July 17, 2018 ▸ People, True Crime

Episode 315: Jack the Ripper–The Ultimate Serial Killer

On this episode of The Sofa King Podcast, we travel back to Victorian England to look at the grandfather of all infamous serial killers, the one and only Jack the Ripper. From August 7th to September 10th of 1888, a series of horrible murders took place in the seamy Whitechapel district of London. They were all prostitutes, and they were all killed by a slash across the neck and then mutilated after the death. The papers ran with the story, giving the murderer the name Jack the Ripper.

Whitechapel was a place filled with hookers and murders, but the heinous nature of these killings (along with plenty of missing body parts) made the story become larger than life, a truly viral phenomenon. This led to a series of letters sent to the police and the newspapers, most of them frauds, but some are considered legit letters written by Jack the Ripper to taunt the police. A dozen women were killed in this time span, and five of them are considered canonical to The Ripper. The final killing was the most brutal and most desecrated body.

So, after a hundred years have passed, who do experts think Jack the Ripper actually was? Some follow the “From Hell” hypothesis that it was a Masonic cover up to protect members of the British royal family. Others think it was noted serial American killer HH Holmes or the Texas-based Servant Girl Annihilator.

Who did the police at the time think he was? What do modern day forensic examinations say about those police findings? Why did so many of the suspects end up in insane asylums? Was it actually the femail dubbed “The Mad Midwife”? What did modern FBI profilers say about Jack the Ripper, and how does this profile tie into existing theories of who this enigmatic killer was? Listen, laugh, learn.

FBI Jack the Ripper: https://vault.fbi.gov/Jack%20the%20Ripper/Jack%20the%20Ripper%20Part%201%20of%201/view

Ripper Suspects: