Jack the Ripper

Jack the Ripper is an alias given to prehaps the most notorious unidentified serial killer who killed at least 5 prostitutes which occured mainly in the Whitechapel area in London in the autumn of 1888. No-one knows for sure who commited these murders, but detectives and "Ripperologists" have come up various theories to who may be the serial killer.

There were 5 victims that were generally accepted that Jack the Ripper killed them, but there were other victims that possibly were also victims of Jack the Ripper. Polly Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes, and Mary Kelly were the 5 main victims.

Francis Tumblety

Little is known about Tumblety's upbringings. According to Evans and Gainey's 1995 edition of Jack the Ripper: First American Serial Killer, he was born in Canada, while the 1996 edition of Jack the Ripper A-Z says he was born in Ireland. His exact date of birth is also unknown, but in any case he would be born sometime during 1833 to James and Margaret Tumblety. He was the the youngest of 11 children who were Patrick, Lawrence, Jane and Bridget (who were twins), Alice, Margaret, Ann, Julia, Elizabeth, and Mary.

Sometime during the next decade, the Tumblety family moved to Rochester, New York, but the exact date is unknown. His father died on the 7th of May, 1851. During 1848, the neighbours thought of him as a 'dirty, awkward, ignorant, uncared-for, good-for-nothing boy... utterly devoid of education.' He was also known to carry pornographic literature on the canal boats of Rochester. During his teenager years he was also known to be working at a drug store which was run by a Dr. Lispenard. It was said to have 'carried on a medical business of a disreputable kind'.

Around 1850, before his father died, Francis left Rochester, prehaps for Detroit. Here he started to practice as an Indian herb doctor which must of went well for him as after 1854 he appeared to have a considerable amount of wealth. He turned up in Montreal in 1857, where he made himself known as a prominent physician. Tumblety was arrested on the 23rd of September, 1857 for attempting to abort the pregnancy of a local prostitute known as Philomene Dumas. No trial was undertaken. During 1858-1860, he left Montreal for Saint John. Here, in September, 1860, a patient of his died after taking medicine which was prescribed by Tumblety. He then left the town for Calais Maine. From there he traveled to Boston. There he would start his trademark; he would wear a military outfit and ride a white steed, occasionally with two greyhounds before him. He went to the capital during the Civil War. This was when Tumblety’s alleged hatred for women became known, as seen in the testimony of a Colonel Dunham, who was once invited to dinner by Tumblety: "Someone asked why he had not invited some women to his dinner. His face instantly became as black as a thunder-cloud. He had a pack of cards in his hand, but he laid them down and said, almost savagely, 'No, Colonel, I don’t know any such cattle, and if I did I would, as your friend, sooner give you a dose of quick poison than take you into such danger.' He then broke into a homily on the sin and folly of dissipation, fiercely denounced all women and especially fallen women."

A Stewart Evans and a Paul Gainey, who researched the suspect together, outline fifteen reasons why they believe Tumblety should be considered a top suspect in the Whitechapel murders, as listed from the Casebook website:

• Tumblety fits many requirements of what we now know as the ‘serial killer profile.’ He had a supposed hatred of women and prostitutes (the abortion with the prostitute Dumas, his alleged failed marriage to an ex-prostitute, his collection of uteri, etc.)
• Tumblety was in London at the time and may indeed have been the infamous ‘Batty Street Lodger’ -- he therefore may have had fair knowledge of the East End environs.
• Tumblety may have had some anatomical knowledge, as inferred by his collection of wombs, his ‘medical’ practice, and his short-term work with Dr. Lispenard in Rochester.
• He was arrested in the midst of the Autumn of Terror on suspicion of having committed the murders.
• There were no more murders after he fleed England on the 24th November, if one counts only the canonical five murders.
• Chief Inspector Littlechild, a top name in Scotland Yard, believed him a ‘very likely suspect,’ and he was not alone in his convictions.
• Tumblety was fond of using aliases, disappearing without a trace, and was the subject of police enquiries before his arrest.
• Scotland Yard and the American police had been in touch numerous times concerning Tumblety’s flight from France to New York.
• One of the three detectives inspectors assigned to the case was sent to New York at the same time, perhaps to pursue Tumblety.
• Tumblety evaded capture in New York City once again.
• Tumblety had the wealth necessary for frequent travel and could afford to change his clothes frequently should they have become bloodstained.
• He was an eccentric; but shrewd.
• He had a tendency toward violence at times, and his career may have included other offences both at home and abroad.
• Several acquaintances of his in America believed it likely that he was the Ripper when interviewed in 1888.
• There is a strong case to be made that he was indeed the Batty Street Lodger.

Timeline

August 31, 1888 -- Polly Nichols killed in Bucks Row.

September 8, 1888 -- Annie Chapman killed in Hanbury Street.

September 30, 1888 -- Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddowes killed at 1:00 and 1:45 am.

November 9, 1888 -- Mary Kelly killed in Miller's Court.