Research Paper On Jack The Ripper

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)

On Saturday, December 1, 1900, a man named John Hossack was killed in his sleep with a hatchet by his wife, Margaret Hossack. The story told by Margaret was that she had heard what sounded like two boards banging together and by that time the attacker had fled and she didn’t catch a glimpse of him. The next thing she saw was her extremely wounded husband, John, who had a five-inch cut into his head and a fractured skull. A doctor, who came and examined John, and said there was no hope and John died the next morning. As an investigation started, a burglary was thought of as the first motive but the idea flawed because nothing was stolen so the idea was quickly abandoned. In the 4 days between the murder and the funeral, the police talked to

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

There were a number of reasons for why the infamous serial killer known as Jack the Ripper managed to escape with the killings which he did to prostitutes in Whitechapel. There was no single reason for why the Ripper managed to escape from the police however there was a number of reasons such as the nature of the Whitechapel, the Rippers methods, the role of the press, other stories which conflicted to theories of who the Ripper was, mistakes of the police force and the limitations of them.

The 2001 nonfiction, Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper-Case Closed, is a novel written by author Patricia Cornwell. This novel follows Cornwell on her journey of solving the 1888 London crimes by the mysterious and unknown serial murderer claiming the name of Jack the Ripper. This killer, as told in the novel, did not only murder women who were prostitutes, but it is also said that he murdered non-prostituted women and children. While much research and investigation by law enforcement had still not identified the enforcer of these crimes, Cornwell explains how she uses her own specialized team of top forensic scientists and FBI profilers to identify the serial killer as the famous artist Walter Richard Sickert. Cornwell first began to suspect Sickert after looking in a book containing his art. After noticing the works of Sickert’s painting of Ada Lundberg, who is supposed to be singing, Cornwell instead saw the singer “screaming while menacing men looked on.” The author’s analysis concluded there was “morbidity, violence, and a hatred of women” in Sickert’s paintings. Unlike the many Ripper novels that came before Cornwell’s, this novel is written less to explain the crimes committed by the Ripper while giving the facts and suspected identities. In truth, it is more as an indictment for who the author believes the real murder is and why. While Cornwell uses some physical evidence to pin Walter to the crimes of the Ripper, such as his DNA matching the DNA found on the

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.

Other people that were believed to be Jack the Rippers like Seweryn Klosowski, Prince Albert Victor Christian Edward, the Duke of Clarence and many others. These people were all believed to be Jack the Ripper, but we either killed or not tried because of lack of evidence, or they did not have the same rage that Jack the rippers was believed to have. In today’s day in age Jack the ripper could have been caught. But because the lack of materials and police training in the 1800s jack the rippers got

Curtis, L.P. 2001. Jack the Ripper and the London Press. Yale University Press, New Haven, CT.

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.

It is unclear just how many women the Ripper killed. It is generally accepted that he killed five, though some have written that he murdered only four while others say seven or more. The public, press, and even many junior police officers believed that the Ripper was responsible for nine slayings. The five that are generally accepted are:

In the year 1888, Whitechapel of London was targeted in a stream of ferocious murders so explicit that it grew to a response that came from all of Victorian England. The media, police investigators and local civilians were deeply impacted upon these occurrences in several ways. Jack The Ripper is to this day infamously known as the killer of at least 5 female prostitutes in the span of only one month, and is recognised to have changed society forever.

There is a different openion about the number of victims. Some said dozen murders occurred and few said five. All the victims were women and all of them were prostitutes.