True Crime Friday: Jack the Ripper, the world's most infamous serial killer
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| "From Hell" letter attributed to Jack the Ripper |
Who was Jack the Ripper? He is infamous and he was never identified. His identity remains forever a secret. He was active in England in the town of Whitechapel in 1888. The moniker of Jack the Ripper stuck but he also had monikers such as the Whitechapel Murderer and Leather Apron. Although the words Less Dead were not in the lexicon at the time Jack the Ripper preyed on these types of people. Whitechapel, which is in London, was considered poor and retched by the rich people of London, England. It was extremely awful that the police were afraid to patrol certain areas of Whitechapel. Crime ran rampant so is there any wonder that a serial killer would emerge.
Jack the Ripper targeted sex workers who lived in the poor areas of East London. He would slit their throats, and he would remove their internal organs. Because the mutilations were so precise it was thought that the serial killer was a doctor or a butcher. The media, sometimes known as Penny Dreadful, were often packed with lies and propaganda to sell as many papers as possible. The Jack the Ripper moniker came from a letter from the killer titled Dear Boss, it was written supposedly by the serial killer. It was sent to the media by the Jack the Ripper and is thought to be from the killer himself.
The public was fascinated by this story, and newspapers were selling out quickly, it is believed that reporters were sending letters to the police to keep the story going. The public came to believe in the existence of a single serial killer known as Jack the Ripper, mainly because of both the extraordinarily brutal nature of the murders and extensive media coverage of the crimes.
The Early Childhood of Jack the Ripper
Since Jack the Ripper is unknown, not much can be said about this childhood. Obviously, he had issues which would make him become a serial killer. He had mental issues, in my opinion who would want to eat the liver of a victim. Jack the Ripper preyed in the slums of Whitechapel. These people were very poor, and the ruling class looked down on them. The friction was so bad that the people of Whitechapel accused a prince of being the serial killer. Venereal disease was rampant. Rich men would hire doctors to check prospective wives’ virginity so that they would not contract Venereal diseases. All women were for sale even the married ones. It was known that street vendors were also sex workers at night. They needed the money to survive.Less Dead Theory
Serial killers choose marginalized communities who are devalued and ignored by society. These victims are typically lower socioeconomic backgrounds such as sex workers, drug users, homosexuals, the young and the elderly. Law enforcement tends to neglect these cases and so does the media making it easier for serial killers to roam the communities with impunity. The Less Dead Theory is now used to highlight victims so that better investigations by police and reporting by the media can assist in solving these unsolved cases at a higher rate. Cases involving more prestigious victims rarely take a back seat in the media and law enforcement.The Victims of Jack the Ripper
- Mary Ann Nichols
- Annie Chapman
- Elizabeth Stride
- Catherine Eddowes
- Mary Jane Kelly
The Survivors of Jack the Ripper
Any woman that was fortunate enough not to cross his path especially at night. Once society stops devaluing certain segments of society then there will be more attention given to this serious matter. Recent technology has made it harder for the serial killer to find prey. But as we know they never give up just find different ways and routes to commit their crimes.Lady Justice
There were a great number of immigrants that lived in Whitechapel, and as you would expect they came under great scrutiny. In one instance, the newspapers accused a Jewish man of being the serial killer. It just so happens he was with a police officer when one of the murders happened. The police had to intervene to keep the mob from hanging the man. The man later sued the newspapers. Unfortunately, justice was never brought to the victims and their families. Jack the Ripper was never apprehended. The identity of Jack the Ripper has been confirmed as Aaron Kosminski,a Polish barber, through DNA evidence linked to a shawl found at one of the crime scenes. But it is not conclusive given the mishandling of the evidence over the years. So, who was Jack the Ripper the jury will always be forever out on this serial killer.References
https://www.google.com/search?q=signature+of+a+serial+killer&rlz=1C1GCEA_enUS1162US1164&oq=signature+of+a+serial+killer&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOdIBCDk4NTJqMGo0qAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_killer
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_the_Ripper