Jack the ripper was and is to this day, the worlds most famous serial killer.
This is strange because he is believed to have only had five victims, which is not a
lot compared to other serial killers.
So what made jack the ripper so famous?
Part of his appeal, was that the police never caught him.
Forensics were still in their very early days in 1888.
Thanks to modern methods, we do have some ideas who he was.
So then, who was jack the ripper?
That’s the question we are going to try to answer, right now on life’s biggest questions.
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Jack the ripper terrorized east London for 12 weeks in 1888, and targeted prostitutes
living and working in one of London’s poorest crime districts, Whitechapel.
Jack the ripper was also known as the Whitechapel murderer.
Jack the rippers 5 known victims were Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride,
Catherine Eddowes and Mary Jane Kelly.
The victims sometimes had their throats slashed and internal organs removed.
It is unclear if the 5 known victims are the rippers only victims, Whitechapel was a densely
populated area, but most of the killings happened within a few streets of each other, as well
as on weekends and public holidays.
The ripper either could have been a local who worked 9-5, or he was an educated, upper
class ma, possibly a doctor, who targeted victims in a lower class neighbourhoods.
The ripper was suspected of being a doctor because the mutilation of his victims appeared
to suggest he was surgically trained.
Hundreds of letters were sent to law enforcement and the media over the course of the murders,
some claiming to be from the ripper, others offering advice on how to catch him.
Many of these letters were believed to have been sent by journalists, posing as the ripper.
Even though police never figured out exactly who he was, there were definitely suspects.
Aaron Kosminkski, Thomas cutbush, and montague john Druitt were the main ones.
According to new DNA evidence, The bloodstained shawl of Catherine Eddowes, one of the rippers
victims, contained 126 year old DNA that Doctor Louhelainen compared to the DNA from decedents
of Catherine Eddowes.
Kominski was a polish Jewish immigrant.
He fled to London from Poland which was being controlled by Russia at the time.
He lived with his two brothers and sisters on Greenfield street, which is where Elizabeth
Stride was killed.
Kominski was said to be suffering from serious mental illness, and spent much of his life
in and out of asylums.
He died in one of the institutions from gangrene.
So the official story is, Kominski was jack the ripper.
But According to Richard Cobb, who runs the jack the ripper conventions, the shawl belonging
to Catherine eddowes has been handled by many people, not to mention, like many men living
in east London, kominski probably frequented prostitutes, including Catherine eddowes.
But there is another very compelling theory that makes the claim that jack the ripper
was actually an American doctor who goes by the name of Doctor H.H. Holmes.
Holmes was America’s first serial killer, who terrorized Chicago in the late 1880s.
He built elaborate death traps in a massive 3 story hotel, known as murder castle.
Holmes confessed to killing 27 people, but he may have killed closer to 200.
According to his great-great grandson, Jeff Mudget, Holmes documented the murder and mutilation
of several prostitutes in London in his 2 diaries.
He travelled to London in 1888, the same year the murders occurred...
Handwriting samples between the ripper and Holmes are very similar, one expert suggested
they were written by the same hand.
Apparently Scotland yard even went to America during the investigation because there were
rumours that the ripper could be an American doctor, but they abandoned the search because
of funding.
Jeff mudget detailed his findings in a book, and helped produce a series.
But his theory has been met with criticism by many who believe mudget is just trying
to sell books.
There are other theories as to the rippers identity.
Historian Mike Covell claimed the ripper was Fred Deeming, a crimical who emigrated to
Australia.
Others say the ripper was a renowned artist named Walter Sickert, who painted the scenes
from the rippers murders.
In all, there were around 200 suspects.
Perhaps we will never know who jack the ripper was, it remains one of the greatest unsolved
mysteries ever.
Who do you think the ripper was?
Let us know in the comments below.
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