Crime in the 19th century

Jack the Ripper was a pseudonymous murderer (meaning written under a false name}. He was
known to have killed 5 women, near the Whitechapel district of London's East end, between August
and November of 1888, although there is some speculation that other dozens of homicides at the
time were also committed by Jack the Ripper. Jack the Ripper targeted prostitutes around midnight
and later, he slit victims' throats and mutilated their faces to the point they could barely be
recognised. Jack the Ripper was thought to be a doctor due to the manner the victim's body had
been mutilated indicating the murderer had knowledge on the human anatomy. Sometimes, there
would be some organs or parts of organs missing for an example, the left kidney and the uterus
were cut out and taken away from one of the victims named Catherine Eddowes. A kidney was also
cut out of the body from another victim, but not taken away. Two weeks later, George Lusk,
president of the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee, received a small cardboard box with half of a
longitudinally divided kidney and a letter entitled 'From hell' claiming that the kidney inside the box
was taken from the victim. Jack the Ripper is still unknown however there were a few suspects
thought to be him. The most common suspects were Montague Druitt, Carl Feigenbaum, Aaron
Kosminski, Francis Craig and Walter Sickert.

Montague Druitt had committed suicide after Mary Jane Kelly’s murder (one of Jack the Rippers
victims) convincing the detective that he was Jack the Ripper.

Carl Feigenbaum was a psychopath who mutilated women and his own lawyer thought he was Jack
the Ripper, Feigenbaum was working in Whitechapel every date of the victims' murders and he was
often seen at brothels. After Feigenbaum emigrated to America, he was sent to the electric chair
after murdering a women called Julliana Hoffman. Experts also stated that there were “striking
similarities” between London’s Jack the Ripper murders and the slaying of Hoffman.

Aaron Kosminski’s DNA was found on Catherine Eddowes shawl. He apparently had a very strong
hatred of women, had “homicidal tendencies,” and was even sent to an asylum in 1889; (where he
died shortly after). Police documents from the time of the Jack the Ripper murders revealed that
officials suspected a man by the name of “Kosminski,” although Aaron Kosminski wasn’t pinpointed
as the suspect until many years later.