Jack the Ripper: Case Study

Lesson 3: A Host of Ripper Suspects and Theories

An Examination of Popular Ripper Theories

"Ripperologists", or researchers of Jack the Ripper, have formed many theories on the crimes. Was The Ripper a mad doctor, a deranged midwife, a mysterious lodger? Or was he more than one person? Some theorists believe that a Royal Conspiracy existed that involved the royal family and Prince Eddie with a sensational cover-up to prevent a royal scandal. Prince Eddie's possible connection will be explored in the next lesson, as will the possible masonic connection.

Deranged Doctor Theory

Because he used sharp knives in his crime and was able to extract organs, many believe that Jack the Ripper was a crazed doctor or that the mutilations were the work of someone who had at least had some medical training. That is why the original investigation focused on doctors.

There was a rumor that the Ripper carried a black leather bag in which he may have hidden his knives or used to pack away body parts. Some even went so far as to speculate that the Ripper was a medical student getting some outside training.

They still remembered the case fifty years previously of Burke and Hare, body snatchers who robbed graves and committed murder to supply medical schools with body parts, which were hard to come by in those days for study and dissection purposes.

However, this theory is pretty far-fetched. In fact, some experts - Pat Cornwell among them - argue that no particular medical skill was necessary to perform the crimes - only a sharp knife.

Thomas Cream

Thomas Neil Cream was an American doctor who came under suspicion because he had previously murdered prostitutes. He had killed four women, but his method of murder was poisoning them with strychnine rather than stabbing. He was hanged for his crimes in 1892, and made the dying confession that he was Jack the... Unfortunately, he was hanged before he could ever finish his sentence. It is believed Cream was in prison for another crime at the time of the Ripper murders so it is unlikely he was Jack the Ripper.

Alexander Pedachenko

Another mad Russian doctor supposedly linked to the Ripper murders was Alexander Pedachenko. Pedachenko, according to what little is known about him, was a lunatic with criminal tendencies. He had been trained as a barber's surgeon. He was convicted of murdering a woman in St. Petersburg, and was sent to an asylum, where he died. He was known to use a series of aliases and it was believed by some that Michael Ostrog and he may have been the same man.

Jill the Ripper

Some theorists have entertained the idea that Jack the Ripper might have been a woman. A woman could have moved about Whitechapel virtually unseen while the police searched for a man. Some believe Jack the Ripper could have been a deranged midwife. A midwife could go around with blood on her clothing without drawing attention to herself.

Because Mary Kelly was killed indoors, it has been speculated her murder could be the work of a midwife summoned to perform an abortion. By some accounts Kelly was pregnant when she was murdered, by others she was not. But the he sexual mutilation of Kellly's body indicates the work of a male serial killer. It would also have taken a very strong woman to have the strength to subdue her victims and commit the Ripper murders.

The Mysterious Lodger

There exists a rumor, almost an urban legend, about a mysterious gentleman who rented a room on the East End. In some accounts he is a quiet man given to nocturnal wanderings. He was insanely religious and had a deep-rooted hatred for prostitutes. Most of this is based on fiction, namely an early Alfred Hitchock movie called The Lodger which was based on a fiction novel by Belloc Lowndes.

The story may have some basis in truth. In 1889, a man named Forbes Winslow was told by an acquaintence that he had once rented a room to a gentleman who called himself G. Wentworth Bell. Bell was described as a gentlemanly man with a mustache, possibly foreign.

After the murder of Martha Tabram, the maid found bloodstains in his room. Forbes also claimed to have bloodstained boots owned by the mysterious lodger, but there is no evidence he ever reported this story to the police.

Walter Sickert also claimed to have been told a similar story about a Camden Town lodger. The elderly owners told him the previous occupant of his room had been Jack the Ripper, a sickly student who ended up in the insane asylum. This may have accounted for Walter Sickert's obsessive interest in the case.

Sources:
Jakubowski, Maxim and Nathan Braud. The Mammoth Book of Jack the Ripper, Caroll & Graf, 1999.

Casebook: Jack the Ripper

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