The Murders of Jack the Ripper

this video was brought to you by magellan tv if you love watching documentaries like i do you should definitely look into magellan tv and their outstanding on-demand video streaming service we highly recommend you to watch their documentary on jack the ripper the invention of the serial killer to discover more about one of the most famous unsolved mysteries of english crime watch this documentary to learn more about the attacks that happened in the slums of the east end of london which shocked the entire nation and the authorities that with strenuous and sometimes curious efforts tried to trap and catch the predator all to no avail magellan tv exemplifies the great traditions of documentary filmmaking the quest to capture unique imagery venture into the unknown and tell compelling stories based on the insights of historians scientists and explorers you can also dive into their other extensive genres such as science true crime travel and more with over three 000 documentaries movies and series with many available at 4k high def they have the largest collection out there and their weekly content drops ensure you'll never run out of things to watch simple history viewers can get a one month free trial to make sure you love what magellan tv has to offer click the link in the description to try magellan tv now jack the ripper serial killer born unknown victims 5 canonical date 1888 location the east end of london in the year 1888 victorian england london's east end white chapel was an overcrowded slum occupied by almost a million of the city's poorest citizens the streets stank of filth and living conditions were harsh addiction was common comfort often came at the bottom of a bottle of gin many women resorted to prostitution as a means of survival from their extreme poverty one such woman was 44 year old marianne polly nichols nichols was the first known canonical victim of a serial killer known as jack the ripper at least a further four women would fall prey to this violent psychopath but despite countless investigations the murderer's identity is still unknown nichols had found employment in london as a domestic servant but had struggled to keep her job due to alcoholism after losing her employment she moved into a common lodging house on the night of august the 30th 1888 nichols was struggling to pay for her bed she left the lodging house sometime around 11 pm intending to raise the funds by prostituting herself her old roommate ellen holland tried to convince her to return with her for the night given it was nearing 2am nichols had bragged that she had raised her lodging money three times already that night but kept spending it on alcohol she appeared unconcerned however and the two-parted company nichols was last seen walking towards white chapel road her body was discovered approximately one hour later the death of a prostitute was nothing new in white chapel as it was dangerous work but the way nichols had been killed was shocking nichol's throat was cut deeply by two wounds one of which had completely severed the tissue down to the vertebrae her abdomen had violent incisions inflicted upon both sides the lower part of her abdomen was partly ripped open by a deep jagged wound causing her bowels to protrude nickels had not just been murdered she had been severely mutilated one week after the grim discovery of nichols body on saturday the 8th of september the body of 47 year old annie chapman was found similar to nichols chapman also suffered from alcoholism lived in a lodging house and resorted to prostitution to earn money chapman's throat like nickels had also been slashed her vocal cord severed she would have been unable to scream her abdomen had been entirely sliced open and she was disemboweled a section of flesh from her stomach had been deliberately placed upon her left shoulder another section of skin flesh and her small intestines were removed and placed above her right shoulder the autopsy revealed that sections of her bladder had been removed it is suspected that the killer took these body parts as a sick souvenir in the early morning hours of sunday the 30th of september 1888 the killer struck again this time claiming two victims mere hours apart the body of elizabeth stride aged 44 was found by louis diem schutz as he drove his horse into wheeled cart diem schutz was the steward of the international working men's education club stride's body was in a poorly lit adjacent yard unlike the other victims her body had not been mutilated but blood was still flowing freely from a single knife wound inflicted on the throat and her body was still warm this suggests that stride had only been killed shortly before deemed schutz's arrival perhaps the sound of his approaching cart had interrupted the killer her lack of injuries and mutilation led some to believe that she was not killed by jack the ripper but by someone else several patrons of the club reported only leaving the premises between 12 30 and 12 50 a.m later reporting to police that they had not observed anything amiss it appears the killer was not satisfied with the death of stride as only three quarters of an hour after the discovery of her body he struck again catherine eddowes was 46 years old and had been out drinking on the night of her murder she was so heavily intoxicated by 8 30 pm that she had been taken into custody to sober up she was released at 1am her body was found in mitre square about a mile away from stride's body like the other victims eddow's throat had been severed she was also disemboweled and had her intestines placed over her right shoulder the left kidney and most of her uterus had been removed this time the killer went further with his mutilation disfiguring her face her nose was removed her cheeks slashed and cuts incised vertically through each of her eyelids the police surgeon who conducted the postmortem on edo's body stated that he believed the mutilations would have taken at least five minutes to complete two weeks later on the 16th of october the white chapel vigilance committee received a male parcel with a human kidney in it and a letter addressed from hell claiming that the kidney was from edo's body many contemporary observers and most modern historians believe however that the kidney was not genuine and more likely sent as a prank the murders of stride and eddos ultimately became known as the double event this time a clue was left close at the scene of the crime in a doorway in gulstan street only a short walk away from mitre square police found a section of edo's bloodied apron a chalk inscription was marked on the wall directly above the apron which read the jews are the men that will not be blamed for nothing the message appeared to imply that a jewish person or the jewish people were responsible for the series of murders it is unknown whether the statement was written by the murderer who deliberately placed the apron there or if it was merely incidental and had nothing to do with the case since graffiti was common in white chapel the police commissioner charles warren feared that the graffiti might stir up anti-semitic riots and ordered the writing washed away before dawn mary jane kelly was the last known victim of jack the ripper she was much younger than the other victims at only 25. mary jane kelly was murdered on friday the 9th of november 1888 similar to the other four victims kelly was also living as a prostitute unlike the other four victims who had been murdered outdoors and whose mutilations were rushed kelly was killed within the small room she rented at 13 miller's court off dorset street this afforded her killer an extensive period to take their time in disfiguring and mutilating the body kelly was last seen alive by the witness george hutchinson they met at around 2 a.m on commercial street she asked him for a loan of 6 pence but he didn't have it she then walked in the direction of thrall street and on the way was picked up by a well-dressed man who she led towards her lodgings on dorset street hutchinson described the man with kelly as wearing a coat trimmed with astrican fur a black tie with a horseshoe pin button over boots and a large gold chain hanging from his waistcoat hutchinson's description helped fuel the theory that the ripper was from the upper class of society but police questioned if his statement was credible the shocking discovery of her body was made the next morning kelly's landlord john mccarthy had sent his assistant former soldier thomas boyer to collect the rent kelly was six weeks behind on her payments and owed 29 shillings at around 10 45 a.m boyer knocked on her door after receiving no response he moved aside some clothing that was used to plug a broken window looking through the window boyer found kelly's extensively mutilated corpse lying on the bed and he quickly reported his ghastly fine to the police kelly's body was lying in the middle of the bed shoulders flat but inclined slightly to the left her head also turned on its left side kelly's throat had been severed down to the spine and her face had been hacked beyond all recognition her nose cheeks eyebrows and ears had been partly removed kelly's abdomen had been almost completely emptied of its organs both breasts had been sliced off her uterus kidneys and one breast had been placed beneath her head the other breast was placed on her right foot her liver was found between her feet and the spleen by the left side of the body her intestines had been removed and scattered around her feet about the bed and with sections draped upon the bedside table her thighs had been stripped of skin flesh and muscle the heart was missing from the crime scene and it was speculated that the killer took it with them it's estimated that the murderer had spent about two hours with her body dr thomas bond and dr baxter phillips examined the body and determined that she had died between three to nine hours before she was discovered phillips believed that like other victims kelly's life was ended by the slash to her throat and the mutilations performed afterwards bond stated in a report the knife used was about one inch or 25 millimeters wide and at least eight inches or 50 millimeters long despite what newspapers had reported at the time bond believed that the murderer didn't have any specialized medical training or knowledge it was clear however that the killer needed to not only murder his victims but the mutilations were a vital aspect of their ritual while some researchers disagree mary kelly is generally considered to be the ripper's final victim it's often assumed that the crimes ended because the culprit either died was imprisoned institutionalized or emigrated out of the city [Applause] the jack the ripper murders presented the victorian police with a type of crime they had little experience of handling detectives who dealt with the investigation into the murders found themselves hunting for a killer who was leaving very few clues the police lacked many of the techniques that their 21st century counterparts would take for granted in a murder investigation of this kind this included fingerprinting modern forensics and psychological profiling even crime scene photography was a new technology that was simply not utilized as it would be today the murders were committed in one of the most crime-ridden quarters of london where the secrecy of criminal elements and the white chapel residents mistrust of the police hampered the investigation during and after the murders hundreds of letters were sent into the police department and local press claiming to be written by the murderer most of these letters were quickly deemed to be fake either written by people trying to create more terror or by the journalists themselves trying to sell more newspapers almost all letters have been disregarded by ripper experts as hoaxes but it is possible that at least one letter may have been a genuine clue from the killer on october 16 1888 george lusk the president of the white chapel vigilance committee received a three-inch square cardboard box in the mail inside was a letter and disturbingly half of a human kidney preserved in wine the letter including spelling errors read as follows from hell mr lusk sir i send you half the kidney i took from one woman and preserved it for you tell her peace i fried and ate it it was very nice i may send you the bloody knife that took it out if you wait a while longer signed catch me when you can mr lusk while medical reports found the kidney to be like the one removed from catherine eddos insofar as it was taken from the left side without dna testing it's impossible to know if it was hers at first the police suspected that the murders must have been carried out by one of the local criminal gangs in the area prostitutes were often managed by gangs and it was thought that the victims had been attacked by their pimps as a punishment for either disobeying them or as intimidation or a warning sign to the other women under the gang's control emma smith was murdered by such a gang in whitechapel on the 4th of april 1888 a few months before the ripper murders started smith was bludgeoned about the face and received a deep cut to her ear she is sometimes considered a possible victim of jack but it seems unlikely as she initially survived her violent assault and reported that she had been attacked by at least two or three men by early september 1888 the police abandoned the idea that the murders were being committed by a local gang they concluded that the murders had generated so much publicity that at least one of the members would have informed on the others they focused their investigation on looking for a loan assassin john piser aka leather apron 1850-1897 shortly after the second murder fear within the white chapel community began to grow the police involved in the case soon received leads from locals to investigate john piser who was a polish jew who worked as a boot maker in white chapel according to the locals he also ran an extortion racket and regularly intimidated local prostitutes piser would later demand money from them threatening to rip them apart if they refused nicknamed leather apron because of the leather apron he wore to work he was known to always carry a knife he was said to have the ability to move around the poorly lit night street silently making it hard for anyone to be aware of his presence while piser fit the profile of the killer he had alibis for the knights of the two most recent murders and was soon ruled out as a suspect severan klosowski aka george chapman 1865-1903 unrelated to the victim annie chapman klosowski was born in poland and apprenticed as a surgeon attending a course in practical surgery at a warsaw hospital he later emigrated to the uk shortly before the start of the murders between 1887 and 1888 where he later took on the name of chapman chapman worked as a barber in white chapel during the time of the murders and was regarded as the primary suspect by chief inspector frederick aberline chapman was investigated at the time everline interviewed chapman's second wife who told the inspector that her husband would often go out during the night for hours on end but there was little other evidence connecting him to the crimes at that time the inspector was right to be suspicious of chapman however and he remains a possible suspect because he later poisoned three of his wives using a compound known as tartar emedic which results in a painful death similar to arsenic poisoning he was hanged in 1903 for the murder of his wives despite being guilty of the murder of his wives most experts dismiss chapman as a possible suspect due to the difference in the killings since chapman favored poisoning rather than butchering francis tumblrty 1833-1903 francis tumbledy was an irish-american who made a small fortune posing as an indian herb doctor throughout the united states and canada he was connected to the death of one of his patients in boston but was able to escape prosecution tumbled he visited europe and often was temporarily a resident in a boarding house in the white chapel district during the period of the murders tumbled he was known to despise all women and claimed to possess a particular hatred for prostitutes he was known to host all male dinner parties in washington dc at which he would regularly display a collection of preserved female reproductive organs proudly boasting that they had come from every class of woman while in england in 1888 tumbletty was arrested on the 7th of november shortly before the murder of mary kelly he was arrested for apparently engaging in homosexuality which was regarded as a criminal offense at the time he fled to new york shortly after the murders and soon had the american press writing about his possible connection to the white chapel murders despite this he was never extradited back to england to this day tumblrty remains a possible suspect aaron kozminski 1865-1919 aaron kosminski was a polish jew who emigrated to england in the 1880s in july 1890 he was admitted to mile end old town workhouse following claims that he had been exhibiting threatening behavior with a knife towards women he worked as a hairdresser in white chapel during the time of the murders in 1888 and was considered a suspect at the time kozminski was also regarded as insane and spent time in and out of insane asylums he experienced auditory hallucinations paranoia and often refused to wash or bathe police regarded kozminski as one of their prime suspects but it's possible he was the victim of anti-semitism there was little evidence to connect him to the killings during the initial investigation the biggest piece of evidence linking kozminski to the murders would be found over a hundred years later the bloody shawl which belonged to the ripper's fourth victim catherine eddowes was bought at an auction by author russell edwards in 2007. the shawl still contained traces of blood in 2014 researchers compared the fragments of dna with living relatives of both edos and kosminsky and found that they matched those of kaminsky's relatives the initial results were met with skepticism as they lacked peer reviews the study's findings have not satisfied everyone however with many experts pointing out that the shawl is likely to have been contaminated over the years and that kozminski did not appear to fit the psychological profile expected of a psychopath in 2019 the tests were rerun again by liverpool john moores university and the university of leeds which correlated the fact that mitochondrial dna did indeed match both descendants of eros and kosminski the findings were again disputed by geneticists and other experts questioning the methodology used and the likelihood of contamination despite doubts it remains the strongest piece of forensic evidence linking the suspect to the murders more than 100 years later the jack the ripper murders remain one of the most famous and notorious mysteries of history which has inspired a whole industry of books films tv shows and graphic novels the locations have also become the must-see destination for a macabre tourist industry in london with tourists flocking to retrace the steps of jack the ripper and his unfortunate victims [Applause] uh [Music]

Channel: Simple History

Views: 767,597

Keywords: simple history, animated history, Serial killer, Jack The Ripper, The East End of London, white chapel murders, Mary Ann “Polly” Nichols, Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes, Mary Jane Kelly, from hell letter, Mitre Square, Dorset Street, George Hutchinson, Doctor Thomas Bond, Thomas Bowyer, Detectives, Victorian Police, metropolitan police, Leather Apron, John Pizer, Seweryn Klosowski, George Chapman, Francis Tumblety, Aaron Kosminski

Id: SIYWxZZ9igc

Length: 21min 45sec (1305 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 12 2021