** England's Most Evil

According to a new poll of nearly 5,000 Britons, "the worst Briton" of the last thousand years is Jack the Ripper. No other Briton got even half as many votes. As historian Clive Emsley put it, "No one can touch Jack the Ripper for sheer wickedness."

Of course, while a poll can discover whom Britons regard as evil incarnate, it can't discover who the man regarded as evil incarnate really is. More than a century after he haunted London's streets, Jack's true identity remains unknown. Today, we can tell you his story. We can link you to great sites to find out more. But we can't tell you his name.

Just the Facts

There have long been arguments over how many women Jack the Ripper murdered in 1888, but most agree on at least five victims. The women had much in common--they were poor, fond of drink, and occasionally worked as prostitutes. All five frequented Whitechapel, a notorious slum in East London, and their need for money called them to the streets in the small hours of the morning. One by one, Jack killed them.

* August 31: Shortly after 3:30 am, Mary Ann "Polly" Nichols was discovered lying on a dark street. Her skirt had been pulled up to her waist, her throat cut with two slashes from a long-bladed knife, and she had been stabbed several times in the abdomen.


* September 8: Around 6 am, Annie Chapman was discovered in the backyard of a lodging house. Her throat had been severely gashed, her abdomen slashed open, and her intestines pulled out and thrown over her shoulder. Her uterus was missing.


* September 30: At approximately 1 am, Elizabeth Stride was found in a courtyard. She had a deep throat wound, but no other injuries, suggesting the killer had been interrupted.


* September 30: Less than an hour later, Catherine Eddowes was found on a street corner. Her throat was cut to the bone, her face, stomach, and pelvic area slashed, and her intestines pulled out. Her uterus and a kidney were missing.


* November 9: Working indoors, the killer created the most gruesome scene so far. Mary Jane Kelly was found lying on the bed in the room she rented. The murderer had cut her throat to the bone, hacked her face beyond recognition, sliced pieces from her body, and stolen her heart-�literally.

Lots of Theories

The killings were almost unimaginably horrible, and the press made the most of them in story after sensational story. Then came the letters. Shortly after the murder of Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddowes, a letter and a postcard came to a news service, signed by one "Jack the Ripper" (the source of the killer's nickname). The police suspected a newspaperman had written them to boost circulation, but they allowed them to be published, hoping someone would recognize the writing.

Hundreds of Ripper letters followed. Some claimed to be from the killer. Others offered clues to his identity. Most, or all, were fakes. More difficult to dismiss was a letter mailed "from hell" in a box with part of a human kidney. The author claimed to have eaten the rest. Was this Catherine Eddowes's missing kidney, or a bad practical joke?

After a while, the Ripper killings simply stopped-�maybe after Mary Jane Kelly, maybe later. No one knows why. The murderer might have died, or been imprisoned on some unrelated charge, or escaped to another country. The police never had a strong case against any of their suspects.

In the absence of solid evidence, amateur sleuths have been free to speculate endlessly. Conspiracy theories swirl around Prince Albert Victor, the eldest son of the Prince of Wales and heir to the throne (supposedly driven mad by syphilis); Queen Victoria's personal physician, Sir William Gull; and London artist Walter Sickert. But in the end, no one has ever really managed to say who the Ripper was.

Mark Diller
February 3, 2006