Jack the Ripper: Case Study

Lesson 3: A Host of Ripper Suspects and Theories

Pizar, Chapman and Bury

John Pizer

A shoemaker and a Jew, John Pizer was the public's choice for fitting the Jack the Ripper profile. The killer was believed to be a butcher or craftsman who had access to sharp blades and was in the habit of wearing of a leather apron.

Pizer fit the profile to a tee, including the fact that he was often seen wearing such an apron, and was soon called "Leather Apron" in the media. He had prior stabbing convictions and also had a known dislike for prostitutes. He fit the stereotyped description of a short man with a dark beard, moustache, and foreign accent. However, since Pizer had a solid alibi at the time of the murders, it is unlikely he was the Ripper

George Chapman

George Chapman AKA Severin Klosowski (not to be confused with Aaron Kosminski) fit the police description of the people who alleged to have seen Jack. A Polish Jew, hairdresser and barber by trade, and resident of Whitechapel, he was a strong suspect for the crimes.

The body of Martha Tabram, a woman murdered shortly before the Ripper killings, was found close to his shop. He was known to have a violent, homicidal streak. He was accused of poisoning three women, and was convicted of one murder, for which he was hanged. He was single at the time of the murders and would have been able to roam around at night.

The only drawback to his being the Ripper is that he was much younger than the witnesses described. Chapman was only twenty three in 1888. Though Chapman was known for poisoning women, he had attempted to murder his first wife with a knife. It is possible that he switched to poisoning women to escape detection when Jack the Ripper gained too much notoriety.

William Bury

William Bury was hanged for the murder of his wife, Ellen Eliott. Not much was known about his childhood. He was a drunkard who married a prostitute--a match made in hell. He typically beat and abused her and gave her syphillis from consorting with other prostitutes.

In Mile End, where he lived, two knife attacks on other women occurred. He was also in the vicinity where Martha Tabram lived. Bury was known to sleep with a knife under his pillow. He had at times in his life worked in the butcher's trade. He strangled his wife, but chopped up the body in a style very similar to Jack the Ripper's handiwork. His handwriting was also similar to the Ripper letters.

It is possible he murdered his wife because she knew too much. Some believe he could have been the Ripper or a copycat killer. He did fit the general description of Jack the Ripper, and he lived in the vicinity where the crimes took place. He attempted to leave the country shortly after the last murder.

There is, however, question as to his whereabouts during some of the Ripper crimes. There is slight evidence that indicates he may have left London on a brief vacation with his wife during the time some of the Ripper crimes were committed. If so, he couldn't have been the Ripper. Before he was hanged, he made the ambiguous statement, "I suppose you think you are clever to hang me." The hangman believed he was referring to the fact that he was Jack the Ripper.

For more information on these suspects, go to the website Casebook: Jack the Ripper

Suggested Reading: For an essay on William Bury read pages 119-131 in The Mammoth Book of Jack the Ripper.

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