Jack the Ripper answers all these questions and for the first time gives readers
an insight into the diabolical mind of the world's first and most feared serial
killer. Jack the Ripper examines Thompson's morbid verse and entwines Thompson's
life with the destiny of leading writers including Robert Browning, Oscar Wilde,
George Bernard Shaw, and D.H Lawrence.
JOHN PIZER
John Pizer was a shoemaker, a Jew who just happened to fulfil the public's view
of the Murderer's profile, that being of a butcher, slaughterman or craftsman -
a man with access to 5 inch blades and in possession of a leather apron. Pizer
not only had a stabbing convictions against him, but also displayed a well known
dislike for prostitutes. He unfortunately fitted a dubious description which had
been circulated; that of a short man with a dark beard and moustache and a
foreign accent. Furthermore the press portrayed Pizer as having a "cruel
sardonic look". However,Pizer's solid alibi ended with a compensation payment to
him from the libel courts and the frustrated Police Force left once again to
chase the shadows. After the death of Annie Chapman and a subsequent inquest,
the findings in the pathologists report threw further light onto what was
already becoming a very dark and grisly inquiry. The Coroner suggested that the
murderer probably had an anatomical knowledge of dissection - this information
heightened suspicions against members of the esteemed medical profession, an
accusation angrily refuted by eminent surgeons to such an extreme that the
Police dropped this line of enquiry. However, 3 major suspects have since been
disclosed based upon this assumption............
THOMAS NEIL CREAM, am American doctor
THOMAS CREAM had also ben arrested in connection with the poisoning of
prostitutes and habitually writing to the Police giving false names and false
accusations of a number of crimes. Cream was hanged by the neck for the murder
of the Lambeth prostitutes in 1892. His departing words were......" I am jack
the Ri...." as the rope snapped taut and broke his neck. Suspicions of Cream
were raised following revelations that an American had been making enquiries as
to the availability of certain organs at medical schools in and around the
Whitechapel district. Coupled with this, the letter received by the Police prior
to the double killings of Liz Stride and Kate Eddowes notably contained many
"Americanisms".Unfortunately however, Cream was actually incarcerated at the
time of the last Murders.
MICHAEL OSTROGG, a Russian doctor
Michael Ostrogg has came under scrutiny by the London Police and his whereabouts
at the time of the Whitechapel Murders could never be satisfactorily accounted
for. Ostrogg was a slippery confidence trickster who went by the numerous
aliases, including that of a Dr. Grant, and also as a former surgeon in the
Russian Navy. He spent much of his time in Police custody for various fraudulent
and thieving offences. Clearly a compulsive rouge, Ostrogg became a high profile
suspect when it was stated in the "Police Gazette" around the time of the
Murders that "special attention is called to this dangerous man", after failing
to report to the Police on charges of suspicion.
ALEXANDER PEDACHENKO, another Russian Doctor
Another Russian Doctor, ALEXANDER PEDACHENKO was tenuously linked at this time
to the murders and it was suggested that "Ostrogg" was one of the many aliases
used by Pedachenko. He was considered a Russian lunatic, with distinct criminal
tendencies, who had trained as a barbers surgeon and he had since joined the
staff of the Maternity Hospital. The Russian Secret Police Gazette, OCHRANA,
described Pedachenko as "the greatest and boldest of all Russian criminal
lunatics" at at time when Pedachenko was allegedly living with his sister in
Walworth. Ochrana cited Pedachenko with the Ripper murders in an attempt to
discredit and embarrass the Metropolitan Police. This act of propaganda appeared
to have succeeded when Sir Charles Warren resigned from the Police Force.
Pedachenko was subsequently smuggled back to Moscow by Ochrana, where he was
promptly sent to a lunatic asylum for the murder of a woman in St Petersburg.
Pedachenko died in the asylum leaving a series of aliases in his wake, but all
with slim connections to the Whitechapel murders. It seems he was merely a
suspect of convenience for a short time.
The 3 Doctors theories are questionable especially with regard to the first
"Jack The Ripper" letter which states in the footnote "Ha,Ha, they say I am a
Doctors now!" Probably the most "romantic" suspects have been "PRINCE EDDIE",
the Queen's Grandson, and SIR WILLIAM GULL, the Royal Physician. Suspicions were
heightened for both the suspects following the night of the double murders in
Whitechapel. SIR CHARLES WARREN had ordered the removal of the writing from the
wall before Police photographers could record it, which led to many theorists
believing that there was a "cover up" by the authorities to protect someone of
great importance. This, coupled with Queen Victoria's heightened interest in the
case led to the inevitable accusations. "Jack The Ripper" was fast becoming the
most celebrated mystery worldwide, and for Royalty to have been involved made
for the most sensational storyline for the newspapers.
PRINCE ALBERT VICTOR - THE DUKE OF CLARENCE
Prince Albert was believed to have made twilight trips to the East End to
undulge in homosexual practices in a brothel in Cleveland Street. He had
supposedly learned disembowelling techniques on deer hunting excursions and was
alleged to have had "syphilis of the brain" thus making him mad enough to commit
the Murders. The late crime theorist Stephen Knight claimed that "Prince Eddie"
secretly and illegally married Annie Crook, a Catholic girl. Subsequently, to
avoid a Royal scandal, the authorities had Annie locked away in a lunatic
asylum. She was supposedly pregnant at the time. The key victim to link Royalty
with the murders was Mary Kelly, who was evidently nursemaid to the prince and
his wife at around this time. She had proposed to blackmail the government by
making her story public knowledge. It was then that the Royal Physician, WILLIAM
GULL, allegedly became involved and in an attempt to silence the scandal picked
up all possible prostitutes whom Mary Kelly may have informed. He was to pick
the women up in the Royal carriage, slaughter them inside the carriage, and then
dispose of the body, hence explaining the lack of noise and blood at the scene
of the murders. The Royal theories are based largely on conjecture and have only
come to light in recent years.
AARON KOSMINSKI - a Jew
The "JUWES" writing however led to another Jewish suspect. Warren had ordered
the removal of the writing so as to avoid an uprising from the already agitated
immigrant population especially with the false arrest of Pizer still fresh in
the mind.
Despite this, a Polish Jew AARON KOSMINSKI, a hairdresser and resident of
Whitechapel since 1882, came to the fore. A man with an extreme hatred of women,
especially prostitutes, he was clearly the most insane of all the suspects.
Kosminski was described as having strong homicidal tendencies and a history of
related crimes. Following the night of the double killings, a letter was
received by George Lusk, leader of the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee, stating
that the writer had fried and eaten half a kidney, removed from the body of Kate
Eddowes. Clearly this man was deranged. The uneaten half of the kidney
accompanied the letter in a box. The organ was found to be human and belonged to
a woman in her forties suffering from Brights disease - as did Catherine
Eddowes. However, the style of writing did not in any way resemble the first
"Jack The Ripper" letter received by the police, and was concluded to be the
crazed writings of a lunatic. Kosminski was therefore high profile. It was never
proven that Kosminski was the perpetrator of these ghastly crimes but he was
removed from society in 1890, and placed in the Mile End Infirmary for the
insane. Following spells in Colney Hatch and Leaversden Asylums, Kosminski
degenerated to the point where he was unable to answer simple questions. He died
in 1919 of gangrene of the leg and was medically described as "demented and
incoherent".
MONTAGUE JOHN DRUITT
Montague John Druitt was a "gentleman", a successful college debater, keen
cricketer and of "good family". It wasn't until 1959 that Druitt, a
schoolmaster, was pronounced a probable suspect. Sir Melville Macnaghten's case
notes described Druitt as "sexually insane" and it was mooted that even "his own
family suspected him of being the Whitechapel Murderer". Druitt's personal
circumstances link him with the killings too. He had studied medicine for a time
before switching profession to become a barrister and was a very educated man.
Any barrister would appreciate the need for a suspect to be well away from the
scene of the crime if his case were to be defended with success. Druitt was
found playing cricket as far away as Dorset in South West England after the
murders of Mary Nichols and Annie Chapman, although his whereabouts in the
actual nights of the murders remain unresolved. The primary reason for Druitt
becoming a high profile suspect was that he feared he was going insane like his
mother before him, In a suicide note Druitt wrote "Since Friday I felt I was
going to be like Mother and the best thing for me was to die". The note was
discovered on his person on 31st December 1888. He had drowned in the River
Thames, his pockets full of stones. Druitt was seen alive on 3rd December, 1888,
almost one month after the last Murder and 2 days after his dismissal from his
teaching job in Blackheath. Druitt's death remains a mystery, as does his
alleged connection with the Ripper Case. It is true , however, that the Police
closed the Ripper file following Druitt's suicide. The dreadful killings
perpetrated by "Jack The Ripper" were never repeated beyond Druitt's death. Was
this coincidence or conjecture?
