The Grisly Murders Of Jack The Ripper

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Did anyone else think that they wasted a lot of time on McNaughten's three when two of them have been largely dismissed? I'd have loved to see them spend more time on some of the more interesting suspects rather than just plowing through those old ones again.

👍︎︎ 1 👤︎︎ u/WoollyNinja 📅︎︎ Jan 30 2018 🗫︎ replies
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- Well we've done it. We're in Ripper town now. - Rip city. - This is what the people wanted. We're gonna bag us a ripper today. - We're gonna slap the cuffs on 'em. - It's been over 100 years. Who better to solve it than the boys? - I mean, if we don't, I'm hangin' my head in shame and I'm never going back to America. - We can't go back to the States. Well, here we go. - Any of you seen a ripper? - This week on Buzzfeed Unsolved, in our season premiere, we investigate Jack the Ripper. Perhaps the most infamous serial killer of all time. Hundreds of suspects have been named for this case and it has baffled investigators and ripperologists alike for over 100 years. - But it's not gonna baffle the boys. - Yeah and if we're ripperologists. - We're unbaffleable. - That's not a word. - I think it's a word. - I've done so much research on this one. I'm very, very pleased with the case I'm about to present. I think I've done it. - You think this is your white whale? - I didn't solve it, but I did a good job. - Okay, well you got me all excited. - [Ryan] The year is 1888. The stage, the shadowy and bog-filled streets of the East End of London. More specifically, the Whitechapel District, an area with a proclivity for violence and crime amongst the backdrop of poverty. But suddenly, a string of murders terrorize the public in a way never seen before. The culprit, a mad man with no clear motive. The world's most notorious serial killer, Jack the Ripper. While most believe the Ripper claimed the lives of only five, now referred to as "The Canonical Five," others believe the Ripper claimed the lives of up to 11 women. All five of the canonical victims were prostitutes, as many women in the Whitechapel District had to turn to prostitution as a way to survive. The morbid intrigue is not a recent development. At the time of the murders, literacy was increasing amongst the general population. The murders were covered in the newspaper and the public became morbidly fascinated by them. In the end, the public was so upset at the failed attempts to identify the killer that the police commissioner and home secretary eventually resigned. - [Shane] So was this like, one of the first instances of like, sort of a media frenzy around something like this? 'Cause this sounds like O.J. or JonBenet. - I wonder if they had true crime shows back then. - I don't think they did, Ryan. - I could see them having little sock puppets like they do in Game of Thrones. - Okay, I could see that. Little puppets, yeah. - Yeah, little puppets. - I'm on board with that. - Also, touching on the police commissioner, I think this is the first time I've actually seen a police commissioner resign because he was so upset and that makes sense to me because, I've said this before, when there's a serial killer on the loose, you really are just playing cat and mouse with the killer and he's just getting out foxed by him at every corner. - It's your whole livelihood. - That could drive you insane. I feel like that would drive me insane. Today, we're gonna cover the five canonical victims and by the end will have examined the most suspects we've ever presented with eight possible killers. Without further ado, let's jump into the timeline. On August 31, 1888 at 3:40 a.m., the body of Mary Ann Nichols was found in Buck's Row in Whitechapel. The body was discovered by a man named Charles Cross, who claims he was walking along Buck's Row when he noticed a bundle towards the western end. Another man named Robert Paul approached the body with Cross. Police would eventually arrive on the scene. Mary Ann Nichols was found on her back, her throat severely slashed, and she was disemboweled. It was determined she had only been dead for about a half hour, meaning the killer was likely nearby when Cross first saw the body. - Now how did they, at this point in time, I don't know what their forensics are like, how do they know what a half hour is? Do they just sort of like.. - I mean, he just goes over.. Let's see. - That's half hour blood right there. - Yeah, that's 30 minutes. Maybe they had a bloodhound? I don't know. - That's not what bloodhounds-- - (laughing) I don't know. I know bloodhounds are used to track things, but I-- - You don't feed them blood if they don't-- - You don't feed bloodhounds bags of blood? - You feed a bloodhound some blood and it barks for every minute. - And it goes, "A positive. "Universal donor." - "Dead for five minutes." (laughter) - Right now we're at the site of the first murder. This is Mary Ann Nichols. They found her at the western end of Buck's Row, which is now Durward Street. You can kind of see where it was. Like, see that building right there with the white windows? We can't go over there 'cause there's construction now. - It's a growing city. - But just below that and a little bit towards us, she was found in the gateway of one of the houses that lined this street before. Kind of similar to these gateways here. I mean, it's kind of weird to think that they didn't know this was the first of what would be the most infamous serial killer of all time. - One crazy summer. (laughter) - [Ryan] On September 8, 1888, the body of Annie Chapman was found at 29 Hanbury Street. Her body was discovered by a man named John Davis, an elderly resident of the 29 Hanbury Street building. Her throat was cut and this time the violence escalated in that the murderer took her womb. So this is the approximate location of the second killing. Annie Chapman was killed at 29 Hanbury Street, but my sources have told me that street actually moved. 29 Hanbury is actually over there, but where it approximately happened, back in the day, was around the entrance to Truman Brewery, which is right there. - Imagine the pandemonium. - [Ryan] Dr. George Baxter Phillips was serving as the divisional police surgeon at the time and proposed the idea that the killer had anatomical knowledge by the manner in which Annie Chapman's womb was removed. That's the first clue, he's a doctor. Probably. - Probably. - [Ryan] Or has basic anatomical knowledge. Later that month on September 27, 1888, the Central News Agency receives a letter from the apparent killer. It reads, "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 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 of the 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 lady's ears off "and send to the police officer 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 giving me the trade name. "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. Ha. Ha." - [Shane] Hoo, I mean.. What a piece of work. - [Ryan] Yeah, I-- I gotta give it to him though, - [Ryan] Jack the Ripper is a very catchy name. This guy had a knack for naming things. - He knows his brand. If this was happening today or if social media existed during this time-- - Oh, this guy would be a Viner for sure. - He'd be a Viner. He'd have extensive hashtags on every post. - Instagood. Instafood. - #Ripped. - This letter wasn't released to the public until October 1st and many believe that it was fabricated by a journalist, but regardless, it made its way to the papers. Once in the eyes of the public, the name stuck, and the killer from that point on went by the now famous moniker, Jack the Ripper. Three days later on September 30 at 1:00 a.m., the body of Elizabeth Stride was found on Berner Street by a man named Louis Diemschutz. Only her throat was cut, which led police to believe that the murder was interrupted when Diemschutz approached. Right now we're walking up on the site of the second murder, Elizabeth Stride. She was found by a man right around here. This is now, I think, a schoolyard. Well a lot of people actually question whether or not this was the Ripper because her throat was cut rather hastily. None of the other little tricks that he pulled. No disembowelment, none of that stuff. Almost as if he was walked up on and he had to run. - Yeah, just, "Oh, gotta murder this one quickly." - Can't do the whole fixin's here. It was determined that she was dead for 30 minutes when examined around 1:15 a.m. Shockingly, only 45 minutes after the discovery of Elizabeth Stride, another body was found in Mitre Square, just west of the Stride murder. A woman named Catherine Eddowes was the second victim in the same night. Her body was severely mutilated, including her face. Her uterus was removed, as well as her left kidney. So only 45 minutes after the murder of Elizabeth Stride, investigators stumbled upon the body of Catherine Eddowes here. - Like, right here? - In this general area. There used to be a flowerbed here that was kind of, in a way, served as a memorial for her, but this was just, like I said, 45 minutes after a murder had just happened about 10 to 15 minutes away. Walking distance. What's weird is that after he killed Catherine Eddowes here, he went back towards the direction of the first murder. - This guy knows how to zag. - Either that or he just knew the police routes. - I think he's just a zagger. - So the body is back there. Right now we're walking somewhat near the path that he would have taken away, walking east away from the body and then we're about to arrive at a site where he dropped one of the only clues he actually left investigators. It's here that police would discover one of the few solid clues in the entire case, a piece of Catherine Eddowes apron found near the scene of the crime. The apron was found by Alfred Long in the doorway of an apartment block near Goulston Street, a nearby street east of the Eddowes murder site. Near this apron a message was written in chalk that read, "The Juwes are the men that will not be blame for nothing." A sign of the anti-Semitism that was common in the area. However, the crucial detail of this clue is the fact that it was found east of the Eddowes murder site, in the direction of Elizabeth Stride's murder site, the murder that occurred just 45 minutes prior. This perplexing decision could mean that the killer willingly entered an area that was swarming with cops. Aside from demonstrating the killer's evasive abilities, this could suggest the killer lived in this East London area, as it possibly explains the motive for entering a dangerous situation. Later, a postcard is received by the police department dated October 1st and written by someone also claiming to be the Ripper with similar handwriting. "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 the time to get ears for police. "Thanks for keeping last letter back "till I got to work again. "Jack the Ripper." This isn't confirmed, but there is information out there that this postcard was received by the press agency, or whoever received it, the morning after the night of the double event. The thing being there that's strange is none of the public knew about this double event because it hadn't been in papers yet. Yet this guy was able to describe what happened in detail. - Yeah 'cause they're not runnin' around. - No, there's not like-- - Two people got murdered tonight. - There's not Twitter. Pass it down. Yeah, they're not playing a giant game of telephone with dixie cups. There isn't Twitter. So it's possible and quite likely that if the timing of this is true, this is Jack the Ripper. On the 13th of October in 1888, the police spent a week searching every house in the East Densworth slums, but found nothing. On October 16th, a man named George Lusk received a letter. Lusk was the head of the Mile End Vigilance Committee, a group comprised of local businessmen to assist the police. The letter was signed "from hell" and it was delivered in a box with half a human kidney. The kidney, at the time, was believed to be Catherine Eddowes' missing kidney. However, it was found to be a prank by a medical student. - [Shane] Wait, so the "from hell" letter was a medical student? That's disappointing. - [Ryan] I suppose, yeah. - 'Cause I love "from hell." Just that as a sign off. - From hell. - This also demonstrates the climate surrounding this. People weren't like, "This is the worst thing on Earth." - They're like, "Well we can have fun with this." - "Wouldn't it be funny--" - It's like the Ice Bucket Challenge. (laughter) Let's everybody get involved in this. - Nearly a month later, on November 9, 1888, the body of the fifth and final canonical victim, Mary Kelly, was found at 13 Millers Court in her bed by her landlord's assistant, who was seeking rent. This murder was by far the most gruesome as her body was disemboweled and "virtually skinned down." This is the last victim. It's a little tricky because where there used to be an apartment building is now, as you can see, it's a parking lot or a car park so we can't really know where exactly it was, but we know it was near the church. We know it was near the Ten Bells Pub. We could be actually at the place of residence of Jack himself. Here's the landlord on the state of the body. "The sight that we saw I cannot drive away from my mind. "It looked more like the work of a devil than of a man." And with that we arrive at the end of the five canonical victims, but as stated before, some believe there could be up to 11 victims. With Jack the Ripper's reign of terror, one should wonder if anybody caught a glimpse of this monster, and it would seem that people did. When aggregating eyewitness testimonies of those who believed they saw the Ripper, a rough outline of the killer can be visualized. It can be assumed that he was between 25 to 35 years old, roughly 5'5 to 5'7, stocky, with a fair complexion, and a mustache. Allegedly, he was seen wearing a dark overcoat and a dark hat. The Scotland Yard's Violent Crime Command team has said that Jack the Ripper, who one could call evil incarnated, could be described in appearance as "perfectly sane, frighteningly normal, "and yet capable of extraordinary cruelty." Sir Melville MacNaughten, the Scotland Yard's head of the criminal investigation department in 1903, had a general suspicion of who the killer was. He knew that the Ripper had basic knowledge of anatomy, possibly a doctor and in McNaughten's notes he had narrowed his list of suspects down to three names. That being said, due to the overwhelming amount of compelling suspects and the fact that many feel the official three are not the Ripper, we're going to examine eight names, starting with McNaughten's three official suspects. The first suspect was Montague Johnson Druitt. Druitt was a barrister who may have had an uncle and cousin who were doctors. Around the time of his death, Druitt may have been around the age of 40 and supposedly had an interest in surgery. Montague possibly lived with his cousin who was practicing medicine close to where the Whitechapel murderers occurred. It also appears that about a month before the first canonical murder, Montague's mother went insane and Montague had written in a note that he feared he was also going insane. In his notes, McNaughten adds, "From private information, "I have little doubt but that his own family "suspected this man of being the Whitechapel murderer; "it was alleged that he was sexually insane." After the final murder, Montague disappeared, only to be found dead within four weeks of the last murder. His body was found floating in the Thames River on December 3rd, 1888. - I get the sense, this is only the first suspect, but I have a hunch everyone we look at is going to have 10 things that make them sound like they are definitely Jack the Ripper because London at the time sounds like it was full of insane psychopaths. - [Ryan] The second suspect was Michael Ostrog, a Russian doctor and a criminal. Ostrog has been in an asylum previously for homicidal tendencies. McNaughten notes that Ostrog couldn't provide a strong alibi for his whereabouts during the murders. Ultimately, he was not convicted because there wasn't enough evidence linking him to the crime. - [Shane] How does a homicidal tendency work? You just dabble in murdering someone? - [Ryan] Yeah, I don't know if that's tendencies. You either murder someone or you don't. I can't imagine there's a half measure there. - [Shane] "He only killed a nanny." - [Ryan] Yeah, (wheeze) yeah. - [Shane] It was a funny thing when he was 15. - [Ryan] The third suspect was Aaron Kosminski, a Polish and Jewish resident of Whitechapel, who spent some time in an asylum in 1889 after the last murder. Kosminski would actually reside in asylums until his death in 1919. Kosminski was known for his hatred towards women, particularly prostitutes. According to McNaughten, his appearance matched descriptions provided by the police of a man in Mitre Square, which, if you'll recall, was the night of the double murder, where the Ripper likely zig-zagged between the police. Kosminski might be a name familiar to the public due to the fact that recently his name made headlines due to his being featured in a book entitled, "Naming Jack the Ripper." In this book, Russell Edwards claims that a shawl purchased at an auction contains DNA evidence proving Kosminski is the killer. The shawl was bought under the impression that it reportedly was at the murder scene on the person of Catherine Eddowes, the fourth ripper victim. Edwards enlisted the help of molecular biologist Jari Louhelainen of Liverpool John Moores University. Edwards and Louhelainen believed the blood stained shawl is connected to Catherine Eddowes, based off of comparison from one of Eddowes' descendants. They also claim that semen on the scarf is linked to relatives of Kosminski. With this discovery, many felt that the case was closed, including Edwards. Which if it was true, that's the smoking gun, right? - [Shane] You got semen, you got blood. - [Ryan] Time to drag his name in the mud? - [Shane] Oh, I like that! You got the semen, got the blood, drag his name on through that mud. - [Ryan] There you go. That's not bad. It isn't bad, but let's find out why we can't do that. "I've got the only piece of forensic evidence "in the whole history of the case. "I've spent 14 years working on it, "and we have definitely solved the mystery "of who Jack the Ripper was. "Only non-believers "that want to perpetuate the myth will doubt. "This is it now - we have unmasked him." - [Shane] So he's confident. - [Ryan] He's very confident. - [Shane] But he's also spent a bunch of money and time on this. - I can understand why he's confident. He thought he has it from the beginning, then he goes to a molecular biologist, that guy analyzes it and goes, "Yeah!" I'd be gloating like, a fuckload. Could you imagine that? You just solved one of the greatest mysteries of all time because you got confirmation that you wanted to hear. But much to the chagrin of Mr. Edwards, that may not be the case. It turns out that the scientist may have made a critical error of nomenclature. Summed up, Dr. Louhelainen identified a mutation in DNA on both the scarf and in Eddowes' relative named Karen Miller. This mutation was believed to be named 314.1C, a mutation only found in 1 in 290,000 people, making it very likely it was a match. However, this identification was reportedly incorrect and was not 314.1C, but instead 315.1C, which is a mutation shared by more than 99% of people of European descent. Basically, this DNA could be anyone if true. - [Shane] So it went from being "it's that guy!" to "it's one of those million people." - Basically, it was like, "Oh! "The blood on the scarf and Eddowes' descendant "had this very, very rare mutation. "Oh wait, I misnamed the mutation. I"t's actually this other one, which--" - Wasn't he wrong? - Exactly. He hit a wrong keystroke and then oh, all the sudden, 99% of European people have this mutation. Furthermore, Kosminski's DNA was linked to the scarf, using mitochondrial DNA, using a subtype that is far from unique. Sir Alec Jeffreys, who's regarded as the godfather of DNA fingerprinting, has said that this evidence "needs to be subjected to peer review. "No actual evidence has yet been provided." Further adding fuel to the fire of skeptics is the fact that Dr. Louhelainen has yet to publish this finding in a peer-reviewed scientific journal and has refused to answer questions to news outlets. Thus, making it impossible to verify his and Edwards' claims and effectively doing quite the opposite. - How did Edwards react to this? - Could you imagine getting the call? Like, this doctor having to pick up the phone and be like, "Oh fuck." - Hello. - Remember that scarf I told you was a.. - Why yes. The most famous piece of evidence in the world. - Yeah, about that. I think my pinky may have hit the five when I was tryin' to hit the four and it turns out it's kind of useless and proves nothing so all that smack you've been talkin' in the press kind of makes you look like a big fool. - I've wasted my life. - The fourth suspect is the notion that Jack the Ripper was actually a female. A theory that ripperologists call Jill the Ripper. This theory was allegedly a hunch of famed inspector Abberline, as well. The idea that all of the police were on the hunt for a man when they should have been searching for a woman would explain the Ripper being able to slip by without suspicion. ????? pointed out that a midwife would have sufficient anatomical knowledge and blood on her clothing would have raised no eyebrows. Though, it should be pointed out that all eyewitness testimony points to a man. I love this theory. I think it makes sense that a woman would be able to slide through the crowd in a way that all these stupid police, not stupid police but police, would be able to not pick up on it because they're looking for a man with a mustache. Far cry from a midwife covered in blood. - Feels a little too Joss Whedon-y for me. - Like, what if Jack the Ripper was a lady? - The fifth suspect is Prince Albert Victor Christian Edward, aka "The Royal Conspiracy." - You know how they say you never trust someone with two first names? This guy's got four of 'em. - So that either doubles that mistrust or it cancels it out. Four names, fuck with me. That's what he said. - I'm gonna double it. - I'm gonna cancel it out. - This theory is often scoffed at, but is still perpetuated due to its wild popularity. Prince Edward was known to frequent areas where the victims were found, an activity that led to him contracting syphilis, which some believe drove him to insanity. Some posit that this also resulted in Albert having a child with a local woman and Queen Victoria demanded that everyone who knew of the child to be taken care of. Some believe that the insanity spawned by syphilis drove him to commit the murders himself. Conspiracy theorists believe he was never discovered because royal aids assisted in covering his identity. However, as mentioned before, this theory is mostly regarded as ludicrous as there is no substantial evidence to indicate its credibility. Looking into this, it's pretty clear that the movements of a prince let alone, or anybody that the Queen would hire, would be able to be tracked, but I also do think they could cover it up. I don't know. I don't think it's that strong of a theory, but it is interesting. - I feel like if you've got so many things at your disposal. If you're a queen you probably have guards. I don't know. You'd get away with a lot. Just grab people off the street. - The sixth suspect is famed painter Walter Sickert, a theory mainly posed by the successful crime novelist Patricia Cornwell. After making millions on her crime novels, Cornwell has devoted her time to the pursuit of Sickert as the Ripper. In 2001, Cornwell spent 2 million pounds buying 32 of Sickert's paintings, letters, and even Sickert's writing desk in one bizarre stunt that was described by art curator Richard Shone as "monstrous stupidity." Cornwell went full National Treasure Nicholas Cage by cutting up a painting in search of clues. Aside from stunts, Cornwell rightfully claims that Sickert was obsessed with the Ripper, which was true. Sickert referenced the Ripper in some of his paintings, even titling one "Jack the Ripper's Bedroom." Cornwell claims one painting mirrors the body position of fifth Ripper victim, Mary Kelly. She claims another painting mimics the facial wounds of fourth Ripper victim, Catherin Eddowes. There are also reportedly accounts of Sickert cosplaying as Jack the Ripper. You realize this is before cosplay was a thing. I don't even know if Halloween was that big of a thing. - [Shane] Are you kiddin' me? They had like Carnivale. They had Venetian masks. They had a whole ton of weird shit back. - [Ryan] You don't find it strange that a grown man is dressing up as Jack the Ripper for fun? No holiday. - This just feels like when people shame furries. Just let 'em live their life. If they wanna dress up like a pony-- - Okay, this is the furthest thing from a furry. A furry is just dressing up as an a furry creature because you have a sexual thing. - Why are they so muscular all the time? - I don't care about that. Dressing up as a furry animal is a far cry from dressing up as a serial killer. - It's fucking weird. - It's like a horse with pecs, right? - I think you're getting lost in the furry culture. - It's strange. - You just said people were shaming them. - I'm not shaming it, I just don't understand it. - Cornwell also shoots down the notion that Sickert's alibi was that he was in France at the onset of the murders. She cites sketches that place him in London in music halls at the time of at least three killings. By the way, anybody could sketch anybody. That means if I drew a sketch of you murdering somebody back in the day, I could show up to the police station and be like, here it is. Here is evidence that Shane Madej, in cold blood, killed this woman dressed as a furry. - But I feel like you would do that. - And they'd be like, "You're right. "We've had a lot of reports "that Shane Madej is in fact a furry." - Slap the cuffs on those hooves. (laughter) - However, the biggest piece of her case is the analysis of forensic paper expert Peter Bower. Bower identified three of Sickert's letters and two of the Ripper's letters as coming from a handmade paper run of only 24 possible sheets. Basically, the odds of both the Ripper and Sickert both writing letters on a batch of paper that only had 24 copies in existence is relatively slim, and while that is undoubtedly compelling evidence, it should be reminded that all of the Jack the Ripper letters are unconfirmed. I think he probably didn't do it, but he is indeed a weirdo. - Yeah, he's a weirdo, but I don't think we need to throw him in jail for it. - The seventh suspect is Joseph Barnett, who's particularly suspicious as he actually lived with Mary Kelly, the final Ripper victim. In fact, Barnett may have lived in 10 different locations in East London, making him well versed in the area and capable of navigating back streets. Barnett worked as a fish porter and it's believed that Barnett was in love with Kelly. According to an issue of the Daily Telegraph, on November 10, 1888, Barnett referred to Mary Kelly as "his wife," when she was in fact only a roommate. Barnett also disagreed with Mary's life as a prostitute and strived to make money to keep her off the streets. "Marie never went on the streets when she lived with me." Some theorize that Barnett committed the first murders to scare Kelly off the streets, which, for a time, actually worked. But when Barnett lost his job, Kelly returned to the street to make ends meet. Their financial struggles often led to fights and Barnett also disliked Kelly's love of gin. This culminated in one final fight over Kelly bringing home two different prostitutes, an act that Joseph found unacceptable. This fight apparently got violent. Even a window was broken. Shortly after, Barnett moved out and only 10 days later, Mary Kelly was found dead in her apartment. After the murder, Barnett was questioned for four hours, but eventually set free. Having lived there, Barnett would have intimate knowledge of the household, including how to unlock the door from the outside. He was also aware of Kelly's schedule and tendencies. Details from the scene suggest Kelly was killed in her sleep, not by an outsider she invited in. Her clothes were folded by the bed "as though they had been taken off in the ordinary manner," and she was wearing a night gown. As a fish porter, Barnett would have crude anatomical knowledge. - [Shane] They posit that he had anatomical knowledge because he was a fish porter? - [Ryan] As a known associate of Kelly's, he would be someone local prostitutes knew, allowing him to get close enough for a sneak attack. Reportedly, one newspaper of the time stated that Barnett's friends called him Jack. He also matches the physical description and the psychological profile created of Jack the Ripper by the FBI, and finally, the murders allegedly stopped after Mary Kelly, the last canonical victim. After her death, Barnett would have no other reason to kill anymore now that his lover, who he was trying to keep of the streets, was now dead. - [Shane] I like it. - Pretty good, right? I mean, also to me, most of them, frankly, are very circumstantial. This one, to me, it - while also circumstantial, seems the closest to actual evidence in that he lived with her, they fought ten days before her death, he was not a fan of prostitution, he tried to keep her off the streets. I could totally see him killing people to try and scare her from doing that, right? - The motive here is certainly the most compelling. - For sure. - Out of all of the suspects. - And even the access is the most compelling. This is the only one where I feel like there was a very clear tie between the possible killer and the victim. The eighth and final suspect is the most popular suspect on casebook.org, a site devoted to Jack the Ripper and a place for ripperologists to work together to solve the case. The final suspect is James Maybrick. Maybrick's death coincided with the stopping of the Ripper killings, as he died one year after the murders. Maybrick was an upper-class cotton merchant who resided in an estate called the "Battlecrease House" in Liverpool. Some would consider this to be a damning detail, as many feel the Ripper was a local man who likely wasn't upper-class. However, it should be pointed out that all the murders were committed on a weekend. It stands to reason that a wealthy cotton merchant would have the ability to travel on weekends and it is also worth mentioning that he would have the benefit of not killing in his own locale. Though, what makes Maybrick such a popular suspect is what many consider the biggest piece of physical evidence that links him to the crimes. That piece of evidence is a diary reportedly discovered under the floorboards of Maybrick's estate. A diary that is signed, "I give my name that all know of me, "so history do tell what love can do to a gentleman born. "Yours truly, Jack the Ripper." Also within the diary are reportedly intimate details of the killings. Backing up the diaries authenticity are scientific tests that have confirmed the diary seems to roughly match the era of the Ripper killings. The diary was apparently discovered by a scrap metal dealer named Mike Barrett and this is where the story starts to lose its footing. Barrett actually admitted that he fabricated the diary only to recant the statement later, chalking it up to not wanting the publicity as he was going through a failing marriage. Also shaky is the definitive details of the discovery of the diary. Some sources have it falling into Barrett's hands via being handed down by various generations of family. While other sources have Barrett discovering it himself or Barrett's associates discovering it and then giving it to him due to their knowledge of Barrett being an aspiring author. However, all that aside, if the diary was in fact found under the floorboards of Maybrick's estate, it is a very strong possibility that he was in fact Jack the Ripper. Following this discovery, a gold pocket watch was reported as potential Ripper evidence. The watch apparently contains the scratched initials of the five canonical victims, in addition to the phrase, "I am Jack," and also "J. Maybrick." The scratches were analyzed via electron microscope by Dr. Stephen Turgoose, whose studies suggests that the scratches were not done in modern times. Another doctor named Robert Wild at Bristol University's Interface Analysis Center concluded that the scratches "could have been very, very old and were certainly not new, "but it is difficult to be precise." The watch, which was displayed in a Liverpool jewelry shop by a college caretaker named Elbert Johnson, is dated 1846 and was purchased for 225 pounds. But given the circus around the main piece of evidence and Maybrick's far location from the crimes, it's understandable to have doubts of him as the Ripper. - I don't know, I liked the other guy better. - Barnett? Yeah. Yeah, I think I might, too. From just looking at circumstance, it seems like he'd be the most likely. - This guy seems like kind of a boring fuddy duddy. Like, a rich guy who's like, "Ah, I guess I'll go into town this weekend "and murder some people." - Like, he's treating it like, playing 18 holes, right? Yeah, I could see that. - "And back for some squash." - I do think these are the two strongest ones. - Yeah. - And if I had to put money on it, I'd probably say Barnett, too. - All right. - You don't seem as convinced as I thought you would be. I thought this was really cool. A hidden diary under floorboards. A watch. - I know you don't like to hear this. This is sort of my approach to a lot of these real old true crime ones and sort of a JFK approach. - Oh no, I know what you're going to here. No, please don't say it. - Let it be a mystery. - Oh my.. - We'll never know. We'll just never know. - You'd be a very, very bad judge. - Why? - Let it be a mystery (pounding of table). (laughter) Court is adjourned. For over 100 years, the mystery of Jack the Ripper has continued to fascinate, confound, and infuriate the public. Perhaps one day we will have the means to solve the crime. Or perhaps this famous case will be yet another victim to time. But, for now, the age old question will continue to persist. Who was Jack the Ripper? The case remains unsolved. - Saucy Jack, truly saucy. Saucy guy. - Kind of a douche. - Well, I mean, you could say that about most murderers, right? - Yeah, they're all douches. - You ever think that was someone's last word to a murderer? - "You're a douchebag." Slash. (laughter) - All right. (faint, perplexed music)
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Channel: BuzzFeed Unsolved Network
Views: 15,412,322
Rating: 4.9334941 out of 5
Keywords: BuzzFeed, Buzzfeed unsolved, England, Jack the Ripper, London, Victorian, case, cold case, cold-case, creepy, creepypasta, crime, crime scene, criminal, demon, detective, detectives, doctor, eerie, ghost, haunted, investigate, investigation, investigative, knife, monster, murder, mystery, paranormal, photos, pics, prostitute, ryan bergara, scary, serial killer, shane madej, spooky, strange, supernatural, theories, theory, true crime, unexplained, unsolved, unsolved mystery, weird
Id: qg2nGY1aqlg
Channel Id: undefined
Length: 37min 17sec (2237 seconds)
Published: Fri Jan 26 2018
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