about Jack

Jack the Ripper is a pseudonym given to an unidentified serial killer active in the largely impoverished Whitechapel area and adjacent districts of London, England, in late 1888. The name originated in a letter sent to the London Central News Agency by someone claiming to be the murderer.

The victims were women earning income as prostitutes. Most victims' throats were slit, after which the bodies were mutilated. The removal of internal organs from three of the victims led some officials at the time of the murders to propose that the killer possessed anatomical or surgical knowledge.

Newspapers, whose circulation had been growing during this era, bestowed widespread and enduring notoriety on the killer because of the savagery of the attacks and the failure of the police to capture the murderer.

Because the killer's identity has never been confirmed, the legends surrounding the murders have become a combination of genuine historical research, folklore, and pseudohistory. Many authors, historians, and amateur detectives (so called 'ripperologists') have proposed theories about the identity of the killer and his victims.











Jack the Ripper victims

murdered on August 31, 1888
body was found 3:45am in Buck’s Row, Whitechapel

murdered on September 8, 1888
body was found 5:30am at 29 Hanbury Street, Whitechapel

murdered on September 30, 1888
body was found 1:00am at 40 Berner Street, Whitechapel

murdered on September 30, 1888
body was found 1:45am in Mitre Square, Whitechapel

Mary Jane Kelly, born, 1863 (date of birth unknown)
murdered on November 9, 1888
body was found 10:45am at 13 Miller's Court, Whitechapel












Jack the Ripper suspects (selection)




George Chapman
born Seweryn Antonowicz Klosowski
(December 14, 1865 - April 7, 1903)





Montague John Druitt
(August 15, 1857 - December 1, 1888)




Sir William Whitey Gull
(December 31, 1816 - January 29, 1890)




Joseph Carey Merrick

known as 'The Elephant Man'
(August 5, 1862 - April 11, 1890)




Prince Albert Victor

Duke of Clarence and Avondale
(January 8, 1864 - January 14, 1892)




Walter Sickert
(May 31, 1860 - January 22, 1942)

recommended books
The Complete History of Jack the Ripper
by Philip Surgden (Carroll & Graf Publisher)


The Ultimate Jack the Ripper Sourcebook:
A Illustrated Encyclopedia
by Stewart P. Evans, Keith Skinner
(Carroll & Graf Publisher)


From Hell
by Alan Moore, Eddie Campbell
(Top Shelf Publisher)