The Real Identity Of Jack The Ripper

People today may feel comfortable going and enjoying street art and different culinary delights in the famous Whitechapel district of London, but that wasn’t always the case. In 1888, London’s Whitechapel district rivaled New York’s infamous Hell’s Kitchen, an area rife with poverty and considered a slum-riddled and neglected part of town.

During that era, the famed Jack the Ripper came to be as he brought terror and carnage to the impoverished 19th-century Whitechapel area.

The Unsolved Mystery Of Jack the Rippers Crimes

Jack the Ripper was linked to many murders in the Whitechapel area. People have believed that five particular cases are without question the work of the Ripper.

• Mary Ann Nichols
• Annie Chapman
• Elizabeth Stride
• Catherine Eddowes
• Mary Jane Kelly

All five of these women were brutalized. The Ripper liked to cut their throats and abdomens, opening them up in grotesque ways, and left zero doubt as to why fear and panic quickly spread through the area.

The police of the time worked diligently to identify Jack the Ripper and put a stop to his killings, but it was to no avail. The case of Jack the Ripper was the first serial case to catch widespread media attention. Much like in our current time, the press was quick to jump on the story, which played a major role in spreading fear and panic over the murders.

The Jack The Ripper Letters

During the time frame of the Ripper murders, there were many letters received by the authorities and media. There’d been the incredible media frenzy that many found irresistible and wanted to be a part of such a sensational investigation. While some letters were sent by a concerned citizenry, offering their support, hundreds were believed to have been written by pranksters and hooligans.

Three letters stood out from the onslaught of letters. Those three seemed to have been written by the killer and became a part of history.

The Dear Boss Letter:

Dear Boss,

I keep on hearing the police have caught me but they won’t fix me just yet. I have laughed when they look so clever and talk about being on the right track. That joke about Leather Apron gave me real fits. I am down on whores and I shant quit ripping them till I do get buckled. Grand work the last job was. I gave the lady no time to squeal. How can they catch me now. I love my work and want to start again. You will soon hear of me with my funny little games. I saved some proper red stuff in a ginger beer bottle over the last job to write with but it went thick like glue and I can’t use it. Red ink is fit enough I hope ha. ha. The next job I do, I shall clip the ladys ears off and send to the police officers just for jolly wouldn’t you. Keep this letter back till I do a bit more work, then give it out straight. My knife’s so nice and sharp I want to get to work right away if I get a chance. Good Luck.

Yours truly

Jack the Ripper

Don’t mind me giving the trade name

PS wasn’t good enough to post this before I got all the red ink off my hands curse it No luck yet. They say I’m a doctor now. haha

This is the most famous of the three letters believed to have been written by the famed serial killer. It was the first signed letter marked Yours truly, Jack the Ripper.

The Saucy Jack Postcard:

On October 1st, 1888, The Central News Agency received the Saucy Jack Postcard. The handwriting on the postcard closely matched that in the Dear Boss Letter. The writer of the Saucy Jack Postcard makes mention of a double murder, about the cases of Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddowes, both of which were in the morning of September 30th, 1888.

Front

Back

The back reads:

I was not codding dear old boss when I gave you the tip, you’ll hear about Saucy Jacky’s work tomorrow double event this time number one squealed a bit couldn’t finish straight off. Had not got time to get ears off for police thanks for keeping last letter back till I got to work again.

Jack the Ripper

Crime scene reports noted that Eddowe’s ear was found severed at the scene. Many believed this was the unintended result of the face being mutilated by the killer. Others that have examined the case believe it was done deliberately.

From Hell Letter

The From Hell letter is perhaps the most disturbing and notable of the three most historic Ripper messages. This was mostly due to the way the letter was delivered. The From Hell letter arrived in a box, accompanied by half a human kidney. One of Catherine Eddowes’ kidneys had been removed by her killer.

From Hell was postmarked on October 15th, 1888, and received by George Lusk on October 16, 1888. Lusk was the head of the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee.

From Hell

Mr. Lusk,

Sor

I send you half the kidne I took for one women prasarved it for you toter piece if fried and ate it was very nice. I may send you the bloody knife that took it out if you only wate a while longer.

signed

Catch me when you can Mishter Lusk

The kidney was preserved in alcohol and later confirmed to be that of a human female. Lusk, with members of the medical field, believed the who thing was a practical joke played by med students who got the kidney from a cadaver.

The letters were a way for the deranged serial killer to taunt and antagonize the authorities in London. They added an air of mystery and arrogance to the killings that hadn’t been seen before at the time of the Whitechapel case. In some ways, Jack the Ripper was the father of modern serial killers. Not only did he operate in the shadows, but he boasted about his crimes in the Ripper letters, ending one by saying, “Catch me when you can.”

135 Years Later-Have They Identified The Ripper

It’s been over a century since the infamous letters, and Jack the Ripper’s challenge to the Vigilance Committee, “Catch me when you can.” The case had remained open and ongoing, even though Jack certainly died a long time ago.

Now, in the year 2023, have they finally answered one of the greatest mysteries of all time, who was Jack the Ripper?

It was reported by the website BritishHeritage.com that indeed, Jack’s true identity may no longer be a mystery. DNA evidence emerged that pointed to the true identity. A shawl found at Catherine Eddowes's murder scene contains forensic stains. It was used to identify the killer as Aaron Kosminski, who was a 23-year-old barber from Poland. Through the analysis, it’s believed the killer had brown eyes and hair, which is a description that Kisminski fit.

Aaron Kosminski was long linked to the crimes, but this is the first piece of solid evidence that gave authorities any clear proof of the identity of Jack the Ripper. A study was published in the Journal of Forensic Sciences about the use of DNA from a living relative of Kosminski in the analysis of the crime scene evidence.

Kosminiski, through records, went on to be put in an asylum following the alleged murders. It was there that he died, very young.

With this, it would seem, that for the first time in 135 years, the case of Jack the Ripper and the Whitechapel murders may finally be on the verge of being closed.

Final Thoughts On Jack the Ripper

Since that time in the 19th century, over 100 suspects have been named. This contributed to widespread folklore and horrific entertainment. It’s kept our imaginations wondering for more than a century. However, it did something more important than serve to scare and entertain the world.

Jack the Ripper may be, for intents and purposes, the father of modern-day serial killers. Jack the Ripper was arrogant enough to write to the authorities, taunting them to catch him. Look at the arrogance of some of our other modern-day serial killers. Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, Richard Speck, and many more.

Without the case of Jack the Ripper, the case that told the world what monsters serial killers were, we would’ve waited how many more years for the world to find out that such evils exist. They’ve always been there, but until the arrogance and bravado of a character in history, one like the Ripper, the world would have continued to spin out of control without noticing these creatures exist among us.

In the late 1800s, the East End of London was a place viewed with contempt. Being an area where skilled migrants came to start a new life and start businesses, it was known for being a ghetto filled with crime and violence. The prostitutes that were killed by the Ripper were rarely before reported on in the news of the time, as society believed that they were “subject to attacks” as a result of the job.

If not for the Whitechapel Murders, of which there were ten actual cases, these types of things might have continued to go unnoticed. Had it not been for the taunting and the sadistic butchery that suggested a more sociopathic mind, the view of the murders of working girls might have remained less than vigilant for years to come. Jack the Ripper didn’t just kill with a knife as he snuffed out their lives, he mutilated and humiliated women, and his M.O. paints a picture of someone with an abhorrence for the entire female gender.

Biography.com Jack the Ripper https://www.biography.com/crime/jack-the-ripper

Whitechapeljack.com The Ripper Letters https://whitechapeljack.com/the-ripper-letters/

Britishheritage.com Who Was Jack The Ripper? BHT Staff Feb 10, 2023 https://britishheritage.com/history/jack-the-ripper-true-identity