Jack the Ripper is a figure that has mystified people for a hundred years. One of the first known serial killers, he killed prostitutes in England from August to November in 1888. Most serial killers have signatures often indicative of their specific psychology and the Ripper case is no exception to that. Oftentimes, Jack the Ripper murdered opportunistically, watching for victims with similar situations to each other.
“The first murder, of Mary Ann Nicholls, took place on 31 August. Annie Chapman was killed on 8 September. Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddowes were murdered 30 September and Mary Jane Kelly on 9 November.” (BBC, n.d) The Whitechapel murders had some distinct similarities among them. For example, the victims were all prostitutes.
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The idea of weekend slaughter is itself strange: prostitutes walked the streets of Whitechapel every night, but there were more potential witness around on weekends.” (Rubinstein, n.d.) The murderer started off with an initial blitz style attack. He then proceeded to lay the victim down, their left side against the wall. Further attacks took place on the right side of the victim’s body. They appeared to have been strangled and then their throats slit. “In one case blood was found on the fence some fourteen inches or so from the ground…” (Casebook, n.d.) “This method also prevented the killer from being unduly blood stained.” (Casebook, n.d.) After death, the killer then mutilated and often violated the victims. During the mutilations, Jack the Ripper often took trophies. Psychologically, “The taking of a “trophy” is a common practice by modern sexual serial killers.” (Casebook, n.d.) However, the Ripper case was strange as the Ripper did not damage any of the other organs while removing the kidney from the front rather than from the side where it is usually taken. (Casebook, n.d.) The killer’s clean removal of organs led many to believe that he had medical
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
The Jack the Ripper Murders happened in the East End of London in 1888 and, although the Whitechapel Murderer was only a threat to a small section of the community in a small part of London, the murders had a huge impact on society as a whole.
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 media attempted to make profit anyway they could by exaggerating in addition to creating hoaxes, this gave the ripper greater chances of escaping in addition to putting pressure on the police’s abilities to catch the psycho serial killer. With the press interfering countless times, the ripper was emerging as the most undetected notorious killer of Whitechapel however the police were falling due to the press interfering with the case by publishing false information on newspapers.
the third victim, he slit her throat, that was it. They think he was interrupted, he killed her
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.
Anthropologist Margaret Murray became intrigued in the case and linked the circumstances of it to an occult ritual known as the “Hand of Glory”, which began the theory of the murder being a ritualistic killing. With this theory in mind, the media went wild, especially since a man by the name of Charles Walton was found secured to the ground beneath him with a pitchfork in a local village. Professor Murray seemed to believe the two of these incidents to be correlated.
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.
Alistair Thomas Hargreaves had been new to the Whitechapel Police Force in 1888, when the infamous Whitechapel murders had begun. He was young, enthusiastic and recently married to beautiful Mary Moorehead. They lived in a small flat near Whitechapel, where she stayed and kept house while he left for work each morning and arrived home each evening. It was the perfect life for a young couple just starting out. All of that would change on August 31st, 1888.
That would be an understandable misconception – his name is, after all, in the title, and multiple books claiming to be about the victims or other surrounding topics do indeed end up focusing on the Ripper himself. The Ripper’s identity is, after all, one of the great historical mysteries and the focus of over one hundred books. This is not one of them.
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.
In the autumn of 1888, the murders took place in the “East End” of inner London, mostly in ‘White Chapel’. Living conditions of the people were very poor. The place was busy, crowded and full of crime. People were homeless and unemployed. People were struggling to survive