Jack the ripper

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In the late 19th Century the East End of London was in the grip of fear as a series of horrendous murders were committed on prostitutes living in the area. Later generations blamed the police for failing to capture the murderer who came to be called Jack the Ripper.

It is necessary to have a picture of the police force at this time and also of the social conditions in the White chapel area, where the killing took place, and making an assessment based on studying important sources.

Question 1

Source A is from an article in the East End Observer and is a very accurate reflection of what happened In the case of Martha Tabram and Polly Nicholls. In the spring and summer of 1988 came the first two of the series of demented murders. On 6th August another prostitute Martha Tabram was murdered, stabbed thirty-nine times on "the body, neck and private parts."

Polly Ann Nicholls was found lying in Bricks Row on 31st August. The cause of the death was a slash from ear to ear. There were deep cuts in her abdomen. The East End Observer reports that the victims had been "of the poorest of the poor." In both cases the extraordinary violence used pointed to the work of a "demented being". The coroner, Wynne Batter was of the opinion that the murderer knew how to use a knife and was skilled at finding the organs.

Question 2

Source C is the report on Elizabeth Stride. The report on Elizabeth was again because although the victims throats had been slit from "ear to ear" as had the others, the body had not been mutilated. The murder of Elizabeth Stride took place in a house unlike the previous murders, which were in dark alleys. Her legs had not been drawn up, which was unlike the others as well. She held a small packet of breath freshener wrapped up in tissue paper. Her throat had been slit. The incision began on the left side, went across the throat cutting the windpipe completely in two.

This time there were no other incisions. The intestines were not spilling out as in the other two murders. These differences make this unlike the other Ripper murders and there is the possibility it was a murder of passion and a rather better class of girl because she has her own room and fresh mints. Therefore it does not support the "demented" violence usually used by the ripper nor does it show "considerable anatomical skill and knowledge".
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Question 3

The description given by Elizabeth Long at the inquest into the death of Annie Chapman of a man she saw talking to her before she was killed mentioned the deerstalker hat and dark coat, foreigner- looking, about forty. It would seem that neither Elizabeth Long nor other witnesses gave reliable descriptions of suspects. Even Gorge Hutchinson, who saw a man with Mary Kelly just before she was murdered, could only give a confused description of "a man about thirty five, hair dark, dark trousers, long dark coat, dark hat."

Such accounts were not ...

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