Jack The Ripper Research Paper

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On August 6, 1888, Mary Nicholas was found brutally murdered on the bottom of a staircase. The staircase was in the sinister arch that led into George Yard (today known as Gunthorpe Street). Nicholas had thirty-nine stab wounds from her throat to her lower abdomen. The brutal act was the first of eleven murders committed between 1888 to 1891. The infamous murderer behind these killings is known as “Jack the Ripper.” Jack was known for killing female prostitutes in the Whitechapel district in London's East End. Jack the Ripper was never captured, and his identity remains unknown. A century later, multiple theories have surfaced about who Jack the Ripper was and his motive for killing his victims.

Jack the Ripper had no mercy for his victims. …show more content…

Feigenbaum was a German psychopath who went by many aliases during his lifetime (his real name was Anton Zahn). He worked as a merchant on ships that had been docked near Whitechapel. In 1894, Feigenbaum was sent to the electric chair for the brutal murder of Juliana Hoffman. This assassination was committed with a dagger and there were traces of old blood on it. After dying, Feigenbaum’s attorney, William Stanford Lawton, stated that it was his belief that his ex-client was the notorious London murderer Jack the Ripper. He based his theory on a confession that Feigenbaum supposedly told him; “I have for years suffered from a singular disease, which induces an all-absorbing passion. This passion manifests itself in a desire to kill and mutilate every woman who falls in my way.” (www.casebook.org/suspects/carl-feigenbaum.html) His claim is supported by Trevor Marriott who wrote the book Jack the Ripper-The 21st Century Investigation. The authorities investigated these theories and found that Feigenbaum was in the White Chapel district when all the Jack the Ripper murders occurred. Additionally, witnesses claimed to have seen Feigenbaum frequently enter brothels. Lawton also claimed that Feigenbaum was knowledgeable on surgery and dissection. This theory, however, lacks evidence. Lawton’s theory was based on what Feigenbaum supposedly confessed, but who’s to say this confession happened? Furthermore, Feigenbaum only confessed …show more content…

Sickert often painted shadowy interiors and scenes that suggested violence. His paintings also focused on the poor residents of the White Chapel district, prostitutes, and Jack the Ripper. Stephen Knight’s book Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution states that Sickert was a compliance in the murders. In addition to this, Patricia Cornwell's novel Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper–Case Closed argues that Sickert was the notorious White Chapel murderer. Her evidence is a mtDNA (mitochondrial DNA) test that supports her theory. According to the mtDNA, sequences found on the Ripper’s letters matched some of the strains found on Sickert’s letters. Furthermore, some believe that he inserted clues and symbols about the Jack the Ripper murders into his artwork. Many experts assert that the clues are strikingly like the actual crime scenes, that only the "true murderer" could have painted them. Despite this, I strongly believe Sickert was not Jack the Ripper. Evidence to support my belief includes Knight confessing that his book, “is a hoax … a whopping fib”. Besides, police officials of the time announced that they believed the letters (which Cornwell tested and used as evidence for her case) were a hoax. If the DNA on those letters did belong to Sickert, he may have been guilty of participating in the Ripper hoaxes. Beyond this, Sickert was not in London at the time of the murders! He was, in fact, with his mother and brothers

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