Jack the Ripper

Between 1887 and 1891, in the district of Whitechapel, an area of the East London Borough of Tower Hamlets, England, at least 18 women (mostly unfortunates, otherwise known as prostitutes) were either dismembered, mutilated, disembowelled, or attacked by a person, or persons, who have yet to be identified.

Many of these murders were not associated with the five deaths of Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes, and Mary Jane Kelly, who became known as the five canonical victims of the world's most infamous serial killer, Jack the Ripper. However, the possibility that one or more of these poor women was a Ripper victim cannot be discounted.

Jack the Ripper was an unidentified serial killer who was active in areas around the Whitechapel district in 1888 and targeted prostitutes who worked in the squalid areas of the East End of London. Attacks on the women were mainly carried out in the early hours of the morning, and varied in their ferocity, possibly due to the chance of being spotted.

Ada Wilson, Annie Millwood, Emma Elizabeth Smith, Martha Tabram, Rose Mylett, Annie Farmer, Elizabeth Jackson, Alice McKenzie, Lydia Hart and Frances Coles have also been mentioned by some as possible Ripper victims. Most of these women lived in such close proximity that it seems probable that they knew each other, making it likely that they were also known to the Ripper, who may have been a pimp, a lodging house manager, or a local tradesman and there have also been claims the Ripper could have been a doctor, police officer, and even more worrying, a woman. who lived in the area and had detailed knowledge of the streets and alleyways of Whitechapel.

Over one hundred people have been investigated as potential suspects since the murderer carried out those gruesome deeds, but his (or her) true identity is still shrouded in the mists of time. Talk of a conspiracy to cover up a person of importance, handwritten letters, a human kidney delivered by mail, the curious discovery of a journal and watch supposedly signed by Jack, and even a knife claiming to belong to the murderer have yet to be established as real or fake, and with few clues and little evidence from the crime scenes, the mystery continues to baffle the experts who desire to put an identity to this most notorious of serial killers.

Below you will find a list of names of murder sites, victims, and suspects. Just click the links to find out more.