The Story of Jack the Ripper A Paradox 12/9/2012 1 The Story of Jack the Ripper - a Paradox is © copyright protected to the Author 2012. No part thereof may be copied, stored, or transmitted either electronically or mechanically without the prior written permission of the author. Mr Richard.A.Patterson. Emails can be sent to the author at, [email protected]. Further resources can be found at the author’s homepage at, http://www.richard-a-patterson.com/ Readers are welcome to view other texts by the author at, http://richardapatterson17.blogspot.com/ ISBN 0-9578625-7-1 CONTENTS Preface. A Ghost Story. Introduction. Murders in the Sanctuary. Chapter One Francis Thompson Poet of Sacrifice. Chapter Two Mary Ann Nichols - Innocent in Death. Chapter Three Annie Chapman a Remedy of Steel. Chapter Four Elizabeth Stride & Catherine Eddowes; ‘My Two Ladies.’ Chapter Five Mary Kelly and the Secret in Her Eyes. Chapter Six Francis Thompson, Confessions at Midnight. Chapter Seven The Demon Haunted World. Appendix. Bibliography. Printed in A4 size with Times New Roman, and Lucida Calligraphy fonts. Of about 125 thousand words. Please Read: Although fiction, much of this text is a reconstruction of events and often only rests on witness testimonies or newspaper reports. Much of the evidence has long since been destroyed by the forces of history. For sake of expediency, when there are conflicting witnesses the author has chosen to include material namely from city and metropolitan police. For aesthetic, this book does not fully cite its sources though the author hopes little within is made up and only veritable versions are included. If this work is found to be mostly speculative and its detractors cause it to crumble into but a story under rigorous examination, it is hoped to be at least an odyssey transcribing what the author thinks as warns of leading you towards shallow reefs. Copyright © Richard.A.Patterson 2012. 2 Preface- A Ghost Story. Do you want to hear scary story? In London, the largest and most powerful city in the world, on a very dark night, well over a century ago, the body of a woman was found. She lay on a footpath. Her throat had been cut and although they could not find the knife, the police first thought that it was simply a case of suicide. The woman was obviously very poor and there was no reason to rob and kill her. Back then, in 1888, there were no such things as serial killers. Today, there are thousands of all over the world. They kill between two to hundreds of people and they seemingly kill for almost any reason - because they do not like blonde-haired people or tall women, nurses, people called Ann or Margaret, anyone who resembles their mother, or women with bows or ribbons. It is felt that they kill for the sake of killing. They find it fun to watch the blood spurt. It thrills them to hear their victims beg for their lives. Such evil is almost inconceivable to us now, when this woman was found dead on the pavement, it was. People back then killed for known reasons. They did it for money, for revenge, when they were fighting in a war, or if they had gone mad with a brain disease or unfettered power. Either way, the crimes of the murderer could, even if not forgiven, be understood. Violence was no stranger to the Victorians and the area where the woman was found was feared as a hotbed of crime. The Earth’s fractured history had brought forth genocides geared by a legion of murderers and cutthroats, and all similar evils – society was already soaked in it. Suicides were often found on the streets of London and it was common for drunken violence would lead to a stabbing. So scant attention was at first shown to this one dead woman - Little did they know that upon her death began the actions of a new breed of criminal wanting to settle old scores. It was not until the police had taken the body to the morgue, and attendants undressed her that they found that her stomach had been cut open and her intestines protruded from it. Then the police realised that the woman had been murdered. It was possible that she had cut her own throat but it was highly unlikely to accept that she had also cut her own stomach and pulled out part of her intestine. The police guessed that the murderer was the random act of someone who had went insane and it was a once off freak event, but then, about a week later, the killer struck again. The area that these murders were taking place was rather small, less than a square kilometre. This second woman was found in the backyard of some flats and like the first, her throat had been cut and her intestines were dragged out. It was then that the police understood that there was a killer on the streets. The slayer was someone who was willing to kill repeatedly with no known motive. The police stepped up their patrols and they paid particular attention to anyone acting suspiciously or appearing unusual, but they could not find the murderer. They were at a loss as to what to do when they had a stroke of luck. The killer wrote a letter for the police to read. The killer called himself Jack the Ripper and he told them that he loved his work and his knife was nice and sharp. He also let them know what night he was going to kill again. He promised that he would slaughter two women this time, writing, ‘Just for jolly wouldn’t you.’ The police were shocked, but also relieved that they could be ready to catch him. They sent out even more constables, with each officer having a lantern and a whistle. They made sure that they patrolled every street and that they would be in hearing distance or in sight of each other. If the murderer attempted to fulfil his promise of a double killing, then he was sure to be caught. Then the police found the body of a woman with her throat cut, and another body a seven-minute walk away. The second woman had been cut up so badly that as well removing parts of body and taking them away, he had time to cut small shapes under her eyelids. Beneath all this slaughter, it was discovered that the killer had such knowledge of anatomy to have caused in her instant death with little more than a needle. The surgeons, who had years of experience, said they could only have made the same injuries in just under half an hour in a brightly lit operating theatre. The killer had done them in less than fifteen minutes in almost total darkness. It was then that people began to panic. The newspapers told of rumours amongst those investigating that whatever was doing this was possibly not human. How could anyone slip passed so many police, kill these women and simply disappear? Everyone who lived in London grew fearful. People banded together in mobs and searched the streets at night. In a city of five million people, no woman felt safe to be alone outside. Even if she were to live across the road, a woman would ask to be escorted when walking home at night. Many families fled the city. The Queen grew concerned and urged that the killer be stopped. Radicals and extremists used the murders to justify the failure of authorities to protect the people and they called for revolution. The highest officials in the land warned that these murders might topple the government. During all this, people at least felt safe in their homes. The killer had struck on the streets, in alleyways, backyards and courtyards, but as long as you stayed indoors, you were going to be all right… The last, and the most horrible murder, happened in a bedroom. The woman had been cut up so badly that some of the people who saw her remains later killed themselves. Bits of her flesh were hanging from nails on the walls. Her breasts had been cut off and her arm pushed into her stomach. Her womb had been taken and her face had been so badly cut that all that her husband could identify were her ears and eyeballs. The Queen called the head of the police only to be told that he had quit. In a time of worldwide military and political conflict, Britain fought to control its dominion against a legion of warring armies and armed anti-colonial radicals. However, India and Africa were very far away. People felt safe home in England, now it seemed as if the entire city were besieged by the murderer. There were whisperings in parliament that these killings might spur revolution and it seemed that everything had fallen apart. Then, when even all hope was lost, the killings stopped. Things came back together and the wanted man simply vanished, - not! Copyright © Richard.A.Patterson 2012. 3 Today serial killers all over the world worship and envy Jack the Ripper. Many of their killings are copycat murders of the Rippers. Numerous serial killers, when they are finally caught, admit their admiration of his deeds. For a hundred years, the best and brightest scholars and researchers have sought to find out who he was. It is reasoned that if we could only know his name then we could gain an insight not only of him but also into the mind of all serial killers.