Term Paper on "Jack the Ripper"

Term Paper 16 pages (4591 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

JTR

Jack the Ripper (Summary)

Where the name came from B. The Women that were killed

Motive and Evidence

Who was "Jack the Ripper": The Suspects

Serial Killers have long played an intriguing role in society. In modern time such crimes are easier to solve because of discoveries such as DNA testing, which can be extremely accurate as it relates to identifying individuals. However, during the 19th century such testing did not exist, making it difficult for law enforcement agencies to find those that committed some of the most heinous crimes.

One of the most mysterious serial killers is Jack the Ripper, who terrorized London in 1888. Jack the Ripper was not the first serial killer in the world but his systematic killing of women that took place over a rather short period of time. The fact that Jack the Ripper has never been found adds to the intrigue of the murders that he committed. There are many theories that exist concerning the identity of this individual, none of which have been proven.

Problem

The primary problem with this case seems to be a lack of evidence. In some respects it seems that there was not enough evidence collected at the scenes of these crimes. In addition a great deal of the evidence was damaged or loss. There were also some problems associated with the evidence because investigators were from two different police forces. In understanding this, the investigations were done differently and the evidence gathered was handled differently.

Purpose

The purpose of this discussion is to evaluate the story of Jack the ripper. This evaluation will include gathering a greater understanding of who Jack the Ripper might have been and perhaps the motives behind the acts that he committed. The research will also investigate the evidence that exist as it relates to these crimes. We will also investigate the reasons why this individual has never been identified. Let us begin our discussion with a summary about Jack the Ripper.

II. Jack the Ripper (Summary)

Where the name came from the name Jack the Ripper is commonly used to describe the serial killer who is believed responsible for several murders that took place in 1888 in East London. The serial killer got this name from a letter written by an individual that took responsibility for the murders. According to Barbee (2006) all of the victims of Jack the Ripper were prostitutes. The author explains that all of the murders took place within a one mile radius and included the areas of the City of London proper Spitalfields, Aldgate, and Whitechapel.

The Women that were Killed

The author explains further that there is no consensus on the number of women that were actually committed by Jack the Ripper. However it is believed that at least five women were killed by this individual. These individuals include Mary Ann Nichols, killed on August 31, 1888; Annie Chapman, killed on September 8, 1888. Elizabeth Stride and Catharine Eddowes, killed on September 30, 1888 and Marie Jeanette Kelly (Mary Kelly), killed on November 9, 1888.

There is also the possibility that a woman by the name of Martha Tabram was actually the first woman killed by Jack the Ripper. This murder actually took place on August 7, 1888. The author explains that all but two of the victims including Tabram were murdered outside. The evidence that is available asserts that the victims did not know one another. It is also believed that all of the victims were drunk when they were killed.

In addition to the aforementioned cases there were also other cases that have been attributed to the ripper. In any case, it is unknown why these women were targeted and why these cases are still unsolved.

Over the next few paragraphs we will discuss the possible motives and evidence associated with the case.

III. Motive and Evidence

There has long been a great deal of speculation about the motive behind these acts. The book the Complete History of Jack the Ripper asserts that the contemporaries of this killer had a difficult time understanding the motive behind such heinous crimes. Some have speculated that the killer was influenced by the occult (Sugden). The author asserts that other contemporaries believed that the murder was somehow influenced by the stresses of the modern age (Sugden). The author also explains that there was a belief that if the killer was caught he should be studied, so that officials could garner a greater understanding of what caused him to commit these murders (Sugden). The author explains "can we not, before handing him over to the executioner or the authorities and Broadmoor, make a really decent effort to discover his antecedents, and his parentage, to trace back every step f his career, every hereditary instinct, every acquired taste, every moral slip, every mental idiosyncrasy (Sugden)."

Indeed the author insists that Jack the Ripper was viewed as a new breed of killer and it made this case even more intriguing (Sugden). In addition, it created many suggestions as to the motivations of this killer. According to many theories the killer was seeking revenge because he contracted syphilis from a prostitute.

According to Barbee (2006) the motive behind the killings were not raped although all the victims were prostitutes. In all of the cases the victims were strangled, their throats were cut and they were mutilated (Barbee 2006). However, none of them were raped and there wasn't any evidence that the perpetrator had any sexual contact with the victims (Barbee 2006). However in certain cases the sexual organs were mutilated or cut completely out of the body. The manner in which the victims were mutilated has led some to believe that the killer had some sort of medical training (Barbee 2006). The author explains that in the opinion of most of the surgeons who examined the bodies, most believed that the killer had to have some degree of anatomical knowledge to do what he did. In one case he removed a kidney from the front rather than from the side, and did not damage any of the surrounding organs while doing so. In another case he removed the sexual organs with one clean stroke of the knife. Given the time circumstances of the crimes (outside, often in near total darkness, keeping one eye out for the approach of others, and under extremely tight time constraints), the Ripper almost certainly would have had some experience in using his knife (Barbee 2006)."

The evidence also suggests that the killer slit the throats of the victims after they were already dead as a result of strangulation (Barbee 2006). This was evident in the fact that there was a limited amount of blood at the scene (Barbee 2006). The theory is that since the victims were already dead when they were cut the heart had stopped pumping and as such there was less blood. (Barbee 2006)

In addition to the aforementioned evidence, there are also some letters that have been associated with Jack the Ripper (Barbee 2006). However, it has long been asserted that none of the letters that have been found were actually written by the killer. The first letter signed "Jack the Ripper" was sent to the Central News agency on the 25th of September and received on the 27th (Barbee 2006).

There was also a postcard that was sent subsequently on the 1st of October. It is important to remember that on the 30th of September two women, Elizabeth Stride and Catharine Eddowes, were killed on the 30th of September (Barbee 2006). With this being understood many believed that this particular letter may have been from the killer (Barbee 2006). In addition this postcard also made reference to the letter that was received on the 27th even though the existence of that letter had not been made public (Barbee 2006). For this reason some believed that the letter and the postcard came from the same source (Barbee 2006). The author explains that if the postcard was indeed sent on the day that the double murders occurred instead of October 1st there would have been a significant possibility that the letter was written by the killer (Barbee 2006). There has been some speculation that the Whitechapel killer could have written both the letter and the postcard but there is also speculation that the writer of both the postcard and the letter was a journalist (Barbee 2006). In fact there is evidence to suggest that a journalist by the name of Tom Bulling was the writer of the letter and the postcard (Barbee 2006). Bulling was a journalist from Central News (Barbee 2006).

However there is a letter that may have written by the person responsible for the murders. The author explains that the head of the vigilance committee, George Husk in Whitechapel received a package (Barbee 2006). This package contained a letter from an individual that claimed to be the murderer and part of a human kidney (Barbee 2006). This was part of… READ MORE

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