This weeks unsolved murder mystery
Julie Marie Grønhøj
Hello September and hello fall! My favorite time of year has arrived.
The time for snuggling up with blankets and hot cocoa. Or tea if you are more into that.
Why not start off the month with a blogpost about a notorious serial killer?
I think most of us have already heard about him. Jack the Ripper.
Jack the Ripper is probably one of the most notorious serial killers in the history of London.
There are still more questions than answers when it comes to Jack the Ripper. Therefore there are a lot of theories about the person behind the crimes.
But what makes this killer more brutal than the others? Well, he didn’t just kill his victims. He also cut them open and removed some of their organs and mutilated their faces. Sorry, I probably should have put a warning on that one.
Many of the theories are saying that Jack the Ripper was a local man. Many also claim that he was an upper-class man. Some theories are very specific, claiming that the culprit was the famous author Lewis Carroll, you know, the guy who wrote Alice in Wonderland? Some even say Jack the Ripper was a woman.
A theory that is really interesting is the royal conspiracy theory. Fingers are pointed at Prince Albert Victor, son of Edward VII.
In the 20th century Dr. Thomas Stowell wrote an article that claimed Prince Albert was the one behind the Ripper killings.
And what did Dr. Thomas Stowell base that on you may ask. Well, he claimed that Prince Albert had been infected with syphilis and that the disease had made him go crazy which led him to go on a killing spree. Dr. Stowell even compared the killings and mutilations with deers shot by the royal family and how they were slaughtered.
Prince Albert Victor also turns up in another theory where he is not the killer, but the killings happen because of him. It is said that the prince fell in love with a common girl named Annie Crook. The royal family did not approve of the love between Annie and the prince, and they put an end to the relationship by committing Annie Crook to an asylum claiming she was insane.
A group of Annie’s friends found out and blackmailed the royal family and threatened them, saying they would go public with the story of Annie Crook and Prince Albert Victor.
The royal family, of course, did not want this story to go public, and what is the best way to avoid a royal scandal in 1888? You hire a hitman. What else?
The royal family hired William Gull to kill the ones blackmailing the royal family. Unfortunately William Gull wasn’t so good with recognizing faces, because it is said that Catherine Eddowes was mistakenly killed. Talk about bad luck...
So, nothing is really known for sure about Jack the Ripper except he or she was an active serial killer in London in 1888. The culprit killed at least 5 women in the Whitechapel district.
The name ‘Jack the Ripper’ was published in the media based on a letter they had received. The letter was said to be from the killer.
Until this day, nobody knows for sure who Jack the Ripper was. There are still ongoing theories and researchers are trying to find the culprit using new and advanced DNA research to find the notorious killer.
A lot of people have over time been pointed out as a suspect and until this day there are over 100 people that have been pointed out as the killer.
Do you think Jack the Ripper was a man or woman? Or do you believe in one of the other theories? Leave a comment below!
If you want to know what it is like to be an investigator solving crimes, take a look at our mysteries right here: https://solveamystery.com/collections/all
Oh and did I mention that the mysteries are inspired by real true crime cases?
SAM
True-crime geek and your provider of unsolved murder mysteries