Jack The Ripper Research Paper

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

If Jack the Ripper only had five victims, then he wasn’t a particularly prolific murderer compared to others that have come since then. The fact that his so called reign of terror lasted only twelve or so weeks means that he wasn’t at large for a particularly long time. There is little doubt that his is the worlds

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

The police were unable to catch Jack the Ripper for many reasons however one important factor was the mistakes of the police force. At the time of the Ripper case many people seemed to not come forward with information if they had any due to police mistakes such as lack of reward. The police committed various mistakes such as dressing as prostitutes due to the fact that the Ripper had studied his victims, which gave the police no luck in catching the killer. The police however did many foolish mistakes as one would call by believing false stories from the public and press which contributed to letting Jack the Ripper escape. The police did many other mistakes in addition to a lack of rewards and listen to the public as well as dress as prostitutes, they also Didn’t assign much police officers in the area of

In the late 1880s, London, England had the world’s eyes on the most notorious and mysterious case of Jack the Ripper. A friend of one of the victims said, “Whatever you do don't you do no wrong and turn out as I have” (Albrooks 1). His actions had brought terror and xenophobia inside the United Kingdom while outside gave renown and entertainment. Mysterious letters and curiosity brought many to stay tuned, even today many still seek the secrets of this crime. Most of today’s well-known serial killers were inspired by the mysterious and philosophical manners of Jack the Ripper.

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.

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.

Why is Jack the Ripper seen as one of Britain’s most notorious serial killers of all time? Evidence suggest that he simply could have been a scapegoat for the overcrowded parish of Whitechapel which had vast amounts of crime including burglary and high levels of alcohol dependency which lead to many brothels opening and the number of prostitutes in Whitechapel rising dramatically. So was Jack the Ripper even a real serial killer? Or does theory explain that his murders could have been cover ups put in place to create a moral panic to reduce the number of working prostitutes as they had become scared of being murdered. If Jack the Ripper was not a scapegoat the New Right would argue that it is likely he made a rational calculation of the consequences of his crimes and carried them out because the benefit to society was greater than the cost to him, the New Right would have blamed Jack the Rippers criminal activities on poor socialisation from his family. Postmodernist authors Levin and McDevitt would argue he was a criminal but he only committed these crimes because he needed variation from his daily routine and killing the prostitutes was giving him the thrills and excitement that he needed in his life. A combination of all these different arguments and possible explanations creates debates that draw me into the study of Sociology and Criminology.

To this day, Jack the Ripper is still infamously recognised as the brutal murderer of at least 5 victims. With such great attention by the media, he was able to cause a dramatic fright to the civilians and have his name voiced throughout Victorian England. Even today, many scholars are seduced by the prospect of uncovering identity of the man behind one of the most infamous whodunits in history.

Jack the Ripper is regarded as the first ever serial killer. I think he was the first serial killer, because all the murderers did not seem to have a purpose. The murders were not done for sex, money or Jealousy. Psychology was not yet a science and murder for sexual desire was not an idea understood at those times. Also brutality of the crimes were shocking. The woman were not only stabbed but were butchered.

The reason I am led to believe this is because of the way they did it for so long, and the way organs were taken out. Researchers said that they suspected many doctors of being the Ripper, because you would have to know the body anatomically. THE BRUTAL MURDERS OF FIVE prostitutes in London's East End in the autumn of 1888 by an unknown killer who came to be called Jack the Ripper' are probably the most famous unsolved crimes in history. First he would strangle his victims, cut their throats and eviscerated them. His last victim, Mary Jean Kelly, he completely butchered ,cutting off her breasts , taking the flesh from her legs down to the bone , eviscerated her also ,and cut out her heart. Joseph Barnet, her lover, identified her only by her hair color. Many of Jack the Ripper’s victim’s showed signs of cannibalism. No one is certain of how many people Jack the Ripper killed.