By Ellen Cheng
London’s East End, the 1880s. A dark and vast city of gas lamps and fog, like an archipelago of lights in a murky ocean. A sordid collection of alehouses and whorehouses unmatched in infamy. A wretched hive of scum, deceit, prostitution… and MURDER… “Jack the Ripper” was the moniker given to the serial killer who killed a number of prostitutes in London’s Whitechapel district in 1888. Hundreds of letters allegedly from the murderer were sent to the police. Two letters in particular, which were written by the same individual, actually gave rise to the name “Jack the Ripper.” It is unclear just how many women the Ripper killed, though it is generally accepted that he killed five. Unfortunately, due to the lack of forensic knowledge and professionalism in the investigation of the crime scenes and the handling of evidence, the officers of Scotland Yard were unable to identify Jack the Ripper. This Mysterious Monster’s identity has remained unknown for the past hundred years. If these murders had taken place in the present day, with our wealth of forensic knowledge and techniques, the Ripper would surely have found a quick way back to Hell. Case One: Martha Tabram. The first victim, Martha Tabram, was stabbed 39 times in the torso, neck, and private parts with a knife or dagger. The examination report didn’t mention that the throat had been slashed or her abdomen extensively mutilated; in fact, there wasn’t even a description of the corpse. At that time, the coroner’s job was mostly done by the local doctor. A Dr. Rees Llewellyn was called in to examine the body. In the examination report, he wrote that her clothes were “disheveled” without describing precisely how. Describing how the clothes were disheveled can provide a lot of useful information: Did the attack happen while she was undressing? Did the murderer arrange her clothes afterwards? Were the clothes taken off, torn, or ripped? Back in the 18th century, clothes were treated as a way to identify the victim rather than as evidence. Therefore, the clothes were usually thrown away or even donated to the poor after the victim had been identified. Since Martha was stabbed 39 times, the crime scene should have been covered with an enormous amount of blood. However, the report mentioned nothing about how much blood was lost or a blood pattern analysis. Fingerprinting, blood typing, and other staples of forensic technique had not yet been developed for police use. Even photographing the victims was not part of the standard procedure. There was no crime laboratory at Scotland Yard until the 1930s; it is little wonder then that the death of Martha Tabram was investigated with perhaps even so little care. Case Two: Mary Ann (Polly) Nichols. Mary Ann’s throat was slashed twice from ear to ear, cutting through her windpipe and esophagus. She had been killed where her body was found, even though there was very little blood on the ground. Most of the lost blood had soaked into her heavy and thick clothes. The corpse was taken to the mortuary on Old Montague Street, which was part of the workhouse there. While the body was being stripped and washed by the groundskeeper, ghastly details were discovered – her abdomen had been wounded and mutilated. Twelve hours later, the police called Dr. Llewellyn back for a more detailed examination. We know that the longer you wait to examine the corpse, the more difficult it is to estimate the time of death. Since at that time, the process of measuring body temperature was not involved in the examination, the only thing used to determine the time of death was the word of eyewitnesses. However, since the corpse had already been “cleaned up” before the examination, Dr. Llewellyn was unable to verify in detail what the Ripper had done to her. The photographs of the corpse were taken by a big wooden box camera. This kind of camera was difficult to move and could only take photographs from the front; therefore, the corpse would have had to be leaned against a wall or hung up with steel hooks while the pictures were being taken. What’s more, only a few victims’ photographs were filed away, while others were either lost or stolen. The few photographs that remained were often small and fuzzy, but enlargement would have only made them worse. Besides, no photographs of the crime scene were taken at all. Therefore, there were no other visual records concerning the case of Jack the Ripper. It is impossible to determine how many mistakes were made or pieces of evidence were lost. But there is one thing that we can be sure of: the Ripper must have left lots of clues to his identity: fingerprints, hair, and bits of fabric that could have been found on the victim or at the crime scene. These clues have been lost forever. Case Three: Catharine Eddowes. Catharine’s body was found in a dark alley with a mutilated face. A cut that went through the lower left eyelid had literally burst the eyeball like a grape. There was a deep cut over the bridge of the nose extending from the left border of the nasal bone down near to the angle of the jaw on the right side. The tip of the nose had been sheared off. The tissues of the neck were severed all the way down to the bone, the breasts had been sliced off, and the arms were mutilated by several jagged wounds. The whole of the surface of the abdomen and thighs had been removed, and the abdominal cavity had been emptied of its viscera. Since the crime scene was located outdoors, the corpse had already begin to decay. The most important piece of evidence in a murder case is the victim’s body; thus anything that’s related to the body should also be carefully preserved. When a murder takes place nowadays, the police would seal the crime scene and call more officers to protect the area while waiting for the coroner to come. Meanwhile, photographs of the crime scene would be taken, and there would be police officers observing the crowds – because according to criminology, murderers love to hide in the crowd and to watch people fuss over their handiwork. Another important piece of evidence at a crime scene is footprints. However, not even one footprint was discovered at the Ripper’s crime scene. It’s hard to imagine how a bloodstained Jack the Ripper could have walked away without leaving any footprints. Modern forensic tools would have discovered those hidden clues; as it was, the investigators were apparently satisfied with their job and left it at that. The Ripper’s victims might be considered a coroner’s nightmare since their bodies contained human fluids from different customers and were discovered in unsanitary conditions; however, a determined detective with the right knowledge and technology at his disposal would still have been able to latch onto the trail of the visitor from Hell. Even after years and years of study on the case of Jack the Ripper by a legion of scholars and experts, his identity remains unproven today. Due to the lack of evidence and photographs, and carelessly written examination reports, it is impossible to solve the question even with modern forensic knowledge. If the crime scenes could be transferred to modern times, the collection and preservation of evidence would be handled much more professionally, and the identity of the Ripper, be he monster, demon, or man, would be a secret no more. a
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The Taida Student Journal has been active since 1995 with an ever-changing roster of student journalists at NTU. Click the above link to read about the authors Archives
May 2024
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