1888. It was an era that would become known as the "autumn of terror."
A madman was stalking the streets of London, preying on women of the night in
the Whitechapel area. A string of grisly murders set London on edge that fall. A number of women,
all prostitutes, were found with their throats cut, their bodies mutilated, mercilessly,
brutally, randomly, and without motive. Early on the killer was dubbed The Whitechapel Murderer,
and Leather Apron. He was not the first serial killer, but he was the first to create
a worldwide media frenzy, extensive newspaper coverage giving him international notoriety.
And as the man has never been identified, and the murders never solved, has risen
to become the stuff of legend and folklore, with wildly varying theories -- a chronicle
of the worst of humanity. It's unknown just how many women he killed -- upwards of 11 some say.
But there are five confirmed cases attributed to him known as The Canonical Five. Today we
remember and visit the final resting places of these five known victims of Jack the RIpper.
This is the City of London Cemetery. In the 1880s Mary Ann Nichols was separated from her husband
and found herself living in workhouses and common lodging houses.
Poor unmarried women in the slums had little recourse in those days. She worked for a time
as a domestic servant, but prostitution was for her, like so many in poverty, an occasional
source of income -- a means of survival that would tragically lead to her demise. On the evening of
August 30th Mary Ann Nichols, sometimes called Polly, set out to earn money for her lodging,
proud of the new black velvet bonnet she was wearing. She was sure it would bring her much
needed attention. But unfortunately for Mary, the black velvet bonnet would capture the attention of
one of the world's most notorious serial killers, not yet known to the world as Jack the Ripper.
Mary was last seen alive walking alone down Osborne Street at approximately 2 30 a.m.
An hour later her body was discovered on Buck's Row near a gated stable entrance. Her throat had
been deeply cut in two places, and after death her abdomen mutilated. The instrument of death was a
knife six to eight inches in length. She had no form of identification on her, but a fellow
workhouse friend was eventually able to identify her. Mary Ann Nichols was 43 when she was killed,
and was laid to rest here in the City of London Cemetery on September 6 1888. Her grave remained
unmarked until 1996 when the cemetery decided to formally mark her grave with this plaque.
The ripper murders had begun, and two days after Mary Ann Nichols was laid to rest
Jack found his second victim. We're at Manor Park Cemetery now in the Forest Gate area of London,
where lies Annie Chapman. Similar to Mary Ann, Annie Chapman had been separated from her husband
and fallen into alcoholism, leading her to the doss houses and prostitution in east London.
In the early morning hours of September 8th Annie was seen in the company of a man
near 29 Hanbury Street -- the last time she was seen alive. At approximately 6 a.m,
about an hour later, a resident of 29 Hanbury Street discovered the body of Annie Chapman lying
near the doorway in the backyard of the property. There were two deep slash wounds to her throat
and her abdomen had been cut open. Investigators immediately drew the connection between this
murder and that of Mary Ann Nichols, which occurred just a half a mile away.
They had a serial killer on their hands. The injuries also suggested to investigators
that the perpetrator had to have some rudimentary knowledge of human anatomy.
The press latched on to the connected murders and the newspaper sensationalization began,
each sharing their own theories and suspects, often with false or speculative information,
which only confounded the investigation. Adding to the confusion were hundreds of letters sent to
police and the press claiming to have information on the killer or to be the killer himself.
Most were written off as hoaxes but a few letters were taken seriously by investigators. One such
letter sent to the central news agency, known as the "boss letter," would give this phantom killer
a new name. In it he mocked the investigators and reveled in his work, signing "yours truly,
Jack the Ripper." Weeks before this letter arrived and the killer was given this headline-grabbing
moniker Annie Chapman was laid to rest on September 14th in an unmarked grave. She was 47.
Her remains are somewhere within this area, this marker having been placed in 2008 in her memory.
September 30th 1888 would become known as the "double event," the only time the ripper killed
twice the same night, setting the city of London into a rising state of panic.
This is East London Cemetery where we find the final resting place of the third victim, Elizabeth
Stride. She was born in Sweden and came to London to work as a domestic servant in the 1860s,
eventually marrying John Stride. By the 1880s the marriage had broken down and Elizabeth found
herself at a workhouse. She earned income through various means, including sowing, housekeeping,
and occasional prostitution. Elizabeth was last seen in the company of various men, acquaintances
or clients, in the waning hours of September 29th, into September 30th on Berner Street.
Elizabeth Stride's body was discovered at approximately 1am in Dutfield's Yard. Blood
was still flowing from a single knife wound to her neck, but there was only a single wound and
no postmortem mutilation, as was the hallmark of the ripper. So some have speculated that Elizabeth
Stride's death was unrelated, but the more likely explanation is the ripper was interrupted
before he could finish the deed, because less than an hour later, within walking distance of Stride,
Jack struck again. Elizabeth Stride was 44 and was laid to rest here on October 6th 1888.
Having been unable to carry out his gruesome task with Elizabeth Stride, Jack the Ripper
was not done for the night. We're back again at the City of London Cemetery and Crematorium,
where rests Catherine Eddowes. On the evening of September 29th 46 year old Catherine was found
lying drunk on the road and was arrested, held until she was sober enough to leave.
Upon leaving the police station at approximately 1am, instead of heading home she made her way
toward the dimly-lit Mitre Square. It was a fatal decision. At 1:45 am a policeman found
her body in the shadows of the southwest corner of Mitre Square. Her throat had been deeply cut,
her body mutilated, just like the previous victims. But Jack went further still, escalating
his brutality against his victim, mutilating her face so badly that she could only be identified
by a pawn ticket she had in her pocket. The killer also removed and kept one of her kidneys.
Two weeks later the chairman of the Whitechapel vigilance committee received a letter and a
package, purportedly from Jack the Ripper, postmarked "from Hell." In the package was
half a human kidney which the sender claimed to have removed from one of his victims.
Many experts doubt that this kidney originated from Eddowes, or that the letter was even from
the ripper. Just another mysterious piece of the puzzle that may never be completed.
Catherine was buried on October 8th in an unmarked grave.
Along with Mary Ann Nichols the cemetery had this marker placed here for her in 1996.
October passed relatively quietly in Whitechapel. But it was merely the quiet before the final
storm. We find ourselves now at St Patrick's Roman Catholic Cemetery in the Leytonstone
area of London, where rests the final known and youngest victim of Jack the Ripper: Mary Jane
Kelly. The beautiful 25 year old Mary, sometimes known as Dark Mary, worked for a while in a posh
brothel in the west end. By 1888 Mary was living alone in a small rented room in Miller's Court,
off Dorset Street, having broken up with her boyfriend and once again resorting to selling
her body, now on the streets of the east end. It was the evening of November 8th,
close to midnight. The light was on in a little room occupied by young Mary,
and neighbors reported hearing her singing the song was "A Violet I Plucked From Mother's Grave."
The haunting tune would be the last song ever sung by Mary Jane Kelly,
and the last thing few but her killer would ever hear from her.
Around 2 am the morning of the 9th an acquaintance reported seeing her on the street
and spoke with her briefly. She then left with an unidentified man, taking him back to her room.
There the ripper carried out his most grisly attack -- the culmination of his maniacal fury.
Unlike the other victims who were attacked in a rush on the open streets,
Jack's mutilation of poor Mary was done in the relative privacy
of her own home. He had time to carry out his darkest urges. When police peered through the
small broken window into her room the next morning they were met with a horrific sight.
Mary was lying in her bed -- she had literally been butchered from head to toe. Mary Jane Kelly
was laid to rest here on November 19 1888. Her aging stone reads, "In loving memory of Marie
Jeanette Kelly. None but the lonely hearts can know my sadness. Love lives forever."
If any good came from the Autumn of Terror, it brought attention to the plight
of those living on the brink of society... particularly in the slums of the east end.
Jack the Ripper would become something of a symbol of, and the embodiment of, social neglect.
Had these women had the sixpence to pay the rent they wouldn't have been out on the streets. They
are not to blame for their own deaths. They are a reminder that we can all fall on hard times,
and it's up to us as a society to look after the most needy and the most vulnerable among
us. None but the lonely hearts can know their sadness. May they all rest in peace.