Mary Ann Nicholas, 31st august 1888
"Five teeth were missing, and there was a slight laceration of the tongue. There was a bruise running along the lower part of the jaw on the right side of the face. That might have been caused by a blow from a fist or pressure from a thumb. There was a circular bruise on the left side of the face which also might have been inflicted by the pressure of the fingers. On the left side of the neck, about 1 in. below the jaw, there was an incision about 4 in. in length, and ran from a point immediately below the ear. On the same side, but an inch below, and commencing about 1 in. in front of it, was a circular incision, which terminated at a point about 3 in. below the right jaw. That incision completely severed all the tissues down to the vertebrae. The large vessels of the neck on both sides were severed. The incision was about 8 in. in length. the cuts must have been caused by a long bladed knife, moderately sharp, and used with great violence.
This showed the brutal nature of the crimes as the body was slashed and cut and it showed that the weapon was used with great violence. However, the worst of the crimes was of Mary Jane Kelly:
Mary Jane Kelly, 9th November 1888
The body was lying naked in the middle of the bed, the shoulders flat but the axis of the body inclined to the left side of the bed. The head was turned on the left cheek. The left arm was close to the body with the forearm flexed at a right angle and lying across the abdomen. The right arm was slightly abducted from the body and rested on the mattress. The elbow was bent, the forearm supine with the fingers clenched. The legs were wide apart, the left thigh at right angles to the trunk and the right forming an obtuse angle with the pubes. The whole of the surface of the abdomen and thighs was removed and the abdominal cavity emptied of its viscera. The breasts were cut off, the arms mutilated by several jagged wounds and the face hacked beyond recognition of the features. The tissues of the neck were severed all round down to the bone.
This showed that the criminal had an obsession with the way he killed the victims because he had ripped of pieces of all the bodies and he had left without a trace. However, the main point was that he killed the victims in a very horrendous way that no one else used. Even with the way the victims were murdered, the attention to the murders was exacerbated by the role of the media as they publicised the news out to all the public.
In fact, the biggest source of attention was probably caused by the media as they publicised the news of the killings to all the public using newspapers. They sensationalised the case by their choice of words. Here is a piece of article in the east end observer describing the murders of Martha Tabram and Polly Nicholls:
“The two murders which have so startled London within the last month are singular for the reason the victims have been of the poorest of the poor, and no adequate motive in the shape of plunder can be traced. The excess of effort that has been apparent in each murder suggests the idea that both crimes are the work of a demented being, as the extraordinary violence used is the peculiar feature in each instance”.
This clearly shows a lot of things that may have got the public interested. For example, poorest of the poor, shows that the victims were vulnerable and, work of a demented being, would have got many of the public curious to find out more about the case. It may have scared many people or else given them a thrill to investigate them selves.
Also, the dear boss letter was contained in lurid prose and began "Dear Boss......" It went on to speak of "That joke about Leather Apron gave me real fits......'' ('Leather Apron' was a John Pizer, briefly suspected at the time of the Chapman murder). "I am down on whores and I shant quit ripping them till I do get buckled...” and so on in a similar hint. The added "trade name" of Jack the Ripper was then made public and further excited the imagination of the public. Furthermore, a message was written on the wall, immediately after the Eddowes murder a piece of her bloodstained apron was found in a doorway in Goulston Street, Whitechapel. Above the piece of apron, on the brick fascia in the doorway, was the legend, in chalk, "The Juwes are The men that Will not be Blamed for nothing." This clearly put people thinking of Jewish people and this caused a lot of tension even though it seemingly reduced the range of suspects. At the hype was the time that the panic was at its height and the dishonour of the murders was becoming international, appearing in newspapers from Europe to the Americas. Even at this early stage the newspapers were carrying theories as to the identity of the killer, including doctors, slaughterers, sailors, and lunatics of every description. A popular image of the killer as a 'shabby genteel' man in dark clothing, slouch hat and carrying a shiny black bag was also beginning to gain money. The press, especially the promising sensationalist papers, were having a good day. With no Whitechapel murders in October there was still plenty to write about. There were dozens of arrests of suspects "on suspicion" (usually followed by quick release); there was a police house to house search and Vigilance Committee members and private detectives flooded the streets. The reputation of Whitechapel was bad already even before Jack the ripper started his case. This was very important in the history of Whitechapel. The history of Whitechapel was rather bad as it was known well for having a bad background and environment becoming a criminal.
For my conclusion, I think that most of the attention came from the role of the media because most of the tension was created from the media because of the way they chose the way to write the papers out. This caused a lot of tension and excitement for the public.
