Jack the Ripper: "The Whitechapel Murderer" pt. 3

Let's go on with the suspects for Jack the Ripper's murders.

The fifth suspect is Prince Albert Victor Christian Edward, aka “The Royal Conspiracy”. This theory is often scoffed at, but is still perpetuated due to its wild popularity. Prince Edwards was known to frequent the areas where the victims were found, 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 substancial evidence to indicate its credibility.

The sixth suspect is famed painter Walter Sickert, a theory mainly posed by the successful crime novelist Patricia Cornwell, who devoted her time to the pursuit of Sickert as the Ripper.

In 2001, Cornwell spent 2 million pounds buying thirty-two of Sickert’s paintings, letter, 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 says another painting mimics the facial wounds of fourth Ripper victim, Catherin Eddowes. There are also reportedly accounts of Sickert cosplaying as Jack the Ripper. (when you take cosplay too far, oops.)

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. 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.

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, “Mary 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 whole 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. As a known associate of Kelly’s, he would be someone local prostitutes knew, allowing him to get close enough for a sneak attack. One newspaper of the time stated that Barnett’s friends called him Jack. He also matches the physical description and the psychological profile created 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.

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; his name is James Maybrick.

Maybrick’s death coincided with the stopping of the Ripper killings as he died one year after the murders. James was an upper-class cotton merchant who raised 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, 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’s 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 that 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”. These scratches were analysed via electron microscope by Dr. Stephen Turgoose, whose studies suggest 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 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.

For over 100 years, the mystery of Jack the Ripper has continued to fascinate, confound, and infuriate the public. Perhaps, one day someone will figure this dilemma out or perhaps this famous case will be yet another victim to time.

Article by Azzurra Furnari