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The deadly Atlanta Ripper

America once had its own copycat version of Jack the Ripper

By Marc HooverPublished 3 years ago 3 min read
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Victim Mary "Belle" Walker was murdered by the Atlanta Ripper

From 1888 to 1891, an unknown monster referred to as Jack the Ripper terrorized London. He had prowled the streets seeking prostitutes to murder. No one ever identified or caught him. His murderous exploits eventually reached across the ocean into America. You may not realize it, but Americans encountered a similar killer in Atlanta, Georgia known as the Atlanta Ripper. He didn’t seek out prostitutes, instead he preyed on attractive Black women.

Although no one knows when his killing spree began, one of his earliest victims may have been Maggie Brooks. On October 3, 1910, her body was found at an intersection. Someone had beaten her and fractured her skull.

On January 22, 1911, there was another victim named Rosa Trice. Her killer crushed her skull, slashed her throat and nearly decapitated her. Authorities arrested her husband, but soon released him. Within a month, an unknown woman was found with a crushed skull. She appeared to be in her early 20s. Originally, the murders received little recognition. But after the murders began piling up. The Atlanta media finally acknowledged the murders and began reporting them.

The Atlanta Ripper killed at least 20 women

The case got its first break on July 1, 1911, after the Atlanta Ripper murdered Lena Sharpe. There are two different accounts of the murder. One went as follows:

Lena Sharpe visited a local market to do some shopping. After she didn’t return home, her daughter Emma Lou became concerned because someone had murdered neighbor Addie Watts. She feared her mother had become the Ripper’s latest victim.

Emma Lou searched for her mother. While returning home, a "tall, Black, broad-shouldered, and wearing a broad-brimmed Black hat” approached her. After he began speaking to her, she made Emma Lou nervous. He told her, “Don’t worry. I never hurt girls like you.” She unsuccessfully tried to escape. He stabbed her in the back and left her for dead. Afterward, a group of neighbors heard Emma Lou’s screams for help and rushed to help her.

After the stabbing, Lena’s body was found. Her killer slashed her throat as he had done to his previous victims.

On July 9, 1911, the First Congregational Church in Atlanta held a meeting about the killings. The church’s pastor, Henry Hugh Proctor, and other black leaders came together to discuss the killings. At the time of the homicides, segregation still existed in Atlanta. Leaders pleaded with the locals to cooperate with black detectives and help find the killer.

One of the killer’s more vicious murders occurred on November 21, 1911. The Ripper had killed a woman named Mary Putnam. He crushed her skull, cut her throat and then removed her heart. He placed it next to her body. Authorities brought in a dog to track the killer’s scent. The dog picked up the killer’s scent for about 200 yards before losing it. The Atlanta Ripper once again evaded authorities.

On August 10, 1912, authorities arrested Henry Brown (aka Lawton Brown) for killing a woman named Eva Florence. Brown’s wife told authorities he wasn’t home on the same days as when the Atlanta Ripper had killed several of his victims. He was tried on October 18 and then acquitted.

Authorities identified several suspects, but never secured a conviction. The Atlanta Constitution called the Atlanta Ripper a myth. The paper believed several different men committed the murders. This case is controversial because no one knows when the killings began or how many women were killed by the Atlanta Ripper. The body count is believed to be at least 20. Some reports state the killings occurred from 1911 to 1912, while others believe the murders began earlier.

Like “Jack the Ripper” in England, the Atlanta Ripper’s identity is unknown. He created a cloud of fear that once covered Atlanta. Today, the case of the Atlanta Ripper remains just as mysterious as it was during the early 1900s.

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About the Creator

Marc Hoover

Marc Hoover is a Hooper award winning columnist for the Clermont Sun newspaper in Ohio. Contact him at [email protected]. Marc also has a podcast called Catch my Killer.

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