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Jack the Ripper Essay

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Jack the Ripper terrorized the streets of London of unknown reasons. With his ability to disappear he was impossible to track, therefore making him one of the most interesting and clever criminals known to man. In 1888, five prostitutes were brutally murdered within a tiny area of the East End of London. The killings rapidly occurred over an 11- week period but they have both haunted and fascinated people for over a hundred years. (Jakubowski 16)

There is no reason to believe that the victims were known to associate with each other and they varied by age. The neighborhood on the east side of London, known as White chapel, thrived with prostitution and other crimes association with immigrants and lower class, murdered prostitutes …show more content…

She had dark brown hair and blue eyes, Chapman was plump and had light complexion. The Dr. performing post-mortem was concerned that the body had been washed; fearing valuable evidence had been removed. “Additionally, eyewitness accounts do not match up with Dr. estimated time of death “(Jakubowski 27). The same cut was applied to Chapman’s neck as was applied to the other victims. There were two parallel cuts down the spine, estimated to be approximately one inch apart. Her abdomen was completely exposed and all of the internal organs were now hanging about her corpse. Two thirds of the bladder had been removed from the body as well.

On September 30, 1888, the third victim, known as “Long Liz” was discovered. Elizabeth Stride’s body was found “still pumping blood from the slashed neck, indicating a recent and interrupted attack” (McNab 109). Jack the Ripper did not remove the organs from Stride because it is believed that he was interrupted and could not finish the job. Yet it was brutal, for he had to rapidly kill her due to the fact Elizabeth could now identify her murderer. As well as Nichols, her teeth were also found to be missing. The body of Ms. Stride was mistakenly identified as her sister, Elizabeth Watts. This was an upset for the authorities when the real Watts turned up alive, as their focus had been placed on the wrong person.

On the same day as murder of Elizabeth Stride, the body of Catherine Eddowes was discovered. This was the first

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