Jack the Ripper
The gaslit shadow of Whitechapel who invented the modern serial killer.
In the autumn of 1888, an unidentified killer murdered and mutilated at least five women in the impoverished Whitechapel district of London. Signed letters allegedly from the killer — including one bearing the salutation 'From Hell' — established the archetype of the media-taunting serial murderer.
They called the killings the 'Autumn of Terror.' Between August and November 1888, five women — all of whom had turned to prostitution to survive Whitechapel's grinding poverty — were slain in the pre-dawn streets and alleys. Each was killed by throat slashing followed by increasingly grotesque abdominal mutilations. In some cases, organs were removed with what a coroner described as 'anatomical knowledge.'
The killer became a media sensation. The Central News Agency received a letter in red ink signed 'Jack the Ripper' — likely a hoax, but it gave the world the name. A separate letter, the 'From Hell' missive, arrived at the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee accompanied by half of a preserved human kidney.
The Metropolitan Police and the City of London Police jointly investigated. Over 2,000 people were interviewed. Hundreds were considered suspects. But no one was ever charged. The killings stopped as suddenly as they began.
137 years later, 'Ripperology' remains a global obsession. New suspects and DNA studies emerge every decade, none conclusive.
- Aug 31, 1888Mary Ann Nichols murdered on Buck's Row.
- Sep 8, 1888Annie Chapman killed behind 29 Hanbury Street.
- Sep 30, 1888'Double Event': Stride and Eddowes killed on the same night.
- Oct 16, 1888'From Hell' letter arrives with half a human kidney.
- Nov 9, 1888Mary Jane Kelly, the youngest victim, murdered indoors in Miller's Court.
- EX-01The 'From Hell' letter and the accompanying kidney fragment.
- EX-02The Goulston Street Graffito: 'The Juwes are the men that will not be blamed for nothing.'
- EX-03Bloodstained apron piece linked to Catherine Eddowes.
- EX-04A silk shawl allegedly found with Eddowes, subject to a 2019 mitochondrial DNA test.
"Something in this file doesn't sit right. Ask the detective — he's read it a hundred times."