Jack the Ripper

This is Jack the Ripper
Jack the Ripper
Sent through time
To come to kill you

I often have in mind these parts of the song Jack the Ripper by The Servant. And I told myself “Why not.” There is Jack the Ripper the band, the song, the books, the films and now exclusively for AnglophoniZ, there will be Jack the Ripper the article. Let's take a look at this period of English History.

London 1888, District of Whitechapel. A series of murders is the talk of the town. You are a girl at night in the East End London and you are afraid of walking alone. Your only thought is for the name on everyone's lips “Jack the Ripper.” What do you think of it as a beginning ?

“The Whitechapel Murderer,” “Leather Apron” or “Jack the Ripper” pointed at the same one person but only the last name remained in our minds. This nickname has kept all his mystery with the years and the folklore of this gruesome story has not diminished because, actually, no one has been arrested, no one knows the end of the story or even what really happened. That's the distinctive feature of this case and what makes it popular. There were so many attacks at this period that we do not know exactly how many were committed by the Ripper. However historians, policemen and pseudo detectives agree on the number of 5 victims coined the “canonical five.” There were Mary Ann “Polly” Nicholls in Buck's Row, Annie “Dark Annie” Chapman at 29 Hanbury Street, Elizabeth “Long Liz” Stride in Berner Street and Catherine Eddowes in Mitre Square and finally Mary Jane “Black Mary” Kelly at 13 Miller's Court. The five of them died between August 31^st and November 9^th 1888 in a square of 400 meters in the middle of this “den of immorality.” The five of them were prostitutes and not very young, except one. The mutilations increased as the murders followed on. The modus operandi of the Ripper then included deep throat slashes, genital-area and abdominal mutilation, facial mutilations and even removal of internal organs.

As for the investigation itself, you could have said that it was a bloody mess! The newly appointed head of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Robert Anderson went to Switzerland very quickly when appointed to only return to England near the end of the attacks. Sir Charles Warren, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner was thus at the head of the investigation he has lead with a bad hand. For example, he ordered an important inscription to be washed away because he feared the citizens' reaction. But they have nonetheless reacted as promptly, a group of volunteer citizens, the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee, was formed because of their dissatisfaction with the police efficiency. Moreover, many letters aimed at helping the police were sent and examined whether they were useful or not.

Media also played an important part in these events. As I said before, attacks or murders were quite common but thanks to an arousal of media, Jack the Ripper became extremely famous. Actually his nickname was introduced to people thanks to the press. The murderer was supposed to have sent letters to the people in charge with this affair. Three letters have become well known and were called the “Dear Boss” letter in which he signed “Jack the Ripper” for the first time, the “Saucy Jack” postcard and the “From Hell” letter which came with a box containing half of a kidney. However, it was later claimed that these letters were sent by a journalist avid of publicity. As you see, there is another mystery concerning this case that will not be solved.

What if the media had not make a fuss out of these murders? Maybe our vivid imagination would not have so flourished and created so many works out of these events. What if the police has been more organise and efficient? Maybe the Ripper would have been caught. We will never know. There was – and still is - so many hypotheses, so many contradictions, so many miscarriage of justice and so many suspects that you could imagine almost what you wish. Even Queen Victoria take an interest in these events and fiercely asked her ministers to take care of it. All in all, the murders enable citizens and authority to be aware of the sanitary situation in the East End and in the decades following the murders the worst places were demolished. Now you may go to London and visit the murders sites. You too, be an expert in “ripperology” and make your own investigation.