The Ripper of Whitechapel

Ultimate Unsolved Mystery

Mar 18, 2007

Why were Jack The Ripper's grisly crimes never solved? Would modern forensics have fared differently?

The Enduring Fascination With The Killer and His Crimes

The public fascination with the 1888 killings of six prostitutes in the seamy Whitechapel section of London has not dimmed even after the passage of almost a century and one quarter. The horrific crimes remain a steady source of inspiration to writers, moviemakers and crime buffs. Still, despite many interesting and enduring theories, we are no closer to knowing the identity of this deranged killer today than the London police were back then. Did the man who dubbed himself Jack the Ripper leave any clues behind and why weren’t the London police ever able to capture him?

Some Clues Left Behind

Certainly Jack the Ripper left traces of his murderous presence, including a leather apron soaked in blood. In an act of ultimate audacity, he even sent a body part of one of the victims to Scotland Yard. It is likely that the crime technology and criminal profiling techniques of today would have yielded many more clues to the identity of Jack the Ripper and that these crimes, were they committed today, might not have gone unsolved. Whoever he was, Jack the Ripper blended in easily with the immigrant inhabitants of this very poor section of London known for its slums, disease-ravaged streets and prostitutes. Could he have been one of them?

Scotland Yard and Jack The Ripper

Jack The Ripper taunted the police of the day, making good his swift escape with much agility under cover of darkness. Even at the time, it was suspected that the clue to the identity of Jack the Ripper lay in the victims he chose. But who was he? To this day, Scotland Yard does not know. They had their hands full as the mutilated body count mounted through the summer of 1888 and persisted until November of that year when the murders suddenly ceased.

An Array of Suspects

There was no shortage of suspects from all backgrounds and walks of life for the police to consider. Jack the Ripper was thought to have possibly been a local butcher named Kominski who was known to possess a hatred of women and a violent streak. Other Jack the Ripper suspects included 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, who was known for his deviant sexual proclivities. Druitt was found floating in the Thames River some seven weeks after the sixth and last Jack the Ripper victim, Mary Kelly, was discovered.

Conclusion

The world will never know for certain the name of the killer who terrorized the streets of Whitechapel so long ago, and yet Jack the Ripper will never be forgotten. Although part of the mystique lies in the mystery shrouding his true identity, another even deeper interest lies in the unsettling realization of man’s capacity for hatred, cruelty and blood lust.