The identity of Jack the Ripper, who killed six prostitutes in London in 1888, remains a mystery. Despite leaving clues, including a bloody apron and sending a body part to Scotland Yard, the killer was never caught. Suspects include a local butcher, a member of the royal family, and a doctor with deviant sexual proclivities. The fascination with the case endures due to the realization of man’s capacity for cruelty.
Although nearly a century and a quarter have passed since the horrific crimes committed by Jack the Ripper in the seedy Whitechapel section of London, the fascination with the killings of six prostitutes in 1888 has never left the imagination of writers, directors and crime enthusiasts . Who is this crazy killer and why have the London police never been able to catch him?
Perhaps today’s criminal technology and criminal profiling techniques would have provided many more clues as to the identity of Jack the Ripper. He certainly left some clues, including a bloody leather apron. In one last act of audacity, he even sent a body part of one of the victims to Scotland Yard. Whoever he is, he taunted the police of the day, fleeing quickly and with great agility under cover of darkness.
Even at the time, the clue to Jack the Ripper’s identity was suspected to lie in the victims he had chosen. Who is? To this day Scotland Yard does not know. Their hands were full as the mutilated body count mounted during the summer of 1888 and persisted until November of that year, when the killings abruptly ceased.
There is no shortage of suspects from all backgrounds and social classes that the police must take into consideration. Jack the Ripper is thought to have been a local butcher named Kominski who was known to possess a hatred of women and a violent streak. Other suspects include a member of the royal family, the Duke of Clarence, who was the eldest son of the future King of England, Edward VII, and a doctor named Montague Druitt, known for his deviant sexual proclivities. Druitt was found floating in the Thames about seven weeks after the sixth victim was discovered.
The world will never know for sure the name of the killer who terrorized the streets of Whitechapel so long ago, yet Jack the Ripper will never be forgotten. While part of the mystique lies in the mystery surrounding his true identity, an even deeper interest lies in the uncanny realization of man’s capacity for hatred and cruelty.
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