Jack the Ripper: Case Study

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

The Double Event

Glimpses of the Elusive Killer

Several witnesses alleged to have seen Jack the Ripper at the time of the murders. His appearance, though varying in age and sometimes in other factors, seemed fairly consistent. An official notice that circulated throughout the police district after the murder of Annie Chapman carried this description garnered from one of the witnesses, "Age 37; height 5 ft 7 inches, rather dark beard and moustache. Dress-shirt, dark vest and trousers, black scarf, and black felt hat. Spoke with foreign accent." Some witnesses described him as being Jewish.

Jack the Ripper's victims were "unfortunates", most of them poor, middle-aged prostitutes who worked and lived in the Whitechapel district. It is possible that he targeted them because their poverty made the women desperate enough for him to be able to lure them into secluded areas with the offer of money.

The victims had their throats cut from left to right and mutilation followed in varying degrees. Though forensic testing was not available at the time, it is generally concluded that the victims were not raped before their murders.

Jack the Ripper appeared to derive some kind of sexual satisfaction from the vicious attacks and spilling of blood. Since the violence escalated with each attack, it is believed by many that the Ripper was a lunatic who was growing increasingly mad. It is also obvious from the attacks he held a strong hatred toward females in general and prostitutes in particular. There is speculation that he was a mad fanatic attempting to rid the world of "ladies of the night."

The weapon used in the crimes was a sharp instrument, possibly a razor. Because of this, the police were looking for a suspect with a medical background or perhaps a butcher or even barber whose sharp instruments were part of their trade.

In a bold and fearless gesture, the killer struck again, this time twice in the same night. This dual murder is often referred to as the "Double Event."

Elizabeth Stride

Jack's third victim, Elizabeth Stride, was 45 years old. Also known as "Long Liz", she had dark brown hair, grey eyes, and like Mary Nichols, was missing front teeth. On the damp night of September 29, Liz left "The Bricklayer's Arms" pub with a young man. A short time later a local grocer claimed to have sold her unidentified companion a pound of grapes. Liz was seen by a constable at 12:30 AM, standing and talking with a man.

A while later, a witness claimed to have seen her thrown to the pavement by an intoxicated companion. The witness was frightened away by another man who called out the word "Lipski." Because this word, the name of a famous murderer, was at the time often hurled as an anti-Sematic insult, the man feared trouble and left. Around 1:00 of the 30th the body of Elizabeth Stride was discovered by another man driving a trap and pony.

Her throat was slashed, but because the attack was interrupted, her body was not mutilated. Because she was not mutilated like the rest, some experts argue that she was not one of Jack the Ripper's victims. However, it is generally accepted that he was the killer, and that he was scared off before he was finished. Another woman was murdered later that same night.

Catherine Eddowes

That same night, Jack murdered Catherine (sometimes spelled Catharine) Eddowes. She was forty-six years old, and had deep auburn hair and hazel eyes. She had a "TC", initials of a former husband or lover she had separated from, tattooed in blue ink on her left forearm. She had just been released from jail.

At 1:30 AM (less than an hour after Stride's death), she was found slashed in the throat. Her body was discovered in Mitre Square. Shortly before her murder, she had been seen talking to a man. A constable patrolling the area a short time later saw and heard nothing. At 1:45 AM another constable entered the square and found her body.

Jack's murders seemed to grow more gruesome as he became bolder. Perhaps because his attack on Elizabeth Stride had been interrupted, he was making up for lost time. Catherine's face was horribly mutilated. Her nose and one of her ears had been cut off. The slash around her neck was referred to in a Ripper letter, "What a pretty necklace I gave her." Catherine's pancreas, liver, abdomen, and womb were torn from her body and one kidney had been removed.

Two people claimed to have seen Catherine with a man earlier. They described him as being around forty and as wearing a long black overcoat, a description that matched the first sighting of what was believed to be the killer.

The source for this lesson was the chapter "Just the Facts" in The Mammoth Book of Jack the Ripper. Details of Elizabeth Stride's murder are also covered in chapter 18 of Jack the Ripper Portrait of a Killer: Case Closed. Catherine Eddowes murder is covered in the following chapter 19.

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