Who was the famous killer Jack the Ripper?

Authors Avatar

Tine Hansen        Engelsk Aflevering        09-05-2007

1C

                

Jack the Ripper.

During the fall of 1888 an unknown serial killer went on a “killing spree” taking the lives of five women. These murders took place in East End London, an area where the crime rate was very high. The East End of London was filled with prostitutes, drunks, and the poorest people.

The killer chose prostitutes as his victims. The prostitutes he preyed upon were primarily over the age of forty and in a drunken state.

The killer became known as Jack the Ripper after sending an anonymous letter to a news agency, using this alias as a signature. The killer was never caught or identified.

Mary Ann "Polly" Nichols, age 42 was one of his victims. She left her husband and had five kids. In the East side of London at 4:00 A.M. (1) Whitechapel police found Polly's body on the side of the street. Her throat was slashed two times, left to right, she had been stabbed in the groin two times, her breast had been cut open and she was mutilated and disembowelled. Jack did not take a thing from the woman. When she was found she had a hat on, and her clothes were pushed up. There was a comb, and a piece of mirror Polly used lying on the ground by her feet.

Only seven days after Polly was found, the police found the second victim killed by Jack the Ripper: A woman named of Annie Chapman. Four days before she was killed, she'd had a fight with another prostitute. Annie was drunk, but police say she was a very strong woman. A woman said she saw Annie talking to a man she believes was Jack the Ripper just before Annie was killed. The woman said the man was a little taller than Annie, about forty years old and gray-haired. The woman said she heard Jack say "will you" and Annie said "yes". Police found Annie Chapman's body at about 6:00 AM. (2) Her throat was slashed two times, left to right. She had been ripped from her rectum to her breast, and her clothes were pushed up. On the ground between her feet were three cones, and there was a leather apron in a pan full of blood.  

Join now!

The next two murders are considered the "double murder," because they found the victims at the same date, September 30, 1888. (3) Elizabeth Stride was discovered on Berner's Street. She was

strangled and her throat was cut just as the others before her, but there was nothing that could be construed as body mutilation.

It is speculated that either Ripper was interrupted before he had a chance to completely finish the murder, or that this is not the work of Jack the Ripper.

Catharine Eddowes' body was also found on this date. Her body was ...

This is a preview of the whole essay