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| Serial Killers John Wayne Gacy |
The story begins betweenlate August and early November 1888
in Whitechapel, London. The East End of London witnessed a series of brutal, vicious, and
still unsolved murders. There were five victims, all were prostitutes, and all had their
throats cut. Four of the victims had been subjected to mutilation. The first victim was Mary Ann Nichols, nicknamed "Polly". She died on Friday 31 August 1888 in Bucks Row, whitechapel. A report in a newspaper the following morning read: "No murder was ever more furiously and more brutally done." The second victim, Annie Chapman, nicknamed "Dark Annie", was found on the 8th September 1888. Her body was found viciously slaughtered in Hanbury Street, Whitechapel. She was forty seven years of age. The next two victims were found on the same day, 30 September 1888. the first body was found at around 1 am by a carter who was going about his business in Berners Street, Whitechapel. The body was of a woman with a deep gash across the throat going from ear to ear. She was identified as Elizabeth Stride, nicknamed "Long Liz". The second body was found in the south-west corner of Mitre Square, Whitechapel. It was that of Catherine Eddowes. In this case not only had the throat been cut, but the face had been so badly slashed that it was difficult to identify the remains. The abdomen had also been ripped open, and a portion of the intestines were dragged out and hung around her neck. The last murder was the most gruesome, it is said this was because The Ripper had privacy and lots of time to spare. The murder of Mary Jane Kelly took place on the 9th November 1888 in her room in Miller's Court, Whitechapel. The victims throat had been cut with a knife almost severing the head from the body. The abdomen was slashed with a knife across and downwards and the liver and entrails removed. Both breasts were cut and removed from the body. The left arm was severed and only remained attached by the skin. The nose was cut off, the forehead skinned, and legs stripped of flesh. The entrails and other portions of the body were missing, but it is reported that the liver was placed between the feet. The flesh from the legs, together with the breasts and nose, were placed on a table. It is also reported that one of the hands of the victim had been pushed into the stomach. Then as quickly as they had started, the murders stopped, and the controversy that has lasted more than a century begun. Despite the huge effort put in by Scotland Yard, no reliable evidence was ever found to bring a charge of murder. There have been countless theories as to the identity of Jack The Ripper ranging from the improbable to the impossible. Perhaps one of the most famous is that of HRH Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarance and grandson to Queen Victoria. The Duke has been named in a number of theories to a greater or lesser degree, but perhaps the latest, or shall we say most fashionable, is that of the Duke, Sir William Gull (the royal physician), Walter Sickert (an artist), and John Netley ( a royal coachman), committing the murders to prevent a scandal involving the Duke, a shop girl, and an illegitimate child. A contrary theory names James Kenneth Stephen, the Duke's tutor at Cambridge. Stephens was a homosexual and it is claimed a pathological hater of women. Other theories include: Montigue John Druitt, a failed lawyer who drowned himself in The River Thames in December 1888. The fact that his death coincided with the end of the murders was enough to convince some of his guilt. Severin Klosowski - alias George Chapman. Chapman, a triple wife poisoner, was arrested on suspicion of the murders. Even though there is little evidence to to suggest that Chapman would so drastically change his M/O, the fact that Chief Inspector Frederick Abberline was to have commented "You've got the Ripper at last" is enough to made Chapman a myth. The fact that the Inspector retracted his comment has made little or no difference. Dr Rosyln Stephenson - an author and magician, who it is suggested committed the murders as past of a black magic ritual. The mystery surrounding Stephenson deepened when he disappeared in 1904. Dr Thomas Neill Cream. Cream was a multicide in his own right, and his only link with the Ripper deeds is that he cried out on the scaffold "I am Jack....." His statement was cut short by the rope. Dr cream was however in prison in America in the autumn of 1888. My own opinion is that Jack The Ripper is none of the above. The conspiracy that surrounds this case is akin to the Kennedy assassination. Due to the lack of forensic science at the time of the killings, and the fact that detection methods were very different from that of today, I believe that a lot of the evidence was lost or corrupted. We will never know who Jack The Ripper was, but I suspect that the theories will keep on growing. This is a case that will keep the conspiracy junkies busy for another century at least. |
