624. Jack The Ripper: History’s Darkest Mystery (Part 1)
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Who was Jack the Ripper and why is he significant?
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Dear boss, I keep on hearing the police have caught me, but they won't fix me just yet. I've laughed when they look so clever and talk about being on the right track. That joke about leather apron gave me real fits. I'm down on whores and I shan't 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 I 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 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. Don't mind me giving the trade name. P.S. 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.
What were the circumstances surrounding the first murder attributed to Jack the Ripper?
Ah, ah. So that's the most notorious, the most infamous letter in the history of crime. And of course, it's so chilling. because of the mocking, sadistic tone, the tone almost of banter. And it was sent on the 27th of September, 1888, to the Central News Agency of London. And they sat on it for two days, unsure whether it was authentic, and then forwarded it to Scotland Yard. And this is the letter, Tom, that gives the name to somebody who at that point believed had killed probably two, possibly three, possibly more women on the streets of Whitechapel, an area of the east end of London that was notorious for poverty and crime and prostitution. And both of these women had had their throats cut and both had been hideously mutilated.
And then after the letter reached Scotland Yard, in the early hours of the 30th of September, the killer struck again, not once, but twice, the so-called double event. one of the most dramatic nights in the history of London. And then we come to the most horrific murder of all, which was on the 9th of November, wasn't it?
Yes, and that was, again, a woman eviscerated, but this time not on the streets as the other victims of the Whitechapel murderer had been, but in a cramped and mean room in a place called Miller's Court. in the dark heart of Whitechapel. And to those who saw that victim, it seemed, even compared to the previous victims, a vision of hell. So one of the witnesses was a woman who had lived above the victim, so directly above the murder scene. And she said, I could bear to look at it only for a second, but I can never forget the sight of it if I live to be 100. And another, the man who had forced the locked door of the victim's room, he said, the sight we saw, I cannot drive away from my mind. It looked more like the work of a devil than of a man.
But as it turns out, almost certainly, although maybe not, but almost certainly, the horror of that murder occurred. The horror of Miller's Court seems to have been the climax of Jack the Ripper's reign of terror.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Who was Jack the Ripper and why is he significant?
0:00–3:12
2
What were the circumstances surrounding the first murder attributed to Jack the Ripper?
3:12–7:29
3
How did the media and public react to the Ripper murders?
7:29–10:50
4
What can we learn about Victorian society from the Ripper case?
10:50–14:24
5
Who were the victims of Jack the Ripper, starting with Polly Nichols?
14:24–18:19
6
What were the social conditions in Whitechapel during the Ripper's reign?
18:19–22:40
7
How did the police investigation unfold after the first murder?
22:40–26:31
8
What impact did Jack the Ripper have on crime and policing in London?
26:31–1:02:08
Speakers
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