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| Jack the Ripper killed at least five women and is believed to have murdered as many as 11 |
Jack the Ripper's crimes are as terrifying today as they were more than 130 years ago when his gruesome murders terrorised the East End of London.
The notorious serial killer is believed to have been responsible for the brutal deaths of 11 prostitutes during the 1880s.
Even in the violent times that gripped the poverty-stricken East End, these murders shocked and kept the capital in fear and the rest of the country fascinated.
At least three of Jack the Ripper's victims had their internal organs removed.
This led to speculation that the killer was a doctor or surgeon.
At the height of his killing spree, several newspapers and the police received letters from a man claiming to be the killer.
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| Experts now believe the killer could have been wealthy cotton salesman James Maybrick |
In one of these letters, which many believe were nothing more than an elaborate hoax, the killer described himself as Jack the Ripper and the name stuck.
The most famous correspondence, now known as the From Hell letter, included part of a preserved human kidney and was sent to George Lusk from the Whitchapel Vigilance Committee.
While the murders were never solved, or even comprehensively linked, they have lived on in folklore for more than 130 years.
Five women, Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes and Mary Jane Kelly, were all killed between August 31 and November 9.
They became known as the "canonical five" and of all the killings, these are the murders which are most likely linked.
At the time of the murders, there were more than 1,000 prostitutes working in Whitechapel, East London.
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Our culture is fascinated by
true
crime. Many
serial killers have become household names for the notoriety
surrounding their cases, like Ted
Bundy and
Jeffrey Dahmer.
Others remain nameless, known
only by their crimes and victims. Here are the most notorious cases that remain
unsolved to this day.
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Violence against sex workers was common in the late 19th century and even though there are rumours Jack the Ripper killed 11 women, five were deemed definitely the work of one man.
Each of the canonical five had their throats slit before they were stabbed dozens of times in their stomach and genitals.
Several of their internal organs were then removed before their faces were mutilated beyond recognition.
Each of the five women died gruesome, terrible deaths - and then suddenly the Ripper stopped.
Mary Kelly is believed to have been his last victim
Her horribly mutilated body was found on the bed of the single room she rented in Spitalfields in the East End.
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| A knife allegedly used by Jack the Ripper during his East End London murders |
She had been disembowelled and her face had been "hacked beyond all recognition".
Mary's throat had been slit so violently it was severed down to her spine and almost all her organs had been removed from her abdomen.
Her uterus, kidneys and one breast were carefully placed beneath her head, with other organs left on her bedside table.
Chillingly, Mary's heart had been removed from the crime scene.
For 130 years Jack the Ripper's identity has remained a mystery.
There were rumours he was a gentleman, a surgeon, even a member of the royal family.
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| Did Liverpool cotton salesman James Maybrick confess to being Jack the Ripper in his diary |
But could the killer have given himself away with his own diary.
When the diary of James Maybrick, a cotton salesman from Liverpool, was discovered in contained vital clues.
The 9,000 word record of his life included harrowing details of six twisted murders that Maybrick claimed to have carried out at the end of the 19th century.
He admitted to killing a woman in Manchester but crucially also to butchering five women in London's East End.
Maybrick signed the diary "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."
Following its discovery 25 years ago many have doubted its authenticity and argued it had been written in the years after the murder took place.
But director Bruce Robinson, who also wrote Withnail and I, believes he can prove the diary is genuine.
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| Maybrick signed his own diary Jack the Ripper |
Maybrick was a wealthy man and lived in a mansion called Battlecrease House.
His diary was found under the floorboards of the house in 1992 by an electrician.
He passed it to a scrap metal dealer, who kept it secret for many years.
Robinson and his team of researchers traced to book back to the home and discovered that Maybrick died in 1889 - the year after Jack the Ripper's final murder took place.
Could it be that after avoiding detection for more than 130 years, Jack the Ripper's identity had finally been revealed by the killer himself?
