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| Suspicion feel on many dubious street characters around Whitechapel as to the identity of Jack the Ripper |
"Jack the Ripper"
is the best-known name given to an unidentified serial
killer who was active in the largely impoverished areas in and around the Whitechapel
district of London in 1888.
The name originated in a
letter, written by someone claiming to be the murderer, that was
disseminated in the media. The letter is widely believed to have been a hoax,
and may have been written by a journalist in a deliberate attempt to heighten
interest in the story.
Other nicknames used for the killer at the time were
"The Whitechapel Murderer" and "Leather Apron".
Attacks ascribed to the Ripper
typically involved female prostitutes from the slums whose throats were cut
prior to abdominal mutilations. The removal of internal organs from at least
three of the victims led to proposals that their killer possessed anatomical or
surgical knowledge.
Rumours that the murders were connected intensified in
September and October 1888, and letters from a writer or writers purporting to
be the murderer were received by media outlets and Scotland
Yard. The "From Hell" letter, received by George Lusk
of the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee,
included half of a preserved human kidney, supposedly from one of the victims.
Mainly because of the extraordinarily brutal character of the murders, and
because of media treatment of the events, the public came increasingly to
believe in a single serial killer known as "Jack the Ripper".
Extensive newspaper coverage
bestowed widespread and enduring international notoriety on the Ripper. An
investigation into a series of brutal killings in Whitechapel up to 1891 was unable
to connect all the killings conclusively to the murders of 1888, but the legend
of Jack the Ripper solidified.
As the murders were never solved, the legends
surrounding them became a combination of genuine historical research, folklore,
and pseudohistory.
The term "ripperology" was coined to describe the study and analysis
of the Ripper cases.
There are now over one hundred theories about the Ripper's identity, and
the murders have inspired multiple works of fiction.
