Jack the Ripper: Case Study

Lesson 1: The Setting, the Crimes, and the Victims

The First Two Murders

At least five murders can be attributed to Jack the Ripper, though he might have been responsible for many more. All of his victims were women, prostitutes that worked in the poor district of Whitechapel. Their ages varied from twenty five to forty-seven. All died violent deaths which included mutilation. The more he killed, the bolder Jack the Ripper became. Most of his victims had their throats slashed and many were disemboweled. In some cases, body parts were removed.

Mary Ann "Polly" Nichols

Mary Nichols, also known as "Polly", was the first known victim of Jack the Ripper. She was 43 years old. Mary was short with dark hair and grey eyes, and had lost her front teeth in a fight. She had left her husband and had five children. Her body was found on a side street called Buck's Row in Whitechapel August 31, 1888 at 4:00 AM.

Mary Ann was a prostitute and an alcoholic. She often spent her money on drink and had no place to lodge. The night of her murder she had told a friend, "I'll soon get my doss money, see what a jolly bonnet I've got."

She parted company with another prostitute, Ellen Holland, around 2:30 AM, vanishing into Buck's Row. Her body was discovered by two men, and the police were summoned. Her skirt had been pulled up, her throat had been slashed and her abdomen viciously stabbed. Though later Jack the Ripper would take trophies of his crime, nothing was taken from the crime scene of Mary Nichols. The first suspect on the case was John Pizar, also called "leather apron."

Annie Chapman

Annie Chapman was the Ripper's second victim. She was found seven days later, on September 8, 1888. Also known as "Dark Annie", she was plump with dark, wavy hair and blue eyes. She was 47 years old. Annie was suffering from a chronic disease of the lungs and probably didn't have long to live when she became the Ripper's victim. A few days prior to her death, she had been in a fight with another prostitute.

Despite her illness, Annie was described as being a strong woman, capable of fighting off an attacker, but she was also an alcoholic. Just before she was killed, another woman told police she saw Annie talking to a man who might have been Jack the Ripper. She described him as being around forty years old with gray hair, and as a "foreign man." They left together.

Annie was found at 6:00 AM. Her throat had been slashed and she had been disemboweled. Her uterus had been removed from her abdomen. Several brass rings and coins had been taken from her person and were placed near her feet.

To read more about Jack the Ripper's victims, read the chapter "Just the Facts" starting on page 15 in The Mammoth Book of Jack the Ripper.

Information about Mary Nichols is also interspersed throughout Jack the Ripper Portrait of a Killer: Case Closed, chapters 8-14. Annie Chapman's murder is described in chapter 14.

For further reading and exploring:

You will find information on each victim at Casebook: Jack the Ripper.

For an introduction to all five Ripper murders try the following websites:

Jack the Ripper's Modern London - (an overview of the victims plus photos of the crime scene now and then)

Jack-the-Ripper shows actual photos of all the victims as well as a lot of additional information

Jack the Ripper - an overview of the victims and crime scene

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