Jack the Ripper

Biography of Jack the Ripper

Jack the Ripper, is the name given to a serial killer, this man was the author of five brutal crimes, some investigators would say that there were around 11 murders, in the last months of 1888 in the London marginal neighborhood of Whitechapel. In this area of the city, a large number of immigrants, especially Jews fleeing persecution in Russia and Eastern Europe, were arriving. In this area there were a large number of miserable taverns, prostitutes and violent events every day.

The first murder was perpetrated on the morning of August 31, 1888, where the lifeless body of a woman of very low social condition was found in terrible condition, she was beheaded and found without internal organs. The woman was identified as Mary Ann Nichols. Really, no one understood the reason for such an act. The alarms went off when on September 8th of the same year, another woman appeared in the same horrible circumstances, her body was full of wounds caused by a scalpel and without the presence of her uterus. It was Annie Chapman.

What seemed curious to the authorities was that it was the same type of victim as the previous one: mature woman, very low class and dark past. Unfortunately, the authorities could not find conclusive evidence. The women in this area felt fearful and filled with fear. In almost ten days, Whitechapel witnessed a third murder, Elizabeth Stride was found on Batty St. street. That same night another woman, Catherine Eddowes, was killed and found without her left kidney and uterus. With this situation, Queen Victoria, through correspondence, urged the London police to find the killer.

As a reaction, the authorities began to search for someone who had knowledge of anatomy, as this person skillfully extracted the organs of his victims. On one occasion, a letter signed under the nickname of Jack the Ripper arrived at the authorities, accompanied by half a kidney. After this, several letters were found, all with intimidating, threatening and challenging phrases. But, many of these letters were said to have been invented by some journalists who worked for sensationalist newspapers that profited from these morbid illustrations.

Later, the authorities turned their attention to two suspects, the first, Francis Tumblety, an American doctor. The second suspect was a woman named Mary Pearcy. Ultimately, no conclusive evidence was found against them, although Tumblety was arrested and interrogated. The atmosphere remained tense in the area and the news had reached the entire world. He was the first known international serial killer of the 19th century. While the American doctor was in jail, the fifth murder occurred, the victim was Mary Jane Kelly. This woman was found in her room on November 9, 1888. This led to think that Tumblety was not the criminal.

What is certain is that Jack the Ripper, this legendary serial killer, had a great aberration for women of low social condition; for their sexuality, a sign of this was the attack on sexual organs. He was a misogynistic and defiant person. His character was ruthless, cold and methodical, typical behavior of a psychopath who considered women as objects. His story impacted and still continues to amaze people.

The popularity of this character is such that every year books are published that propose new hypotheses about the identity of the criminal or simply narrate this story based on primary sources. For example, in the novel The Big Book of Jack the Ripper, not only are the main theories, texts and articles of that time gathered, but also unusual literary accounts. This was published in 2015 and represented a bestseller. Another novel inspired by Jack the Ripper is From Hell (phrase used in a letter written by him).

Now, not only has the literary world been immersed in the study of this secret character, but also museum institutions. A private museum was opened right in the areas where the murders took place, where the history of this figure is reconstructed in a creative way. In this museum, they also exhibit the possible suspects of this series of murders. Recently, the case of Jack the Ripper was reopened, making use of medical and forensic technologies that were almost non-existent at that time.

Entrepreneur Russell Edwards purchased a shawl that is said to have been found near the body of one of the murdered women, Eddowes. He bought this at an auction and with the help of Jari Louhelainen, an expert in genetic material analysis, made the historic discovery. The results confirmed that without a doubt, the cloth had traces of both people, the victim and a man identified as Aaron Kosminski. A man born in the Polish town of Kłodawa, he emigrated to London in 1882, where he worked as a hairdresser. Investigators believe he was 23 years old when he committed the murders and that he was schizophrenic. Sources indicate that after the murders he was confined to a psychiatric center and died there at age 53.