On August 6, 1888, Mary Nicholas was found brutally murdered on the bottom of a staircase. The staircase was in the sinister arch that led into George Yard (today known as Gunthorpe Street). Nicholas had thirty-nine stab wounds from her throat to her lower abdomen. The brutal act was the first of eleven murders committed between 1888 to 1891. The infamous murderer behind these killings is known as “Jack the Ripper.” Jack was known for killing female prostitutes in the Whitechapel district in London's East End. Jack the Ripper was never captured, and his identity remains unknown. A century later, multiple theories have surfaced about who Jack the Ripper was and his motive for killing his victims.
Jack the Ripper had no mercy for his victims.
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He slaughtered them, stripped them of their clothes, removed body parts that he sent to the authorities, and committed his crimes with a dagger. There is no denying that the murderer existed and that he carried out his killings. However, who was this notorious man? There have been numerous theories and circulation about who the serial killer was. There are flaws and holes in the theories with some lacking evidence, others being downright ridiculous, but some are highly possible. Jack was believed to be a resident of the White Chapel district, some theories suggest that the killer was a doctor, and others believed he had a hatred for women (prostitutes in particular). The list of credible suspects includes Carl Feigenbaum, Walter Sickert, and Dr.Thomas Neill Cream. Carl Feigenbaum is the first suspect on the list.
Feigenbaum was a German psychopath who went by many aliases during his lifetime (his real name was Anton Zahn). He worked as a merchant on ships that had been docked near Whitechapel. In 1894, Feigenbaum was sent to the electric chair for the brutal murder of Juliana Hoffman. This assassination was committed with a dagger and there were traces of old blood on it. After dying, Feigenbaum’s attorney, William Stanford Lawton, stated that it was his belief that his ex-client was the notorious London murderer Jack the Ripper. He based his theory on a confession that Feigenbaum supposedly told him; “I have for years suffered from a singular disease, which induces an all-absorbing passion. This passion manifests itself in a desire to kill and mutilate every woman who falls in my way.” (www.casebook.org/suspects/carl-feigenbaum.html) His claim is supported by Trevor Marriott who wrote the book Jack the Ripper-The 21st Century Investigation. The authorities investigated these theories and found that Feigenbaum was in the White Chapel district when all the Jack the Ripper murders occurred. Additionally, witnesses claimed to have seen Feigenbaum frequently enter brothels. Lawton also claimed that Feigenbaum was knowledgeable on surgery and dissection. This theory, however, lacks evidence. Lawton’s theory was based on what Feigenbaum supposedly confessed, but who’s to say this confession happened? Furthermore, Feigenbaum only confessed …show more content…
to having a desire to kill women. Lawton also stated that his ex-client had some form of anatomy knowledge. This claim was never supported. All in all, there is no denying that Feigenbury was a pathological liar with a shady past, but a lack of evidence shows that he was most likely not the infamous Jack the Ripper. The second suspect is German artist Walter Sickert.
Sickert often painted shadowy interiors and scenes that suggested violence. His paintings also focused on the poor residents of the White Chapel district, prostitutes, and Jack the Ripper. Stephen Knight’s book Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution states that Sickert was a compliance in the murders. In addition to this, Patricia Cornwell's novel Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper–Case Closed argues that Sickert was the notorious White Chapel murderer. Her evidence is a mtDNA (mitochondrial DNA) test that supports her theory. According to the mtDNA, sequences found on the Ripper’s letters matched some of the strains found on Sickert’s letters. Furthermore, some believe that he inserted clues and symbols about the Jack the Ripper murders into his artwork. Many experts assert that the clues are strikingly like the actual crime scenes, that only the "true murderer" could have painted them. Despite this, I strongly believe Sickert was not Jack the Ripper. Evidence to support my belief includes Knight confessing that his book, “is a hoax … a whopping fib”. Besides, police officials of the time announced that they believed the letters (which Cornwell tested and used as evidence for her case) were a hoax. If the DNA on those letters did belong to Sickert, he may have been guilty of participating in the Ripper hoaxes. Beyond this, Sickert was not in London at the time of the murders! He was, in fact, with his mother and brothers
in France during the time the murders were committed. The final possible suspect that I will write about is Dr.Thomas Neill Cream. The Scotland born doctor performed illegal abortions for prostitutes in Chicago. He was suspected in the death of local prostitute during this time but was never charged. Cream was then accused of murdering a man by the name of Daniel Scott in 1881. To escape jail time, Cream fled to London. Soon afterward, prostitutes in Lambeth began to die because of strychnine poison. He was convicted of the murder of multiple prostitutes and was sentenced to hang. On November 16, 1892, Cream was executed. His last words were, “I am Jack…”. Subsequently, the media dubbed Cream as a Jack the Ripper suspect. Nonetheless, records show that Dr.Cream was serving time in a Chicago prison when the murders occurred. However, theories suggest that he could’ve bribed a double to serve his prison sentence, or that he was released earlier than believed. Due to the lack of evidence, I believe Cream was not the White Chapel murderer. While I can assert that he did kill numerous people with poison, there is no proof that he terminated individuals with a dagger. I have developed a theory on who the real Jack the Ripper was. I personally believe Carl Feigenbaum is the most likely candidate. This is because he was known to kill with daggers and the knife he used to kill Julia Hoffman had traces of old blood. This blood could’ve been from his earlier victims (prostitutes in White Chapel). Above all, he was near the location of all the murders when they occurred. These facts may be coincidences, but I have concluded that they are in fact confirmation that Carl Feigenbaum was Jack the Ripper.
Investigating Why the Police Were Unable to Catch Jack the Ripper I believe the most important reason why Jack the Ripper was so hard to catch was because of the lack of evidence. In those days they did not have as advanced technology as we have today for instance, we have forensics where we can tell from a strand of hair who that hair belongs to. In those days they were only just learning the significance of footprints to catching a villain. Another part to this is that Jack the Ripper was so random towards who he killed the police could not find a link between the murders except that they were all prostitutes, which did not really help, although prostitute murders were not terribly uncommon. The press coverage to the case didn’t help much as they had forced the police to investigate ‘Leather Apron’ and this wasted a significant amount of the police time which, if spent properly, may have allowed them to uncover more information needed to catch the Ripper.
How the Police Tried to Catch Jack the Ripper In the 1880s, the police were very different from the police of today. Their main propose was crime prevention and their methods their methods were very primitive Source F is a police leaflet, which was published after the murders of Elizabeth Stride and Kate Eddowes; it was written to aid the police in their investigation it was also written in a factual tone, it suggests that the police were appealing for any information regarding suspicious characters. Because of the timing of this leaflet shows the desperation faced by the police but for because of the many defects reasons the leaflet was not successful: The first being that they did not offer any description of the murderer at all, 'person to whom suspicion was attached'. The second being that they still assumed that the person was living in Whitechapel, when there was a large amount of evidence suggested that the murderer wasn't from Whitechapel (the fact that the murders were all done on the weekends or on Friday nights, which suggests that he had a job and came into Whitechapel to murder).
In Kate Summerscale’s book, The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher, we are introduced to a murder case at the Road Hill House in the late 19th century. The young child Saville Kent has been murdered and who murdered him is the question the entire town is interested in. All of the evidence we are introduced to points to Saville 's older, half sister, Constance Kent, as the murderer.
The Failure of Police to Catch Jack the Ripper The Whitechapel murderer, known to many as Jack the Ripper was never caught and imprisoned for his awful crimes. Police still do not know who he is. There are several explanations as to why he was never caught and in this essay I will discuss them. The police were unable to catch Jack the Ripper as they felt that no-one actually knew what he looked like.
Serial killers are everywhere! Well, perhaps not in our neighborhood, but on our television screens, at the movie theaters, and in rows and rows of books at our local Borders or Barnes and Nobles Booksellers” (Brown). When people think of serial killers, names such as Dahmer, Gacy, Bundy, and Gein are cited. During the time Jack the Ripper was executing his victims in London, Holmes began his gruesome career in Chicago (America’s Serial Killers). “Despite being America’s first serial killer, Holmes is hardly a familiar name and until now we haven’t had any popular visual record of his crimes: (Spikol). Why is it that people only think of the more popular killers with higher known profiles? They are all very similar to one another because they share characteristics. H.H. Holmes was a successful serial killer because he was well educated, cunning and charming. Those are just a few traits Holmes ...
During the investigations, the Royal Conspiracy developed. The Royal Conspiracy goes as follows; Prince Eddy fell in love with Annie Crook. They eloped and had a daughter. When Queen Victoria found out about her grandsons marriage, she was determined to put an end to their relationship. Mary Kelly, who was their daughters nurse, Mary Ann “Polly” Nichols, Annie Chapman, and Elizabeth Stride knew about Annie Crook and Prince Eddy’s secret relationship. Dr. Gull was accused of killing those four women as a result of their knowledge. However, facts show that this was only a theory. While the Jack the Ripper murders were committed, Dr. Gull was seventy years ol...
Mary Ann “Polly'; Nichols, aged 42, was the first of the Ripper victims, according to dedicated Ripperologists. Her body was found on Buck’s Row by a patrolling constable at 3:15 a.m. on August 31st 1888. The ripper had slashed her throat twice, and her abdomen had been savagely cut exposing the intestines. Her vaginal area had also been mutilated. The woman approximately five feet two inches tall with brown graying hair, brown eyes, and several missing teeth. Mary Ann Nichols had a drinking problem and spent most of her life making her earnings as a prostitute. She was a sad, destitute woman, but one that most people liked and pitied.
As the killer was never truly found, the investigation turned into a historical research. It was so prominent that the research of Jack the Ripper became known as Ripperology. So whether the world will ever know the true identity of the killer of all killers, it will always be in study.
H.H. Holmes, originally named Herman Webster Mudgett, was the first known American serial killer. His weapon of choice was the “Murder Castle” of which he created in Chicago. In this “castle”, it is believed that he murdered around 200 people. Holmes only confessed to the murder of 28, but the remains found were so dismembered and decomposed that a number could not be determined. It is also believed that Holmes sold the bodies of his victims for use in medical research facilities. Doctors and researchers were so desperate for bodies in this time that they raided cemeteries. Therefore, it was not questioned how he had access to such quantity of human corpses readily available. Holmes’ “Murder Castle” was a three story, block long hotel. Inside the seemingly normal hotel was a maze with over 100 windowless rooms opening to brick walls, oddly shaped hallways, stairways leading nowhere and doors in which opened only from the outside. Holmes got away with building the hotel by firing construction workers quickly so they could not figure out what he was planning.
Not only had their throats been cut, but also in the case of four of the victims, their bodies had been horrifically mutilated. All the attacks occurred during the dark evenings, and all in the proximity of London's East End streets, where "Jack" performed his activities in the darkened alleys and alcoves. All these murders took place within 1 mile of each other, all five murders taking place in the Whitechapel, Aldgate or Spitalfeilds area. Naturally, the horrific murders of five prostitutes created hordes of public interest, not just in Whitechapel but also all over London. One of the reasons that so much public attention was attracted to the murders was because of the type of place Whitechapel was.
¨You must never underestimate the power of the eyebrow.¨(inspiring quotes.us) This quote was said by Jack Black.It seems like something he would say because he is a funny guy and an amazing actor with a pretty crazy life. Now let's take a look at his past, as well as his adult life, and his career to learn more about Jack.
Cornwell's book, though sensationalist and highly speculative, unfortunately suffers from the same oversights as Fuller's book, and employs selective facts and poor scholarship to support her case, and provides us with no real proof that Sickert was Jack the Ripper. Cornwell it is said spent $4 million of her own money in an attempt to prove Sickert was the Ripper. There is some evidence that Sickert may not even have been in England at the time of the Whitechapel murders, as during the whole of September he may have been on holiday in France, a letter written by Ellen, Sickert's wife, to her brother in-law Dick Fisher dated 21 September, suggests that Walter had been in France for some weeks.
...would type him as a lust killer? Do the bodies show evidence of cleaning or posing, which may be a symbolic attempt at “undoing” the murder (Bartol, 2002, p. 248)? This undoing is not to be confused with staging, which is, in the context of serial killings, generally an attempt at misdirecting the investigation (Douglas & Munn, as cited in Bartol, 2002).
From August through November of the year 1888, a murderer prowled the streets of London’s East End, preying on prostitutes that worked in the districts of Aldgate, Spitalfields, Whitechapel, and the City of London proper. To most historians and criminologists he is known plainly as the Whitechapel Murderer, but to most, he is known as Jack the Ripper. Jack the Ripper, however, is a name the killer never claimed for himself. It originated from a letter the murderer had sent to the Metropolitan police. The murders of Jack the Ripper were grisly. The Ripper murdered his victims quickly with a slash across their throats, but the grisly part was the manner in which he mutilated the bodies. Which became more shocking with each victim. The number of victims remains the subject of much debate. Most historians number the victims at five. These victims were Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes, and Mary
From August 7 to September 10 in 1888, "Jack the Ripper" terrorized the Whitechapel district in London's East End. He killed at least five prostitutes and mutilated their bodies in an unusual manner, indicating that the killer had a knowledge of human anatomy. Jack the Ripper was never captured, and remains one of England's, and the world's, most infamous criminals.Known for committing gruesome murders from August 7 to September 10 in 1888, "Jack the Ripper"—a moniker for the notorious serial killer, who was never identified—remains one of England's, and the world's, most infamous criminals.