Most of the stories, books, biographies and case studies that you have read about concentrated mostly on the murders in Whitechapel located in the East End of London. You have undoubtedly read about the victims, the ferocity of the grisly murders and the theories behind the reasons as to which the Ripper committed these fiendish acts. You scarcely hear about the unsettling letters he sent to the police, taunting them and laughing at them for their inability to catch him. There are those criminologists and biographers who think that his name was given to him by the Press and Law officials. This is a major misconception. The name, Jack the Ripper was created by the killer himself. In the first letter that he had sent to the police he signed it “Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper” and that is how his name came into fruition and gained public attention. Usually, it is the police or the newspapers that give murderers and serial killers their aliases to grab the readers’ attention. This is the only case on record in which the murderer provided the public with his own alias.

The first letter that was sent became known as the “Dear Boss” letter which had been received on September 27, 1888 at the Central News Agency. It was believed to be a hoax at first, but after the murders of Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddowes they soon realized that the letter was genuine. Especially when they had learned that the police had found Eddowess’ ear lobe was cut off just like the letter had foretold. One theory is that the Ripper was an uneducated vagabond that roamed the streets due to the broken English that the letter had showcased. The letter sent read as follows:

Dear Boss,

I keep on hearing the police have caught me but they wont 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 I 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 cant 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 officers 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

Dont mind me giving the trade name

PS Wasnt 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

On October 1st, the Central News Agency received a postcard with similar handwriting as the “Dear Boss” letter and made reference to the two murders that were mentioned in the letter. This became known as the “Saucy Jacky” Postcard. The message sent on the postcard was written as follows:

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. ha not the time to get ears for police. thanks for keeping last letter back till I got to work again.

Jack the Ripper

Shortly after these messages were sent, on October 16th, Mr. George Lusk who was the president of the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee had received a three-inch-squared box in the mail. Inside was another letter sent by the Ripper and along side of it was a human kidney that had been preserved in wine. The medical reports that were carried out by Dr. Thomas H. Openshaw had declared that the kidney was believed to be that of Catherine Eddowes though these findings remain to be inconclusive and unproven. The letter sent read:

From hell.

Mr Lusk,

Sor

I send you half the Kidne I took from one woman and prasarved it for you tother piece I fried and ate it was very nise. I may send you the bloody knif that took it out if you only wate a whil longer

signed

Catch me when you can Mishter Lusk

As you can clearly see from these letter that he had written and sent to the police, he felt that he was in no danger of being captured and brought to justice at all. In fact, he seemed to enjoy taunting the police as much as committing the murders he enjoyed so much. Everyone had their suspicions on who the Ripper could have been or what his occupation must have been, but no evidence was ever brought forth because no proof against anyone could be found. Suddenly in 1891 the murders ceased and the letters stopped. Jack the Ripper had disappeared into the night. No trace of him was ever found. It was almost like he was never there. For two years, the city of Whitechapel was terrorized by a madman. Now, he was gone. But not before taking five lives, terrorizing an entire city and carving his name into history. He would forever be remembered by everyone for his depraved actions. One man had an entire city living in terror and left the police paralyzed in who he was and how they could stop him. He was the most prolific serial killer that had ever existed.

Thus, ends our trip through the depraved mind of one of history’s most depraved serial killers. He was a man without a conscience and murdered five women right in the streets with ruthless audacity. Who was he? Where did he go? Why did he only kill prostitutes? We will never know the answers to these questions, but we will forever remember his name… Jack the Ripper.