When did the big case in Britain happen?

Jack The Ripper is the nickname of the murderer who killed at least five prostitutes in Whitechapel, East London, from1August 7, 888 to 1654381October 9. During the crime, the murderer repeatedly wrote to the relevant units to provoke, but never fell into the French Open. Its bold criminal methods were repeatedly exaggerated by the media, which caused panic in British society at that time. He is still one of the most notorious killers in European and American cultures.

Although it has been a hundred years since the crime, there are more and more books and related research on the case. However, due to the lack of evidence, there are different opinions about who is the murderer, and there is no intersection, which makes the case more confusing. However, Jack the Ripper's figure is constantly appearing in today's popular culture through media, rock music, toys and other items.

◆ Criminal process

The location of the ripper's crime is concentrated near Whitechapel in East London. It was a famous immigrant distribution center at that time, and tens of thousands of immigrants from Russia and Eastern Europe settled here. Because of the meager income, it has long been a hotbed of poverty and crime, and homeless hooligans and prostitutes live on the streets. Although Scotland Yard has established a city-wide patrol network in 1829, the weak police force is still unable to bear the security of the East District where tens of thousands of prostitutes haunt every night.

A serial murder in Whitechapel

The first message sent by the murderer suspect is "Dear Boss"1On August 7, 888, a female body was found in Whitechapel in the East District. The deceased was a middle-aged prostitute, Martha Tabram, who was stabbed 39 times, 9 of which went through her throat. At 3: 45 am on August 3 1 of the same year, another prostitute, Mary Ann Nichols, was found dead in Bucks Row near Whitechapel at the age of 43. Not only was her face bruised, some front teeth fell off and her neck was cut twice. But the most cruel thing is that the abdomen was cut open, the intestines were dragged out, and the vulva was seriously stabbed by a sharp knife.

Because there are few murders near the church, these two cases and several previous murders have attracted public attention, and some media even called them "Whitechapel murders" and thought that the same murderer had done them. This vivid description caused panic among local residents, so the police sent more plainclothes detectives to patrol here, and local residents also organized patrols to maintain law and order. This makes people believe that such cases will not be repeated.

Jack the Ripper

Unexpectedly, eight days later, at 5: 45 am on September 8, an old driver living at No.29 Hanbury Street found a female body in the back fence of his cheap hotel-style apartment. The deceased was 47-year-old prostitute Anne Chapman. Like the previous victims, her throat was cut, her abdomen was cut, her intestines were left on her right shoulder, and part of her uterus and abdomen were cut off by the murderer. He had obvious ligature marks on his neck. It is said that he called for help before he died, but he ignored it. Because it was the first time that the murderer committed a crime near the house, it was still close to 5 am, but there was no obvious noise. This case became the most famous case committed by the murderer who will be called the Ripper in the future.

On September 27th, the Central News Agency received a letter written in red ink, covered with handprints and signed "Jack the Ripper". In the letter, he joked that he was the murderer of prostitutes and claimed that he would continue to kill more prostitutes before he was arrested. Since this letter begins with "Dear Boss", it will be called the first letter sent by the murderer in the future.

At one o'clock in the morning on September 30th, a coachman found the body of Elizabeth Strede near her home. Unlike the first two victims, the 44-year-old Swedish prostitute died of excessive blood loss from the left carotid artery. Although her throat was cut, she did not have a laparotomy. Because of the different modus operandi, some people suspect that the murderer in this case is not directly related to the first two murders by caesarean section.

When a large number of police arrived at Elizabeth Staade's morgue, Catherine Eddowes, a 46-year-old prostitute, was found dead in Mitte Square at around 1 45 am. In addition to being cut throat and laparotomy, the intestines were thrown to the right chest, and some uterus and kidneys were deprived. Since the patrol police claimed that there was nothing unusual here at 1 30, it was inferred that the deceased was killed between 1 30 and 1 45, and his abdomen was cut open. The murderer's quick modus operandi made most people think that he might be a professional surgeon.

At three o'clock in the morning, a police officer searching for a suspect found a bloodstained dress near Gaszton Street, which was identified as part of the apron worn by Kathleen Erdos. On the high wall near where the clothes fell, a line written in chalk by the suspected murderer was found: "Jews are not a nation willing to be resented!" " ("Jews are not people who will be hacked for no reason." But other policemen remember this sentence, "Juvis is not someone who will be hacked for no reason." "). Later, the police chief Thomas Arnold visited the scene and read the news. He was afraid that the graffiti on the wall would be seen by passers-by after dawn, but it aroused anti-Semitic feelings and ordered it to be erased on the spot.

The last victim

The next day, 10, 1, the Central News Agency received another postcard with the words written in red ink. In the letter, the writer called himself "saucy Jacky" and mentioned that he planned to "do two more things the next day"-generally believed to be two murders of Elizabeth Stade and Kathleen Erdos in the early morning of September 30th. In addition, the author mentioned that he planned to cut off the dead man's ear and give it to the police, which was similar to the case that Catherine Erdos' external ear was damaged. Finally, the writer left the generic name of "Jack the Ripper". In the future, this letter will be called "Saucy Jacky" by the author.

10 On June 5438+05, a letter sent to the Whitechapel Alert Committee spontaneously formed by residents around Whitechapel once again attracted everyone's attention. There is half a kidney in this letter, which is written in black ink. The screenwriter claimed to be "from hell" and said that this kidney was taken from "a certain woman" (generally thought to be Catherine Erdos), and half of it was fried and eaten by him. Different from the first two letters, this letter has no signature, and people will name it with "from hell". Compared with the first two letters, it is generally believed that this letter is most likely written by the murderer himself.

165438+1On October 9th, a landlord in Dorset Street sent his assistant to Mary Jane Kelly's room to collect the unpaid rent for six weeks, but found the 25-year-old young prostitute dead in bed from the window: she was naked, with ligature marks on her neck, her chest and abdomen cut off, and her face, ears, nose and breasts were also cut off. One neighbor claimed that Kelly was alive at 8: 30 last night, that is,165438+1October 8 (although her description of Kelly's appearance was not completely correct), and another neighbor claimed that she heard a miserable female scream around 4 am that day. But what is certain is that Kelly appeared in the bar at 10 the night before the body was found.

After the murder of Mary Jane Kelly, Jack the Ripper seems to have disappeared: there is no similar murder method in London, and the media's interest in this murder has gradually faded. However, the police mobilized a lot of manpower, but failed to solve the case, which was criticized by people from all walks of life in Britain, including Queen Victoria, and led to changes in the top management of the police. 1892, the police announced that they would stop investigating the serial murders in Whitechapel.

◆ Letter from the Ripper

Throughout the ripper's crime, the police and the newspaper industry received hundreds of letters about the case. Some letters come from people who wholeheartedly provide information to help catch the murderer, but most letters are ignored because they are considered not helpful to the case.

Perhaps among the hundreds of letters, the most attractive ones are those claiming that the murderer wrote them himself. Most of these letters are considered as scams. Many experts pointed out that "none of these letters are true", but they probably contain the real murderer. Verified by modern and present authorities, three letters are the most striking:

Letter from "Dear Boss": dated September 25th, postmarked September 27th, sent to Central News Agency, and sent to Scotland Yard on September 29th. At first, this letter was considered as a hoax, but when aldous's body was found to have one ear partially cut off, this letter proved to be "cutting off the ladies' ears", which attracted people's attention. The police released this letter on June 10, hoping that someone could recognize the handwriting in the letter, but in vain. The name "Jack the Ripper" first appeared in this letter, and gained world-class notoriety after it was published. Most meaningless letters imitate the style of this letter. After the serial murder, the police announced that the letter was a scam by local journalists.

Naughty Jack postcard: postmarked 1888 10 10/0/,addressed to the Central News Agency, with handwriting similar to "Letter from Dear Boss". The letter mentioned that two victims (Stade and Aldous) would die near each other: "This is a double incident." . Controversially, the letter was sent before the murder was announced, and it doesn't look like it was written by a weirdo with such criminal knowledge, although the postmark was sent 24 hours before the murder, and the details behind it were also known to local residents and journalists. Later, the police station announced that it had confirmed that the letter was written by a specific reporter, who was also the author of Dear Boss's Letter.

Letter from hell: also known as Lusk letter, postmarked 65438+ 10/5. George Lusk of the White Church Alert Committee received it on June 1888 65438+ 10/6. When Lusko opened the small box attached to the letter, he found half a kidney in it. The doctor who kept it in the spirit of wine (ethanol) said that this is a human kidney. One of aldous's kidneys was taken away by the murderer, and the doctor thought that the kidney sent to Lusco was "like that taken by Catherine aldous", although his findings were very unreliable [1]. The author of this letter claimed that the other half of the kidney had been "fried and eaten". The story about this kidney is inconsistent: some people insist that it belongs to aldous, but others think it is just a "horrible prank, that's all."

In some places, another letter will be listed, that is, the date is 1888 September 17, which is considered as the first message using the name Jack the Ripper. Experts believe that this is a modern fake that was only put into police files in the 20th century, and it has been a long time since the ripper committed the crime. They realized that the letter had no police seal to check the date of receipt, and no early investigator had checked whether it was potential evidence. In addition, there was no mention of this letter in any police file at that time. Some people who read the letter claimed that it was written with a ballpoint pen, which was invented more than 50 years after committing crimes in Jack the Ripper.

◆ Victims

The identified victims are all middle-and lower-class prostitutes, except Mary Jane Kelly, who are middle-aged but have no fixed residence. The victims were all killed in secret or semi-secret places, and most of them were drunk before they died. The body of the deceased showed that the victim's throat was cut and his abdomen was often cut open after death. Some victims were even cut off by the murderer. Nowadays, many people think that the victims were strangled in the first place in case they called for help. The internal organs of some bodies were taken out, and according to the wounds on the bodies, the murder weapon was thought to be a knife as sharp as a scalpel, so it was inferred that the murderer had considerable surgical and medical skills and might be a doctor or a butcher.

▲ Marianne Nicholas

My maiden name is Mary Ann Walker, nicknamed Polly. Born on August 26th 1845, died on Friday, August 26th 1888.

▲ Anne Chapman

My maiden name is Eliza Ann Smith, nicknamed "Black Anne". 184 1 was born in September and 1888 died on Saturday, September 8th.

▲ Elizabeth Stade

Her maiden name is Elizabeth Gustas Dot, and her nickname is "Long Leeds". 1843165438+1born in Sweden on October 27th,1888 65438+1killed on Saturday October 30th.

▲ Catherine Aidos

The former aliases "Kate Conway" and "Mary Ann Kelly" came from husbands Thomas Conway and John Kelly who were married according to common law. 1842 was born in April of 14, and 1888 was killed on September 30th.

▲ Mary Jane Kelly

After a trip to Paris, she called herself "Mary Janet Kelly" and was nicknamed "Jiang". It is said that 1863 was born in limerick or Limerick, Mü nster, and was killed on Friday, October 9th.

Possible victims

Other victims who were attacked or killed by similar methods at that time are listed in the table below. Information about these victims is very limited, including:

▲ "Fairy Faye" ("Fairy Faye")

This is1887 65438+February 26th, the nickname of the deceased in an unknown murder case. The cause of death was identified as "a pillar at the apex of the heart penetrated her abdomen". The media generally believe that "Fei Hsiao-hsien" is an own goal product related to Emma Smith's murder (see below): they mistake Emma's friend for another murder when she was attacked on Christmas Day the year before the murder. The word "Fei Xiaoxian" appeared many years after Emma Smith was killed, and it seems to come from the lyrics of the famous song "Polly Wally Doodle": "Farewell to my fairy Faye". There is no evidence that this victim really exists. Records of the murder scene also show that there were no women surnamed Fei nearby at that time.

▲ Anne Millwood

Born around 1850, she is said to be the victim of an attack on February 25th, 888, which resulted in her being hospitalized with "multiple stab wounds in her legs and lower body". After that, she was discharged from the hospital smoothly but died on March 3 1888, probably due to some natural factors.

▲ Ada Wilson

It is said that she was the victim of an attack on March 28th 1888. She was stabbed twice in the neck, but she survived.

▲ Emma Elizabeth Smith

Birth date 1843. On April 3rd, Kloc-0/888 was attacked, and a blunt instrument penetrated the vagina, resulting in perineum rupture. After being attacked, she managed to walk back to her rented house with injuries. When she came back, her friend took her to the hospital. She told the police that she was besieged by two or three people, one of whom was underage. Then he fell into a coma until1died on April 5, 888.

▲ Martha Tabram

Her maiden name is Martha White, and sometimes her real name is misspelled as Martha Tablan. Born in May of 1849, died on August 7th of 1888, and was stabbed 39 times. For some incomplete reasons, such as lack of criminal evidence and motivation, geographical and temporal proximity, and standard attack methods, Tabrian is most often regarded as another victim of the Ripper's knife, but the biggest difference between them lies in the criminal technique (puncture, not strangulation or throat cutting). But now people think that the murderer will change his modus operandi, even dramatically.

▲ "Whitehall Mystery" ("Whitehall Mystery")

This word refers to1the headless female body found in the basement of the new London police headquarters building in Whitehall on June 2, 888. One arm that originally belonged to this corpse was found in Pimlico on the Thames, and the other leg was dismembered and buried under the place where the corpse was found. The remaining hands and feet have not been found, and the identity of the deceased has never been confirmed.

▲ Anne Farmer

Born in 1848, it is said that he was the victim of the attack on 1888+065438+ 10/2. In this attack, her neck was cut open and she almost died. Fortunately, the wound is not deep, obviously because the murder weapon is a blunt knife. The police suspected that the wound was purely self-mutilation, so they quickly stopped investigating the case.

▲ Rose Mylett

Her real name may be Catherine Millay, but she is also called Elizabeth "drunken Liz" Davis, "beautiful" Alice or "Clara". Born in 1862, died in1888165438+1October 20th. It is said that she was strangled by a "rope tightly wrapped around her neck", although some investigators believe that she was accidentally strangled by a collar she was wearing when she was drunk.

▲ Elizabeth Jackson

A prostitute,1889 May 3 1 On June 25, some of her remains were salvaged from the Thames. It is said that these body parts were identified according to the scars on her body before she disappeared. Obviously, she died of murder.

▲ Alice Mackenzie

Nicknamed "Guan" Alice, and used the alias Alice Brian. She was born around 1849 and died in July 1888. It is said that the cause of death was "carotid artery rupture", but several other minor abrasions were found on the body.

▲ "Pingqin Street Murder")

This refers to the headless body found in September 1889, which is similar to the "Whitehall mystery" except that both hands were not cut off. One conjecture that could not be confirmed at that time was that the body was indeed the missing prostitute Lydia Hart. Binch Street Murder and Whitehall Mystery are often considered to be the work of the same serial killer, so he is called "headless corpse killer" or "headless corpse killer". However, whether Jack the Ripper and the "headless corpse killer" are the same person or not (but they probably live in the same area) has become a long-term debate topic among ripper researchers. In addition, Elizabeth Jackson is also considered to be another victim of the headless corpse killer.

▲ Francis Coles

Also known as Francis Coleman, Francis Huggins or nicknamed "Orange Hair Neil". Born in 1865, died in 189 1 February 13. A small cut on the back of her head showed that she was violently thrown to the ground and her throat was slit. However, no other signs of dismemberment were found on the body.

▲ Kelly Brown

The nickname "Shakespeare" comes from her habit of reciting Shakespeare's sonnets when she is drunk. Born in Manhattan, new york, USA about 1835, 189 1 was killed on April 24th. She was suffocated by clothes and then dismembered by a sharp knife. On his body, he found a big tear in the vulva and minor cuts on his back and legs. Although her ovaries were found on the bed, no organs were removed. Whether this is a mystery to the murderer is unknown. At that time, the murder was compared with the murder of Whitechapel, but the London police firmly denied the connection between the two.

Some ripper researchers cited the case of disabled boys and thought that they might also be the criminal targets of the ripper, because at that time, several letters claiming to be murderers were sent to the police, repeatedly threatening to kill young children.

◆ Doubt

Although Jack the Ripper has attracted the attention of the whole world, so far, there is no clear evidence that the murderer is a specific person. On the contrary, with the passage of time and the increase of researchers, more and more suspects were recognized by everyone, and their identities were all over London at that time; On the contrary, those suspects who are traditionally considered to be the most suspected are gradually cleared after more information is released. Here, the well-known suspects will be listed.

The following are the suspects that the police think are likely to be Jack the Ripper (but please note that there is no evidence to prove that they are):

▲ montague John Du Lide

(1 857 August15—1888 February1)

After obtaining the lawyer status, he worked as a teacher in a private school for a long time from 188 1 to18881to show his position. Besides, he is also a famous athlete and amateur cricketer. For some unknown reason,18888165438+1October 19 was last seen in a school in Blackheath and was declared missing two days later. His body was found floating on the Thames. The results of the examination showed that his body had sunk to the bottom of the river for several weeks because of putting a big stone in his pocket. Therefore, the police concluded that he drowned himself in frustration. Because the time of his disappearance and death was not far from the fifth murder, and the murder did not happen after his death, many investigators thought he was the ripper at that time. However, recent research shows that between Kelly's murder and death, he served as a legal representative in court, and according to court records, he also argued about his seat for a long time. Some people think that this refutes the statement that Du Lide had a nervous breakdown after Kelly's case, and in Sir Melville McNagden's memo, this is the first document that Du Lide was suspected, and the lawyer was mistaken for a doctor, and it was further inferred that Detective Frederick Eberlin suspected that Du Lide was seriously suspected.

▲ Seffrin Antonovic Crowe Soschi

The pen name is Chapman, but it has nothing to do with the victim Anne Chapman. He was born in Kassov, Apollo, but was named Chapman when he came to England. He lived in London at that time. He is a violent man and may have some medical knowledge. Later, he was hanged for the exact crime of poisoning three women. For a time, he was suspected as the most likely murderer by Frederick Avery (see Chapman).

▲ Aaron aaron kosminski

(1864 or 1865— 19 19)

A member of the Jewish community in London,1891February, was sent to a mental sanatorium for treatment. He was listed as one of the suspects in the memo of police chief Maiwei McNadine on the grounds that he looked like "the man seen by the London patrol" near Bishop's Square (this statement can only be found in this document. Some researchers think that McNader really refers to Joseph Lowenday, a witness of the London police, but others have come up with another explanation: there is no authoritative information to show that anyone appeared near the square that night. Assistant Sheriff robert anderson and Detective Inspector Donald Svencen both declared that "only people with good eyesight can see the murderer." Although there are many statements, this may refer to the witness israel Schwartz. However, they claimed that it was impossible to prosecute because witnesses were unwilling to give evidence against Jews. Svencen mentioned in the margin of the report that this man was Kominski, and added that his brother's home was next to the London Police Station in Whitechapel. He was sent to a mental hospital with his hands tied behind his back and died soon. The last two details about Kominski are incorrect because he lived to 19 19. His symptoms of insanity include auditory hallucinations, fear of being eaten by others and refusal to wash and dress. In the yard, he was described as a harmless figure, even though he once waved a chair at the waiter in the yard. In recent years, most researchers believe that he will be included in the suspect list, and the anti-Semitic plot at the time of the murder is more influential than the correlation between his symptoms and the case.

▲ Michael Ostrog

( 1833— 1904? )

Professional liar, alias, disguise. He was listed as a suspect by the new police officer on 1889, that is, the victim of the "true five case" was killed the next year, but the researchers could not find evidence that he had committed more serious cases than theft and fraud. In fact, the record shows that the ripper was serving his sentence in a French prison at the time of the crime, which seems to be an unshakable alibi. He was last mentioned in 1904.

▲ John Pizel

( 1850— 1897)

Pisa is a Polish Jew who lives near Whitechapel. He is engaged in shoemaking. William? Officer William Steve brought Zeng back for questioning. Singh obviously thinks that Pi Zha knows "Leather Apron", a local who is famous for attacking prostitutes. When the Whitechapel serial murder happened, many residents thought that the "fur apron" was the murderer. However, his suspicion was finally cleared, because when a group of policemen talked about the series of murders in the London pier fire, Pisa claimed that Singh had known him for several years, suggesting that he was arrested by Singh out of malice and lack of evidence.

▲ "Dr. Francis Tempotti"

(approximately 1833— 1903)

It seems that he is an uneducated or self-taught American. He pretended to be a professional doctor and traveled all over the United States and Canada, occasionally going to Europe to do the same thing. He considers himself a condescending woman and often associates death with his patients, although he is not sure whether it is intentional or unintentional. Francis was arrested in England on 1888, 1 1.7 on the grounds of "being accused of indecent behavior", which was obviously aimed at his preference for homosexual sex. 1 16 years 10 months 16 days was released on bail pending trial. He fled to the countryside on June 24th while awaiting trial 165438+ prepared to go to France. Some people thought that he could commit the murder of Mary Jane Kelly (165438+1October 9) in time after he got out of prison, and then he was arrested. The news of his arrest made some people think that he was the ripper, because there were many notorious fraud cases in America. Whether he is a killer or just a weirdo with improper suspicion is still controversial. Tablett was considered as a suspect. Many years after the murder, a London policeman mentioned this in a letter to reporters, but no one knew that the policeman was directly involved in the investigation of the Ripper case. However, the statement that Scotland Yard sent police to the United States at 1888 to try to bring Talbright back is still controversial in recent years.

Other possible suspects

Some people were listed as potential suspects in the Whitechapel murder by journalists and others at that time (but please note that there is no evidence to prove that they are). Several famous candidates are:

▲ willaim henley Henry Berry

( 1859— 1889)

Shortly after London moved to Scotland, he strangled his first wife, Allen Ai Liou, who used to be a prostitute, on February 1889. Shortly after her death, she had several wounds in her abdomen. Some people think that these wounds are very similar to the marks on the bodies of Martha Tabuli Ann and Mary Ann Nicholas. Berry was listed as one of the suspects after turning himself in to the local police, although he claimed that he was not involved in any other cases. Soon after, he was hanged in Dundee, Scotland, on the charge that he confessed to murdering his wife.

▲ Dr. Thomas Neil Cream

(65438+May 0850-65438+June 0892 65438+1October 65438+June)

A doctor who specializes in abortion secretly. Born in Scotland, educated in London, practiced in Canada, and then transferred to Chicago, Illinois, USA. At 188 1, he was found responsible for poisoning several of his patients, both men and women. At first, there was no suspicion of homicide in this incident, but Kelly himself asked to investigate these bodies, which was obviously an attempt to arouse his interest. After that, he was detained in Park Jung Su Illinois Prison and released on July 3 189 1 on the grounds of good behavior. After starting a new life in London, he was accused of murder again and was arrested. June 1892+065438+ 10/6 was hanged. According to some sources, his last words before he died were: "I am Jack ..." ("I am Jack ...") This sentence was interpreted as Jack the Ripper's meaning, but it may have been silenced by the hood. According to the reason that the police involved in the execution did not mention that the claim hindered the confession, experts believe that the incident itself may be meaningless, rather than a later fabricated story. It is said that the ripper was serving his sentence in prison when he committed the crime. However, some books think that he can bribe a police officer to leave the prison before he is officially released, or leave a body in his cell, body double, but these two statements are not supported by authoritative data. (See Thomas Neil Klee)

▲ Frederick Bailey Deming

(July 30 1842? -1March 23, 892)

A sailor living in Sydney, Australia has a wife and four children. Being regarded as a British citizen, he was accused of bankruptcy and went to the court in England on 1887 12 15. Although he was eventually sentenced to 40 days in prison, it was obvious that he was released on February 29th, 1987, and tried to flee to Cape Town, South Africa with his wife and children to avoid creditors. Shortly after his arrival, he was targeted by the local police for fraud, so he sent his wife and children to England and went to the newly established Johannesburg. Since then, he seems to have disappeared: there is no reliable information to record his whereabouts during the murder from1March 888 to1June 889. He reappeared in Kingston Hull, England, where he was called Harry Lawson, which was one of his many aliases. After successfully transforming into a professional liar, he obviously tried to marry his separated wife again. In July of 189 1, the two of them moved to the rental house in Yushan with their children, but this period of reconciliation came to an abrupt end compared with August of 189 1, when his wife and children were asleep. Because he was introduced to the local area as a bachelor and claimed that his family came to visit his sister and nephew, it was easy to explain their disappearance. Then he proposed to Emily Mathers, the daughter of his landlord, and got married on September 22nd, 189 1. 189 1 year 1 1 February 2nd, the newlyweds left Southampton, England by boat and arrived in Victoria, Australia on 189 1 year1May. 189 1 65438+On February 24th, he killed Amy, buried her under the rented house and left. Amy's body was soon found, which led to local investigations and the search for other bodies in Britain. This also led to his arrest in March 1892, 1 1, and he was sentenced to hang during the trial. At that time, Australian public opinion thought he was the ripper. It is said that he was familiar with Catherine Aldous, the victim of the Ripper, and kept in touch with her, but this statement still cannot be confirmed.