In 1880, London’s east end became home to London’s most notorious serial killer, Jack the Ripper. For over 130 years cold case detectives have tried to make a name for themselves by claiming they could solve the case and identify Jack the Ripper. Claims like, the murderer was American or the killer was a woman have been made. What these claims have in common is that partial information from the case is used to support the claims and any information that contradicts the claims is ignored. This is not a claim to solve the case, it is evidence collected by criminal psychiatrists, historians, and investigators, to include the leading living expert on the case, Donald Rumbelow, author of, “The Complete Jack The Ripper” 1975. This information suggests that beyond the 5 known victims,(known as the canonical 5), that there may have been an additional 6 victims of Jack the Ripper.
Criminal Psychiatrists suggest that Jack the Ripper did not start off committing the brutal murders we are familiar with but worked up the level of brutality and other unsolved cases from the time period, supporting this theory.
The first unsolved case was on the 4th of April 1888, Emma Smith was brutally beaten, she made it home but died of her wounds the following morning.
The second murder occurred on August 7th when Martha Tabrum was found dead having been stabbed 39 times. Following this were the canonical 5.
Mary Anne Nichols was found on August 31st with her throat slit twice and disemboweled. On September 8th Anne Chapman was found, throat slit twice, organs removed and placed on her shoulder. Elizabeth Stride was found with her throat cut, it is believed that the killer was interrupted by an immigrant that saw Stride being assaulted, this man later identified Stride’s body as the woman he had witnessed being assaulted. Less than an hour later Katherine Eddows was killed, Throat slit and disemboweled. The most gruesome of the murders occurred on November 9th, Marie Jane Kelly was found in her apt throat slit, face skinned, breast removed, all organs to include the heart removed, and thighs skinned, to the bone. Another murder occurred in 1888 that was not attributed to Jack the Ripper at the time. In December, Rose Mayla was strangled in a public area. This ended the Autumn of Terror but experts believe there may have been 3 more victims. In the middle of 1889, Alice McKenzy was found mutilated. In September of 1889 an unidentified dismembered torso was found. Lastly in February 1891 Francis Cole was found with her throat slit.
The case was closed in 1892, at that time the 2 lead investigators said the most likely suspect was Alex Kazinski. The immigrant that witnessed Stride being assaulted identified Kazinski as the assaulter but refused to testify. Kazinski’s family had Alex institutionalized in 1892.
With over 100 suspects the story of Jack the Ripper is still intriguing today but books and documentaries that attempt to name the killer will only share the information that works to support their goal. It has been over a century we need to accept that this case is and will remain UNSOLVED.
