, and will still be interesting for years to come( “Jack the Ripper Biography”).Although the killer is still unknown to this day, people still speculate as to who it was and they will continue until they get their answer.

#6. Jack the Ripper was an anonymous serial killer, who killed almost 5-6 people in the road of Whitechapel area of London.