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| Desecrated grave of Walter Thomas PORRIOTT at Toowong Cemetery Brisbane Australia which many people believe is that of Jack the Ripper. Picture taken 29 August 2012. |
Vandals have
struck at Brisbane's historic Toowong Cemetery destroying a grave believed by
many historians across the world to be the burial place of London's serial
killer Jack the Ripper.
Sixty years
ago today Walter Porriott of New Farm was buried at Toowong by his wife Bessie.
In 1997 his
relatives went public across Australia with the sensational claim Porriott was
Jack the Ripper who murdered five street prostitutes in London in 1888.
Jack the
Ripper's first victim Mary Ann "Polly" Nichols was found murdered in the streets of
Whitechapel in London's East End 124 years ago tonight on 31 July 1888.
No one was
ever brought trial despite hundreds of suspects being identified by the police
and the public.
Porriott was
in London at the time of the murders and sailed for Australia on 9 November
1888 on the day of the last murder.
For the past
century and a quarter, thousands of so-called Ripperologists around the world
have tried to crack the case.
Theories
have included suspects such as a member of the royal family, a doctor, a lawyer,
an artist, a Polish Jew and another Australian suspect Frederick Deeming who
was hanged in Melbourne in 1892 for murdering his wife.
On the eve of
today's 60th anniversary of a Porriott's burial, his grave has been desecrated
with the tombstone ripped from its base and smashed into the concrete
surrounding the gravesite.
In 2008, a
mystery image appeared on the cross above Porriott’s grave depicting a side-on
view of a capped man with an arm raised above his head and a dagger in his
hand. This was featured on Australia
television. (See first link below.)
President of Australia's Whitechapel
Society Paul Tully
described the vandalism as a sickening and senseless attack.
Tully
described the evidence against Porriott as the Whitechapel killer of London’s
East End as "paper thin".
“He was an
evil impostor, thief, conman, jailed killer and bigamist who had more than 20
wives during his lifetime.
"He was
a loner in his wife Bessie's family with no name ever placed on his tombstone
just the pitiful words: Bessie and her Husband.
"Maybe
the family didn't really know who he was as he used dozens of aliases over the
years."
Tully said
Porriott's crimes and modus operandi were not those of a serial killer.
Tully, who is
believed to have the largest private collection of Jack the Ripper books and memorabilia in Australia,
is writing his own book on the world’s first recognised serial killer.
“I personally
do not believe Walter Porriott was Jack the Ripper but this theory has never
been completely refuted.”
WHITECHAPEL
SOCIETY OF AUSTRALIA – RipperAustralia@gmail.com
LINKS:
Is Australia's Walter Porriott Jack the Ripper? http://jack-the-ripper-1888.blogspot.com.au/2008/09/is-australias-walter-porriott-jack.html
(This link includes the original TV video
on Walter Porriott from 2008.)
Mystery image of Jack the Ripper appears in Australia - http://jack-the-ripper-1888.blogspot.com.au/2008_08_01_archive.html
(This link includes pic of Porriott’s gravesite in 2008 and the original Bulletin article of 30 December 1997 where the family exposed Porriott as Jack the Ripper.)
(This link includes pic of Porriott’s gravesite in 2008 and the original Bulletin article of 30 December 1997 where the family exposed Porriott as Jack the Ripper.)
Who is Walter Porriott? - http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Who_is_Walter_Thomas_Porriott
120 years of notoriety: Was Jack the Ripper a Londoner with
20 wives who fled to Australia? http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1051015/120-years-notoriety-Was-Jack-Ripper-Londoner-20-wives-fled-Australia.html
30.8.12