Alias Jack The Ripper

Over a century ago, a depraved killer skillfully moved through the dark and filthy slums of London's East End. Despite the increasingly watchful eyes of investigators, the serial murderer--known as "Jack the Ripper" from a signature on a piece of correspondence that has been attributed to him--was never certainly identified. R. Michael Gordon provides a comprehensive look at the crimes and the case evidence, and then discusses the life of the man he believes was the actual killer, detailing the reasons why this person may have been driven to kill. Beginning with an overview of the terror created in the East End of 1888, the book describes the five major periods of the Ripper's deadly career: early life and schooling; a step-by-step view of the murders, including the Thames Torso Murders that authorities attempted to cover up; the Ripper's American connection; a return to London where his final victims were subjected to poison; and the capture and execution of the probable--but never proven--Ripper. To most people who worked closely on the Ripper and poisoning cases, justice was finally served.

Sex, mutilation and murder in Victorian England. The world's first serial killer covered by the mass media. In the fall of 1888 the most famous serial killer in history viciously attacked women, leaving crime scenes that forever haunted the minds of those who saw them and filled them with a single-minded resolve to apprehend the murderer. They never did. Although the murderer is known throughout the world as Jack the Ripper, the name he used on some of his taunting notes to the press and police tells far more psychologically about his demented personality: Saucy Jack. (Heavily researched, fact-based with some fictionalized sections).

For the first time, the American murders of Jack the Ripper are revealed in the 1891 and 1892 crimes of Severin Klosowski (a.k.a. George Chapman, the Borough Poisoner), a prime suspect in the Ripper case. After his narrow escape from Scotland Yard, the killer would travel to the New York City area where four high-profile murders took place soon after his arrival. With Victorian era New York as his backdrop, Gordon recounts the gruesome scenes. He also details Klosowski's subsequent return to England where he would eventually be convicted and executed for another murder spree—with poison as his weapon of choice. Readers will learn about these unknown Ripper victims: Carrie Brown, an aging prostitute who was brutally slashed and mutilated; Hannah Robinson, a servant girl who was strangled to death; 73-year-old Elizabeth Senior, who struggled bravely against an intruder who stabbed her multiple times in her New Jersey home; and Herta Mary Anderson, a teenaged New Jersey hotel maid, found dead from a bullet wound and cut throat. How could the Ripper evade capture so easily? Why did the American connection remain hidden for so long?

Four American women dead at the hands of a prime suspect in the Jack the Ripper case. The most notorious serial murderer in the annals of British crime may have actually set foot on American soil during the late nineteenth century. In 1891 and 1892, four women were brutally mutilated and killed in New York and New Jersey. Because they were murdered in the same general area and time frame, the circumstances point to the possibility that the women were all victims of the same killer. Severin Klosowski (aka George Chapman, the Borough Poisoner), a prime suspect in the Ripper case, was living in the area at the time. With Victorian-era New York as his backdrop, author R. Michael Gordon recounts the gruesome scenes, focusing on the details that strongly suggest Chapman and the Ripper were one and the same.

Is there anything new to be read about Jack the Ripper, whose identity has been sought by countless "Ripperologists" for more than 120 years? This book answers an emphatic "Yes!" Drawing on recently discovered sources, the author argues that the Ripper's identity was no mystery to the police in 1891. Police chief Sir Melville Macnaghten claimed to know the truth from "private information," but his source has remained unknown for more than a century. Here, the identity of Sir Melville's informer is revealed, explaining why the Ripper was disguised as an insane surgeon for public consumption. A number of photos are included, some never before seen.

A shocking and brutal murder had taken place in the city in February that year, and the words 'Jack Ripper is at the back of this door' were found written in chalk on a door at the scene of the crime. When he was arrested, the accused, William Bury, admitted that he was 'afraid he would be arrested as Jack the Ripper'. The police investigation uncovered some disturbing details. William Bury was a small dark-haired man who was known to have been violent towards women. He had been born and brought up in the Midlands but had moved to the East End of London in the late autumn of 1887. On 20 January 1889, he and his wife travelled by boat to Dundee. This meant that he had arrived in London before the start of the Jack the Ripper murders and had left around the same time that they ceased. Could this be coincidence, people wondered. Could it also be a coincidence that the murder in Dundee carried all the hallmarks of a 'ripper' murder? In the month before the trial, the local newspapers in Dundee began to run sensational stories linking the accused with the notorious Whitechapel murders. When the trial opened to a packed courtroom, many in the public gallery were wondering if the man standing in the dock was none other than Jack the Ripper himself. In this sensational and ground-breaking book, Euan Macpherson presents the evidence that the long arm of the law really did catch up with Jack the Ripper ... in a dingy basement flat in Dundee in the cold winter months of early 1889.

The gruesome, unsolved murders by the first media-sensationalized serial killer, Jack the Ripper, continue to fascinate after more than 100 years. However, from the beginning the truth has been obscured by a fog of half-truths and misinterpretations. This book aims to clear up the misinformation and myths surrounding Jack the Ripper. The author uses a critical review of the kind that is now used to scrutinize unsolved crimes. He re-checks, re-examines and re-evaluates the facts, conjectures, newspaper accounts, eyewitness reports and official pronouncements. The book includes: descriptions of the locations where the bodies were found; detailed histories of the victims; profiles of key police officials and examinations of police procedures, investigations, blunders and errors; details of prevailing myths about the case; an evaluation of all the chief suspects; comprehensive analyses of the existing literature; discussions of written communications ostensibly sent by the Ripper; and an argument identifying the most likely suspects.

Put on your detective hat and uncover the facts and myths about Jack the Ripper. Jack the Ripper was the name given to a serial killer who committed his bloody deeds in the Whitechapel district of London, England. Topics discussed include the background of London at the time of the murders, the murders and the victims, investigations and clues, profiles of Jack the Ripper, the suspects, and a modern look at the crimes. Features include a Tools and Clues section that highlights research tools, technology, and investigative methods, a timeline, a glossary, selected bibliography, further readings, places to visit, source notes, and an index. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. Essential Library is an imprint of Abdo Publishing, a division of ABDO.

'This is must reading for crime buffs. DEPRAVED demonstrates that sadistic psychopaths are not a modern day phenomena... gruesome, awesome, compelling reporting.' ANNE RULE. Here is the macabre story of H.H. Holmes, architect of the infamous 'Castle of Horror', whose labyrinth of trapdoors, stairways to nowhere, bedchambers fitted with peepholes and asphyxiating gas pipes, greased body chutes, and a cellar equipped with acid vats, a crematorium, and dissecting table, became an unspeakable domain of torture and murder. With stark, ghastly detail, DEPRAVED takes you into the mind of this evil genius - who alternatively posed as doctor, druggist, and inventor to snare his prey in 19th Century Chicago - and reveals a mesmerizing tale of true detection before the age of technological wizardry.