Jack the Ripper: Case Study

Lesson 4: An In Depth Look at the Royal Conspiracy Theory

The Masonic Connection

If that wasn't intrigue enough, Knight claimed in his book that the Masons were also involved in the creation of Jack the Ripper as a cover-up.

At the time, most political figures were Masons. The Masons originated in middle ages as a guild of stonemasons which evolved into a quasi religious secret society whose members are sworn to support each other. Warren, Gull, and Salisbury were all Masons.

According to Knight's theory, the Masons were the power behind the throne. The Queen did not order the murders, and Lord Salisbury never intended for it to go so far. It was Gull's idea.

Dr. Gull, a loyal servant of the brotherhood, went too far and the other Masons acted to protect him. Warren, also a Mason, was appointed to his post to cover up the Masonic connection. Sickert was ordered to be silent but told his son he knew more than anyone and was in danger because he had been coerced into helping the Freemasons.

Knight's reason for implicating the Masons is that the ritual reenactments of the Ripper crimes bear strange similarities to symbolic Masonic ritual. If the secrets of the Masons are revealed, the traitor's throat is slit from left to right just like the Ripper victims. Traitors were also murdered by being torn open and the heart and vitals taken out and thrown over the left shoulder.

The brass rings and coins near Annie Chapman's body may also have symbolic overtones. Catherine Eddowes had a triangle flap of skin cut into each cheek, while a sacred sign of Masonry is two triangles. The murder of Mary Kelly, where her features were obliterated and her organs cut out, also bears similarity to a symbolic Masonic ritual.

Knight believed the writing on the wall Warren obliterated also had Masonic overtones, and that the "Juwes" referred to the three apprentice Masons, Jubela, Jubelo and Jubelum who murdered Hirum Abiff during the building of Solomon's temple and are the basis of masonic ritual.

This secretive society refused all requests for information and Knight believed they destroyed all evidence of the conspiracy. Some theorists believe this is his excuse for not having more evidence to support his theory.

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