Jack the Ripper - Did he exist?

Question

We know there was a Whitechapel murderer, probably more than one, but did Jack the Ripper exist or was he a media creation? Or was Jack the Ripper merely a name to attach to the murders in the East End in the fall of 1888?

Answer 1

During the Fall of 1888 many prostitutes were murdered, sadly this is a common phenomena even now, street walking is very dangerous.

Using the forensic methods available at the time the police identified 5 victims of the same killer. They felt that they were killed by the same person by the method used by the killer. The women were approached, taken to a dark stoop or alley (presumably convincing the women that he was a paying client) and he eviscerated them. Using some skill with a knife. Each women with one exception had organs removed and her body was left splayed.

One night was called the "double act" the Ripper is said to have killed one woman (Elizabeth Stride) but was interupted-she was not butchered. So he killed another woman that night.

Many modern forensic experts have looked at the case and feel that Miss Stride was not actually killed by the same man, thereby taking the number killed by the same man down to four. A few other murders committed at the same time have been speculated to have been the work of the same man. So the Ripper killed at least 4 possibly many more.

Jack the Ripper was a name given by the newspapers to the killer. The police received hundreds of letters claiming to be from the killer. A handful were taken seriously and were signed Jack the Ripper, something that gave the press a field day. The one letter that police decided had to be from the killer was signed "saucy jack"

Isn't it amazing how this case continues to fascinate?

Answer 2

Jack the Ripper is an alias given to an unidentified serial killer (or killers) active in the largely impoverished Whitechapel area and adjacent districts of London, England in the latter half of 1888. The name is taken from a letter to the Central News Agency by someone claiming to be the murderer, published at the time of the killings. The legends surrounding the Ripper murders have become a combination of genuine historical research, conspiracy theory and folklore. The lack of a confirmed identity for the killer has allowed Ripperologists — the term used within the field for the authors, historians and amateur detectives who study the case — to accuse a wide variety of individuals of being the Ripper. Newspapers, whose circulation had been growing during this era, bestowed widespread and enduring notoriety on the killer owing to the savagery of the attacks and the failure of the police in their attempts to capture the Ripper, sometimes missing the murderer at his crime scenes by mere minutes.

Victims were women earning income as casual prostitutes. The Ripper murders were perpetrated in a public or semi-public place; the victim's throat was cut, after which the body was mutilated. Some believe that the victims were first strangled in order to silence them and to explain the lack of reported blood at the crime scenes. The removal of internal organs from some victims has led to the proposal that the killer possessed anatomical or surgical knowledge or skill

Answer 3

The name Jack the Ripper was used in letters to London newspapers after the Whitechapel murders began in 1888.

For example one famous letter is the 'Dear Boss' letter, and another is the 'From Hell" letter.

The handwriting in the letters is different. Some people believe therefore that they were copy cat letters and the Jack the Ripper name was plagiarised from the early use of this title in the letters to newspapers.

Others (for example Patricia Cornwell in her book 'Case Closed - http://www.amazon.com/Portrait-Killer-Ripper-Closed-Berkley/dp/0425192733) believe the letters were all written by the same person (Walter Sickert) and he was able to alter his handwriting convincingly because he was an accomplished artist.

Certainly the media played a part in the spread of the infamous name (they sold more newspapers through this sensationalism), though it seems unlikely that they created the name itself.

The letters seem not to have been (purely) media inventions because they detailed information which had not been released to the public yet about the specific nature of some of the attacks (e.g. specific body parts removed).

Therefore it seems likely the Ripper name may have originated from the killer(s) or someone with insider information about the crimes.

Answer 4

He did exist. Jack the Ripper is an alias given to the unidentified serial killer.

Answer 5

He did exist for sure have read all his books and though I cannot say it aloud what he did was something I secretly admired.... he hated something with a passion and he killed those horrible women because they polluted the neighbourhood..... these are my thoughts I can be ferocious in my opinions but whatever they are, he is remembered and even a british movies was made about Jack. Check out the film if you can get it. MG

Answer 6

ON the evidence of the similarity of the murders he probably existed

Answer 7

Both

He did exist and that is the name the media gave to the killer.

Answer 8

There was a murderer of prostitutes in London England, back in the 18th century who was called Jack the Ripper.

So yes, he was real. but his real name was never known.

Answer 9

yes he was a real person

Answer 10

yep he did