Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper--Case Closed (60 page)

Sickert’s sketch
He Killed His Father in a Fight
displays a violent imagination and a similarity to the Mary Kelly murder scene, especially with its wooden bed frame.
The Whitworth Art Gallery, The University of Manchester.

With the murder of Mary Kelly, the Ripper’s violence turns to frenzy. The young, attractive Mary Kelly’s face is obliterated, her breasts, genitals, and organs removed, including her heart.

Material in the Public Record Office, London, in the copyright of the Metropolitan Police is reproduced by permission of the Metropolitan Police Authority.

Persuasion
is from Sickert’s Camden Town Murder series. In 1907, a prostitute named Emily Dimmock was murdered about a mile from Sickert’s house.
Bristol Museums and Art Gallery.

A map of the Whitechapel area, the Ripper’s East End killing ground during the summer, fall, and early winter of 1888.

Public Record Office, London.

Metropolitan Police notice, September 30, 1888. After the double murder of Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddows, the increasingly frustrated police posted notices throughout London.
With kind permission of the Metropolitan Police Service.

Cover art from
Famous Crimes
and the beginnings of the sensational Ripper legend that would continue for more than a century.

Collection of
Patricia Cornwell.

In October 1888, a female torso was found at the construction site of the new Scotland Yard building.
With kind permission of the Metropolitan Police Service.

P
unch or The London Charivari
, September 22, 1888, page 130. Londoners criticized and blamed the police for not catching the Ripper.

Collection of Patricia Cornwell.

“Dear Boss.” Many of the Ripper letters were addressed to Metropolitan Police Commissioner Charles Warren.
Collection of Patricia Cornwell.

Falsely accused: The Duke of Clarence. His response to blackmail was money, not murder.
Collection of Patricia Cornwell.

Telegram from the Ripper to Inspector Abberline. Sickert was extremely fond of sending telegrams—and so was the Ripper.
Public Record Office, London.

A view of the Royal London Hospital Patient Record Book. The hospital was the only one in the East End. I believe that none of the Ripper’s victims survived long enough to be admitted.
Royal London Hospital Archives.