Ripperologist 153

No.
153 December 2016
Daniel Cazard
examines the Tell-tale Blade
MURDER MOST FOUL AN IRISH SUMMER Nina and Howard Brown

with Tim Mosley and with Joe Chetcuti
Scott Nelson Victorian Fiction
TWO CASES FROM by Vernon Lee
SIR WILLIAM GULL’S THE MURDER HOUSE
BICENTENARY CASEBOOK The Latest Book Reviews
Ripperologist 118 January 2011 1
by Lindsay Siviter of Jan Bondeson
Ripperologist 153
December 2016
EDITORIAL:
“ONE EYE ON FATHER CHRISTMAS, THE OTHER ON JACK THE RIPPER”
Adam Wood
THE TELL-TALE BLADE

Daniel Cazard
MURDER MOST FOUL, PART ONE

Scott Nelson and Tim Mosley
CELEBRATING THE BICENTENARY OF THE BIRTH OF SIR WILLIAM GULL

Lindsay Siviter
IRISH SUMMER
Joe Chetcuti
FROM THE CASEBOOK

OF A MURDER HOUSE DETECTIVE
The Mystery of Water Lane and A Ramsgate Addendum
Jan Bondeson
A FATAL AFFINITY: THE CONCLUSION

Nina and Howard Brown
VICTORIAN FICTION: AMOUR DURE

By Vernon Lee
REVIEWS
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“One Eye on
Father Christmas, the
Other on Jack the Ripper”
ADAM WOOD, Executive Editor
For those of us in Rip Towers, there always seems to be from the murderer to her master, the Rev. Samuel Harvey,
something special about our December edition, published threatening to burn down his house and murder the
as usual in the days around Christmas. Perhaps you are inmates.2
reading this sitting by the warm glow of a crackling fire, In the early hours of 20 December the lifeless body of
above which Christmas stockings hang waiting for Santa Rose Mylett was found in Clarke’s Yard, Poplar. Despite
to visit, some festive cheer in hand and a second nearby the insistence that her death was one of natural causes,
mince pie all too tempting. many believed she had been murdered and the inquest,
How different from the December which descended on held under Wynne Baxter, returned a verdict of ‘Willful
Whitechapel in 1888. murder by person or person unknown.’
Despite a lull in October, panic had well and truly set in On Boxing Day, an incident took place in Dorset Street
following the murder of Mary Kelly and fear lingered in during which Patrick Manning, who had accompanied a
the East End well into December. Perhaps a reporter for woman in a cab to number 37, was attacked by a labourer
the Irish Times caught the mood best, when he wrote in named Henry Buckley, who lived at no. 26 Dorset Street,
their Boxing Day edition: the back part of which had been partitioned off to create
13 Miller’s Court, Mary Kelly’s room and the scene of her
We watch while we wassail, we keep one eye on murder. Buckley had lived in Dorset Street for at least seven
Father Xmas and the other on Jack the Ripper. The years, being recorded at no. 27 in the 1881 census; it’s
city beats, especially in the Whitechapel district, probable that he worked for John McCarthy. Manning was
have been increased, and the Vigilance Committees
stabbed in the left thigh, suffering a severe wound which
are afoot again. The theory is that the miscreant may
bled profusely. He was taken to the London Hospital, and
reckon upon finding victims off their guard owing to
Buckley to Commercial Street police station.3 He would
the general relaxation and individual indulgence of
appear at Worship Street police court on 23 January 1889,
the time, and that, moreover, he very likely burns to
shock the community out of its festival spirit by the
only to be found not guilty.4
fresh horror of some fearful crime. Society, alarmed at It was an incredibly tense Christmas for the residents
the suspicion, has one eye on the look out of the fiend, of the East End in 1888. We hope, Gentle Reader, that
and the other more congenially bent upon the flowing yours is more peaceful. From all at Ripperologist, Merry
bowl or its equivalents.1 Christmas and a very Happy New Year.

With the spectre of the Ripper present, the month
1 Irish Times, 26 December 1888.
proved to be a strange one.
2 The Globe, 18 December 1888.
14-year-old Charlotte Higgins was sentenced to three 3 Aberdeen Free Press, 28 December 1888.
weeks’ imprisonment and three years in a reformatory 4 Posted by Gary Barnett at jtrforums.com/showpost.php?s=a1c6f8
after being found guilty of writing letters supposedly c9c52ae7e2264b0ff2fdd936c4&p=287472&postcount=47.
EXECUTIVE EDITOR EDITOR-AT-LARGE Ripperologist magazine is free To be added to the mailing list, to
Adam Wood Christopher T George of charge and supplied in digital submit a book for review or to place
format. an advertisement, get in touch at
EDITORS COLUMNISTS contact@ripperologist.biz.
Gareth Williams Nina and Howard Brown Back issues from 62-152 are
Eduardo Zinna David Green available in PDF format. We welcome well-researched articles
An index to Ripperologist magazine on any aspect of the Whitechapel
REVIEWS EDITOR ARTWORK murders, the East End or the
can be downloaded from
Paul Begg Adam Wood Victorian era in general.
ripperologist.biz/ripindex.pdf
Ripperologist 153 December 2016
The Tell-Tale Blade

Thoughts on the Knives Used
on Martha Tabram and What They Imply
By Daniel Cazard
There are two questions about the murder of Martha only to have her closing her door between him and her,
Tabram that I’d deem of interest above all others; the unless he knew her and where she was living.2
question of how she and her killer encountered each
other, and then the infinitely more intriguing and,
if you forgive the pun, double-edged matter of the
knives, particularly one of them.
I’d like to get over the first one more quickly.
How we decide on how Tabram met her murderer
largely depends on the issue of premeditation, which
touches on the matter of the knife, as we shall see. Perhaps
the earliest public voice opting for the murder not having
been a premeditated one had been Francis Hewitt’s via
the Morning Advertiser shortly after,1 opining that the
victim had been accompanied, that a quarrel had broken
out and that Tabram’s companion stabbed her 39 times
in the stead of a civilised argument (the inference being
mine).
An alternative version is that the murderer chanced
upon her. We envision a man making his way through
all the left open buildings in search for a defenceless,
sleeping homeless or drunk woman, who is some way off
her usual doss-place and decided to rather sleep it off on
a landing, and the man is in luck, for he finds Tabram. Yes,
it’s possible.
The more likely scenario is a combination of the two, Thus, the most convincing sequence of events is Tabram
which has Tabram indeed arriving in company, but this and her killer arriving at the scene together.3 And, with the
company already having murder on its mind: he brought
not one but two knives, one large enough to later allow 1 Morning Advertiser, August 8th, 1888
the idea it could have been a bayonet. This alone implies 2 Yet another variation-bend in this line of thinking would have him
premeditation, unless he was someone who just happened following her and attacking her before this could happen, by which
to be in the habit of carrying this mini-arsenal about him. time we’ve gone quite out of our way to accommodate this version.
We do what we do. 3 Author Tom Wescott suggests in his article ‘The Silence of
Violence: A Witness to the Martha Tabram Murder Exposed’, written
The only other plausible alternative I can see has for the Journal of the Whitechapel Society and re-posted on casebook.
the murderer following Tabram. The problem with this org (www.casebook.org/dissertations/ws-silence-of-violence.html)
that George Yard Buildings’ superintendent Francis Hewitt might have
version is that, again, he’d have been more lucky than
indeed heard Tabram arriving with her murderer, Hewitt’s ‘theory’,
he’d hoped he could be, with his quarry ending her walk which he gave to the Morning Advertiser on August 8th, essentially
sleeping on a landing. He also could have followed her being a memory.
2
exception of the night-crawler in luck, all these scenarios presence of the larger of these two weapons on the George
also strongly imply that the victim had already been dead Yard Buildings landing that night.
by the time Alfred Crow came home in whatever state The question is two questions, because the puzzlement
at 3.30am. That he didn’t see her in a pool of blood like begins with that large blade, and what I wonder about
John Reeves later might be simply his own fault – not very more often than why the large one had been brought in
attentive, since he thought her to be a sleeping homeless the first place is which of the two had been used first.
person, and we don’t have exact measurements of that Had the wound to the heart been the final blow after a 38
bloody pool. To an arachnophobic, the spider I see is at stabs-long frenzy, or had it been delivered first?
least thrice as big, and for all we know Reeves could have I submit that the very presence of this larger blade
seen the blood only upon greater scrutinization. It was strongly suggests the answer to this question, and implies
dark, after all. Blood would appear basically black on a even more.
floor the colour of which we don’t know. We recall that Dr.
Surprisingly, often the scenario of the stab to the heart
Killeen stated at the inquest that she’d been ‘dead some
being the concluding one appears to be dominant in
three hours’.4 And although the means for establishing the
discussions of the Tabram murder, and be it at least by
time of death were far from being precise, we shouldn’t
implication. The murderer stabbing Tabram 38 times with
disregard this.
a comparably small knife and then, when she refuses to
die, finishing her off with a strike to the heart, executed
with a bigger weapon he’d conveniently also had at hand.
A variation of this would have him stab her this often with
the smaller knife to make her suffer, effectively to torture
her, before making sure she won’t survive with the big one.
It is possible that the idea of the ‘final blow’ being
such a present and recurring one might be due to it
being essentially a bad meme. The very term ‘final blow’
is a very suggestive and powerful one, the image being
easily conveyed, and if it was the other way round we’d
still be left with wondering about the purpose of the, now
subsequent, 38 other stabs.
If one favours this solution one ignores the fact that she
didn’t appear to have screamed.
An all too real possibility when someone is stabbed,
it is often all over the body. Even if Tom Wescott is right
in his recent article, and the Hewitts did in fact hear a
struggle on the other side of their door and chose not to
inquire,5 we can be fairly sure it didn’t involve a woman
screaming in agony and for help for the length of 38 stabs.
But what is also neglected is the whole sequence of events
from the point of view of the murderer. If the murder was
How can we infer that the murder was premeditated
premeditated the man would have to have been an idiot
– in fact very much so – from the knives alone? Why are
just to be taking the chance that she would be screaming.
these blades so important, why the larger one especially
Which is not only why I’m close to being convinced that
so?
the wound to the heart, delivered by the larger blade, had
Those two blades, together with the apparent absence
been the initial, killing, attack. It perfectly explains the
of a slit throat and at least an attempt of disembowelment,
noise having been kept to a minimum, and it clears the
could be named as the chief reasons why Tabram is perpetrator from having been a complete moron. And it,
considered by many to not be a victim of the same man too, strongly suggests clear premeditation.
who would later kill Polly Nichols, Annie Chapman and,
Why the large blade indeed.
in my opinion, Catherine Eddowes and Mary Kelly, and
possibly Alice McKenzie and Frances Coles.
4 The Times, August 10, 1888
And the rest of us are simply undecided, but fewer have 5 Tom Wescott, ‘The Silence of Violence: A Witness to the Martha
actually attempted to give a sufficient explanation for the Tabram Murder Exposed’.
3
A rarer hypothesis has the murder being committed occurred later. And if you still categorically refuse to accept
by two individuals. Very unlikely, as the image of one of Tabram as a victim of the same murderer, you’d have two
them awaiting his turn for the kill while the other one is individuals following basically the same procedure.
preoccupied with stabbing away 38 times immediately But a stab to the heart? Multiple stabs to chest, belly
strikes one as somewhat absurd; it has something of a and abdomen, but no mutilations? How can that be even
tutor-student relationship to it. seen as similar?
I’d argue that this difference might be almost incidental,
that it could be part of a larger, more overall sequence.
That we see differences between the later murder
victims is only a later extension of what I want to imply,
but they’re worth noting; they follow the logic of the
progression of an individual that hasn’t woken up one day,
thinking, ‘that’s how I’m going to do it!’
Think of the differences we see with Catherine Eddowes
compared to Annie Chapman. Oddly enough, many focus
The most plausible, convincing and, as so often, simple on the differences with the cut to the throat, while the
excuse for the presence of the larger blade in that place one that really counts is the absence of strangling in
at that time is specific purpose: the perpetrator having Eddowes’ case, which, since she was a conscious and likely
brought it along with the killing blow in mind, hence clear struggling human being, is enough to sufficiently explain
premeditation. the difference of the cut to the throat. Not to mention her
The whole scenario would thus unfold as following: facial wounds. The whole line is progression.
A man wants to kill a woman. He leaves his lodgings with But equally important are considerations of what came
both the smaller knife and the large blade (alternatively he before. It is likely that whatever drove the murderer was
organises it or obtains both weapons after leaving home). vented in other ways before it evolved into murder, and
He meets Tabram, most likely before she turns into I’m using the term ‘evolve’ quite consciously. As Ally Ryder
George Yard Buildings. They arrive on the first floor put it so aptly in at least one podcast, he wouldn’t have
landing. Here he might have pushed her down, or tripped gone from 0 to 606 (or from 0 to 100+, for those who don’t
her, or perhaps even asked her to lay down (I’m not at count Kelly in). I’d also speculate that we might be dealing
all clear about which is the more likely), and as fast as with a killer who initially was himself not 100% positive
he can stabs her in the heart with the larger blade, the about what he precisely wanted. If you ask a serial killer
relative precision of this wound would suggest to me why he killed, as has been done, the reply is usually quite
that she was on the ground while receiving it. He then unsatisfying, in fact quite vague. A fledging serial murderer
commences to stab her chest, belly, abdomen and genital on the couch would probably even be vaguer about it.
region. Alternatively, he could have caught her while she In this light, the difference between the wounds
was asleep.
inflicted on Martha Tabram and those done to the later
A quick question: a murderer, who in all likelihood has victims appears less significant; in both instances we’re
his victim go with him to a more or less secluded spot looking at what is normally referred to as some savagery,
in the early morning hours, there first incapacitating his and I could imagine the tendency on Tabram’s body as
victim before carrying out whatever else he wants to do going downwards (pure speculation) - in any case the
to the body for whatever reason – does that remind us of murderer simply not being positioned where he’ll be later.
anyone?
The stab to the heart, with you still humouring me,
The question about which of the blades had been used
is only different as a stab to the heart, but not in terms
first is such an important one, because it decides the
of purpose, which is to incapacitate the victim in order
context of these weapons as well as the context of the
to commit what follows, the stab wounds to the rest of
overall purpose. If you give my conclusions here a chance,
the body being the priority, what the killer really wants,
you’ll have to wonder why the murderer would stab an
although possibly not the fully-fledged version yet - not
already lifeless woman 38 times. This question doesn’t
yet a recognition completed.
pose the same kind of problem in the case of Nichols,
Chapman and subsequent victims. If you allow the validity
6 Ally Ryder made the comment ‘about 0 to 60’ on the
of the sequence of events as proposed above, we have a ‘Non-Canonical Victims: Part One’ podcast posted on 10 June 2009.
procedure that is pretty much identical with those which Listen at www.casebook.org/podcast/listen.html?id=91
4
later murders, with the difference of knives and specific

means of incapacitation of the victim explained at least in
theory by them constituting an earlier version of the same
procedure, indicate a serial murderer evolving.
I thus believe that if we accept this larger blade as being
brought for the purpose of incapacitating Martha Tabram
first, she’d be moved a significant deal closer to warranting
an inclusion into the series of victims attributed to the
serial murderer the world knows as ‘Jack the Ripper’, not
in spite, but precisely because of that larger blade.
ADDENDUM
I’d like to thank researcher Christer Holmgren for two

observations and the subsequently ensuing, for me, very
fruitful debates. The first being Dr. Killeen’s remark that
all wounds had been inflicted on Martha Tabram before
death. This had not escaped me, but, without inferring
a mistake on behalf of the good doctor at all, I’m of the
opinion that one shouldn’t give the literacy of this remark
a credence beyond any doubt. If we allow the wounds to
have been applied in a rapid succession, it would probably
be difficult even today to allow certainty about whether
the larger knife was used last or first just from looking
at the wounds, let alone at the end of the 19th century.
The body indeed hardly ever dies instantly, i.e. within
one second, and whatever the reactions of the body upon
Think of the larger blade to the heart as a precursor to dying, we’re still talking about a number of wounds the
the strangling and throat-cutting. murderer would have been able to inflict in way under a
That this approach would then have been altered minute. I’d be confident that a debate about this with the
would be due to the specifics of what he wanted and how learned Dr. Killeen would be much shorter than those led
he was to go about it. A simple process of trial and error, today, and I thus don’t see the argument weakened.
of learning to specify method, of a killer finding himself in The second observation concerns the sequence of
the dark, disturbed ways of his mind. wounds inflicted on Polly Nichols, and here Christer has,
The choice of weapons follows the same line of after a long and hard fought debate, managed to convince
thought. I wouldn’t presume that the killer ‘grew up’ me that all the evidence in fact pointing to the incisions
with his specific, ever-to-be-preferred knife. Of course, to the throat having been the final ones. This, too, doesn’t
redirect my suspicions in Martha Tabram’s case. In the
he could have swapped to another knife, learning from
development of method on behalf of the murderer an
inconvenience, e.g. such as having to break through the
even, strict line is not necessitated, while this important
sternum, and from mishaps. I wrote above that he probably
detail does also highlight the differences that occurred
killed her as quickly as possible, but just how quickly that
between all the victims.
would turn out to be not only depended on him, but also
on circumstance, this mainly being the victim’s response.

Basically, we’re talking about refining.
DANIEL CAZARD is a writer, who is currently working on his second
To sum up: the presence of the larger blade not only first novel, and has a draft of another second first novel waiting for
suggests clear premeditation, but the specific purpose of completion, and also works on a rather large project about the ‘Jack
killing or at least incapacitating the victim first for the other the Ripper’ murders, about which he won’t say another word until
it’s finished, out there and consumed by the public. He currently
inflictions then to be delivered subsequently, a scenario
lives in Cologne, Germany, thinking he might still learn why before
supported by the absence of screams. This version of leaving, and mostly behind his desk, in the constant hope that
events, pointing to the crime being of similar nature to the someone will bring him food from his kitchen.
5
Murder Most Foul

Part One
By TIM MOSLEY and SCOTT NELSON
Murder most foul, as in the best it is; some due to entrenched third-world ethnic hatred, some
But this most foul, strange and unnatural. due to ongoing religious loathing rooted far back in the
Hamlet, Act I, Scene V Old Testament. With today’s sensational media barrage
and liberal, permissive society, we have become so inured
In previous articles in this series, we pondered how to these horrendous events that we tolerate children
the Ripper procured a victim and selected a murder site, regularly playing video games infested with graphic
and contemplated any extraordinary preparations he violence and explicit gore which were unthinkable just
may have made for committing the Whitechapel Murders. a generation ago. It has been said that we are cultivating
Whoever he was, or whatever his actual motive for the future killers in our midst by making violence so
crimes, events up to this point could certainly have commonplace. Indeed, more and more ‘ordinary’ people
proceeded according to the approaches about which we are committing deeds of incredible violence without any
have theorized. There may be no small argument that they precursory violent criminal act whatsoever. There have
might indeed have. But now we enter the realm of true been recent cases in the U.S. where 12-year-old boys have
subjectivity, where theories about the Ripper’s motives killed teenagers in drive-by shootings while other boys,
are as diverse as the beliefs and underlying precepts of not much older, have raped, killed and mutilated teenage
the world’s religions. And, as with the world’s religions, girls as part of a gang initiation. Recently in the news is
believers have often been in conflict. Their conflicts, the story of an adolescent boy who, together with his
however, have not centered on theology, but on the sister, killed their even younger brother for no apparent
different theories and on the different suspects and their reason and buried him in the backyard to conceal their
motives. The members of Ripperological groups are so crime. Typical of these events reported in the media are
militant in their beliefs, so reverent of their particular the following:
ideology, that they might as well be members of a religion,
A man went on a rampage with scissors Tuesday
with the cry of ‘Cuckold’s Revenge!’ as their mantra. One
morning on a Hudson River bike path, slashing and
suspects that nothing in the way of proof to the contrary,
stabbing five people including a toddler, police said.
regardless of its credentials, could ever convert these The suspect, who appeared to be homeless and
poor souls. Examples include the Maybrick Diaryists, emotionally disturbed, was taken into custody. All of
the Royal Theorists and the Barnettites, as well as other the victims - two women and two men in their 30s
groups equally adamant and close-minded in their beliefs and a one-year old boy - were expected to survive,
concerning all things Ripper. though one of the women was in critical condition.
Modern examples of Man’s Inhumanity to Man - and Associated Press, 1 October 2013
Woman – are, sadly, all too common today. So far as the
media go, any number of news articles on the murder and
A man has been found guilty of murdering two
subsequent dismemberment of some victim, as well as women from Northern Ireland who were stabbed to
websites containing images of mutilated human beings, death while on holiday in Turkey. Recep Cetin, the
are presented as ‘entertainment’. Also in the news are the ex-boyfriend of Mrs. Graham’s [one of the victims]
continuing atrocities committed by the world’s soldiery, daughter, will spend the rest of his life in jail for
6
the murders. Cetin, who is in his 20s, had admitted it is easy to imagine the horrors that many a boy born in
stabbing the victims but had denied murder. Ms the wrong place at the wrong time may have experienced.
Graham was stabbed 17 times in the attack and Ms With such a personal history and amid such horrid living
Dinsmore suffered 35 stab wounds. The trial was conditions, a man might easily have resorted to extreme
delayed when Cetin said he was psychiatrically ill.
violence as a natural way of life, if not as a necessary
Further medical examinations showed that he was
resource for survival. If such were the case, as has been
not.
illustrated all too well by examples in modern times,
BBC News, Northern Ireland, 2 October 2013 there would have been no need for violent precursory
crimes. The Ripper could have easily leaped directly into
A woman was found guilty of shooting her 9-year-old a criminal career with the vicious assault on Ada Wilson
daughter, cutting up the corpse, and throwing it into and the murders of Martha Tabram and Polly Nichols.
the Pacific Ocean. The dismembered body of a man
was discovered inside of her freezer. The man’s head
was found simmering in a crock pot. She told police
that the man had died of a heart attack and she cut up
his body to dispose of it for fear authorities would find
out she was wanted in Oregon. The coroner found no
sign of homicide.
Associated Press, 9 February 2002
A 17-year old student who had been suspended from

high school entered the home of a 62-year old woman
and viciously stabbed her to death. He had been living
next door to the victim when he decided to burglarize,
rob, and murder his neighbor.
Houston Chronicle, 4 March 2002 In fact, what sort of man was the Ripper? What could
have driven him to become modern history’s first serial
Erika and Benjamin Sifrit, both 24, were ordered held killer? In his classic work, The Complete Jack the Ripper,1
without bail Monday on two counts of murder in the Donald Rumbelow writes:
killings of Martha Crutchley, 51, and her boyfriend,
Joshua Ford, 32, of Virginia. Investigators do not have The Ripper was a sick man, twisted by sadistic
a motive for the killings. Police believe the couples cravings.
met at a bar and evidence has not been found that
they had known each other beforehand. But was he? Although this simple summary is in line
with the ‘traditional’ thinking on the case, many possible
A handgun, two spent shell casings and a serrated
motives for the crimes exist, a number of which are
knife with blood and flesh on it were found on Erika
Sifrit when she was arrested. Misshapen bullets with assuredly non-stereotypical. The Ripper may have been
blood and flesh on them, plastic handcuffs and blood neither a ‘sick’ man nor a ‘sadistic’ killer. Again, we must
spatterings were found in the car and condominium think ‘out of the box’ and not assume that the Ripper was
of the Pennsylvania couple. Erika Sifrit told police necessarily as most Ripper authors state that he ‘was’ or
that her husband dismembered the bodies and they ‘must’ have been. ‘Ordinary’ and ‘traditional’ thinking
dumped the remains in a garbage bin. have got us nowhere over the last 128 years. We must
Erika Sifrit’s lawyer said: ‘The only thing I would say exhaust all other credible possibilities if we hope ever to
is this event is completely out of character for Erika. see the mystery solved.
She was a good student, a good athlete and had no The following excerpt from the London newspaper, the
criminal record until this point.’ Star, 10 November 1888, sets forth the popular conception
of the Ripper:
CNN, 4 June 2002
To begin with, it is clear that the murderer has a
At a critical point in his formative years, the Ripper may knowledge of the Whitechapel district in which he
have been exposed to life’s dark underbelly, which led him perpetrates his crimes.
to become the Ripper as part of a natural progression. Since
life was so hard for London’s outcasts in the Victorian era, 1. Rumbelow, Donald: The Complete Jack the Ripper, Penguin, 2004.
7
Then he is probably a man of bad character, who ...

is acquainted with the customary and most taking
methods of accosting the women whom he selects as
his victims.
He is probably a maniac, so far as the prosecution of one

single murderous purpose is an indication of mania;
but, on the other hand, he is not so much a maniac as
to be indifferent to detection, and he watches to strike
his blow with unfailing and remorseless cunning at
the moment most favorable to his designs.
Again, he is probably able to secure solitude whenever

he wants it; but, on the other hand, he is not likely to
be a man of forbidding appearance, solitary manners,
or distinguished by one trait marking him out for
notice by his fellows.
We must assume that the murderer is a man not open

to ordinary suspicion, and that although he lays his
plots with devilish ingenuity, and carries them out
with unsurpassed cunning and ferocity,
He is a gentleman who is accepted absolutely in

his own rank of society, possibly adorning a pew,
occupying a clerk’s stool, or doing a little business, in
leisure moments not devoted to the main purpose of
his life, in stocks and shares.
Finally, he may assume drunkenness, or a ‘boozing’

fit, for the treble purpose of putting his victims, the Saturday night in Whitechapel Road
Courtesy Thomas Schachner
police, and his acquaintances off the scent.
It follows, therefore, that in the absence of immediate I’m always wondering just ‘before’ if they saw a look
motive, which means the absence of clue[s], we must in his eyes, and misunderstood the anxiousness and
keep our eyes on points of character rather than on didn’t realize they were looking into the eyes of a soul
such manifestly unsatisfactory and inadequate work completely foreign to them. And he, looking back at
as the searching of lodging-houses, which in all them revealed something of his inner strange map.
probability the murderer does not frequent. Did they ever have a sudden recognition of who he
was? Or was he behind them, intentionally never
The identification of the Ripper from among the revealing that inner man? I think he was reaching for
many unsavory characters known to be in London at the something that he himself didn’t understand.
time – nearly all of whom have at one time or another
Errata2
been named as suspects in the Whitechapel Murders –
has not been an easy task. No one suspect ‘stands out’
The infamous FBI Profiling of the Ripper was based on
as a really strong candidate in the surprisingly weak
limited data and unsophisticated assumptions, a number
field. Indeed, many Ripperologists feel that the Ripper
of which have since proved to be erroneous or obsolete,
is not listed among them but is someone completely
and all of which had as their basis data from modern serial
unknown. The situation can best be summarized through
killers. As a tool to tell us who the Ripper might have been,
a meteorological metaphor: Many violent thunderstorms
or what motivated him, the FBI profile is all but useless.
occurred in London during that autumn of 1888, but only
Some of the methodologies used in profiling, however,
one of them spun out a tornado. Which one was it?
are useful inasmuch as they identify both the general and
Was Jack simply a man who had luck on his side and specific personality characteristics for which we should
escaped detection because he appeared to be so ordinary? look.
Or was he the master of his victims, the center of attention
of all London? Smarter than the police, more clever than
the doctors who attempted to profile him, he felt superior
to all others. 2. Ryder, Stephen: www.casebook.org
8
While serial killers tend to act out of some intense The murderer must have been a man of physical
fantasy, their hunger for violence is on the extreme end strength and of great coolness and daring.
of a continuum linked to the stalking and predation that There is no evidence he had an accomplice.
characterize many normal social activities of human
He must in my opinion be a man subject to periodical
life, such as hunting, romantic pursuit, entrepreneurial
attacks of homicidal and erotic mania.
enterprises, and group combat.3
The character of the mutilations indicates that the
It is pathological only in terms of degree, not the nature
man may be in a condition sexually, that may be called
of the act. In other words, it’s not a brain disease that sets
satyriasis....
them apart in kind. They act out, feel empowered, and
continue to want that energy, just as males in battle want ...He would probably be solitary and eccentric in his
the thrill of victory. Some feel better after a murder, others habits, also he is most likely to be a man without
regular occupation, but with some small income or
feel better during it.4
pension.
The labels ‘disorganized’ and ‘organized’ refer to the
degree of personality aberration, which is evident in He is possibly living among respectable persons who
have some knowledge of his character and habits and
how chaotic or controlled the crime scene is.5 The labels
who may have grounds for suspicion that he is not
‘asocial’ and ‘nonsocial’ refer to whether the person is a
quite right in his mind at times.
loner because of weirdness or by choice. There are two
types: Nearly every Ripperologist has an opinion, theory, or
preconceived idea about the Ripper and the type of man
The disorganized, asocial offender (IQ below average,
he must have been. In some cases, about exactly who he
80-95 range; socially inadequate; lives alone, usually
does not date; absent or unstable father; family was. As we will see, many people think they do know JACK.
emotional abuse, inconsistent; lives and/or works
Did JtR get started because the first prostitute got
near crime scene; minimal interest in news media;
cheeky with him which set him off? He then discovers
poor hygiene/housekeeping skills; keeps a secret
he enjoys ripping even more than sex. He has now
hiding place in the home; nocturnal (nighttime) habits;
found a new game because it’s so easy to slash, rip,
needs to return to crime scene for reliving memories;
and run to the horror of the public and the frustration
no interest in police work; kills at one site, considers
of the police. Suddenly this nobody is the center
mission over; usually leaves body intact; attacks in a
of attention of all London. The celebrity status is
‘blitz’ pattern; depersonalizes victim to a thing or it;
intoxicating and he enjoys the thrill of the kill.
leaves a chaotic crime scene; leaves physical evidence;
responds best to counseling interview) Robeer7
The organized, non-social offender (IQ above average,

105-120 range; socially adequate; lives with partner I believe the Ripper was a white male of Irish/
or dates frequently; stable father figure; family Cockney background, aged about 30, roughly 5’5’
physical abuse, harsh; geographically/occupationally - 5’6’ tall, about 160-170 lbs., somewhat stocky and
mobile; follows the news media; may be educated; broad shouldered, very strong, fair complexion, light
good hygiene/housekeeping skills; does not usually mustache, green or hazel-green eyes, who lived in
keep a hiding place; diurnal (daytime) habits; needs Whitechapel and either worked at or near London
to return to crime scene to see what police have done; Hospital. I believe he attacked Ada Wilson on March
usually contacts police to play games; a police groupie 28, and stabbed her twice in the throat before fleeing.
or wannabe; doesn’t experiment with self-help; kills Furthermore, I think he would have finished the job
at one site, disposes at another; may dismember except that Ada was able to scream loud enough to
body; attacks using seduction into restraints; keeps alert the neighbors, who nearly caught him. I think
personal, holds a conversation; leaves a controlled he was still perfecting his method and didn’t have
crime scene; leaves little physical evidence: responds
best to a direct interview)
Take a look and try to find Jack.

3. trutv.com/library/crime/index.html
Philip C. Dowe6 4. Ibid.
5. Conter, D., Alison, L., Alison, E., and Wentink, N.: (2004), ‘The
A contemporary profile of the Ripper was made by Dr. Organized/Disorganized Typology of Serial Murder: Myth or Model?’,
Thomas Bond in a report to Assistant Metropolitan Police Psychology, Public Policy and Law 10(3), p. 293-320.
Commissioner Robert Anderson dated 10 November 6. Ryder, Stephen: www.casebook.org
1888. A portion of this report follows: 7. Ibid.
9
it down just then. The claim that this was merely a with that type of skill set - Moderate physical strength
botched robbery attempt does not exclude this man - Previous history of harassing street women, perhaps
(who fits the above description perfectly) as a suspect, just verbally.
since the Ripper in fact may have robbed most of his
Michael Richards11
victims of what few coins or rings they possessed. I
don’t think he was a Polish Jew -- he made too many
blatant attempts to implicate Jews, in order to throw
the police off his scent (Stride killed next to the Jewish
International Workingmen’s Club, the Goulston
Graffito, etc). I don’t believe he died or was captured
after MJK. I think he escaped and continued killing
and mutilating women elsewhere
John Fogarty8
White male
Mid-thirties
English
Grew up in Whitechapel, but bettered himself out of
it.
Job that requires some education. Clerk, business
owner, priest
Single
Dominant and abusive mother, possibly highly
religious, possibly a prostitute (possibly died just
before the first murder)
Seemingly meek in manner, quiet, possibly pious,
Joe Barnett, ladies and gentlemen. He is the man we
goes unnoticed at work and in social situations.
are looking for. Joe Barnett could not keep Mary Kelly
Easily dominated by people in power
off the streets. Even after murdering fellow prostitutes
Possible hypochondriac, convinced of some defect
to scare her. When his plan failed, he killed the woman
Compulsive about the acquisition of knowledge.
he obsessed over. If he could not have her, she would
Reads incessantly, any number of subjects. May
have to die. His jealousy and rage and wounded male
attend lectures.
ego got the best of him, the way it does most women’s
Fascinated by knives.
killers.
May concentrate on the plight of poor children.
No history of arrests, appearance of model citizen Jeff York12
Is hesitant about marriage and family
Knows the streets of Whitechapel
In Jack’s eyes, he may be seeing these women as
Familiar with the basic habits of local prostitutes
Emma Smith. The one he couldn’t save. His mind
through observation
partially reliving the hell he believes she must have
He would not stand out talking to a prostitute, but he
gone through. Then seeing that she is in a better place
may well be awkward while doing it.
now, killing her (the victim) over and over again, until
Errata9 she can finally be safe. Maybe harvesting the organs,
because this is what robbed her of that life. Perhaps
if he takes them all, she can finally rest in peace. Or
Most likely... a barmy boatman... ever so slightly more
maybe if he cuts deep enough into the victims, he can
than a local loon. I think a local resident... the village
release her soul. That’s what I see Jack like.
psychopath if you will... might be a little leery of
committing the crimes so close to home. Chris Hintzen13
Howard Brown10
8. Ryder, Stephen: www.casebook.org
Married or single male - May live alone, may live with 9. Ibid.
wife - No children-Local resident - Regularly works 10. Brown, Howard: www.jtrforums.com

nights - Has some anatomical and knife wielding 11. Ryder, Stephen: www.casebook.org
skills - Undiagnosed mental illness - Likely a butcher, 12. Ibid.
slaughterhouseman, failed med student, or someone 13. Ibid.
10
There are numerous armchair-detectives who say induces a criminal action. As we will see, motives and
‘show me the suspect and I’ll give you the motive.’ For our reasons may be, and typically are, combined in many
purposes, this is backwards. We need to show the many serial killers.
possible motives and then search for the suspects that
these motives best fit.
And for the record, the main reason why this crime
was never solved was because they had no clue as to
the true motive. In such a case as this, one must find
the motive before finding the man.
Ivor Edwards14
And question this most bloody piece of work…

Macbeth, Act II, Scene III
What kind of motive could drive someone to become

a ‘Murderer of Strangers’, as Sugden15 puts it, to mutilate
the tortured remains and make no effort whatsoever to
conceal the crime? Conventional thinking in effect at the
time of the Whitechapel Murders was severely limited
in its ability to deal with events such as these, for they
were unprecedented. What was known about ‘motive’ for
murder in Victorian times can be summarized as follows:
Murder groups itself naturally into the following six

divisions:16
Murder for Gain

Murder for Revenge
Murder for Elimination
Murder from Jealousy
Murder from Lust of Killing
Murder from Conviction
Typically, such motives for ‘mundane’ murder are

understood and accepted, although, as we shall see, there At issue are the questions of why the murders occurred
are numerous other possible motives. But the motives for at all, why they were so theatrically bloody in their
the horrific mutilations and subsequent events that were execution, and why the remains of the victims were left,
the trademark of the Ripper are not so easily understood. more or less, on public display. There may be a single
motive that answers all three questions, good examples
Theory helps us to bear our ignorance of facts. being that of ‘revenge’ or ‘misogyny’. There may also be
George Santayana two separate and distinct motives and/or reasons that
answer all three questions, or each question may have its
By way of understanding the Whitechapel Murders, own separate answer or answers. The borders between
‘motive’ may be thought of as the driving force behind the three ‘whys’ may be fuzzy and indistinct, making
a pre-meditated process to achieve a means to an end – differentiation difficult or even impossible. We shall
the resolution of the person’s lingering dilemma. These discuss the possible motives and reasons in answer for all
situations usually involve things like jealousy or greed. A three questions, but not in the order of natural succession.
more immediate condition can be thought of as a reaction
to an overpowering emotion such as rage, a shorter-term
adverse response to some spontaneous situation. Reasons
for murder may have more to do with a physiological or 14. Ryder, Stephen: www.casebook.org
psychological condition such as schizophrenia or a brain 15. Sugden, Philip: The Complete History of Jack the Ripper, Robinson
tumor that incites the mind to engage in a criminal act Publishing, 2nd ed., 2002.
rather than some pondering situation that eventually 16. Jesse, F. Tennyson: Murder and its Motives, Pan, 1958.
11
There are many more possible motives or reasons for a demented killer (an artist, no less!) lays out the nude
the murders than for the mutilations and public nature body of a female murder victim in the dramatic pose
of the crimes. First, however, let us address the issue of in which he wishes her to be found, complete with the
‘public display’. murder weapon, a knife, still embedded in her heart. As
things developed, this act was done purely to shock those
who discovered her body, and much of the perpetrator’s
pleasure in committing the crime was attributed to being
derived from contemplation of the effect such a horrific
sight would have upon others.
Such a motive has already been ascribed to the Ripper
by many Ripperologists. Of course, there are numerous
other possible motives. Certainly those following are
the main possible motives or reasons for the public
abandoning and ‘display’ of the victims where they lay.
Others may be common to all or nearly all motives for the
murders themselves. Some such motives include:
Jack the Practical Man

When Willie Sutton was asked why he robbed banks
he replied, because that was where the money was. The
Ripper killed where he did because that was where the
whores were in the concentration that he needed to
escape notice as he engaged one as a victim. Given the
environment and layout of the East End, he could not
easily or safely attract them to a hidden area or move
them to one after killing them. So he simply left them
where they lay, for others to deal with.
So far as the choice of venue goes, the question has Jack the Bogeyman
often been asked as to why did the Ripper not use a ‘house The Ripper really was a murderous monster, so intent
of horror’ as his base of operations, as other serial killers on the killings and mutilations conducted under such
have, instead of killing in such a public fashion? There are dangerous conditions that he simply didn’t care about
many possible reasons why not, including lack of money anything else afterwards except flight. So he simply left
or lack of privacy in that teeming slum. Did the Ripper live them where they lay.
with a relative, as Jeffrey Dahmer once did, and thereby
did not possess the solitude requisite for such nocturnal
Jack the Egotist
and bloody criminal activity? Was killing ‘on the street
corner’ merely a vital part of the thrill and danger? Or was Most criminals are great egoists and inordinately vain,
there a more sinister reason for the deliberate selection of but these two qualities are found in excess in murderers.18
such public murder sites? Jack was a ‘bad’ boy, like a latter-day gang member,
In the 1930s, crime magazines featuring ‘armchair who wanted the world to know of his presence. Rather
detectives’ were in vogue with the moneyed classes than demarcating his ‘turf’ with graffiti or symbols, he
whose financial support was essential. Almost invariably, left victims with his ‘mark’ in public view for all to see,
these amateur detectives were portrayed as wealthy, recognize - and fear. Naturally, such a man would believe
philanthropic individuals who solved crimes and assisted himself to be smarter than the police or anyone else and
the police just to relieve their own boredom. One of the so, by definition, someone who would ‘never’ be caught.
most popular such characters of the era was Trevis Alternatively, a ‘publicity hound’ who found his ‘celebrity
Tarrant, the creation of C. Daly King. The short stories in
which he was featured are available today in the Dover
reprint collection The Curious Mr. Tarrant.17 In one of the 17. King, C. Daly: The Curious Mr. Tarrant, Dover Publications, 1986.
better stories, The Episode of The Nail and the Requiem, 18. Jesse, F. Tennyson: Murder and its Motives, Pan, 1958.
12
status’ to be intoxicating would take especial pains to discard an empty candy wrapper by merely dropping it at
ensure that the crime scenes would all be as spectacularly the spot where he was done with it.
horrifying as he could manage under the circumstances.
Also, an egotistical Ripper might naturally wish to ‘boast’ Jack the Godfather
of his successful crimes, and what better way to do that
The public display of his victims might have been
than by leaving his eviscerated victims in plain sight for
meant as a warning to someone or some group, or even
everyone to see?
to all prostitutes. If so, publicity would be the driving
force behind the Ripper’s methodology. Mary Kelly
Jack the Obsessed
would have been razored out of existence because it had
An impressive feature of serial killers is that they can escape been impossible to display her publicly like the others.
detection despite prolonged, repeated, and sometimes Compensation had to be made somehow. There may also
incredible risk on the part of the perpetrator. But what have been a wish or a need to make a public example of
appears to be breathtaking derring-do may not be that his victims.
at all; more probably the murderers are so sunk into
their obsession, so detached from the concept of guilt or Jack the Capitalist
consequence, they become anesthetized to the possibility
As we shall see, it may have been to Jack’s financial
they will be caught.19
interest to commit the murders and mutilations in such a
Jack, so engrossed in his task, may not even be aware
public manner and to leave the victims in plain sight.
that his victims would be on ‘display’ upon their discovery.
Jack the Blind Man

Jack the Thrill-seeker
The Whitechapel Murders may have been nothing more
Was the ‘danger’ aspect of these crimes, to be ‘in
than an elaborate ruse, a ‘blind’, or ‘red herring’, used to
control of his own fate’, simply irresistible for the Ripper?
distract from crimes of a different nature. If such were the
Would it also dictate that the murders and mutilations
case, these crimes needed to be as horrific – and public –
be conducted in public rather than in secret? People still
as possible.
climb Mt. Everest for the thrill, although many have died
attempting it. The thrill and adrenaline rush may have How do we differentiate between these? We must
been just what a jaded Victorian intellectual needed to examine in depth all possible motives and reasons for
escape a state of ennui, instead of an injection of a seven- the murders and their attendant mutilations, for they are
percent solution of cocaine à la Sherlock Holmes. all integrated with one another. First we will discuss the
possible motives for the mutilations.
Jack the Anarchist If not for their mutilations, their drama and the
accompanying ‘Jack the Ripper’ moniker, the Whitechapel
Where there is any strong central government, there Murders would likely today be mere footnotes in some
is usually also contempt for society and authority, an dusty old British history book not even Stewart Evans
organization, or an individual. would know of. If these street women had instead been
Yet, the Butcher also proudly, defiantly, perhaps only strangled and left in an abandoned building, as an
tauntingly displayed his handiwork. Was there some dark, ‘ordinary’ serial killer might have done, the legend of the
obscure personal meaning behind every detail of the scenes Ripper might have never been born and he would today be
he left behind? 20 just an obscure figure. But a faceless and nameless super-
The brutality of the murders and the mutilations, and criminal who struck without warning, killed without
the public display of the victims may thus have been a mercy, mutilated his victims in an increasingly destructive
‘social statement’ for shock value, as related in the Trevis fashion and, time and time again, disappeared without a
Tarrant story The Episode of the Nail and the Requiem, to trace, has tremendous fascination even today. The very
create a series of tableaux horribilis in an effort to harm the people who were in denial of his presumed nationality
government, society, some organization, or an individual. 128 years ago are today quite proud of the Ripper’s
place in history as the first and ‘baddest’ of them all. Just
Jack the Litterbug
19. Ubelaker, Douglas & Scammell, Henry: Bones: A Forensic Detective’s
The victims were merely something to be used and then Casebook, New York Harper Collins, 1993.
discarded like trash, warranting no more exertion on his 20. Badal, James: In the Wake of the Butcher Cleveland’s Torso Murders,
part. He simply ‘threw them away’ just as a litterbug might Kent State Press, 2001.
13
imagine the catastrophic effect on British national morale his terrible crimes did indeed speak volumes. Perhaps
if it were eventually to be revealed that, instead of a super- the Ripper reveled in all of the attention given him by
criminal, Jack the Ripper had in fact been a homosexual the press; perhaps he was simply indifferent to it. This
man named Quincy Dovetonsils who killed and mutilated would depend on his motives or reasons for committing
these women out of a desire to scare off the competition the crimes in the first place. Still, most likely he authored
for the best men. either none or no more than one of the many ‘Ripper
Unfortunately, similar ‘mutilation crimes’ from which Letters’ received by the police.
we might deduce valuable information about the Ripper
and his motives are as enigmatic as the Great Victorian
Mystery itself. One example is as follows:
There roamed an unknown psychopath who littered

the inner city with a dozen decapitated and otherwise
mutilated bodies over a three-year period and
vanished as mysteriously as he had appeared, leaving
virtually no clues as to his identity.21
Sounds a lot like the Ripper, doesn’t it? This stark

statement actually refers to another classic tale in
criminology, ‘America’s Jack the Ripper’, also known as
the Mad Butcher or the Headhunter of Kingsbury Run, the
Cleveland Torso Killer and other grisly nicknames. Like
the Ripper, the Mad Butcher committed ghastly murders, The main possible motives or reasons for the
strewing dismembered human remains over the Cleveland ‘mutilations’ closely parallel those for the ‘public display’
metropolitan area during several years in the mid 1930s. related earlier. Following are the postulated motives
He still remains unknown today, having evaded Eliot Ness or reasons for the Ripper’s mutilation of the victims.
of Untouchables fame as easily as the Ripper had evaded Some may be common to all or nearly all motives for the
Frederick Abberline half a century earlier. Interestingly murders themselves. Others may be more specific and
enough, the prime suspect in these murders was a doctor limited in scope.
who had been diagnosed by another medical professional
as follows: POSSIBLE MOTIVES AND REASONS
FOR THE MUTILATIONS
I believe we have a classic psychopath here with the
likelihood of some schizophrenia. His father spent the
Jack the Bogeyman
last three years of his life locked up, a violent schizoid The Ripper really was a murderous monster who took
personality aggravated by chronic alcoholism.22 organs from the victims as ‘trophies’ from the kill, for later
consumption, or other use.
The similarities between these two cases are indeed
remarkable:
Jack the Wanker
Crime buffs have often compared the Kingsbury Run The Ripper was a sexual deviant who took organs from
Butcher to Jack the Ripper. Their grisly activities the victims as a necessary part of his sexual release and
created a climate of fear in Cleveland and London for use in later masturbation.
respectively, and both eluded capture as well as
identification principally because law enforcement
officials imperfectly understood the psychological
Jack the Madman
dynamics of a serial killer. In both cases, police simply The Ripper was criminally insane and the mutilations,
did not know what they were looking for. In the like the murders, were simply the act of a madman
1930s, no one in law enforcement knew what a serial predisposed toward extreme violence.
killer was. They did not understand that particular
pathology, nor did they even know the term.23 21. Badal, James: In the Wake of the Butcher Cleveland’s Torso Murders,
Kent State Press, 2001.
Unlike in the Ripper case, no letters were sent to the 22. trutv.com/library/crime/index.html
police, taunting or otherwise, by the Mad Butcher. He let 23. Badal, James: In the Wake of the Butcher Cleveland’s Torso Murders,
his actions speak for him, and the audacious nature of Kent State Press, 2001.
14
Jack the Mad Man Jack the Godfather

The Ripper acted out of anger and hatred. He wished Mutilation would be an underlying purpose of the
to inflict as much damage as possible on his victims. Since Ripper’s murders, to act as a warning to some parties,
he could kill them only once, he did the next best thing by and possibly to others of their kind. Mary Kelly would
mutilating their corpses. have been razored out of existence because she was killed
indoors, which provided him with hitherto unavailable
Jack the Tripper time and opportunity.
The Ripper was acting under the influence of drug and
alcohol-induced psychosis and committed the mutilations Jack the Capitalist
either as part of a psychedelic experience or as he would As we shall later see, it may have been to Jack’s financial
have if criminally insane or brain damaged in some form. interest to make the murders as horrifying as possible.
Jack the Bad Man

Jack the Blind Man
The Ripper was purely evil and mutilated his victims
It may be that the Ripper mutilated his victims and
simply because it was such a bad thing to do.
took body organs just to confuse the issue for the police or
implicate others, such as the Freemasons.
Jack the Jill-Hater
The Ripper was a misogynist who tried to destroy the Jack the Daydreamer
womanhood of his victims post-mortem via mutilation of
their bodies, particularly their sexual organs. Jack may have been acting out his failed medical
experiences on hospital dissecting tables or in a mortuary
room. He may have had other delusions of grandeur: a
Jack the Jolly Man
flamboyant soldier, a bookstore clerk who obsessively
The Ripper mutilated the bodies just as a lark. His read medical texts, or a hunter who treated human
acts may have been nothing more than attempts at mind corpses like animal carcasses.
games with Victorian society.
Jack the War Veteran
Jack the Human-being Stalker
Jack may have suffered from shellshock or a form of
The Ripper was obsessed with prostitutes and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as a result of
mutilated them to gather organs as trophies of his kills. his experiences in war. The result of witnessing human
carnage on the battlefield may have adversely affected his
Jack the Egotist mind to the extent that he sought to relive his memories
by mutilating women on the streets.
The Ripper was a ‘publicity hound’ who found his
‘celebrity status’ to be intoxicating and took pains to ensure The motives and reasons for the mutilation and the
that the crime scenes would be as spectacularly horrifying public display of the victims can overlap a great deal. These
as he could manage to gain better media coverage. What two features of the Whitechapel Murders may either be
better way to do so than to eviscerate fallen women and dependent on or independent of each other, depending on
leave their bodies in public places? exactly what the motive for the murders themselves was.
Jack the Thrill-seeker

The Ripper performed the mutilations to add to the
thrill of the kill, just because he could do it. This act would
be a form of ‘pushing the envelope’ for the crimes.
Jack the Anarchist

The brutality of the murders and the mutilations,
and the public display of the victims may just have been
a ‘social statement’ for shock value, to create a series of
tableaux horibilis.
15
And so we come to the last of the three ‘why’ questions. POSSIBLE MOTIVES AND REASONS
Why did the Whitechapel Murders occur in the first place? FOR THE MURDERS
What could have precipitated them? Had the Ripper
brooded about his intent for years until the time was
True Psychopath and/or Sociopath
finally ‘right’? Had the Ripper studied the East End for
years, becoming intimately familiar with the alleys and ‘It was an urge... A strong urge, and the longer I let it go
back streets that he would later use, until he was confident the stronger it got, to where I was taking risks to go out
enough to strike at last? Was there a ‘final straw’ incident and kill people - risks that normally, according to my little
with a streetwalker which finally nudged him into the rules of operation, I wouldn’t take because they could lead
abyss? Or was there an unrelated personal happenstance to arrest.’
that accomplished the same thing? According to modern Edmund Kemper26
theory involving serial killers, the following is the usual
In his 1941 work, The Mask of Sanity (St. Louis,
sequence of events:
Missouri, C.V. Mosby Co.), Hervey Cleckley defined a
With a serial killer, murder is preceded by what is
psychopath as a person characterized by [one or more of
termed a ‘pre-crime stressor’, a series of events that the following]: lack of emotions (particularly empathy),
may include financial reverses, loss of job, or a marital little sense of shame, superficially charming, manipulative
breakup.24 and deceitful, inadequately motivated, egocentric and/or
grandiose in their behavior and an inability to learn from
As we all know, a mixture of gasoline vapors and air is past experiences and punishment.
highly flammable, but still requires a spark, flame, heat, or Cleckley (page 90) further described psychopathic
radiation to set it off. Until that occurs, its explosive power behavior thus:
is only latent, and it may remain so indefinitely until it
is ignited by any one of the necessary stimuli. Was the ‘The [psychopath] is unfamiliar with the primary facts
Ripper in the same condition, a ‘human explosion’ waiting or data of what might be called personal values and is
to happen, whose legendary career was finally ‘ignited’ by altogether incapable of understanding such matters.
It is impossible for him to take even a slight interest
some obscure incident now lost to history? Had a motive
in the tragedy or joy or the striving of humanity as
or reason for killing prostitutes always been lurking there
presented in literature or art. He is also indifferent
in his subconscious, waiting patiently to be released, like
to all these matters in life itself. Beauty and ugliness,
the genie in the bottle? And, like the fabled genie, was it except in a very superficial sense, goodness, evil,
impossible to control once it had been called forth? love, horror and humour have no actual meaning, no
It may be futile to try to analyze these crimes using power to move him. He is, furthermore, lacking in the
data from other serial killers, for there may be no real ability to see others are moved. It is as though he were
conscious motive, only a reason or variety of reasons that colour-blind…’
the Whitechapel Murders were committed. The principle

Jack the Ripper as a cunning yet debonair psychopathic
known as Occam’s Razor, which so many have tried to fit
killer is perhaps the classic stereotype that has become
to this case, may simply not apply here. Still, the following
ingrained into the ‘legend’ as we know it today. A man
motives and reasons could encompass those that actually
who needed to kill, a man who had to kill; this image is so
drove the Ripper. These are all presented as ‘serious’
strong that a good argument can be made that the Ripper
premises; the ridiculous and the highly unlikely are
was the inspiration for the ‘slasher’ films that were so
not included here. There is often, by necessity, no small
popular in the 1980s, since he shared many of the same
overlap in the motives and reasons discussed below, but
characteristics with the various fiendish killers in those
each has its own important merits for being considered
films. Killing a person is the ultimate expression of one’s
separately, and a brief case is made for each. The motives
power over that person. Those who repeatedly kill within a
and reasons are listed in a descending order of probability
select category, like female prostitutes, are demonstrating
and general popularity. Nonetheless, we expect some,
like, for example, the Royal Conspiracy Theorists, will
undoubtedly take exception to the order in which they are 24. Badal, James: In the Wake of the Butcher Cleveland’s Torso Murders,
presented. Kent State Press, 2001.
25. Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan: The Complete Sherlock Holmes, Mass
The smallest detail may be the most essential. Market Paperback, 2 vols, October 1986.
– Sherlock Holmes25 26. trutv.com/library/crime/index.html
16
that they are focused on that particular group and their or pain, like a drug high. You torture the kitten, you
psychological make-up is very different from that of the feel good. Moving up to your fellow humans increases
general population. Certainly, modern history has shown the high. The worse the horror, the bigger/longer/
us ample examples of psychopathic/sociopathic humans, more intense the emotional high. It’s my way of
who not only craved to kill others but to mutilate and understanding why the bad guys escalate their
violence.
dismember them as well:
Timerover30
While other boys pursued careers, education, the
creation of homes and families, Jeffrey Dahmer was In general terms, a psychopath is someone who has
completely unmotivated. He must have come to view little to no conscience or empathy with their victim, but
himself as utterly outside the human community, is nevertheless conscious of imposing himself on others,
outside all that was normal and acceptable, outside
whereas a sociopath is someone who has developed a
all that could be admitted to another human being.27
distorted conscience whereby they justify what they do
Jeffrey Dahmer was a master manipulator and to others in a reactionary sense. But both definitions of
deceiver who knew exactly what he was doing every psychopath and sociopath have come to be known (in
step of the way, able to turn his urges on and off as 2000) by the more common term, Antisocial Personality
easily as flipping a light switch. The deaths, he said,
Disorder (APD). Someone who has an APD prevalent
were not the acts of a madman, but the result of
pattern of disregard and abuses the rights of others. This
meticulous planning.28
begins in childhood or early adolescence and continues
Much is known today about homicidal psychopaths into adulthood.
and sociopaths, and these generally fall into one of several Psychopaths also have been shown to have defects in
well-defined categories:29 processing facial and vocal expressions of distress, such
as fear and sadness, in others. A team of researchers from
ACT-FOCUSED (quick kill) the Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College, London studied
THE MISSIONARY - goes on hunting ‘missions’ to the brain scans of psychopaths. Their results, published in
eradicate a group of people (prostitutes, Jews, etc.) from 2006, suggest that:
face of earth, seems like ‘fine young man’ to neighbors.
There are biological brain differences that mark
THE VISIONARY - hears voices or sees visions that tell out psychopaths from other people, according to
him to kill (psychotic); the voices tend to be either God or scientists. Psychopaths showed less activity in brain
the Devil, legitimizing the violence. areas involved in assessing the emotion of facial
expressions, the British Journal of Psychiatry reports.
PROCESS-FOCUSED (slow kill) In particular, they were far less responsive to fearful
THE COMFORT-ORIENTED HEDONIST - takes pleasure faces than healthy volunteers. The [research] team say
from killing, but also gets some profit or personal gain this might partly explain psychopathic behaviour.31
from it.
Professor Declan Murphy and colleagues from the
THE THRILL-ORIENTED HEDONIST - gets a ‘rush’ Cardiff University’s School of Psychology test scanned
or ‘high’ from killing, an elixir of thrills, excitement, and the brain activities of six psychopaths and nine healthy
euphoria at victim’s final anguish. volunteers while showing them pictures of faces showing
THE POWER/CONTROL FREAK - takes pleasure from different emotions.
manipulation and domination (sociopath), experiences a
The researchers said:
‘rush’ or ‘high’ from victim’s misery.
The Ripper’s activities did show evidence of the Both groups had increased activity in brain areas
‘meticulous planning’ mentioned by Jeffrey Dahmer and involved in processing facial expressions in response
postulated in the articles in this series. Such attributes to happy faces compared with neutral faces, but this
should be expected from those whose pleasure lies in increase was smaller among the psychopaths. By
the slaughter of other human beings, as they have great
incentive to be able to continue and kill another day. 27. trutv.com/library/crime/index.html
But why do most serial killers appear to escalate their 28. Ibid.
violence? 29. www.friedgreentomatoes.org/articles/apd_sociopathy_
psychopathy.php
I have always suspected that psychopaths’ brains are 30. Brown, Howard: www.jtrforums.com
wired to receive positive input from others’ pleasure 31. news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6198704.stm
17
contrast, when processing fearful faces compared every 5 months. And he killed at least a dozen people,
with neutral faces, the healthy volunteers showed possibly many more, since his early victims were disposed
increased activation and the psychopaths decreased of very efficiently in Lake Erie, and only a few of his known
activation in these brain regions… victims were ever identified.
This failure to recognise and emotionally respond
to facial and other signals of distress may underlie
psychopaths’ failure to block behaviour that causes
distress in others and their lack of emotional empathy,
the scientists suggest.
Dr. Nicola Gray from Cardiff University’s School of

Psychology also has been studying what underpins
psychopathy: ‘If people with psychopathy can’t
process the emotion of fear and that is mirrored in
terms of their brain activity, as this study suggests,
that will help us understand the cognitive deficits. But
it is still a long way to finding out what to do about
that.’32
There is also another phenomenon apparent in the

psychology of the serial killer, the so-called ‘dissociative
state’ or disorder.
Dissociation is the lack of integration of thoughts, feelings
and experiences into the stream of consciousness, [resulting
Entrance to Church Passage from Duke Street
in] a mental detachment from the physical place of an
Courtesy Robert Clack
individual. [In other words, the individual may not even
be aware of their immediate surroundings in this state] Psychopaths who commit hideous crimes, such as rape
From this conscienceless, detached psychology emerges or murder, rarely show any signs of remorse or guilt.
a heightened risk of violence, most notably a capacity for In his 1993 book, Without Conscience: The Disturbing
predation. (Stephen J. Giannangelo, The Psychopathology World of Psychopaths Among Us (New York, N.Y., Simon &
of Serial Murder. A Theory of Violence, 1996, Praeger, pp. Schuster), R.D. Hare elaborated on the remorselessness
13-14). of several modern homicidal psychopaths. John Wayne
Could this dissociative condition explain why the Ripper Gacy, who killed 33 men and boys, described himself as
wasn’t concerned about being seen by witnesses prior to a victim because he had been abused in his childhood.
the execution of the murders? What about the man seen Kenneth Taylor bludgeoned his wife to death but couldn’t
by Mrs. Long talking with Annie Chapman? What about understand why no one sympathized with his loss. Diane
the likelihood of Albert Cadosch being behind a fence just Downs killed her three children and wounded herself in
a few feet away from the spot where Chapman was being an attempt to place the blame on a stranger. When asked
murdered? What about a murder (Elizabeth Stride) being about her feelings concerning the crime, she replied, ‘I
committed after being seen by at least two men next to a couldn’t tie my damned shoes for about two months… the
building full of people? Add to these the three men near scar is going to be there forever.’
Mitre Square who may have seen Catherine Eddowes If the Ripper truly were a psychopath and/or sociopath,
with her killer (facing them) moments before her demise he would not have hesitated to kill without remorse,
and the man seen by George Hutchinson soliciting Mary probably being limited only by time. His urges to kill would
Kelly, and it suggests a dissociated (and confident) Ripper have involved manipulation, deception and considerable
taking gambles (or simply not caring if he was seen) that risk taking as he escalated his violence. The escalating
normal individuals wouldn’t have risked. mutilations of his female victims may have served as
As appealing as the concept sounds, can we really an affirmation of his growing contempt for women. The
believe that JTR was merely a psychopath who had to kill? subsequent abandoning of the victims where they lay may
Typically, a much longer period lapses between victims, have been the result of his dissociative demeanor.
and many more victims are taken than we see here. Look
at the Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run. He killed for at least
three years, and soon began taking a new victim regularly 32. news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6198704.stm
18
Sexual Deviant of the sexual gratification.37
Very likely the murderous act and subsequent

The strangest thing about sexual desire is that, left mutilation of the corpse were equivalents for the
unsatisfied, it can completely alter its nature, as wine sexual act.38
becomes vinegar.
Necrophilia is extremely rare and should be borne in
Donald Rumbelow33 mind whenever a sadistic murder has occurred and
portions of the body are missing.39
One of the most popular motives attributed to the
Ripper was, and is, that of sexual deviance. Both paragons When the police later searched his apartment, they
found several bottles of formalin under his bed, and
and pedestrians of Ripperology subscribe to this particular
in them were the sexual organs and parts of several
‘sexual deviant’ theory, to the apparent exclusion of all
women, dissected with varying degrees of surgical
other possible theories that involve alternative motives or
finesse.40
reasons, as we see here:
It cannot be doubted that a great number of so-
Anything proposing any Ripperian motive far removed called lust murders depend upon a combination of
from demented sexual rage is moonshine. excessive and perverted desire. As a result of this
perverse colouring of the feelings, further acts of
Martin Fido34
bestiality with the corpse may result - e.g., cutting
it up and wallowing in the intestines. The case of
There can be no doubt whatever that the Ripper Andreas Bichel points to this possibility. He killed
murders were sexually motivated. The four known and dissected ravished girls. With reference to one of
Whitechapel victims were all female and all his victims, at his examination he expressed himself
prostitutes. Each had her throat cut (throat injuries as follows: ‘I opened her breast and with a knife cut
are common in sexual murders) and suffered sharp through the fleshy parts of the body. Then I arranged
force mutilation to the erogenous zones. It can be the body as a butcher does beef, and hacked it with an
stated with absolute certainty that Jack the Ripper axe into pieces of a size to fit the hole which I had dug
was a sadosexual serialist. up in the mountain for burying it. I may say that while
Gary Wroe35 opening the body I was so greedy that I trembled, and
could have cut out a piece and eaten it.’41
While the probability is indeed great and such attitudes Eating human flesh gave Dahmer an erection. Before
and convictions may eventually be justified, one still any clean up began, Dahmer reached for his Polaroid
cannot help but remember the words of Conan Doyle’s to capture the entire experience so that he could
fictional period detective when reading such as this: remember each and every murder. Then he cut open
their torsos. He was fascinated by the color of the
Some of us are a little too much inclined to be cocksure. viscera and sexually aroused by the heat that the
Inspector Lestrade36 freshly-killed body would give off. Finally, he would
dismember the man, photographing each stage of the
However, there is much evidence from the time to process for future viewing pleasure. Some parts of the
support this premise, and, sadly, much that has become bodies he chose to keep as trophies, frequently the
evident since then, concerning sexually-deviant serial genitals and head.
killers. Often, the serial killer’s need to kill other human
beings stems from a need to exert total power over 33. Rumbelow, Donald: The Complete Jack the Ripper, Penguin, 2004.
somebody, a need that originates in a fantasy world in 34. Ryder, Stephen: www.casebook.org
which he has complete power. The following examples of 35. Ibid.
sexual deviance as a motive for serial killing are offered 36. Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan: The Complete Sherlock Holmes, Mass
from many: Market Paperback, 2 vols, October 1986.
37. Jesse, F. Tennyson: Murder and its Motives, Pan, 1958.
Killing for killing’s sake is an apparently motiveless
38. Von Krafft-Ebing, Richard: Psychopathia Sexualis, 12th ed., New
motive. Yet this class is a wide and varied field, within York, N.Y., Rebman Co. 1903.
which it is possible to distinguish two divisions. The 39. Spitz. Werner and Fisher, Russell: Medicolegal Investigation of
first division encompasses those murders where the Death, Second Edition, Charles C Thomas Pub. Ltd., December 2005.
satisfaction of lust is in the actual killing, without 40. Ubelaker, Douglas & Scammell, Henry: Bones: A Forensic Detective’s
actual sexual connection with the victim. The second Casebook, New York Harper Collins, 1993.
division encompasses those murders committed at 41. Von Krafft-Ebing, Richard: Psychopathia Sexualis, 12th ed., New
the same time or directly after the sexual act, as part York, N.Y., Rebman Co. 1903.
19
Dahmer is an unusual serial killer. In Dahmer’s case, Criminally Insane

everything is post-mortem... all of his ‘fun’ began after
Though this be madness, yet there is method in’t.
the victims died... He led a rich fantasy life that focused
on having complete control over people... That fantasy Hamlet, Act II, Scene II
life, mixed with hatred, perhaps hatred of himself
which is being projected into his victims. If he at all
Another quite popular ‘motive’ (in actuality, a reason)
felt uncomfortable about his own sexual orientation, attributed to the Ripper is that of criminal insanity. The
it is very easy to see it projected into these victims and stereotypical concept of an ‘insane criminal’ is:
punishing them indirectly to punish himself.’42
ACT-FOCUSED (quick kill): - THE VISIONARY - hears
For some serial killers driven by sexual deviance, the voices or sees visions that tell him to kill (psychotic),
acts of killing and genital mutilation seem to suffice, as the voices tend to be either God or the devil,
orgasm is reached either during the murder or during the legitimizing the violence.46
subsequent mutilation. Others may then abstract various

Numerous validating examples exist, one of the best-
body organs with which to masturbate at leisure, if they
known pertaining to David Berkowitz, the ‘Son of Sam’:
are not taken purely as ‘trophies’. The landmark reference
on sexual deviance, Psychopathia Sexualis,43 contains … some of our later day serial killers like the ‘Son
chronicled detailed analytical accounts on virtually every of Sam’ … said he heard voices tell him to kill those
imaginable sexual perversion, criminal and otherwise. people. Except that in this case his voices did not tell
The Ripper, naturally, finds prominent mention in such a him to surrender.47
reference work, as we see here:
Though the participants [of a conference on the
Kingsbury Run murders] branded the killer a sex
In Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde ‘random violence replaces
the sexual drive’ and Stevenson’s story is actually pervert and assumed he was most likely insane, they
about sexuality. Jekyll and Hyde came out in the same felt that he probably led a normal life to all outward
year as the first edition of Richard von Krafft-Ebing’s appearances.48
Psychopathia Sexualis (1886) and argues that the
new field of sexology that Krafft-Ebing’s text started Although ‘insanity’ is a broad brush indeed, the concept
is akin to Stevenson’s text because it ‘begins with and of the ‘mad doctor’ has been a very attractive one in all
from perversions. What it studies is the pathology of forms of the media:
the sexual, and a significant area of attention is then
the criminal-sexual.’ Krafft-Ebing cites the ‘Jack the When a doctor does go wrong he is the first of criminals.
Ripper’ case as an example of lust-murder.44 He has nerve and he has knowledge.
Sherlock Holmes49
Although Psychopathia Sexualis was remarkable for its
time, it has become dated. It does not include more modern
theory, data, and observations, as, again, the concept of a
42. trutv.com/library/crime/index.html
serial killer was then unknown. Today, serial killers driven
43. Von Krafft-Ebing, Richard: Psychopathia Sexualis, 12th ed., New
by sexual deviance are summarized simply as:
York, N.Y., Rebman Co. 1903.
PROCESS-FOCUSED (slow kill) THE LUST-ORIENTED 44. Heath, Steven: ‘Psychopathia Sexualis: Stevenson’s Strange Case,’
Critical Quarterly, v. 28, 1986, and Hogle, Jerrold, ‘The Struggle for a
HEDONIST - associates sexual pleasure with murder;
Dichotomy: Abjection in Jekyll and His Interpreters’, in William Veeder
sex while killing and necrophilia are eroticized and Gordon Hirsch (eds.), ‘Dr. Jekyell and Mr. Hyde After One Hundred
experiences.45 Years’, Chicago: 1988.
45. www.friedgreentomatoes.org/articles/apd_sociopathy_
His leaving of the victims in public could also be psychopathy.php
attributed to impatience, as he then would either be 46. Ibid.
experiencing his own sort of post-coital bliss, or he 47. Heath, Steven: ‘Psychopathia Sexualis: Stevenson’s Strange Case,’
would be in a tremendous hurry to get to a safe location Critical Quarterly, v. 28, 1986, and Hogle, Jerrold, ‘The Struggle for a
and masturbate before the ‘thrill’ of the kill wore off. It Dichotomy: Abjection in Jekyell and His Interpreters’, in William Veeder
and Gordon Hirsch (eds.), ‘Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde After One Hundred
may be equally likely that a ‘deviant’ would also derive
Years’, Chicago: 1988.
some measure of sardonic – and sexual - pleasure by
48. Badal, James: In the Wake of the Butcher Cleveland’s Torso Murders,
contemplating the effect that sight of the grossly mutilated Kent State Press, 2001.
remains would have on their discoverer and on ‘proper’ 49. Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan: The Complete Sherlock Holmes, Mass
Victorian society. Market Paperback, 2 vols, October 1986.
20
Many doctors, ‘mad’ or not, have been known to kill, his fellow man/woman who took these feelings out on
among them at least one genuine Ripper suspect, Dr. them in one 70 day span in 1888...and maybe beyond.
Neill Cream. Cream, H. H. Crippen, H. H. Holmes, Michael Howard Brown52
Swango – the list goes on. And, it should be noted, the
prime suspect in the Kingsbury Run Murders was a doctor
suspected of being ‘mad’:
Some of Dr. Frank Sweeney’s problems may have been

genetic; others caused by an injury during World War
I and some by overwork. Alcoholism ran in Frank’s
family and had gripped both Frank and his father.
Mental illness was also a factor. His father spent the
last years of his life in an asylum suffering from what
was loosely termed ‘psychosis’.50
The infamous Ed Gein, role model for Psycho and The

Texas Chainsaw Massacre, was initially found ‘mentally
incompetent’ but was later judged to be criminally insane
and committed into a mental institution for life. Many
others of this ilk, such as Albert Fish, were probably Product of Environment
insane as well, but that did not prevent their conviction Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old
and subsequent execution. he will not depart from it.
Would a madman have been as wise as this? Proverbs 22:6
Edgar Allan Poe, The Tell-Tale Heart And, of course, the reverse of the proverb is also true.
Being ‘insane’ does not prevent a serial killer from For an illustration, we need look no further than the tragic
planning and executing crimes that, in their own fashion, childhood of Henry Lee Lucas:
could be considered the work of genius. If the Ripper were
Henry, his brother, and at times his father, were
insane, then he somehow still managed to commit a series
witness to his mother’s sexual escapades with
of unsolved murders that are as baffling today as they
whatever ‘customer’ was present at the time. At times
were 128 years ago, and the Kingsbury Run murderer
his mother would insist that Henry and his brother
has been formally described as a ‘criminal genius’51 due watch her having sex, to the point where she would
to the faultless manner in which his many crimes were punish them if they attempted to leave or look away.53
perpetrated.
If the Ripper had actually been criminally insane, then A similar example of the probable effect of a bad
there is no real telling now what his thought processes environment in the creation of a serial killer is that of
might have been at the time. He may have been hearing Peter Kurten, who grew up in a one-room apartment
voices urging him to kill and/or he may have been where his father would beat and essentially rape Peter’s
obsessed with sexual perversion. Certainly, subsequent mother in front of their ten children.
history has shown us that murder and mutilation of the The environment in which a child is raised is, of
victim are all too often part of a ‘demented’ individual’s course, tremendously important in shaping the child’s
activities, and that these activities may be regular in their future as an adult. Although aberrations do occur, as in
frequency and methodical in their nature. the case of Jeffrey Dahmer, most others follow a fairly
predictable path in the journey from child to adult. A child
Anyone that can stick his hand inside another person’s raised in a specific environment will, most likely, mirror
intestines, deal with the dreadful odors, and then walk that environment as an adult. Thus, the child raised in a
away without flinching...and do it more than once... is
nuts and you don’t need a PhD to figure that out.
I have doubt that the Ripper was insane in the sense 50. trutv.com/library/crime/index.html
that he didn’t have an idea of what he was about to 51. Badal, James: In the Wake of the Butcher Cleveland’s Torso Murders,
do on the streets of Whitechapel but was more like Kent State Press, 2001.
an extremely manipulative bastard with a black heart 52. Brown, Howard: www.jtrforums.com
and a sense of his inferiority when face to face with 53. trutv.com/library/crime/index.html
21
dysfunctional environment may largely be expected to possible. Ed basically committed his ghoulish deeds
be dysfunctional himself. The dysfunction can become in order to ‘deal’ with his suppressed sexuality and
second nature, regardless of what it is, as witnessed by interest in women and also his ‘hatred’ toward them
events several years ago at a family-owned crematorium because of his mother’s anti-sexual views.56
in Georgia. There, the man who was in operation of the
Rumbelow writes of social conditions in London’s East
facility had, as a child, always been around death and
End at the time of the Whitechapel Murders, conditions
decay. Dead bodies and rotting corpses had apparently
that the Ripper himself may very well have experienced
been everyday objects in his youth, and, as an adult, he
as a child. In Outcast London, the excellent introductory
kept hundreds of corpses in various stages of dissolution,
section of his book, he paints a stark picture of what life
even going so far as to take digital photographs of them to
may have been like for our young master Jacky:
store on his computer for later review. Even more unusual
was the total lack of any evidence of necrophilia; it was Here is a mother who turns her children into the
apparently never a factor in his actions. He simply liked street in the early evening because she lets her room
having the dead around him, because they had always for immoral purposes until long after midnight, when
been around him. the poor little wretches creep back again if they have
not found some miserable shelter elsewhere.57
All women are whores
(except for my mom)
Graffito on a public bathroom wall
Killers, and serial killers in particular, have often had

emotional problems with their parents, especially their
mothers that seem to have caused critical and destructive
personality changes later in life:
Men are what their mothers made them.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Observed sexual promiscuities of the mother when

the perpetrator was a dependent and helpless boy Following is a modern case of incestuous abuse that
may contribute to his maternal rage, especially when may have befallen a youthful Jack:
coupled with an emotionally absent father.54
Michigan police say a 35-year-old mother used the
When a too-young boy is seduced or raped by a woman Internet to track down the son she gave up for adoption
– and it has happened – or exposed to sexual activities too a decade ago, seducing and raping the teenage boy
soon in life, he may grow up hating sex and those women when she found him after an online search.
who promote it. Naturally, what women promote sex more
Aimee Louise Sword of Waterford Township, near
than prostitutes?
Detroit, was arraigned this week on three charges of
criminal sexual conduct for the alleged rape of her
A prostitute was found murdered. During the
biological son, whom she put up for adoption more
investigation the defendant stated that his mother
than 10 years ago.
had been a prostitute, and during his childhood he
had frequently witnessed her in the company of male Prosecutors say the boy is still a minor, but won’t
partners. Following this, he had developed a deep disclose whether he knew the woman was his mother
hatred for women and desired only to inflict pain — a situation that has horrified mental health experts
upon them.55 who are calling the case ‘an abomination’.
Criminal history also indicates that if the mother’s own

attitude about sex is abnormal, the chances are that the 54. Meloy, J.R.: The Nature and Dynamics of Sexual Homicide: An
son’s will be abnormal as well: Integrative Review, Aggression and Violent Behavior, vol. 5, no. 1, pp.
1-22. 2000.
Ed Gein had a twisted relationship with his mother 55. Spitz, Werner and Fisher, Russell: Medicolegal Investigation of
in which he viewed her as an angelic saint-like deity/ Death, Second Edition, Charles C Thomas Pub. Ltd., December 2005.
goddess. She would force the view of ‘sex and women 56. trutv.com/library/crime/index.html
are the devils work’ and kept him at home as much as 57. Rumbelow, Donald: The Complete Jack the Ripper, Penguin, 2004.
22
Though Sword is apparently confident of her ability ‘Zach…started receding into his mental illness to
to recover from the charges, Shiener, the psychiatric where he was almost catatonic,’ his uncle, Charles
doctor, worries that if the allegations are true, the Kulander said. ‘He was withdrawn, lethargic.’
damage to the boy could be long-lasting.
In another example, Robert Ressler58 discusses the
‘This could be his first sexual experience, and his first
serial killer Herbert Mullin:
sexual experience could be something so conflicted,
so unusual, so prohibited that it will stay with him for
Mullin’s father directed him to kill his second victim
life,’ Shiener said.
as a sacrifice and also to test the hypothesis that
Fox News, 11 September 2009 the environment was being polluted and that an
earthquake might be nigh. Accordingly, he picked up
Combine crushing poverty, an alcoholic and abusive – a female hitchhiker on a highway and then plunged a
or absentee - father, and a prostitute mother, possibly a knife into her chest as he was driving. In the woods,
sadistic one such as Henry Lee Lucas had, and you get a he undressed her, spread-eagled her legs, and cut her
sure recipe for creating violent dysfunction and emotional abdominally, in order to investigate his hypothesis of
problems, possibly even resulting in a psychopath or pollution. He took her organs out and examined them,
sociopath. So likely is this occurrence of events and so hanging them on nearby branches so he could see
them better.
attractive is their premise, that many Ripperologists
are convinced that it must be so. One visitor to the JTR
As we have seen, a bad environment could certainly
Casebook guaranteed that the Ripper’s mother had been
manifest itself in numerous ways other than discussed
a prostitute – period – in spite of there being absolutely
thus far. Who knows the ultimate effect that it would have
no known evidence to that effect whatsoever. For him, it
upon a child, other than to be terribly detrimental in some
simply had to be that way, and we were all wasting our
fashion? The following is further discussion in this vein:
time discussing other possibilities, suspects, and motives.
Following is a modern account of an American family The paragraph following is from Peter Constantine’s
murder and mutilation from the Deseret News, 13 October translation of The Undiscovered Chekhov, Forty-Three
2012: New Stories. It was previously published as part of a
Chekhov letter to his publisher, Suvorin. I think it gives
A 21-year-old man allegedly murdered his an insight into the life of the lower classes at the end
grandmother, brutally stabbing her 111 times and of the nineteenth century and the hard life that they
dismembering her slain body. had, the sort of conditions that could well have bred
the Whitechapel murderer. While Chekhov’s ending
Zachary Cole Weston told police he then slit Joyce
is a noble one, we might imagine another outcome
Dexter’s heart and belly, removing several of her
where the man who comes out of this background was
internal organs.
a man like the Ripper:
The 84-year-old’s dying screams were heard by
Christopher George59
neighbours, coming from her Salt Lake City home on
October 3.
What the aristocrat writers get for free from nature,
They dialed 911 and officers arrived to find Weston
intellectuals of lower birth have to pay for with their
standing over Dexter’s mauled body, clutching a
youth. Write a story of how a young man, the son of
bloody knife, according to court records released on
a serf, a former shopboy, choirboy, schoolboy, and
Friday.
student, brought up to respect rank, to kiss priests’
Weston had blood on his clothing and hands when hands, and worship the thoughts of others, thankful
police found him and later told investigators he had for every piece of bread, whipped time and again,
cut his grandmother’s jugular, the records said. having to go give lessons without galoshes, brawling,
‘I stabbed my grandma,’ he told them. A medical torturing animals, loving to eat at rich relatives’
examiner later determined that nine of the 111 stab houses, needlessly hypocritical before God and man,
wounds were to the heart. merely from a sense of his own insignificance. Write
a story about how this young man squeezes the serf
Weston has been charged with aggravated murder, out of himself, drop by drop, and how waking up one
a capital offense. Family members told the Salt Lake
Tribune that Weston suffers from mental illness.
They described his life as a ‘tragedy in slow motion’, 58. Ressler, Robert: Whoever Fights Monsters: My Twenty Years
adding that he had bounced about between living Tracking Serial Killers for the FBI, Mass Market Paperbacks, 1993.
with different family members his whole life. 59. Ryder, Stephen: www.casebook.org
23
bright morning, this young man feels that in his veins harrowing tale62 of his experiences in the Marine Corps
there no longer flows the blood of a slave, but the in the Pacific Theatre, detailing some of the atrocities
blood of a real man. committed on both sides. The Marines and the Japanese
Anton Chekhov Army hated each other like poison, and Mr. Sledge
was eyewitness to genital mutilation, emasculation,
The so-called ‘triad of sociopathy’ or the ‘homicidal evisceration, and dismemberment of the Marine dead by
triad’ is a set of three behavioral characteristics that has the Japanese on numerous occasions. On the other hand,
been suggested, if all three or any combination of two, are Mr. Sledge was also witness to deeds of hellish cruelty by
present together, to be predictive of or associated with fellow Marines, such as the cutting out of gold teeth from
later violent tendencies, particularly with relation to serial a still-living Japanese casualty. Why did these Ripper-like
offenses. The triad was first proposed by psychiatrist J.M. atrocities occur? The answer is pure and simple – hatred
Macdonald60 in The Threat to Kill: for the victims and anger at their actions.
The triad connects cruelty to animals, obsession with I always thought it was more of a hate crime thing. He
fire setting, and persistent bedwetting past a certain certainly ‘went’ for the sexual organs but in my mind
age, to violent behaviors, particularly homicidal he hated those things given the ferocity and damage
behavior and sexually predatory behavior. However, he caused. I think his motive was to destroy these
other studies claim to have not found statistically things rather than be turned on by them. I don’t think
significant links between the triad and violent he got off doing the deeds it just satisfied a need to
offenders. destroy those things that for some reason he hated.
Perhaps he couldn’t get an erection and this was one
Further studies have suggested that these behaviors
way of venting his frustration. So I do think it was a
are actually more linked to childhood experience of
sex crime in a way but I think there was more hate
parental neglect, brutality or abuse. Some argue this
than sex involved.
in turn results in ‘homicidal proneness’.
String63
If the Ripper were the product of a dysfunctional family,
possibly sadistic parents or relatives, he would not have Hatred can be a surprisingly strong stimulus for one’s
hesitated to kill his victims (viewed as evil prostitutes), own actions, even those of ‘ordinary’ men. Witness the
probably being limited only by time. The mutilations may case of one of the lesser-known British war heroes, Johnny
have been the result of violent behavior he acquired as a Hopper.64 A simple tradesman with no known criminal
child. record before WWII, he became a real-life Rambo, a one-
man killing machine, when war broke out in Europe.
Hatred and/or Anger Known by the Nazis only as ‘The English Assassin, Hopper’,
he terrified them in Nazi-occupied France as badly as Jack
O, what a rash and bloody deed is this!
the Ripper ever did the streetwalkers of London’s East
Hamlet, Act III, Scene IV End. Equally at ease either killing a single German soldier
in ambush or blowing up a troop train full of them, Hopper
Could pure hatred or anger have been enough to
cut a swath of death and destruction throughout wartime
account for the Whitechapel Murders and their ferocity?
France for several years before he was finally captured.
There is certainly precedent for serial killers being
Hatred of the Nazis dictated his initial actions and anger-
motivated entirely by hatred and anger, as evidenced by
driven lust for revenge for the death of his wife in an
the case of Carl Panzram:
ambush continued to drive him obsessively afterwards.
Carl Panzram was one of America’s most ferocious Anger can be intense but brief, like a grass fire. The Latin
and unrepentant serial killers. Embittered by years phrase is ‘ira furor brevis est’ - ‘Anger is brief madness’.
of torture, beatings and sexual abuse both in and ‘Road rage’ is perhaps the best modern example. Given
out of prison, Panzram evolved into a man who was the proper stimulus, this latent anger can transform one
meanness personified. He hated everyone, including
himself. ‘I was so full of hate that there was no room in
me for such feelings as love, pity, kindness or honor or
decency,’ he said; ‘my only regret is that I wasn’t born 60. MacDonald, J.M.: The Threat to Kill, American Journal of Psychiatry
dead or not at all.’ He was a true misanthrope, a man 120 (2) 125-130. 1963. Also: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacDonals_triad
who hated all human beings.61 61. trutv.com/library/crime/index.html
62. Sledge, Eugene: With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa,
Eugene Sledge, a U.S. Marine during WWII, tells a Presidio Press, Reprint ed., Sept. 2007.
24
into a killer almost instantly, as evidenced by the number An interesting analysis of the catathymic killing
of foolish and tragic murders perpetrated annually by scenario in relation to what may have happened up to
otherwise peaceful and law-abiding people who suddenly the so-called ‘double event’ killing was provided by a ‘Mr.
become enraged when imposed upon by someone else Poster’ on the Jack the Ripper Forums site:
while behind the wheel. This sort of murderous rage is not
I think a lot of JtRs actions were brought about by him
limited to harried motorists, as next seen here:
trying to regain whatever equilibrium he had before
Something inside the girl snapped when she heard he was accosted.
these words.65 As to [victim Elizabeth] Stride: Possibly Stride
impinged upon him and she got the results of it.
This statement describes a teenage victim of sexual
What happened later may have been influenced by
abuse, who had been repeatedly raped by her stepfather his having pinged into Stride. Perhaps if he hadn’t
over the years, eventually giving birth to an illegitimate met Stride, and he hadn’t been interacted with, he
daughter. Her ‘fuse was lit’ by her stepfather’s giggling would never have killed [victim Catherine] Eddowes.
words to the effect that he was looking forward to Possibly Eddowes became a cropper because he was
‘breaking in’ her daughter ‘the right way’. Enough was already perturbed after Stride and whatever the
enough, and she shot and killed him. trigger was that caused him to go off had already been
half-cocked by the time he met Eddowes.
A deviation to the gradual build-up from latent to
explosive homicidal anger is the so-called ‘Catathymic I could well imagine that our man Jack was careening
wildly after Stride and I imagine his whole night took
killing’, first described by Swiss psychiatrist Hans W.
a serious turn for the worse after Eddowes. If he
Maier in 1912 and can be defined as ‘in accordance
hadn’t have met Stride previously, maybe Eddowes
with emotions.’ The term was subsequently used by F. might never have ended up dead.
Wertham in 1937 in his elaboration of reasons for acts of
The chance of being accosted by two prostitutes in the
severe and out-of-character violence. This type of killing
back streets of London on one night would probably
is characterized by an unexpected explosive outburst of be reasonably realistic. The chance of two whores
impulsive, often destructive behavior, understandable independently triggering whatever it was that set our
only in terms of unconscious motivation. Such motivations man off is probably small.
have been identified as having something to do with a
The chance of a second one triggering Jack after him
perceived challenge to the individual’s sense of sexual having already been set off once is probably greater.
competence.66 Given that the requirements of setting off an already
This type of killing is typically chaotic and may involve primed Jack may be less than setting off a regular Jack.
dismemberment of the victim. There is no planning prior After it all he would be hard pressed to remember it
to the killing and after the event the perpetrator may only or attach any emotion to it, facilitating his immediate
vaguely recall the event and probably may not even be return to the bright lights of Whitechapel in an
emotionally concerned by it. In such a state, if the Ripper apparently normal state.
was prone to acute catathymic type events, he would As observed in one of the previous articles in this series,
randomly encounter his victim, something would happen the Ripper actively killed over a period of only about two
triggered by a sudden overwhelming emotion in response months, to account for the Canonical Five, and this is
to some underlying condition of symbolic significance not a terribly long time frame in which to remain angry.
(usually sexual) and Jack would, within seconds, be If the Ripper were somehow motivated by anger alone,
attacking the victim viciously, possibly gutting her or what could such a strong stimulus have been to enable
attempting dismemberment. The crime scene is usually the repetitive murder and mutilation of prostitutes? Did
left in a disorganized state.
63. Ryder, Stephen: www.casebook.org
Catathymia has a long and distinguished history 64. Smithsonian Magazine: The Shadow of a Gunman from World War
in forensic thought but is not well-known. It is a II, September 1993
motivational pattern, not a diagnosis, in which ‘an 65. Maples, William & Browning, Michael: Dead Men Do Tell Tales:
The Strange and Fascinating Cases of a Forensic Anthropologist, Crown
underlying emotional conflict creates an enormous
Publishing Group, 1995.
amount of psychological tension, which is released
66. Wertham, F.: 1937, The Catathymic Crisis: A Clinical Entity, Archives
through the violent act.’ In its acute form, it may be of Neurology and Psychiatry, 37 (4) 974-977. 1937.
sexualized, explosive, and homicidal, paralleling
67. Meloy, J.R.: The Nature and Dynamics of Sexual Homicide: An
the term blitz attack used by the FBI to characterize Integrative Review, Aggression and Violent Behavior, vol. 5, no. 1, pp.
disorganized sexual homicides.67 1-22. 2000.
25
the same stimulus merely appear repeatedly to ‘keep him

going’ over that short time? Other serial killers have killed
for years, and it is difficult to imagine anger lasting that
long. Hatred, on the other hand, may never fade away, and
may thus be the more likely motive in such cases.
I have always seen something deconstructive about the

crimes, rather than ‘destructive.’ I mean of course, as
if the actual murder and then subsequent mutilations
are disconnected events, and not necessarily
influenced by each other. The killing the result of an
invasion of personal territory, the mutilations the
tinkerings of a young and demented man with an
Also well-documented are the cases of ordinary French
obsession for illustrated medical textbooks.
citizens in Nazi-occupied France, who had made it a habit
A P Wolf68 to go out and murder a German soldier each night before
retiring, as a measure of revenge against their oppressors.
His leaving of the victims in public could also be
Persons operating under these circumstances have been
attributed to the ‘brief madness’ that had possibly made
described as ‘controlled explosions’, because they are very
him oblivious to the risks of doing so. If the Ripper were
rational and deliberate in their doings, even though said
consumed with hatred and/or anger, he would have not
doings may be of a cold-blooded and murderous nature.
hesitated to kill, probably being limited only by time.
I think this was about control and revenge. I think he
Revenge
specifically targeted the organs of generation because
Had all his hairs been lives, my great revenge had stomach he believed that he was somehow damaged by a
for them all. prostitute, either by being born to one, or fearing an
inability to procreate through having sex with one. I
Othello, Act V, Scene II
think he targeted women who reminded him of his
Revenge as a motive for the Whitechapel Murders has mother in some way. I think that the only way he ever
most often taken the form of that of a doctor or other felt control was committing these mission oriented
professional who has contracted venereal disease from murders. I think in his regular life he would have
a prostitute, or whose only son and heir has. Although exhibited more confidence for a few days after each
murder. I think he was sterilizing them, I think he was
possible, this theory does not have much going for it,
silencing them. I think all his anatomical knowledge
and there are much better scenarios for which revenge
came from books, and had little practical experience
would have been the driving factor. One example is found
with cutting flesh before the murders began. I think
in the history of Nat Turner’s Slave Rebellion in early he felt that his advancement that got him out of the
19th century America. In The Confessions of Nat Turner, neighborhood was either unearned, or he felt like it
his classic novel on the subject, William Styron69 details could never compensate for the circumstances of his
the ‘placid fury’ of the slaves who participated in the birth.
insurrection and killed without mercy or regard for age
Errata71
or sex, and often viciously mutilated the corpses of those
who had formerly oppressed and enslaved them, all as a
measure of justice and retribution. I have always believed that the killer was spawned by
the apparent defeat of Empire in the Zulu Wars; and
Another example of revenge killing from nineteenth
was motivated by a sort of Boy’s Own comic dream to
century America follows:
exact a massive revenge.
In 1866 there was a massacre by Amerindians of A P Wolf 72

soldiers at Fort Phil Kearny. [Montana]
The bodies of the soldiers were subjected to scalping, 68. Brown, Howard: www.jtrforums.com
disembowelment, mutilation of the sexual organs, 69. Styron, William: The Confessions of Nat Turner, Random House,
1967.
cutting off of ears and noses and dismemberment…
70. Calitri, Shannon Smith: Give Me Eighty Men: Shattering the Myth
The mutilations were said to be in revenge for the of the Fetterman Massacre, Montana The Magazine of Western History,
similar massacres by soldiers and civilians of Indian Autumn 2004.
men women and children, some of whom were raped 71. Ryder, Stephen: www.casebook.org
and had their sexual organs removed.70 72. Brown, Howard: www.jtrforums.com
26
Numerous other scenarios for which revenge takes disfiguring venereal disease after all? Could the Ripper-
center stage with the Ripper are quite plausible. For to-be have suffered injury or even mutilation to his own
example, the Ripper could merely have been exacting private parts at the hand of a callused prostitute reacting
‘revenge’ against Victorian society for ‘trapping’ him in angrily to a brutal and ‘perverted’ client? Did one of these
the squalid East End with prostitutes and other lowlifes. hardened women have an ‘exchange’ with him when he
This is not so ridiculous as one might think – many coal refused her solicitation and humiliate him on a very public
miners have found no escape from a coal town, despite street? It is unlikely that we will ever know.
the hard and hazardous work, and have lived there all of
their lives. Revenge of another nature could have been
politically motivated in a subtle attempt to implicate
Jews in the murders. Warren and other authorities
obviously dreaded the possibility of anti-Semitic riots,
and, given the numerous ‘Jewish’ connections of the
Whitechapel Murders, one must seriously ask if there
really were an effort to implicate them by circumstances
and methodologies, assuming that the Ripper himself
was not Jewish. Anyone tending to dismiss the possibility
should ask themselves if such a concept would have been
so farfetched in Nazi Germany or in those troubled areas
of the world today inhabited by both Jews and Muslims.
Revenge can often take a horrific turn, consequences of
which go far beyond that which would have normally been
expected, given the inciting incident:
She had killed the child, the woman said, as a way of

getting revenge on the father after a fight.73
Here a small child has been murdered in cold blood and

her body hidden in a vacant lot, simply because the child’s
A farthing shop
stepmother had had a fight with her father. Individuals Courtesy Thomas Schachner
have been killed in fights over something as petty as a
stolen cigarette or fried chicken wing, so the concept of If the Ripper committed the Whitechapel Murders out
revenge as a motive for the murders is a very solid one. of revenge his victims would have been killed, mutilated
and left where they lay by meticulous planning.
Two Ripper suspects, Paul Feldman’s James Maybrick
and Tom Slemen’s Colonel Conder, have had revenge
identified as the motive for these murders. In the case of Drug-induced Psychosis
the latter, the premise is so unlikely that it does not justify I knew myself, at the first breath of this new life,
further discussion. The premise of the former is not in to be more wicked, tenfold more wicked,
much better condition, for it does truly strain the limits sold a slave to my original evil.
of credulity to believe that a cuckolded husband, himself Dr. Jekyll, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde
an accomplished philanderer, would repeatedly travel the
distance from Liverpool to London and back for no better The concept of a drug-crazed killer is, sadly, all too
reason than to murder and mutilate prostitutes as an realistic today, with the ready availability of dangerous
expression of outrage over his wounded male ego. hallucinogens such as PCP – ‘angel dust’ – and other
These two suspects aside, one does wonder what narcotics. Could events of this nature have possibly
could have been the offense for which the Ripper would happened in Victorian times? As we stated in a previous
have been exacting revenge? Was he a shopkeeper whose article in this series:
business had been harmed or ruined by prostitutes
It has been observed that a mixture of alcohol and
harassing his customers on the street and driving them
drugs such as morphine, which [like cocaine, opium,
off? Did a prostitute steal from him as a client, or from and heroin] were readily available to the general
his business, or somehow or other infringe upon him
sufficiently to justify his ‘ripping’ them? Did a prostitute 73. Ubelaker, Douglas & Scammell, Henry: Bones: A Forensic Detective’s
really infect him or his son with some terminal or Casebook, New York Harper Collins, 1993.
27
public in Victorian England, is likely to bring about an Bruce’s brain to see if he had a tumor or was suffering
episode of temporary psychosis in the user.74 from brain damage because of drug use.
Associated Press, 24 August 2000

The concept of the Ripper as a junkie is not at all
farfetched; many men of all walks of life in that era did In this example, it was concluded that a drug flashback
use these drugs, as they were not illegal and thus readily had occurred from previous substance abuse, and the
available. Opium dens flourished, and one had only to go subject then entered a horrifically psychotic state. Some
to the nearest druggist to obtain cocaine or heroin over serial killers, such as Peter Kurten, are known to have been
the counter. Then, as now, many Brits consumed alcohol from families of substance abusers; Kurten’s uncles and
regularly – too regularly. Use of alcohol and narcotics aunts on his father’s side were alcoholic psychopaths75
together could certainly have produced a ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ The prime suspect in the Kingsbury Run murders was an
effect – the ‘temporary psychosis’ referenced, and the alcoholic doctor whose father had been a violent alcoholic
results could have been tragic. schizoid before him.76
Describing absinthe, a highly alcoholic liquid made What type of offender could Jack have been - an asocial,
from wormwood, History Magazine (October/November disorganized or non-social organized type? It’s difficult to
2001) remarked: say unless we think of Jack as a person addicted to a drug
which led to changes in his personality.
Absinthe enjoyed popularity in the 1800s. Absinthe,
known as the ‘Green Fairy,’ was muse to artists and The author Richard Patterson has recently suggested
madmen alike and was sipped by many famous the Victorian poet Francis Thompson as a Ripper suspect.77
people. It is said that Vincent Van Gogh cut off his ear Having failed in his training for the Roman Catholic
while infused with absinthe. Oscar Wilde wrote of priesthood, Thompson studied medicine for several
absinthe that ‘After the first glass, you see things as years before lapsing into drug addiction and vagrancy
they are. After the second, you see things as they are in Spitalfields, where he became addicted to laudanum
not. Finally you see things as they really are, and that is (wine mixed with opium tincture). Thompson wrote about
the most horrible thing in the world.’ The artist Henri mutilating prostitutes and had a history of run-ins with
de Toulouse Lautrec apparently drank it to the point police. Supposedly, he murdered on days once worshiped
that he was placed in an asylum. Several sensational as saint days by Roman Catholics (protectors of butchers,
murders were blamed on absinthe drinkers while soldiers, midwives and doctors – occupations that police
under the spell of the Green Fairy.
thought could have been held by the Ripper.) A couple of
By the end of the century, absinthe had gained a examples from his poems78 exemplify his obsession with
poor reputation due to its hallucinogenic properties. the macabre:
Absinthe was eventually prohibited in the early 20th
century in most countries, including the US in 1912, Two witch babies, Ho, Ho, Ho!
due to its hallucinogenic effects. And its paunch (stomach) was rent
Like a brasted (bursted) drum;
The following is a modern example of the depravity to And the blubbered fat
which one can sink with substance abuse: From its belly doth come
It was a stream ran bloodily
On Aug. 23, 2000, David Bruce killed 9-year-old Under the wall
Ashley Danielle Carpenter and 7-year-old John O Stream, you cannot run too red
William Carpenter, after breaking into their home To tell a maid her widowhead!
and stabbing them repeatedly with a pitchfork. Post- It was a stream ran bloodily
mortem analysis showed that the 27-year-old Bruce Under the wall
was not high on methamphetamine or other drugs With a sickening ooze – Hell made it so!
at the time of the attack. The Merced County Sheriff Two witch babies, Ho, Ho, Ho!
Tom Sawyer released results of toxicology tests
Thursday. They found only a trace of THC, a chemical
in marijuana. ‘I’ve said for the last week this was
classical methamphetamine (and) PCP behavior,’ 74. thebeautifulnecessity.blogspot.com/2008/03/opium-choral-
Sawyer said. ‘I’m shocked. I’m absolutely shocked landanum-and-prb.html
that we did not find any narcotics in his system. It’s 75. Rumbelow, Donald: The Complete Jack the Ripper, Penguin, 2004.
clear, isn’t it, that a normal person would not do this. 76. Ibid.
That’s why I was hanging my hat on, and speculating 77. Ryder, Stephen: www.casebook.org
on, drug use.’ Sawyer said a pathologist will examine 78. Ibid.
28
And: Prince Eddy’s (Jack the Ripper) favorite thing was

hunting. He was experienced in the opening up and
A lusty knight, dressing of the carcasses of animals. Soldier and sailor,
Ha! Ha!... mentally deranged, and knowingly dying of venereal
A rotten mist disease contracted from a prostitute, Prince Eddy
Ha! Ha!... went out dressed in his deerstalker hat, and wearing
No life there, his long, dark, navy serge coat, to commit murders
Ha! Ha!... on the prostitute class, probably with, as lookout,
Swiftly he followed her the equally deranged, and possibly also suffering
Ha! Ha!... from venereal disease, friend, the journalist, poet
Into the fogginess and young clerk, J.K. Stephen, the probable author of
Ha! Ha! The ‘Dear Boss’ Letter, and many of the other Jack the
Ripper letters and poems. It is possible, though less so
If the Ripper were truly a drug and alcohol abuse- in my opinion, but possible nevertheless, that Prince
psychotic, the results of his psychosis could be identical Eddy acted alone, and only informed his friend of the
to those for the Criminally Insane - unpredictable. History crimes.
has shown us that murder and mutilation of a victim are all Thomas Neagle79
too often a result of drug and alcohol abuse, the probable
cause being that the combination impedes one’s judgment In an age when many people died of ‘brain disease’ or
and suppresses one’s inhibitions. He would have left his ‘consumption’, which was not necessarily tuberculosis,
victims out in the open because of his inebriated state and but cancer or other undiagnosed ailments, one wonders
probably would not even remember the previous night’s just how many who were thought ‘mad’ and committed
events. to insane asylums were actually suffering from active
tumors or actual brain damage. Certainly, carcinogenic
substances (coal smoke and soot, tobacco, benzene)
and toxic compounds (heavy metals such as mercury,
alkaloids, narcotics, absinthe) abounded in everyday
Victorian era life. Modern medicine has shown many of
these substances promote growth of malignant tumors
and all to have detrimental effects on the whole physiology
and mental faculties. Although brain tumors have not been
observed in many mass or serial killers (or, at least, they
were either not autopsied or otherwise went unreported),
one famous case of interest does exist:
Charles Whitman had killed fourteen people and

injured dozens more in a little over ninety minutes.
When Whitman’s body was autopsied, doctors
discovered a small tumor in his brain. Some of his
friends and family have seized upon this as the
Brain Tumor, Syphilis, or Other Mental Condition cause of his actions, but experts concur that this is
In nature, there’s no blemish but the mind, doubtful.80
None can be called deform’d, but the unkind.
Whitman was a mass-murderer, not a serial killer, but
Twelfth Night, Act III, Scene IV
that may be just a matter of semantics. He killed many
Analogous to the reason of psychosis caused by drug people, few of whom he knew, in a very short time, for
abuse is that caused by other pathological means, such some unknown reason. Is this really so different from
as a brain tumor. Many men in Victorian times suffered what the Ripper did?
from syphilis, which can attack and eventually destroy Was the Ripper suffering from the effects of mercury
the brain, or from brain damage caused by a variety of poisoning or some other physical ailment? Mercury
reasons, such as fever or traumatic injury. Among syphilis- was used to treat syphilis during the Victorian era. The
sufferers in 1888 is claimed to be none other than Prince
Albert Victor, who some today insist had become the
Ripper owing to his allegedly syphilitic brain. A typical 79. Ryder, Stephen: www.casebook.org
argument runs thus: 80. trutv.com/library/crime/index.html
29
use of large doses of mercury salve on skin would cause to Amygdalotomy to Violent Behavior, Seizures, and
blotching. Over a period of time, the person may become Pathological Aggression in Humans which appeared in the
very mentally unstable, with little control or knowledge of journal Surgical Neurology International, 17 July 2013:82
right or wrong.
…pathological aggression and uncontrolled violence
Thomas Cutbush was addicted to rubbing salves
may be the result of structural brain damage from
and ointments into his skin, even into his face. As he
congenital or chromosomal disorders or from
mistakenly believed that he suffered from syphilis, it later trauma to the CNS [central nervous system],
is very likely that these salves and ointments were of encephalitis, tumors, etc. that may affect the temporal
mercury. Mary Kelly was seen in the company of a blotchy lobes (e.g., epilepsy or psychomotor seizures) or other
faced man a few hours before her death – his appearance areas of the limbic system and result in abnormal
possibly being the result of syphilis, or the effects of its criminal behavior and/or uncontrolled violence…..
treatment.
Numerous studies in the past several decades have
So far as ‘other mental conditions’ go, violent behavior shown that psychopaths and other violent criminals
and antagonistic, hostile traits can be a part of antisocial, have abnormal brain structures. Moreover, a small
paranoid histrionic, schizotypal narcissistic, and percentage of repeat offenders commit the vast
obsessive-compulsive behavioral disorders.81 If any of the majority of violent crimes in America. Following
‘violent’ mental afflictions, illnesses, or diseases had been the tragic bombing and shooting incident in July
accompanied by Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) 2011 in which Anders Behring Breivik, a Norwegian
sociopath, massacred 77 people on an island near
- and 1 in 50 people today has OCD - then much about
Oslo, Norway, interest was aroused to investigate
the Whitechapel Murders might be explained. Could a
why certain frustrated individuals seemingly explode,
mentally ill Ripper with OCD explain why Annie Chapman’s
when responding to perceived threats or even without
meager possessions were so carefully arranged at her
any provocation, to commit such atrocities…
feet or Mary Kelly’s clothes neatly folded at her bedside?
Could OCD explain any pattern observed for the physical Consider the 2012 report of the researchers at King’s
College London’s Institute of Psychiatry who studied
locations of the crimes? As is often the case with those
the brains of 44 violent adult male offenders in Britain.
afflicted with OCD, practically everything has to be just ‘so,
These men had already been diagnosed with anti-
and therefore the crimes might have been premeditated
social personality disorders (ASPDs). Men diagnosed
to fit some geometric pattern with which the perpetrator
with ASPD characteristically react aggressively to
was obsessed. OCD might also conceivably explain in frustration ore perceived threats, lack of emotion,
part the extent and nature of the mutilations, such as the such as the capability for embarrassment or to feel
many wounds to Polly Nichols, or the facial mutilations guilt, and in other psychological studies have been
of Catherine Eddowes. Depending on the exact nature of found to lack empathy or moral restraint. In this study,
such OCD, the possibilities are many. the crimes they had committed included murder, rape,
Epileptics were viewed as being possessed by the Devil attempted murder and grievous bodily harm. The
results revealed that the brain of psychopaths had
as late as Victorian times:
‘significantly less grey matter in the anterior rostral
IS THE MURDERER A MONOMANIAC prefrontal cortex and temporal poles’ than the brains
OR AN EPILEPTIC? of the non-psychopathic offenders and non-offenders
controls. Very likely many of these male offenders
Yesterday, we suggested that the police would do well have ASPD or are overt psychopaths.
to make enquiries respecting epileptics in the East-
end. To-day, ‘A Country Doctor’ writes to The Times: At the farther edge of neurological research,
‘I would suggest that the police should at once find investigators have found a link between violent
out the whereabouts of all cases of ‘homicidal mania’ crimes and neuroradiographic abnormalities.
which may have been discharged as ‘cured’ from the Dr. Gerhard Roth, Professor of Neurology at the
metropolitan asylums during the last two years.’ University of Bremen, Germany, conducted a study
of violent convicted offenders and found on CT scan
Evening News, 1 September 1888 abnormal areas in the lower prefrontal cortex. The
study consisted of showing short films and measuring
Whatever the reason, the underlying theme in all the offender’s brain activity. According to Roth,
of these crimes is violence, and somehow the brain is
adversely affected, doing the unthinkable at times, yet
apparently functioning ‘normally’ at others. The following 81. jamanetwork.com/Issue.aspx?journalid=67&issueID=4646&direct
are a few excerpts from a paper entitled Violence, Mental ion=Pl
Illness and the Brain - from Deep Brain Stimulation 82. www.surgicalneurologyint.com/text/asp?2013/4/1/91/115162
30
‘Whenever there were brutal and squalid scenes, the The study - the first to examine insomnia and
subjects showed no emotions. In the areas of the brain persecutory thoughts - found that in the general
where we create compassion and sorrow, nothing population individuals with insomnia were five times
happened. more likely to have high levels of paranoid thinking
than people who were sleeping well. In an extension
There is no unanimity on this subject, particularly
of the research, over half the individuals attending
brain localization and specific genetic markers for
psychiatric services for severe paranoia were found to
violence, but most neurosurgeons and neuroscientists
have clinical insomnia. (Science Daily, 9 January 2009)
have known and still agree, that brain disease, such as
infection, tumors and congenital abnormalities, may The rates of sleep difficulties in the community
result in mental illness and do affect behavior, and sample were consistent with the epidemiological
in some cases criminal behavior. Yet, we must keep literature; almost 30% had symptoms of insomnia
in mind the vast majority of the mentally ill are not and approximately 10% were in the clinical range.
violent, and most violent criminals, according to the But the unique focus of the study was on a potential
present state of medical knowledge, are not insane association between sleep difficulties and paranoid
but are repeat offenders, who take calculated risks thinking. The results were clear: higher levels of
when they decide to commit crimes.’ insomnia were associated with higher levels of
persecutory thinking. Confirmation was provided by
Thus we see that abnormal genetics, or even injury or the high prevalence of insomnia in the individuals
trauma to the brain may eventually result in disastrous with clinical paranoia. Insomnia is most likely an
consequences, even many years later. Other than infection overlooked problem in psychiatric services for
or other physical injury, if anything is actually ‘wrong’ individuals with persecutory delusions.
with the brain, it may not be readily evident, even upon
Schizophrenia Research 108 (2009) 280–284, Insomnia
close examination:
and Paranoia (PDF). Excerpts contributed by Pilgrim84
When it finally was removed and examined, Ted If the Ripper were suffering from pathological mental
Bundy’s brain looked like anyone else’s.83 problems, he would have not hesitated to kill, probably
being limited only by time. His resulting actions could be
History has shown us that murder and mutilation of the identical to those from the preceding drug and alcohol-
victim are not uncommon results of mental impairment, induced psychosis – unpredictable. He may have killed
an unsurprising fact, given that a damaged or otherwise his victims in the early morning hours when most people
abnormal brain often seems to revert to the primitive were still asleep because of the effects of insomnia.
animal instincts of our remote ancestry.
GENERAL SOURCES
Begg, Paul: Jack the Ripper, The Facts, Barnes & Noble Books, N.Y.
2005; Evans, Stewart and Skinner, Keith: The Ultimate Jack the Ripper
Companion, Carroll & Graf, N.Y. 2000; Evans, Stewart and Rumbelow,
Donald: Jack the Ripper, Scotland Yard Investigates, Sutton Publishing
2006; Dimolianis, Spiro: Jack the Ripper and Black Magic: Victorian
Conspiracy Theories, Secret Societies and the Supernatural Mystique of
the Whitechapel Murders, McFarland & Company, 2011; Wood, Simon:
Deconstructing Jack: The Secret History of the Whitechapel Murders,
Marywood Publishing 2015.
Tim Mosley is a lifelong Ripperologist, having been introduced to

Could Jack have suffered from insomnia? The following Jack the Ripper in 1961 via Boris Karloff’s Thriller. He founded
are excerpts from scientific research on the subject: the original jtrforums.com in 2003 and is an administrator of the
current site.
Macbeth’s Curse: Link Between Sleeplessness And Scott Nelson is an environmental engineer living in northern
Paranoia Identified. California. He has been studying the case for 40 years.
Research funded by the Wellcome Trust has identified With thanks to Eduardo Zinna for his assistance with this article.
a link between sleeplessness and paranoid thinking,
a theme highlighted in Shakespeare’s Macbeth. In a 83. Maples, William & Browning, Michael: Dead Men Do Tell Tales:
study published online in the journal ‘Schizophrenia The Strange and Fascinating Cases of a Forensic Anthropologist, Crown
Research’, researchers show that a potential Publishing Group, 1995.
consequence of insomnia is increased suspiciousness. 84. Brown, Howard: www.jtrforums.com
31
Celebrating the
Bicentenary of the Birth of
Sir William Gull
By LINDSAY SIVITER
THE MONTH OF DECEMBER 2016 MARKS A VERY attached to each other, and most anxious for the welfare
SPECIAL BIRTHDAY FOR ONE RIPPER SUSPECT. Even and good education of their children.
though my book is still being written, as Sir William
Gull’s official biographer I felt strongly that I should still
celebrate the anniversary of his 200th birthday in some
way. So to mark this special occasion I contacted the
current Chaplain at Guy’s Hospital Chapel, Reverend Jim
Craig who kindly agreed to help me organise a special
service in Sir William’s honour. Sir William started his
medical career at Guy’s and was associated with the
hospital throughout his life. He would often visit the
Chapel so I thought it was a fitting venue in which to tell
people about his life and faith, and reveal a bit of the man
behind the myth. We were kindly joined at the service
by one of Gull’s descendants, the daughter of the current
Baronet of Brook Street Sir Rupert Gull, the lovely Olivia
Gull, which made the service even more special.
The following is a summary of the service and an edited
transcript of the eulogy which I presented on the evening
of Sunday, December 4th 2016 at the special service in
Guy’s Hospital Chapel.
The service began by with an Opening Prayer followed
by the hymn Morning Has Broken. This was followed by a
reading of the poem The Elixir by George Herbert. All of Sir William Gull
these as you will hear were chosen for their connections
William’s mother was also a very devout woman who
and relevance to Sir William’s life. I then commenced with
instilled in him various virtues of hard work, faith and
my Eulogy:
perseverance. She taught her children to be self-reliant,
William Withey Gull was born at Colchester on New to do everything for themselves, and she would say
Year’s Eve, December 31st 1816, and was baptised in St “Whatever is worth doing is worth doing well.” Thus, she
Leonard’s Church in Colchester the following February. instilled into them habits of perseverance and industry.
His father John Gull was a mariner, bargeowner and These early lessons from a loving mother were never
wharfinger, and is recorded as an honest, upright man, forgotten, and may truly be said to have been the key-note
devoted to his children. William’s mother was a person of Sir William’s success.
of remarkable character, industrious, persevering, and The poem we heard earlier by George Herbert called
possessed of great ability. Her husband looked to her The Elixir was one of Sir William’s favourite poems,
for advice in every important matter. They were deeply which he often quoted throughout his life as for him it
32
symbolised the idea that hard work is the key to life. During this time the young William met the Rector of
Many were the quotations on this favourite subject, Beaumont, the Rev Benjamin John Harrison. Rev Harrison
gathered from all sources, with which his mind was stored. was appointed by the Governors of Guy’s Hospital as
Of these the following may be seen in another of George Rector of Beaumont in the autumn of 1833, a year after
Herbert’s poem, The Church Porch: Gull’s mother moved there. However, his health declined
and he gave his last sermon in June 1837. He died the
In earthly races following year in 1838 aged only 35 after failing to
To victors only do the heralds call, recuperate in the south of France, leaving behind a wife
But oh! in yonder high and heavenly places and two infant children as well as a sad congregation who
Success is nothing, and the work is all. mourned him in Beaumont.
Sir William had an immense capacity for work, and the

love of it for its own sake was a remarkable trait in his
character. He insisted that work is an essential condition
of life; the advantage of wealth, he would say, was not that
it excused a man from the necessity of work, but that it
left him free to choose what should be its direction and
its aim. “True happiness,” he would say, “consists in the
exercise of the faculties upon their proper objects.”
William had three sisters, Mary Ann, Elizabeth and
Matilda, and two brothers, John and Thomas. He also had
two other siblings that sadly died in infancy.
Around 1820, when William was about 4-years-
old, the Gull family moved from Colchester to the Essex
village of Thorpe-le-Soken. We have no record of where
they lived, but we do know that at some point they had
accommodation just outside the village at Landermere
Quay. Today a row of cottages there are still known as Gull
Cottages in memory of Sir William’s family, and a plaque
on the outside of one of the cottages claims it was his early
childhood home.
Rev Benjamin Harrison
At some point during those four years Rev Harrison

was so impressed by the young William’s ability and
knowledge that he introduced him to his uncle, also called
Benjamin Harrison, who was a famous Treasurer at Guy’s
Hospital in London.
Around 1838 William Gull entered Guy’s Hospital as
a student and in 1841 he took his M.B. degree gaining
honours in Physiology, Anatomy, Medicine and Surgery,
proudly achieving many medals and awards.
In 1842, Gull was appointed to teach Materia Medica at
Gull Cottages, Landermere Quay
Guy’s, and in 1843 he was appointed Lecturer on Natural
In 1827 Gull’s father died in London of Cholera and in Philosophy. He also held at this time the post of Medical
1832 widow Elizabeth Gull and her six children moved Tutor, and was also appointed Medical Superintendent. He
to the neighbouring village of Beaumont where she ran spent much of his life within the wards of the hospital, at
and organised a large wharf and granary built on a newly all hours of the day and night.
constructed quay made from the old stones of the original In 1846, he earned his M.D. degree at the University of
London Bridge. London, and gained the gold medal. From 1846 to 1856,
33
Dr. Gull held the post of Lecturer on Physiology and of Wales, who later became King Edward VII. In 1871 the
Comparative Anatomy at Guy’s. In 1847, Gull was elected Prince was gravely ill with typhoid fever, but after several
Fullerian Professor of Physiology at the Royal Institution weeks he recovered while primarily under Gull’s great
of Great Britain, and in 1848 he was elected a Fellow of the care and unwavering attention.
Royal College of Physicians. In February 1872 Dr Gull became Sir William Gull, as
After becoming a Resident Physician at Guy’s, Gull he was knighted with a Baronetcy as a thank you and
became a Doctor of Civil Law of Oxford University in reward. Subsequently Gull became Physician in Ordinary
1868, a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1869, a DDL of to the Prince of Wales, Physician in Extraordinary to Her
the University of Cambridge in 1880 and also of the Majesty Queen Victoria, and physician to several other
University of Edinburgh in 1884. He was a Crown member members of the Royal family and household.
of the General Medical Council from 1871 to 1883, and a Sir William’s numerous contributions to medicine
representative of the University of London in the Council include the terming of ‘Anorexia Nervosa’ in 1873, his
from 1886. research on cholera and typhoid, papers on Chronic
Overall, William Gull worked at Guy’s Hospital for over Bright’s disease and Thyroid Disease (Myxoedema) and
twenty years and then became a Consulting Physician as his work on paraplegia.
his own private practice became very successful. Gull’s However, Sir William (quite controversially) viewed
consulting rooms from 1861 were at his home at 74 Brook drugs as largely unnecessary, often causing more harm
Street, Grosvenor Square in Mayfair. Here he saw many than good. He believed that drugs given in disease were
famous clients and patients, a list of whom looks like a for the most part hurtful, perhaps universally so. He also
Who’s Who in Victorian London! believed that the object of medical treatment was to
maintain the life processes, and said “I do not say that no
drugs are useful; but there is not enough discrimination
in their use… and though there are many good general
practitioners, there is only one good universal practitioner
- ‘a warm bed.’”
After a hugely successful career, Gull eventually retired
from practice after a stroke in 1887 and subsequently
died in 1890 at his home in Brook Street.
For the past 46 years Sir William’s name has been

mentioned in connection with the Jack the Ripper
74 Brook Street, Sir William’s home murders in Whitechapel of 1888. I must state that there
was certainly no mention of his involvement at the time,
William was gifted, with a strong power of sympathy and the first time his name was linked in a written source
with suffering in every form, but especially when the was not until 1970 in an article written by Dr Thomas
sufferer belonged to one of three classes - the young, the Stowell, who argued that Sir William was doctor to the
aged, or the sick; these, he said, must always be helped. Ripper and tried to protect him. Six years later writer
Perhaps Gull’s most famous patient was HRH the Prince Stephen Knight published his best-selling book in which
34
he not only linked Sir William with the crimes, but actually or spiritual, in all the varying conditions in which man is
announced he was the main perpetrator in a gang of three placed.
who committed the murders. Well, in my forthcoming He recognised the limits of knowledge, and would
biography I will defend his much-maligned reputation frequently repeat St. Augustine’s words: “There are some
and restore his tarnished image once and for all. After all things we must know in order to believe them, and there
my years of research I have found no evidence linking Sir are others we must believe in order to know them.”
William to the infamous Ripper murders, and I will reveal
“Man’s life,” he would say, “is as a pyramid; the base
in my book for the first time ever his alibi.
material, the middle mental, the top and crown of all
Sir William was raised, surrounded by and educated spiritual.”
by those who held Quaker beliefs, though throughout his
He would often quote from the Bible, and to a little
life he would often say he did not follow any set religious
child who had nearly died of diphtheria he gave a spoon
theology. From evidence I have uncovered he was an
on which was engraved a quote from Psalms 103: “Who
extremely deeply spiritual man. However, he lived in the
healeth all thy diseases, who redeemeth thy life from
glare of clashing dogmas and was not the slave of any. He
destruction.” Upon his own bread platter he had engraved
observed the ordinances of the Church wherein he was
a quotation from Matthew Verse 4: “Man shall not live by
born and his teacher was his Bible.
bread alone.”
From his childhood growing up by the estuary he was
surrounded by nature, and his love of nature was intense-
it was an entire devotion. On his holidays there was hardly
a walk but some insect or plant was brought home for
observation, study and reflection.
Our hymn earlier Morning Has Broken talks about the
creation of the world a new day, sunlight, nature and that
blackbirds have spoken. Birds were something Sir William
loved to study, especially the sparrows in his own garden.
In London, the sparrows were his teachers and his friends.
He would watch their habits and ways with the greatest
interest.
Nature was truly to him the Revelation of God. He never
tired of studying, observing or humbly admiring - almost
worshipping - any living thing, and his love of nature
extended to all created things. The study of the nervous
system of a caterpillar or slug stirred in him the deepest
admiration. “O all ye works of the Lord, bless ye the Lord,
but,” he added, “we must put in all ye caterpillars and
slugs, - all ye creeping things, - bless ye the Lord.”
He would often quote from Samuel Taylor Coleridge‘s
poem The Rise of the Ancient Mariner:
He prayeth best who loveth best

All things both great and small;
For the dear God who loveth us,
He made and loveth all.
F. D. Maurice
While here at Guy’s, Sir William would often spend time
“I do not believe less than you,” Sir William said one praying and contemplating life here in the Chapel and as a
day to a friend, “I believe more,” adding, “In Him we live young student became great friends with the Chaplain at
and move and have our being.” But forms, ceremonies, and the time Frederick Denison Maurice, often known in the
dogmas were never greatly in harmony with his mind. theological world as F. D. Maurice.
Sir William’s was a deeply reverent mind and he is Frederick was appointed Chaplain in 1836 when he
famous for the solemnity that filled his mind on the took up residence and lectured the students on moral
contemplation of all things visible and invisible, material philosophy. He continued in the post until 1860 and
35
during this time became leader of the Christian Socialist As a Physician, His almost instinctive insight, His
movement. He also became a professor at Kings’ College unwearied patience, His exact method and ready
and at Cambridge, and he taught his students two main resources,
things: facts from the knowledge he had gained by his And above all that hearty sympathy Which seemed
comprehensive reading, and also he instilled in his concentrated for the time On each Patient, Placed
students the habit of inquiry and research and a desire for him in the highest rank In the noble band of British
knowledge and the process of independent thought. All of Physicians.
these skills William clearly acquired from Frederick.

Gull was from the first attracted by Maurice’s
saintliness, his intellectual grasp, his tenderness for the Attendees were then invited to sing All Things Bright
sick and suffering, and his sympathy with the medical and Beautiful, a song whose lyrics epitomise Sir William’s
students. Thanks to Maurice, Gull’s devotion was turned passion for nature. After various prayers culminating
to Shakespeare, Milton, George Herbert, and some of the with the Lord’s Prayer, the congregation then sang the
greatest English thinkers. Christmas carol O Come all Ye Faithful to celebrate both
Gull proudly displayed his faith daily through a piece the forthcoming festive season and also to remember that
of jewellery. According to his family, one of Sir William’s Sir William was born only a few days after Christmas 200
most treasured possessions was a ring he had designed years ago this month, in 1816.
for himself and had made by the famous Pre-Raphaelite A moving service and an experience I think all would
artist John Lucas Tupper in 1859. It was based on a ring agree would have made Sir William proud.
worn by George Herbert, one of his favourite poets.

Gull’s son-in-law Dr Theodore Acland even mentions
this ring in his “In Memoriam”, so it must have been
important. He wrote: “He had a ring engraved for himself,
bearing the design of one given to George Herbert by Dr
Donne – a crucifix in the form of an anchor – with the
words written on the paper in which this ring was found
wrapped after George Herbert’s death, Crux anchora mihi
(Christ is my anchor). This he always wore”.
Sir William Gull will, of course, also always be
remembered as the most famous local boy of his home
village of Thorpe-Le-Soken where he is buried; Gull
Cottages at Landermere were named after him and the
plaque there will continue to show the pride that the
locals feel towards him.
His name lives on through the medical papers and
addresses containing his research and observations on
diseases… he wrote nearly 100 papers on an amazing
range of subjects.
At the sister hospital of St Thomas’ nearby, the William
Gull Ward is named in his honour.
His memory also lives on here at the Chapel where
he worshipped, and just in the vestibule is a permanent
memorial to the great man himself in the form of a large Lindsay with Olivia Gull
beautiful brass plaque mounted proudly on the wall.
Lindsay Siviter is a trained historian who has worked for over
This large bronze memorial tablet lists his honours and
thirty years in museums and archives throughout the UK, and
attributes, and summarises his greatest qualities:
since 2013 as a volunteer assistant to the Curator at the Crime
Museum at Scotland Yard. She continues to research the first ever
As a Teacher, Few have exceeded him In the depth biography of Ripper suspect Sir William Gull and in 2011 was the
and accuracy of his knowledge, In the lucidity and first researcher granted privileged access to his private papers and
terseness of his language, In the effect produced upon personal possessions and travelled to Cape Town, South Africa to
his hearers stay with his descendants to examine these items.
36
Irish Summer
By JOE CHETCUTI
IN 1887 A 32-YEAR-OLD YORKSHIRE MAN BY THE

NAME OF WILLIAM HENRY HARTLEY started a quack
business which in a short period of time became wildly
successful. He had some skill in speed dentistry, which he
displayed before large crowds. Yet he mainly showcased
this talent to attract attention and use it as a stepping
stone to a bigger profit-making scheme: a shady enterprise
involving the widespread sale of his cure-all medicines
and ointments. Calling himself Sequah, he claimed in a
phony American cowboy accent that his nostrums had
been developed through Native American recipes.1
Sequah has arrived
In the summer of 1888, Hartley took his wagon to

Belfast, Ireland. He arrived there in mid-July and instantly
won the city over. The following article attests to his
popularity.
THE INDIAN DOCTOR

...The Doctor, or as he was known amongst the Indians,
’Sequah,’ may be seen every day parading the principal
streets of the town in a splendid coach with four
spanking horses, accompanied by a band...the turn-
out has attracted a considerable amount of interest,
not to say excitement, in Belfast...Sequah delivers a
lecture descriptive of the wonderful attributes of his
preparations, the ‘Prairie Flower,’ and ‘Indian Oil,’ the
former of which is for use as a medicine, and the latter
for external application only.
Belfast News-Letter
7 August 1888
1. Hartley’s products were eventually exposed as quackery. The

botanic extract found in them did not originate from North America.
The base oil in his aloes turned out to be cheap fish oil mixed with
turpentine and camphor. Taken from The Rise and Fall of Sequah by
Sequah Julia Nurse.
37
As usually happens when a quack hits the big time, Roomkeepers Society. Also on that Monday, somebody -
it doesn’t take long before a few copycats make their who I honestly believe was the exact same tricky American
entrance as well. One such imitator appeared in the city who had just tried to bluff The Roomkeepers Society with a
of Dublin during September 1888. He tried to sell his phony donation - decided to start a newspaper campaign.
own version of Prairie Flower and Indian Oil which, as Quite noticeably, the same two Dublin newspapers
advertised in the local press, could be purchased on Capel that had just exposed his odd involvement with The
Street in Dublin.2 This shyster simply wanted to make a Roomkeepers Society were chosen as the avenues to get
fast quid. It sure looked as though he was trying to weasel this mountebank’s message out to the public.
in on the same success that Sequah had achieved selling
those two over-hyped products. Yet only one newspaper Prairie Flower and Indian Oil, 2s each, or the two
Bottles post free, 4s 4d. The Great American Doctor’s
ad was found concerning that particular imitator, perhaps
Remedy. Special Agent: - C Mannin, Medical Hall, Great
because he did not have the financial means to sustain a
Brunswick street, Dublin.
normal ad campaign. Sequah, on the other hand, made
consistent use of newspapers to help grow his business The items were sold at a chemist shop in Medical Hall
at a quick rate. owned by C Mannin, described in the ad as the Special
Agent. The Great American Doctor had that ad printed in
The Dublin Daily Express on eleven occasions during the
period 24 July through 8 August. He began his campaign
with a similar ad on the front page of The Freeman’s
Journal on 23 July.
The Great American Doctor placed only another ad in
The Freeman’s Journal on 4 August. In big print on the
bottom of page 4 of that issue, the quack bragged about
how his Prairie Flower and Indian Oil were remedies for
rheumatism, liver complaints and indigestion. There was
no original thinking here. Sequah had also boasted to cure
those same three ailments using his own preparation of
the two products.
At this point, things started to heat up, and it looked
Sequah’s products as if a ‘War of the Quacks’ was about to materialize. I
will show you what I mean by introducing you to one
I came across another quack who was also active
more charlatan, Alexander Bailie. He was an experienced
in the Irish summer of 1888. He too had noticed the
quack who used Belfast as his home base. An outspoken
popularity that Sequah was enjoying. As we shall see, he
bloke, he seemingly felt threatened by both the stunning
was a charlatan who acted very mysteriously. I believe
success achieved by the invading Sequah and the recent
he initially arranged to make himself known during a
promotions of The Great American Doctor in Dublin.
downtown meeting held in Dublin. A charity known
Bailie printed a blatant ‘Challenge’ in the local periodical,
as The Roomkeepers Society met in that city on Friday
the Belfast Evening Telegraph,4 focusing his attack on the
evening, 20 July 1888. During that meeting, the Secretary
newly arrived quack in Dublin.
of the Society was asked about an alleged £1,500 donation
made by a person who was known only as the American CHALLENGE
Doctor. Adam Wood and I retrieved the minutes of the I, ALEXANDER BAILIE, DO CHALLENGE the Great
meeting a few years ago and placed our findings in the American Doctor, as I do not know his name, nor does
February 2014 issue of Ripperologist.3 It can be seen in any other person to whom I have been speaking; but
the transcript of the meeting that the Secretary and the everyone, not only in Belfast but the North of Ireland,
Trustees of the charity had made it clear that they thought knows me.
the donation was nothing but a myth.
Then things started to get interesting. Shortly
2. The Freeman’s Journal, 22 September 1888, page 2.
afterwards, on Monday 23 July, two major Dublin
3. Ripperologist 136 (February 2014), Chetcuti, Joe, ‘Forest of the
newspapers, The Dublin Daily Express and The Freeman’s Boar’.
Journal, printed stories explaining that the £1,500 gift 4. Bailie’s ‘Challenge’ appeared in print for three consecutive days:
from the American Doctor was not taken seriously by The 26, 27, and 28 July 1888.
38
I HEREBY CHALLENGE him, or any other person in I think the most intriguing aspect of the ‘Challenge’
the Three Kingdoms, on either Pains, Sores, or Eyes was that the experienced quack Alexander Bailie plainly
(or anything in my Handbills), as it is well known that admitted that he did not know the name of the newcomer
I have never been in any town that I have not done all to the Dublin scene, the one who called himself The
that I am going to tell you of -- that is, that they have
Great American Doctor. He even stated that none of his
brought me the Lame, and I have made them Walk;
contemporaries knew the man’s name either. And in
they fetched me the Blind, and I made them See; they
my opinion, not even The Roomkeepers Society could
fetched me the Deaf, and I made them Hear -- ALL
accurately refer to that American by his proper name.
BEFORE THEY LEFT ME.
So now, I do not confine this Challenge to the Great The Great American Doctor kept his identity a secret
American Doctor. I give it to anyone that makes while in Dublin. He had surfaced there in July 1888 at a time
Ointments or Oils to Cure Anything on the Human when an American doctor’s large donation to the ‘Poor of
Frame. Dublin’ was rumored to be heading into the coffers of The
Hoping to hear from you by return of post, I am, Roomkeepers Society. Then he immediately advertised in
Gentlemen, your most obedient Servant. the same two Dublin newspapers that had reported on the
ALEXANDER BAILIE, rumor. His ads stole from Sequah but bragged about how
92 GREAT GEORGE STREET, BELFAST. the Indian products, Prairie Flower and Indian Oil, were
I NEED NO BAND NOR FOUR-IN-HAND.
really his own medical concoctions. Then, suddenly, the
flow of ads sponsored by this American deceiver came to
I wonder if that last line was Bailie’s way of taking a an abrupt halt. His final ad was displayed in newspaper
shot at Sequah, who often used an enthusiastic musical print on the day after the George Yard murder. The
band to blare his arrival at a new site. The band would also moniker The Great American Doctor, as pertaining to this
play loudly while Sequah performed his speed dentistry, particular quack, was never heard again in Great Britain.
undoubtedly in order to drown out the cries of the patient. If you were to type the words ‘The Great American
Doctor’ into a search engine for old British newspapers,
you would likely be directed to only a few time periods.
The first would be the summer of 1888, where you
would see his Dublin newspaper ads. You would also
see his nickname appear in Bailie’s ‘Challenge,’ which
was published at that time as well. Secondly, you would
probably be led to the Liverpool news reports dating
back to the year 1875. Those stories from north western
England told about The Great American Doctor causing all
sorts of problems in Duke Street with his quackery.
In January 1875, The Liverpool Leader complained
that this trouble-making doctor would not disclose his
true name. The newspaper fervently implored the quack
to reveal himself, but the only response drawn from its
printed entreaty was a visit from two ‘extremely juvenile’
males who had been recruited by The Great American
Doctor. The youthful duo warned the editor of the Leader
that harm would come to him unless his newspaper
ceased to publish disparaging attacks against the medical
practice that was going on in Duke Street.5 But when
a patient suddenly died while under the Doctor’s care,
things got hot for him. The death resulted in a Coroner’s
Inquest, thus causing the quack to skip town. It was at that
point that The Liverpool Leader was finally able to obtain
the real name of the fleeing scoundrel. The man was the
Sequah pulls a tooth while his brass band plays in the future Jack the Ripper suspect Francis Tumblety.
background. The bulb on his forehead is an electric light.
Cheshire Observer 15 March 1890
Image and caption courtesy of Caroline Rance 5. The Liverpool Leader, 16 January 1875, page 30.
39
Both at Liverpool in 1875 and Dublin in 1888 we have as “The ‘James’ - Holder of the World’s Records”. The ad
a charlatan calling himself The Great American Doctor, stated that Mr. Mannin was the ‘Sole Wholesale and Retail
a trickster who wouldn’t reveal his own true name. The Irish Agent’ for that celebrated cycle, and a sample of the
Liverpool Leader openly invited the quack to do so, and his bike was displayed at his chemist shop.7
rival Alexander Bailie also used newspaper print to imply The fact that The Great American Doctor’s
that behind the braggart’s glorified self-title hid a shady advertisements for his products ran for such a short period
character who chose to remain anonymous. Finally, when of time indicates that his relationship with Cornelius
legal matters were pursued, the man’s name was revealed Mannin ended almost as soon as it began, either because
in Liverpool. But years later, in 1888 in Dublin, he was not the Dublin public had failed to take the bait or, more likely,
long enough in the public eye for his real name to become because Mannin had become suspicious about his would-
known.6 be business partner. Mannin did not suffer from the short-
From 23 July to 8 August 1888, a short series of lived relationship and his bicycle business continued to
advertisements appeared in two Dublin newspapers prosper until his retirement from the company in 1906
in the name of The Great American Doctor stating that at the respectable age of 71. His son Francis took over the
his products could be purchased at the premises of C chemist’s shop and another son, also named Cornelius,
Mannin. Researcher Robert Linford informed me that this ran a very successful chemist’s business of his own in
was Cornelius Mannin, a pharmaceutical chemist whose nearby Lobar Street in central Dublin.
establishment was located at 2 Great Brunswick Street If Francis Tumblety truly decided to resurrect his
in central Dublin. An important thing to note is that The role as The Great American Doctor in the Irish summer
Great American Doctor did not need to be physically of 1888, the question may be asked, why did he choose
present in Great Brunswick Street to monitor the sale this particular time? Was it due to jealousy? The upstart
of his ointments. Having placed the sales outlet at the Sequah was drawing big crowds wherever he went
premises of an established chemist, he could have been peddling his Indian medicines. Tumblety could easily
anywhere while his ads ran in the Dublin newspapers. recall the days when he himself was the talk of the town
in places like St. Louis, Missouri. He had played the role of
the young and dashing Indian Herb Doctor astonishingly
well in those times. Did the success that Sequah enjoyed
in Ireland during 1888 provoke an elder and envious
Tumblety into attempting one last effort at this game?
The Great American Doctor ended up paying for a
newspaper campaign that lasted only 17 days. It was
very likely that, as suggested earlier, the briefness of
the campaign meant that this endeavour did not lead to
positive results at the cash register. By the first week of
August, the writing was on the wall, and it would be of
little use to continue the campaign any further. As for his
Image courtesy of Dublin City Library and Archive exact whereabouts, Tumblety was in London on 27 July
committing an act for which he would later be prosecuted.
As for Cornelius Mannin, the Dublin chemist, he was a His alleged victim, Albert Fisher, would eventually testify
public benefactor and respected member of the business about the incident before a Grand Jury in the West End.
community, having founded and successfully operated the
Shamrock Bicycle Factory in Dublin, becoming the first to
produce in Ireland what was, at the time, of course, a novel
6. Tumblety continued to advertise himself as The Great American
means of transport. Until then, bicycles had been imported Doctor after he left England in 1875. See the front page of the San
from England. We found a newspaper ad in Dublin where Francisco Chronicle, 13 January 1876.
Cornelius Mannin promoted the sale of a bicycle billed 7. The Freeman’s Journal, 18 September 1891, page 8.
40
The popular Sequah performs before a large gathering

I would like to end this article by sharing a photograph validate her claim was a handful of newspaper reports that
recently discovered by Simon Wood. After fleeing from soon circulated across the country stating that Tumblety
justice while on bail for a criminal charge in London, had been traced to a location on West Street where he
Tumblety arrived in New York City on Sunday 2 December was said to have become domiciled.9 Castle Garden was
1888 on board the French steamer Bretagne. Police located very close to West Street, so the geography was
detectives and journalists awaited his arrival at the dock. there for a furtive traveler to retrieve his luggage at the
The fugitive was said to have hurried across the deck, dock area and then register into a nearby room on West
descended the gangplank and placed a small trunk in a Street.
horse-drawn cab. He was followed to a boarding house Researcher Roger Palmer took this study to a higher
on East 10th Street which he entered at 2:20pm.8 The level when he revealed a news report from the 6 December
journalists kept jingling the bell on the front porch in 1888 edition of The Evening Chronicle of St. Louis.10 The
hopes of speaking with the Ripper suspect, but nobody article quoted the owner of a New York establishment
could get beyond the protective landlady who stood at the known as the Cornish Arms Hotel. The business was
door defending the bogus doctor. located at 11 West Street where the proprietor, a person
The landlady later changed her story about Tumblety who was referred to as Mr Roberts, told a newsman:
many times, but there was one particular tale of hers that
may have been true. She claimed that her newly arrived A man came to my house Sunday evening [December
2nd] and gave the name of Dr Tomanly. He said he
tenant had returned unnoticed to the dock area at Castle
came on the French Line steamer Bretagne.
Garden, presumably through a back exit in her building,
to retrieve the rest of his luggage. This is not that far-
8. See the 4 December 1888 issues of the New York World and the
fetched, since the Bretagne’s manifest did indeed show New York Herald.
that Tumblety took more than one piece of luggage with 9. The Chicago Tribune and the St. Paul Daily Globe were two of the
him on his transatlantic voyage. A return to Castle Garden, newspapers that reported this story on 4 December 1888.
as stated by the landlady, was plausible. What seemed to 10. See Ripperologist 79 (May 2007), Palmer, R J, ‘Tumblety Talks’.
41
‘Dr Tomanly’ spent the night at the Cornish Arms Hotel and it could be understood why the Irish-born Francis
and walked downstairs on Monday morning to inform Mr Tumblety would have chosen a site like this to try to hide
Roberts that he was heading out of town. It wasn’t until the out, this being just hours after he had slipped away from
hotel owner read an evening newspaper that he realized the boarding house on East 10th Street. Thanks to Simon
‘...that such a man was being sought after, and then the Wood, we can now display for the first time a photograph
thought struck [him] that perhaps he was the doctor who of the Cornish Arms Hotel. The four-story hotel is just to
was suspected of being the Whitechapel fiend.’ the right of ‘Tracy’s Restaurant’ and the saloon’s street
It was reported that Tumblety kept his word about entrance can also be seen. On the awning above the saloon,
leaving the city and was expected to arrive in Chicago by you could barely make out the words Cornish Arms Hotel.
train on the morning of Friday 7 December. But he was
11. New York Times, 25 November 1887.
being elusive:
He failed to appear (in Chicago), however, and a INTERNET RESOURCES

conversation with the Pullman conductor developed
www.thequackdoctor.com/ index.php/sequah-a-Victorian- celebrity-
the fact that a man whose description answers to that quack/
of the physician with the odd name, rode from New
www.fotosantiguasdemallorca. blogspot.com/2011/06/ curanderos-
York to Pittsburgh, but was transferred to the sleeper charlatanes-y- sinverguenzas.html
which went down to Cincinnati.
www.artuk.org/search/search/search/keyword:sequah
Philadelphia Times, 8 December 1888.
The Cornish Arms Hotel had a saloon on the ground ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

floor that apparently could be turned into a dining area for Appreciation goes out to Mike Hawley, Robert Linford,
special celebrations. In a heart-warming story, the Irish Caroline Rance, Simon Wood and Eduardo Zinna for their
Society had provided a dinner for 100 Irish immigrants at help with this article. I’m also grateful to the personnel
the hotel on Thanksgiving Day, 1887.11 The place seemed at the Dublin City Library and Archive for their kind
to have a good relationship with the Irish community, cooperation.
The four level building on the right is the Cornish Arms Hotel, 11 West Street, New York City. Photo courtesy of Simon Wood
42
FROM THE CASEBOOK

OF A MURDER HOUSE DETECTIVE
The Mystery of Water Lane

and A Ramsgate Addendum
By JAN BONDESON
THE MYSTERY OF WATER LANE workshop. But Robert noticed that in recent months, his
mother had in fact done little work. Instead, she often went
In 1881, the Lambeth labouring man Charles Henry
out in the evenings, quite flashily dressed, and returning
Burgess married the young local lass Mary Kate Bowers.
home late at night with a ‘gentleman friend’.
Soon, they had a daughter named Harriett and a son named
Robert. But Charles Henry Burgess died in 1885 and Mary On the evening of Friday May 11 1900, everything
Kate was alone with two children to support. She worked seemed normal at Mary Kate Waknell’s humble abode at
as a needlewoman and mantle maker, and earned just No. 44 Water Lane. Robert came home after a long day at
enough money to keep poverty from the door. In 1892, work, and ‘banked’ his weekly earnings of eight shillings
with his mother, who allowed him fivepence a day for
she married a seedy bloke named Arthur Waknell, who
his train fare and luncheon. Mary Kate was once more
worked as an assistant in Messrs Parking & Gotto’s shop.
fearful that Arthur would track them down, and she had
They did not get on particularly well after the wedding,
arranged for them to move to new lodgings in Lime Street
and Mary Kate began to suspect that Arthur had married
in the following week. She went out late in the evening,
her because she was expecting an inheritance.
and the exhausted Robert went to bed and slept soundly
This suspicion turned out to be well-founded: as soon all night. On Saturday morning, he went into his mother’s
as Mary Kate’s elderly aunt had died, and the inheritance bedroom. To his horror, he found the room liberally
had been banked, Arthur left his job and spent the money. spattered with blood, and his mother lying dead on the
He beat Mary Kate up if she refused him money for drink, floor, with multiple deep stab wounds, and a large pair of
and behaved most obnoxiously. For several years, Arthur scissors protruding from her chest.
ruled the household with an iron fist, but when the money
The police were promptly called in. On being informed
was nearly all spent, he left his wife and went back to his
by Robert that he thought that his mother was prostituting
job at the shop. Once more, Mary Kate Waknell was alone
herself, they suspected that she had ‘picked up’ some
with her two children. But by now, Harriett was able to find
gentleman friend in a pub and brought him back home for
a situation as a servant, and the lad Robert obtained work some ‘fun’. But this particular ‘gentleman’s’ ideas of fun
as a shirt-cutter at a factory. Since Mary Kate was fearful had been more in the line of those of Jack the Ripper: he
that the cad Arthur would track her down, and subject her had seized the large scissors Mary Kate had been using in
to further ill-treatment, she frequently changed lodgings. her mantle making business, and stabbed her again and
In early 1900, the now 42-year-old Mary Kate Waknell again. It was rightly considered remarkable that neither
was living in two basement rooms at No. 44 Water Lane, the lad Robert, who had been sleeping next door, nor the
Brixton. The kitchen doubled as the bedroom of her son other three families living in the house, had been woken
Robert, and her own bedroom as her mantle making up by a scream or the sound of a scuffle. There was a
43
The murder of Mary Kate Waknell,

from the Illustrated Police News, May 19 1900
newspaper story of a man being arrested on Monday May single vestige of evidence which could be followed up, and
14, due to the finding of bloodstains on his shirt-cuffs, the officers engaged in the case freely confess that they are
but nothing more seems to have come of this, except that without a clue.”
the suspect’s night-shirt and bed-sheets had also been It is of course possible that the murder of Mary Kate
liberally stained with blood. Waknell was the handiwork of some disciple of Jack the
After Robert and Harriett Burgess had told the police Ripper, intent on murdering a prostitute just for the fun
about the cad Arthur Waknell’s ill treatment of their mother, of it. But surely, such an individual should have brought
and her great fear of him, he briefly became a suspect. with him his own murder weapon, instead of making use
But Arthur gave himself up to the police and provided of the large scissors left in the room. If profit had been the
a solid alibi for the evening and night of the murder. His motive, the culprit had been singularly inept, choosing
account of his movements was so satisfactory that he was a middle-aged part-time prostitute who was herself as
not even detained by the police. At the coroner’s inquest poor as the proverbial church mouse. There are also some
on Mary Kate Waknell, the police had to admit defeat: the suspects closer to home. What if the cad Arthur Waknell
man Waknell was clearly innocent, and all their exertions had really hated his estranged wife, and paid some rough
to track down the real murderer had been in vain. Mary of his acquaintance to murder her, making sure beforehand
Kate’s killer had clearly been let into the basement rooms that he himself had a rock solid alibi. And what about the
at No. 44 Water Lane without a struggle, making it likely boy Robert? Had he perhaps been deeply ashamed of
that she had let her ‘customer’ in herself. Since the corpse his mother’s immoral life, and decided to murder her? It
had sported a black eye, he might well have felled her would have been easy for him to sneak into her bedroom
with a blow and then stabbed her with the scissors in a after the ‘customer’ had left, and stab her to death with
frenzied attack. He had then stolen her paltry savings of a the scissors, the location of which he knew well. It is true
few shillings, and let himself out through the front door. As that he convinced the police detectives with his candour,
the police themselves expressed it: “the assailant left not a and his obvious horror on discovering that his mother
44
had been murdered, but some adolescents are clever misnomered ‘Southey alias Forward’ who exterminated
actors and liars. The sole reminder of this intriguing, and his family in 1866, and the Glaswegian physician Dr
strangely little-known, Brixton murder mystery is the Edward William Pritchard, who poisoned his wife and
house at No. 44 Water Lane. mother-in-law in 1865. All three men were executed
for their crimes. At the bottom we have yet another
misnomered murderer: ‘Lee’ of Brighton. No person of
that name committed any capital crime in Brighton at the
relevant time, but a certain John William Leigh gunned
down his sister-in-law at the Jolly Fisherman public house
in February 1866, and was executed for the crime.
On making inquiries, I was told that the album page
came from a large Victorian scrapbook full of ephemera.
It contained no other items of criminal interest. The page
was probably constructed in 1866, using cabinet cards
depicting notorious murderers; such cards are rare today,
but they were relatively easy to procure back in 1866. The
mis-spellings alluded to, and the inclusion of two ‘skull and
crossbones’ banners, would indicate that the album may
well have belonged to an adolescent. The images of Müller,
Pritchard and Leigh are photographs, those of Constance
Kent and Forwood photographs of paintings or drawings.
Those interested in murder houses will appreciate that
Road Hill House, where Constance Kent committed her
crime, still stands today, albeit substantially altered.
Neither of Forwood’s two murder houses in London and
Ramsgate have survived; Dr Pritchard’s house at No.
131 [today 249] Sauchiehall Street stood until relatively
recently, when the Glaswegian vandals demolished it to
No. 44 Water Lane, Brixton, site of make way for a kitchenware emporium; Leigh’s murder
the unsolved murder of Mary Kate Waknell in 1900
pub, the Jolly Fisherman, in Little Castle Square, Brighton,
 stood until 1939, when it was pulled down for the area to
be ‘developed’.
This is an edited extract from Jan Bondeson’s book
I have seen another cabinet card of Dr Pritchard, in the
Murder Houses of South London (Troubador Publishing,
collection of Richard Whittington-Egan, and yet another
Leicester 2015).
one recently went on eBay for £90. Google-images has
three different cabinet cards of the murderous doctor,
A RAMSGATE ADDENDUM either standing up or sitting down, but none of them
Readers of my article on Ramsgate’s murder houses in are identical to the present photograph. The image of
Ripperologist 147 may well have missed a correct likeness Constance Kent is identical to one reproduced in Kate
of the desperado Stephen Forwood, who poisoned his Summerscale’s The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, with the
three illegitimate sons in London, and then travelled post- caption ‘Constance Kent, circa 1858’. There is a close-up
haste to his home town of Ramsgate to shoot his wife and photograph of Franz Müller en face on Google-images,
daughter dead. Through the purchase of an album page but the present image shows him standing up, posing in a
with cabinet card photographs of murderous celebrities photographer’s study. The obscure provincial murderers
of the 1860s, I am now in a position to remedy that state Stephen Forwood and John William Leigh have remained
of affairs, however. faceless – until now!
On the top of the album page, we have Constance Kent, My own career as a collector of cabinet cards goes
who murdered her half-brother at Road in 1860, and was back twelve years, and was inspired by the purchase, at
prosecuted for the crime in 1865. Released in 1885, she a Newport car boot sale, of a collection of two hundred
went to Australia and lived to be a hundred years old. topographical cabinet cards that had been accumulated by
Then we have a trio of murderers: Franz Müller, who a mad Welsh clergyman. He had liked to travel the country
murdered Mr Briggs on board a railway train in 1865, the in his lucid intervals, preaching in various churches and
45
visiting the curiosity shops to extend lots’ together with other, more promising cards. ‘Uncle Albert’ and ‘Cousin
his collection. Cabinet cards with Nell’ in the Victorian family album, once too familiar figures to need any form
unidentified Victorian men or women are of explanation of their identity, have become iconographical nonentities:
worth very little, cards with cats and dogs lost souls in limbo sadly bewailing their fate with the words ‘I know not who
a little more, and cards with identified I am!’; the passage of time has created a multitude of mysteries where once
topographical motifs are usually good there had been nothing but order and reason. It is curious that some of these
for between £5 and £20. Attractive unidentified cards must surely feature minor criminal celebrities, whose
cards depicting curious edifices, like the likenesses have not been recorded; if it had not been for the inscriptions on
Covenanters Prison or the West Bow in the album page, the photographs of Leigh and Forwood might have ended
Edinburgh, or the Leaning Tower in Pisa, up on eBay as ‘Unidentified Victorian Gentleman, £0.99’.
are worth a good deal more. Cards with
criminal celebrities are very rare and
sought after. After more than a decade
of collecting, I have less than twenty of
them, including Adelaide Bartlett, her
paramour George Dyson, Charles Bravo
and Dr Gully, two different ones of Mrs
Maybrick, the murder victim Harriet
Staunton, and a gaggle of transatlantic
criminal types. Between ten and twenty
cabinet cards of criminal interest are
listed on eBay each year, and they can
fetch very healthy prices indeed. A card
with the grave monument to the Eltham
murder victim Jane Maria Clouson
recently went for not less than £271.
There would be a need for a scholarly
article indicating which 1860s and 1870s
criminal celebrities were honoured with
cabinet cards, but this is unlikely to
happen, since the cards are so very rare,
and since they are scattered among a
multitude of collectors.
As readers of Ripperologist 148 will
appreciate, Harriet Buswell, the 1872
Great Coram Street murder victim,
possessed an album of cabinet cards,
mostly portraits of her friends. Her
collection is still kept in the police file
at the National Archives, and a police
memorandum shows that they took care
to scrutinize the cards and identify the
people in the portraits; in some instances,
they had success, but several of the
people remained unidentified. Since the
Victorians did not believe in inscribing JAN BONDESON is a senior lecturer and consultant rheumatologist
the name of the person photographed at Cardiff University. He is the author of Rivals of the Ripper, Murder
on the back of the cabinet card, there Houses of London, The London Monster, The Great Pretenders, Blood on
the Snow and other true crime books, as well as the bestselling Buried
are today quantities of old cabinet cards
Alive.
depicting unidentified people: they fetch
very little money, and I have a cardboard
box full of them, mostly procured in ‘job
46
A Fatal Affinity:
Marked for a Victim
The Conclusion
By STUART CUMBERLAND
127 years ago, the noted ‘thought reader’ Stuart laying.

Cumberland’s Whitechapel murders-influenced All was still; even the attendant, who should have been
fiction novel, A Fatal Affinity, was serialized in issues on watch, was asleep.
of the South Australian Weekly Chronicle (Adelaide).
He awoke with a start as Harvey closed the door and
glared wildly about him.
“What ails you, Jackson?” said the young doctor, shaking
him by the shoulder.
“Nothing, sir: but you gave me a regular start. I have a
horrid deam, sir - all about spirits and devils; and I thought
at first that you was one of them when you came in.”
“Then you’ve been to sleep?”
“Yes sir, I must own to having done so,” replied the man
sheepishly; “but it is awful monotonous watching and
waiting here, and I was thinking of asking you to get some
one else to take my place. To tell you the truth, sir, this
ain’t a fit place for a Christian to be in.”
“How so, Jackson?”
“Well, sir,” replied Jackson, after some hesitation,
during which he looked cautiously around the room, “a
most awful thing happened here last night - something
which makes my blood run cold to think of. The colonel
had a visitor.”
“A visitor?”
“Yes, sir, if a devil with glaring eyes, big yellow teeth,
Cumberland’s book was just one of several Ripper-
and large bony hands can be called such. How he came
related works which appeared contemporaneously to
in I don’t know, but come in he did, and never before did
the East End murders. In this issue of Ripperologist
Nina and Howard Brown present the final two I have such a turn. He stood by the colonel’s bedside and
chapters. watched him like a cat would a mouse. He had a rope in his
hand, and this rope that he put round the colonel’s neck;
then he opened the colonel’s white dress and felt about
CHAPTER XIII
his heart. His examination didn’t seem to satisfy him,
MANSFIELD AWAKES FROM HIS TRANCE
for he made use of some words which, although I didn’t
At about half past 11 on the night of the 20th, Harvey understand, sounded very like curses. He put his ear
went to Mansfield’s rooms in the Temple. on the colonel’s heart and listened; then he made some
A lamp was burning in the sitting room and the rays of passes over him and muttered something in a jargon I had
the full moon flooded the bedroom where Mansfield was never heard before. He appeared to be trying to wake the
47
colonel and when he found it was no go his language was limbs quivered and his lips slightly moved. A convulsive
awful. And the expression on his face, sir, was such as I shudder ran through his frame; and, with a long drawn
have never seen on that of any man - not even in pictures. sigh, Mansfield arose from his bed and stood with the
To tell the truth, sir, I couldn’t look at him any longer and moonlight, no longer hid by the cloud, flooding his face.
I crawled underneath the table; and when I did venture to Harvey rushed towards him, whilst the terror-stricken
take a peep, he was gone.” Jackson fell fainting to the floor.
“Where did he go and how?” asked Harvey.
“That is what I couldn’t find out. He didn’t pass me, that CHAPTER XIV
is certain ; and he couldn’t have gone through the window, WHAT BECAME OF THE DAGGER
for it was fastened; and sir” added Jackson with a hushed
But little more remains to be said. Harvey and Evelyn
voice, “there is no chimney in the bedroom.”
are married; they live in Harley Street. Harvey is now an
“You must have been dreaming,” said Harvey. F.R.S. and a man of considerable scientific repute. Evelyn
“Dreaming? Not me, sir. I was wide awake as I am now. wears the heart-shaped locket night and day, although
You see this mark,” and he held up his hand “that’s where I there is no prospect of her again being selected as one of
bit myself to see if I was awake or asleep.” the ‘affinities’.
“But, if you were awake, why didn’t you lay hold of the Mansfield declined to answer any questions having
man you saw? According to your story he was in the next reference to the strange affair related in the preceding
room with the object of murdering the man you were set chapter, and he left for India by the next mail.
to watch; and yet you - big, burly fellow that you are - were When last heard of he was making his way through
afraid to go near him. I never knew you to be a coward Tibet to the Sacred City of the Lamas. Further news of him
before, Jackson.” is awaited with interest, for the mission upon which he
“No, sir, I haven’t got the character of being a coward, has gone is one of great importance.
and there isn’t a man living as I am afraid of; but, sir, that Before starting on his journey Mansfield expressed his
object was not a living man; he was a devil of some sort intention of keeping a record of his travels; and it is hoped
or other and I couldn’t have gone near him for the world.” that this record - which will certainly be of great interest
At this point Harvey looked at his watch and found it and value - will eventually find its way to this country.
was within a few minutes of 12. With respect to the dagger, “the door of the Master’s
“Jackson,” he said “I am expecting Colonel Mansfield to will,” it will be remembered that Mansfield in his letter
awake from his trance. If you feel nervous you had better to Harvey explained that its power for evil was at an end;
go.” and the reader will probably be interested to know what
“Nervous, sir? I ain’t nervous with you for company; but eventually became of it. Well, a most extraordinary thing
when one’s all alone it’s a different matter, and another happened, which to this day has never been satisfactorily
night like last night would turn my brain.” explained.
The first notes of Big Ben came upon the stillness of the The dagger was kept by the police locked up in a fire-
night, and Harvey, drawing Jackson to his side, stepped proof safe to which no one but the inspector who had the
into the circle. key could possibly have access.
Big Ben ceased, and the two men waited to breathless On the morning of the 21st the inspector went to the
suspense for a sign of Mansfield’s return to consciousness. safe for some purpose or other, and to his astonishment
the dagger was not there. In its place was a small heap of
They had not long to wait.
dust of a pale-bluish color.
A strange and wonderful thing took place.
The moon was hid by a passing cloud, and outside - THE END -
the window there came a sound like the flapping of
wings. A rush of air filled the room; and as the two men 
watched the motionless body of the colonel it appeared
to be surrounded by phosphorescent vapor out of which a
luminous form slowly shaped itself.
It was the astral body of Colonel Mansfield.
The shadow and its physical counterpart seemed
NINA and HOWARD BROWN
to blend and mingle together. The flush of returning are the proprietors of
animation lit up the pallid cheeks of the colonel; his JTRforums.com.
48
Victorian Fiction
Amour Dure
By Vernon Lee
Edited with an introduction by Eduardo Zinna
INTRODUCTION himself wrote several stories in the same vein, including

the most famous of them all, A Christmas Carol. By the
Ghosts R Us. They don’t come from other worlds
late nineteenth century, the tradition of a ghost story for
or other dimensions. They are the spirits of the dead;
Christmas was firmly established.
those who preceded us and, sometimes, those who lived
alongside us in times past. They should be gone, but Amour Dure, our Victorian Fiction selection for this
they don’t want to be. For one reason or another, they issue, is both a ghost story and a Christmas story in the
linger; they haunt places, people, things. They are angry, best tradition. It did not appear in the Christmas Number
confused, unfulfilled; they have unfinished business on of a magazine but in Vol. 1, Nos. 1 and 2 of Murray’s
this earth and intend to settle it before they leave. Magazine: A Home and Colonial Periodical, published,
From the beginning of time ghosts have haunted the respectively, in January and February 1887. The tale itself
world. They have made their presence felt in Europe and starts in late August 1885 and climaxes a few months later
the Middle East, Asia and Africa, the South Sea islands and on Christmas Eve. Its protagonist and narrator is a young,
the vast expanses of the Americas. There are ghosts in the romantic Polish professor who comes to Italy to undertake
Bible, the Iliad and the Odissey, in Petronius’s Satyricon research for a history of the ancient city of Urbania. What
and Apuleius’s The Golden Ass, in the Canterbury Tales and follows is an account of what he finds instead.
the Grettir Saga, in the plays of Shakespeare and Marlowe, Violet Page, who signed her work Vernon Lee, was in
Webster and Kyd. For many centuries, ghost stories were some respects a typical Englishwoman of her time. She
not fictional, but anecdotal. They dealt with the ever was born of English parentage at Château St Leonard,
present interrelationship of the living and the dead which, Boulogne, France, on 14 October 1856. Although she
when the world was young, was real indeed. It is not remained profoundly English, she spent most of her
clear when, if ever, ghost stories became predominantly life in the Continent, particularly Italy. She made her
fictional. home near Florence, in the Palmerino villa, where she
It may have been Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu who lived from 1889 until her death on 13 February 1935,
first conjured up a group of friends on a winter’s night and wrote extensively about the art and history of her
listening to a thrilling yarn after a good dinner. But it adopted country. She was a feminist, a pacifist and an anti-
was Dickens who more than anyone else heightened militarist. She enjoyed lasting friendships with Henry
the relationship between Christmas and the ghost story. James, Walter Pater, Mario Praz and the painter Telemaco
In the Christmas Numbers of the magazines he edited, Signorini, but her sentimental engagements were always
in particular Household Words and All the Year Round, with women.
he published ghost stories by Amelia B Edwards, Rosa Among her publications are Studies of the Eighteenth
Mulholland and Wilkie Collins, among others, and he Century in Italy (1880), Euphorion: Being Studies of the
49
Antique and the Mediaeval in the Renaissance (1884), The

Spirit of Rome (1906), Ravenna and Her Ghosts (1907), and
many volumes of essays. She wrote novels and stories,
such as Miss Brown (1884); A Phantom Lover: A Fantastic
Story (1886); Hauntings. Fantastic Stories (1890); Vanitas:
Polite Stories (1892); Sister Benvenuta and the Christ Child,
an Eighteenth-century Legend (1906) and Louis Norbert.
A Twofold Romance (1914); a play in verse, Ariadne in
Mantua (1903), Satan the Waster, a Philosophic Trilogy
(1920), and a volume of political essays, Gospels of Anarchy
(1908).
Vernon Lee by John Singer Sargent
Amour Dure
PASSAGES FROM THE DIARY OF SPIRIDION TREPKA
PART I. dost thou imagine that thou, with thy ministerial letters
and proof sheets in thy black professorial coat pocket,
Urbania, August 20th, 1885.- I had longed, these years
canst ever come in spirit into the presence of the Past?
and years, to be in Italy, to come face to face with the Past;
and was this Italy, was this the Past? I could have cried, Too true, alas! But let me forget it, at least, every now and
yes cried, for disappointment when I first wandered about then; as I forgot it this afternoon, while the white bullocks
Rome, with an invitation to dine at the German Embassy dragged my gig slowly winding along interminable
in my pocket, and three or four Berlin and Munich Vandals valleys, crawling along interminable hillsides, with the
at my heels, telling me where the best beer and sauerkraut invisible droning torrent far below, and only the bare
could be had, and what the last article by Grimm or grey and reddish peaks all around, up to this town of
Mommsen was about. Urbania, forgotten of mankind, towered and battlemented
Is this folly? Is it falsehood? Am I not myself a product on the high Apennine ridge. Sigillo, Penna, Fossombrone,
of modern, northern civilization; is not my coming to Italy Mercatello, Montemurlo - each single village name, as the
due to this very modern scientific vandalism, which has driver pointed it out, brought to my mind the recollection
given me a travelling scholarship because I have written a of some battle or some great act of treachery of former
book like all those other atrocious books of erudition and days. And as the huge mountains shut out the setting sun,
art criticism? Nay, am I not here at Urbania on the express and the valleys filled with bluish shadow and mist, only
understanding that, in a certain number of months, I shall a band of threatening smoke-red remaining behind the
produce just another such book? Dost thou imagine, thou towers and cupolas of the city on its mountain-top, and
miserable Spiridion, thou Pole grown into the semblance the sound of church bells floated across the precipice
of a German pedant, doctor of philosophy, professor even, from Urbania, I almost expected, at every turning of the
author of a prize essay on the despots of the 15th century, road, that a troop of horsemen, with beaked helmets and
50
clawed shoes, would emerge, with armour glittering and fear my illusions being dispelled. At the corner of a street,
pennons waving in the sunset. And then, not two hours opposite Francesco di Giorgio’s beautiful little portico,
ago, entering the town at dusk, passing along the deserted is a great blue and red advertisement, representing an
streets, with only a smoky light here and there under a angel descending to crown Elias Howe, on account of his
shrine or in front of a fruit stall, or a fire reddening the sewing-machines; and the clerks of the Vice-Prefecture,
blackness of a smithy; passing beneath the battlements who dine at the place where I get my dinner, yell politics,
and turrets of the palace ... Ah, that was Italy, it was the Minghetti, Cairoli, Tunis, ironclads, &c., at each other, and
Past! sing snatches of La Fille de Mme. Angot, which I imagine
August 21st.- And this is the Present! Four letters of they have been performing here recently.
introduction to deliver, and an hour’s polite conversation No, talking to the natives is evidently a dangerous
to endure with the Vice-Prefect, the Syndic, the Director experiment. Except indeed, perhaps, to my good landlord,
of the Archives, and the good man to whom my friend Max Signor Notaro Porri, who is just as learned, and takes
had sent me for lodgings... considerably less snuff (or rather brushes it off his coat
August 22nd-27th.- Spent the greater part of the day more often) than the Director of the Archives. I forgot to
in the Archives, and the greater part of my time there in jot down (and I feel I must jot down, in the vain belief that
being bored to extinction by the Director thereof, who someday these scraps will help, like a withered twig of
today spouted Eneas Sylvius’ Commentaries for three olive or a three-wicked Tuscan lamp on my table, to bring
quarters of an hour without taking breath. From this to my mind, in that hateful Babylon of Berlin, these happy
sort of martyrdom (what are the sensations of a former Italian days) - I forgot to record that I am lodging in the
racehorse being driven in a cab? If you can conceive them, house of a dealer in antiquities. My window looks up the
they are those of a Pole turned Prussian professor) I take principal street to where the little column with Mercury
refuge in long rambles through the town. This town is a on the top rises in the midst of the awnings and porticoes
handful of tall black houses huddled on to the top of an of the marketplace. Bending over the chipped ewers
Alp, long narrow lanes trickling down its sides, like the and tubs full of sweet basil, clove pinks, and marigolds,
slides we made on hillocks in our boyhood, and in the I can just see a corner of the palace turret, and the vague
middle the superb red brick structure, turreted and ultramarine of the hills beyond. The house, whose back
battlemented, of Duke Ottobuono’s palace, from whose goes sharp down into the ravine, is a queer up and down
windows you look down upon a sea, a kind of whirlpool, black place, whitewashed rooms, hung with the Raphaels,
of melancholy grey mountains. Then there are the people, and Francias and Peruginos, whom mine host regularly
dark, bushy-bearded men, riding about like brigands, carries to the chief inn whenever a stranger is expected;
wrapped in green-lined cloaks upon their shaggy pack and surrounded by old carved chairs, sofas of the Empire,
mules; or loitering about, great, brawny, low-headed embossed and gilded wedding-chests, and the cupboards
youngsters, like the particoloured bravos in Signorelli’s which contain bits of old damask and embroidered altar-
frescoes; the beautiful boys, like so many young Raphaels, cloths scenting the place with the smell of old incense
with eyes like the eyes of bullocks, and the huge women, and mustiness; all of which are presided over by Signor
Madonnas or St. Elizabeths, as the case may be, with Porri’s three maiden sisters - Sora Serafina, Sora Lodovica,
their clogs firmly poised on their toes and their brass and Sora Adalgisa - the three Fates in person, even to the
pitchers on their heads, as they go up and down the distaffs, and their black cats.
steep black alleys. I do not talk much to these people; I Sor Asdrubale, as they call my landlord, is also a notary.
51
He regrets the Pontifical Government, having had a cousin Two years later, Pierluigi Orsini was stabbed by one
who was a Cardinal’s trainbearer, and believes that if only of his grooms at his castle of Stimigliano, near Orvieto;
you lay a table for two, light four candles made of dead and suspicion fell upon his widow, more especially as,
men’s fat, and perform certain rites about which he is not immediately after the event, she caused the murderer
very precise, you can, on Christmas Eve and similar nights, to be cut down by two servants in her own chamber;
summon up San Pasquale Baylon, who will write you the but not before he had declared that she had induced
winning numbers of the lottery upon the smoked back of him to assassinate his master by a promise of her love.
a plate, if you have previously slapped him on both cheeks Things became so hot for Medea da Carpi that she
and repeated three Ave Marias. The difficulty consists in fled to Urbania and threw herself at the feet of Duke
obtaining the dead men’s fat for the candles, and also in Guidalfonso II, declaring that she had caused the groom
slapping the saint before he has time to vanish. to be killed merely to avenge her good fame, which he
‘If it were not for that,’ says Sor Asdrubale, ‘the had slandered, and that she was absolutely guiltless of
Government would have had to suppress the lottery ages the death of her husband. The marvellous beauty of the
ago - eh!’ widowed Duchess of Stimigliano, who was only nineteen,
entirely turned the head of the Duke of Urbania. He
Sept. 9th.- This history of Urbania is not without its
affected implicit belief in her innocence, refused to give
romance, although that romance (as usual) has been
her up to the Orsinis, kinsmen of her late husband, and
overlooked by our Dryasdusts. Even before coming here
assigned to her magnificent apartments in the left wing
I felt attracted by the strange figure of a woman, which
of the palace, among which was the room containing
appeared from out of the dry pages of Gualterio’s and
the famous fireplace ornamented with marble Cupids
Padre de Sanctis’ histories of this place. This woman
on a blue ground. Guidalfonso fell madly in love with his
is Medea, daughter of Galeazzo IV Malatesta, Lord of
beautiful guest. Hitherto timid and domestic in character,
Carpi, wife first of Pierluigi Orsini, Duke of Stimigliano,
he began publicly to neglect his wife, Maddalena Varano of
and subsequently of Guidalfonso II, Duke of Urbania,
Camerino, with whom, although childless, he had hitherto
predecessor of the great Duke Robert II.
lived on excellent terms; he not only treated with contempt
This woman’s history and character remind one of that the admonitions of his advisers and of his suzerain the
of Bianca Cappello, and at the same time of Lucrezia Borgia. Pope, but went so far as to take measures to repudiate
Born in 1556, she was affianced at the age of twelve to a his wife, on the score of quite imaginary ill conduct. The
cousin, a Malatesta of the Rimini family. This family having Duchess Maddalena, unable to bear this treatment, fled to
greatly gone down in the world, her engagement was the convent of the barefooted sisters at Pesaro, where she
broken, and she was betrothed a year later to a member pined away, while Medea da Carpi reigned in her place at
of the Pico family, and married to him by proxy at the age Urbania, embroiling Duke Guidalfonso in quarrels both
of fourteen. But this match not satisfying her own or her with the powerful Orsinis, who continued to accuse her
father’s ambition, the marriage by proxy was, upon some of Stimigliano’s murder, and with the Varanos, kinsmen of
pretext, declared null, and the suit encouraged of the Duke the injured Duchess Maddalena; until at length, in the year
of Stimigliano, a great Umbrian feudatory of the Orsini 1576, the Duke of Urbania, having become suddenly, and
family. But the bridegroom, Giovanfrancesco Pico, refused not without suspicious circumstances, a widower, publicly
to submit, pleaded his case before the Pope, and tried to married Medea da Carpi two days after the decease of
carry off by force his bride, with whom he was madly in his unhappy wife. No child was born of this marriage;
love, as the lady was most lovely and of most cheerful and but such was the infatuation of Duke Guidalfonso, that
amiable manner, says an old anonymous chronicle. Pico the new Duchess induced him to settle the inheritance
waylaid her litter as she was going to a villa of her father’s, of the Duchy (having, with great difficulty, obtained
and carried her to his castle near Mirandola, where the consent of the Pope) on the boy Bartolommeo, her
he respectfully pressed his suit; insisting that he had son by Stimigliano, but whom the Orsinis refused to
a right to consider her as his wife. But the lady escaped acknowledge as such, declaring him to be the child of that
by letting herself into the moat by a rope of sheets, and Giovanfrancesco Pico to whom Medea had been married
Giovanfrancesco Pico was discovered stabbed in the by proxy, and whom, in defence, as she had said, of her
chest, by the hand of Madonna Medea da Carpi. He was a honour, she had assassinated; and this investiture of the
handsome youth only eighteen years old. Duchy of Urbania on to a stranger and a bastard was at
The Pico having been settled, and the marriage with him the expense of the obvious rights of the Cardinal Robert,
declared null by the Pope, Medea da Carpi was solemnly Guidalfonso’s younger brother.
married to the Duke of Stimigliano, and went to live upon In May 1579, Duke Guidalfonso died suddenly and
his domains near Rome. mysteriously, Medea having forbidden all access to
52
his chamber, lest, on his deathbed, he might repent her, abruptly leaving his chamber one day that she had
and reinstate his brother in his rights. The Duchess entered it by stealth. After a few months a conspiracy
immediately caused her son, Bartolommeo Orsini, to be was discovered to murder Duke Robert, which had
proclaimed Duke of Urbania, and herself regent; and, obviously been set on foot by Medea. But the young
with the help of two or three unscrupulous young men, man, one Marcantonio Frangipani of Rome, denied, even
particularly a certain Captain Oliverotto da Narni, who was under the severest torture, any complicity of hers; so that
rumoured to be her lover, seized the reins of government Duke Robert, who wished to do nothing violent, merely
with extraordinary and terrible vigour, marching an army transferred the Duchess from his villa at Sant’ Elmo to the
against the Varanos and Orsinis, who were defeated at convent of the Clarisse in town, where she was guarded
Sigillo, and ruthlessly exterminating every person who and watched in the closest manner. It seemed impossible
dared question the lawfulness of the succession; while, all that Medea should intrigue any further, for she certainly
the time, Cardinal Robert, who had flung aside his priest’s saw and could be seen by no one. Yet she contrived to send
garb and vows, went about in Rome, Tuscany, Venice - nay, a letter and her portrait to one Prinzivalle degli Ordelaffi, a
even to the Emperor and the King of Spain, imploring help youth, only nineteen years old, of noble Romagnole family,
against the usurper. In a few months he had turned the and who was betrothed to one of the most beautiful girls
tide of sympathy against the Duchess-Regent; the Pope of Urbania. He immediately broke off his engagement,
solemnly declared the investiture of Bartolommeo Orsini and, shortly afterwards, attempted to shoot Duke Robert
worthless, and published the accession of Robert II, Duke with a holster pistol as he knelt at mass on the festival
of Urbania and Count of Montemurlo; the Grand Duke of of Easter Day. This time Duke Robert was determined to
Tuscany and the Venetians secretly promised assistance, obtain proofs against Medea. Prinzivalle degli Ordelaffi
but only if Robert were able to assert his rights by main was kept some days without food, then submitted to the
force. Little by little, one town after the other of the most violent torture, and finally condemned. When he
Duchy went over to Robert, and Medea da Carpi found was going to be flayed with red-hot pincers and quartered
herself surrounded in the mountain citadel of Urbania by horses, he was told that he might obtain the grace of
like a scorpion surrounded by flames. (This simile is not immediate death by confessing the complicity of the
mine, but belongs to Raffaello Gualterio, historiographer Duchess; and the confessor and nuns of the convent, which
to Robert II). But, unlike the scorpion, Medea refused to stood in the place of execution outside Porta San Romano,
commit suicide. It is perfectly marvellous how, without pressed Medea to save the wretch, whose screams reached
money or allies, she could so long keep her enemies at bay; her, by confessing her own guilt. Medea asked permission
and Gualterio attributes this to those fatal fascinations to go to a balcony, where she could see Prinzivalle and be
which had brought Pico and Stimigliano to their deaths, seen by him. She looked on coldly, then threw down her
which had turned the once honest Guidalfonso into a embroidered kerchief to the poor mangled creature. He
villain, and which were such that, of all her lovers, not one asked the executioner to wipe his mouth with it, kissed
but preferred dying for her, even after he had been treated it, and cried out that Medea was innocent. Then, after
with ingratitude and ousted by a rival; a faculty which several hours of torments, he died. This was too much
Messer Raffaello Gualterio clearly attributed to hellish for the patience even of Duke Robert. Seeing that as long
connivance. as Medea lived his life would be in perpetual danger, but
At last the ex-Cardinal Robert succeeded, and unwilling to cause a scandal (somewhat of the priest
triumphantly entered Urbania in November 1579. His nature remaining), he had Medea strangled in the convent,
accession was marked by moderation and clemency. Not and, what is remarkable, insisted that only women - two
a man was put to death, save Oliverotto da Narni, who infanticides to whom he remitted their sentence - should
threw himself on the new Duke, tried to stab him as he be employed for the deed.
alighted at the palace, and who was cut down by the ‘This clement prince,’ writes Don Arcangelo Zappi in
Duke’s men, crying, ‘Orsini, Orsini! Medea, Medea! Long his life of him, published in 1725, ‘can be blamed only
live Duke Bartolommeo!’ with his dying breath, although for one act of cruelty, the more odious as he had himself,
it is said that the Duchess had treated him with ignominy. until released from his vows by the Pope, been in holy
The little Bartolommeo was sent to Rome to the Orsinis; orders. It is said that when he caused the death of the
the Duchess, respectfully confined in the left wing of the infamous Medea da Carpi, his fear lest her extraordinary
palace. charms should seduce any man was such, that he not only
It is said that she haughtily requested to see the new employed women as executioners, but refused to permit
Duke, but that he shook his head, and, in his priest’s her a priest or monk, thus forcing her to die unshriven,
fashion, quoted a verse about Ulysses and the Sirens; and refusing her the benefit of any penitence that may
and it is remarkable that he persistently refused to see have lurked in her adamantine heart.’
53
Such is the story of Medea da Carpi, Duchess of turns away with an awkward gesture of loathing. None of
Stimigliano Orsini, and then wife of Duke Guidalfonso II, these portraits seem very good, save the miniature, but
of Urbania. She was put to death just two hundred and that is an exquisite work, and with it, and the suggestions
ninety-seven years ago December 1582, at the age of of the bust, it is easy to reconstruct the beauty of this
barely seven-and-twenty, and having, in the course of her terrible being. The type is that most admired by the late
short life, brought to a violent end five of her lovers, from Renaissance, and, in some measure, immortalized by
Giovanfrancesco Pico to Prinzivalle degli Ordelaffi. Jean Goujon and the French. The face is a perfect oval, the
Sept. 20th. - A grand illumination of the town in forehead somewhat over-round, with minute curls, like a
honour of the taking of Rome fifteen years ago. Except fleece, of bright auburn hair; the nose a trifle over-aquiline,
Sor Asdrubale, my landlord, who shakes his head at the and the cheek-bones a trifle too low; the eyes grey, large,
Piedmontese, as he calls them, the people here are all prominent, beneath exquisitely curved brows and lids just
Italianissimi. The Popes kept them very much down since a little too tight at the corners; the mouth also, brilliantly
Urbania lapsed to the Holy See in 1645. red and most delicately designed, is a little too tight, the
lips strained a trifle over the teeth. Tight eyelids and tight
lips give a strange refinement, and, at the same time, an air
of mystery, a somewhat sinister seductiveness; they seem
to take, but not to give. The mouth with a kind of childish
pout, looks as if it could bite or suck like a leech. The
complexion is dazzlingly fair, the perfect transparent roset
lily of red-haired beauty; the head, with hair elaborately
curled and plaited close to it, and adorned with pearls,
sits like that of the antique Arethusa on a long, supple,
swan-like neck. A curious, at first rather conventional,
artificial-looking sort of beauty, voluptuous yet cold,
which, the more it is contemplated, the more it troubles
and haunts the mind. Round the lady’s neck is a gold chain
with little gold lozenges at intervals, on which is engraved
the posy or pun (the fashion of French devices is common
in those days), ‘Amour Dure - Dure Amour.’ The same posy
is inscribed in the hollow of the bust, and, thanks to it, I
have been able to identify the latter as Medea’s portrait. I
often examine these tragic portraits, wondering what this
face, which led so many men to their death, may have been
like when it spoke or smiled, what at the moment when
Medea da Carpi fascinated her victims into love unto
death - ‘Amour Dure - Dure Amour,’ as runs her device -
Sept. 28th. - I have for some time been hunting for love that lasts, cruel love - yes indeed, when one thinks of
portraits of the Duchess Medea. Most of them, I imagine, the fidelity and fate of her lovers.
must have been destroyed, perhaps by Duke Robert II’s Oct. 13th. I have literally not had time to write a line of
fear lest even after her death this terrible beauty should my diary all these days. My whole mornings have gone in
play him a trick. Three or four I have, however, been able those Archives, my afternoons taking long walks ... By the
to find - one a miniature in the Archives, said to be that way, I must note down a curious circumstance mentioned
which she sent to poor Prinzivalle degli Ordelaffi in order in an anonymous MS. life of Duke Robert, which I fell
to turn his head; one a marble bust in the palace lumber- upon today. When this prince had the equestrian statue of
room; one in a large composition, possibly by Baroccio, himself by Antonio Tassi, Gianbologna’s pupil, erected in
representing Cleopatra at the feet of Augustus. Augustus the square of the Corte, he secretly caused to be made, says
is the idealized portrait of Robert II, round cropped head, my anonymous MS., a silver statuette of his familiar genius
nose a little awry, clipped beard and scar as usual, but in or angel - ‘familiaris ejus angelus seu genius, quod a vulgo
Roman dress. Cleopatra seems to me, for all her Oriental dicitur idolino’ - which statuette or idol, after having been
dress, and although she wears a black wig, to be meant consecrated by the astrologers - ‘ab astrologis quibusdam
for Medea da Carpi; she is kneeling, baring her breast for ritibus sacrato’ - was placed in the cavity of the chest of
the victor to strike, but in reality to captivate him, and he the effigy by Tassi, in order, says the MS., that his soul
54
might rest until the general Resurrection. This passage is for romance; I sighed, like Goethe in Rome, for a window
curious, and to me somewhat puzzling; how could the soul to open and a wondrous creature to appear, ‘welch mich
of Duke Robert await the general Resurrection, when, as a versengend erquickt.’ Perhaps it is because Goethe was
Catholic, he ought to have believed that it must, as soon a German, accustomed to German Fraus, and I am, after
as separated from his body, go to Purgatory? Or is there all, a Pole, accustomed to something very different from
some semi-pagan superstition of the Renaissance (most Fraus; but anyhow, for all my efforts, in Rome, Florence,
strange, certainly, in a man who had been a Cardinal) and Siena, I never could find a woman to go mad about,
connecting the soul with a guardian genius, who could be either among the ladies, chattering bad French, or among
compelled, by magic rites (‘ab astrologis sacrato,’ the MS. the lower classes, as ‘cute and cold as money-lenders; so I
says of the little idol), to remain fixed to earth, so that the steer clear of Italian womankind, its shrill voice and gaudy
soul should sleep in the body until the Day of Judgment? toilettes. I am wedded to history, to the Past, to women
I confess this story baffles me. I wonder whether such an like Lucrezia Borgia, Vittoria Accoramboni, or that Medea
idol ever existed, or exists nowadays, in the body of Tassi’s da Carpi, for the present; someday I shall perhaps find a
bronze effigy? grand passion, a woman to play the Don Quixote about,
Oct. 20th. - I have been seeing a good deal of late of like the Pole that I am; a woman out of whose slipper to
the Vice-Prefect’s son: an amiable young man with a drink, and for whose pleasure to die; but not here! Few
lovesick face and a languid interest in Urbanian history things strike me so much as the degeneracy of Italian
and archaeology, of which he is profoundly ignorant. This women. What has become of the race of Faustinas,
young man, who has lived at Siena and Lucca before his Marozias, Bianca Cappellos? Where discover nowadays (I
father was promoted here, wears extremely long and tight confess she haunts me) another Medea da Carpi? Were it
trousers, which almost preclude his bending his knees, only possible to meet a woman of that extreme distinction
a stick-up collar and an eyeglass, and a pair of fresh kid of beauty, of that terribleness of nature, even if only
gloves stuck in the breast of his coat, speaks of Urbania as potential, I do believe I could love her, even to the Day of
Ovid might have spoken of Pontus, and complains (as well Judgment, like any Oliverotto da Narni, or Frangipani or
he may) of the barbarism of the young men, the officials Prinzivalle.
who dine at my inn and howl and sing like madmen, and Oct. 27th. - Fine sentiments the above are for a
the nobles who drive gigs, showing almost as much throat professor, a learned man! I thought the young artists of
as a lady at a ball. This person frequently entertains me Rome childish because they played practical jokes and
with his amori, past, present, and future; he evidently yelled at night in the streets, returning from the Caffé
thinks me very odd for having none to entertain him with Greco or the cellar in the Via Palombella; but am I not
in return; he points out to me the pretty (or ugly) servant- as childish to the full - I, melancholy wretch, whom they
girls and dressmakers as we walk in the street, sighs deeply called Hamlet and the Knight of the Doleful Countenance?
or sings in falsetto behind every tolerably young looking Nov. 5th. - I can’t free myself from the thought of this
woman, and has finally taken me to the house of the lady Medea da Carpi. In my walks, my mornings in the Archives,
of his heart, a great black-moustachioed countess, with my solitary evenings, I catch myself thinking over the
a voice like a fish-crier; here, he says, I shall meet all the woman. Am I turning novelist instead of historian? And
best company in Urbania and some beautiful women - ah, still it seems to me that I understand her so well; so much
too beautiful, alas! I find three huge half-furnished rooms, better than my facts warrant. First, we must put aside
with bare brick floors, petroleum lamps, and horribly bad all pedantic modern ideas of right and wrong. Right and
pictures on bright wash ball-blue and gamboge walls, and wrong in a century of violence and treachery does not
in the midst of it all, every evening, a dozen ladies and exist, least of all for creatures like Medea. Go preach right
gentlemen seated in a circle, vociferating at each other the and wrong to a tigress, my dear sir! Yet is there in the
same news a year old; the younger ladies in bright yellows world anything nobler than the huge creature, steel when
and greens, fanning themselves while my teeth chatter, she springs, velvet when she treads, as she stretches her
and having sweet things whispered behind their fans by supple body, or smooths her beautiful skin, or fastens her
officers with hair brushed up like a hedgehog. And these strong claws into her victim?
are the women my friend expects me to fall in love with! Yes; I can understand Medea. Fancy a woman of
I vainly wait for tea or supper which does not come, and superlative beauty, of the highest courage and calmness, a
rush home, determined to leave alone the Urbanian beau woman of many resources, of genius, brought up by a petty
monde. princelet of a father, upon Tacitus and Sallust, and the tales
It is quite true that I have no amori, although my friend of the great Malatestas, of Cæsar Borgia and such-like! - a
does not believe it. When I came to Italy first, I looked out woman whose one passion is conquest and empire - fancy
55
her, on the eve of being wedded to a man of the power he owed her; no man must survive long who conceives
of the Duke of Stimigliano, claimed, carried off by a small himself to have a right over her; it is a kind of sacrilege.
fry of a Pico, locked up in his hereditary brigand’s castle, And only death, the willingness to pay for such happiness
and having to receive the young fool’s red-hot love as an by death, can at all make a man worthy of being her lover;
honour and a necessity! The mere thought of any violence he must be willing to love and suffer and die. This is the
to such a nature is an abominable outrage; and if Pico meaning of her device - ‘Amour Dure - Dure Amour.’ The
chooses to embrace such a woman at the risk of meeting love of Medea da Carpi cannot fade, but the lover can die,
a sharp piece of steel in her arms, why, it is a fair bargain. it is a constant and a cruel love.
Young hound - or, if you prefer, young hero - to think to treat Nov. 11th. - I was right, quite right in my idea. I have
a woman like this as if she were any village wench! Medea found - Oh, joy! I treated the Vice-Prefect’s son to a dinner
marries her Orsini. A marriage, let it be noted, between of five courses at the Trattoria La Stella d’Italia out of
an old soldier of fifty and a girl of sixteen. Reflect what sheer jubilation - I have found in the Archives, unknown,
that means: it means that this imperious woman is soon of course, to the Director, a heap of letters - letters of
treated like a chattel, made roughly to understand that Duke Robert about Medea da Carpi, letters of Medea
her business is to give the Duke an heir, not advice; that herself! Yes, Medea’s own handwriting - a round, scholarly
she must never ask ‘wherefore this or that?’ that she must character, full of abbreviations, with a Greek look about it,
courtesy before the Duke’s counsellors, his captains, his as befits a learned princess who could read Plato as well as
mistresses; that, at the least suspicion of rebelliousness, Petrarch. The letters are of little importance, mere drafts
she is subject to his foul words and blows; at the least of business letters for her secretary to copy, during the
suspicion of infidelity, to be strangled or starved to death, time that she governed the poor weak Guidalfonso. But
or thrown down an oubliette. Suppose that she know that they are her letters, and I can imagine almost that there
her husband has taken it into his head that she has looked hangs about these mouldering pieces of paper a scent as
too hard at this man or that, that one of his lieutenants of a woman’s hair.
or one of his women have whispered that, after all, the The few letters of Duke Robert show him in a new light.
boy Bartolommeo might as soon be a Pico as an Orsini. A cunning, cold, but craven priest. He trembles at the bare
Suppose she know that she must strike or be struck? Why, thought of Medea - ‘la pessima Medea’ - worse than her
she strikes, or gets someone to strike for her. At what namesake of Colchis, as he calls her. His long clemency
price? A promise of love, of love to a groom, the son of a is a result of mere fear of laying violent hands upon her.
serf! Why, the dog must be mad or drunk to believe such He fears her as something almost supernatural; he would
a thing possible; his very belief in anything so monstrous have enjoyed having had her burned as a witch. After
makes him worthy of death. And then he dares to blab! letter on letter, telling his crony, Cardinal Sanseverino, at
This is much worse than Pico. Medea is bound to defend Rome his various precautions during her lifetime - how
her honour a second time; if she could stab Pico, she can he wears a jacket of mail under his coat; bow he drinks
certainly stab this fellow, or have him stabbed. only milk from a cow which he has milked in his presence;
Hounded by her husband’s kinsmen, she takes refuge how he tries his dog with morsels of his food, lest it be
at Urbania. The Duke, like every other man, falls wildly in poisoned; how he suspects the wax candles because of
love with Medea, and neglects his wife; let us even go so their peculiar smell; how he fears riding out lest someone
far as to say, breaks his wife’s heart. Is this Medea’s fault? should frighten his horse and cause him to break his neck
Is it her fault that every stone that comes beneath her - after all this, and when Medea has been in her grave two
chariot wheels is crushed? Certainly not. Do you suppose years, he tells his correspondent of his fear of meeting the
that a woman like Medea feels the smallest ill will against soul of Medea after his own death, and chuckles over the
a poor, craven Duchess Maddalena? Why, she ignores her ingenious device (concocted by his astrologer and a certain
very existence. To suppose Medea a cruel woman is as Fra Gaudenzio, a Capuchin) by which he shall secure the
grotesque as to call her an immoral woman. Her fate is, absolute peace of his soul until that of the wicked Medea
sooner or later, to triumph over her enemies, at all events be finally ‘chained up in hell among the lakes of boiling
to make their victory almost a defeat; her magic faculty pitch and the ice of Caina described by the immortal bard’
is to enslave all the men who come across her path; all - old pedant! Here, then, is the explanation of that silver
those who see her, love her, become her slaves; and it is image - quod vulgo dicitur idolino - which he caused to be
the destiny of all her slaves to perish. Her lovers, with the soldered into his effigy by Tassi. As long as the image of
exception of Duke Guidalfonso, all come to an untimely his soul was attached to the image of his body, he should
end; and in this there is nothing unjust. The possession of sleep awaiting the Day of Judgment, fully convinced that
a woman like Medea is a happiness too great for a mortal Medea’s soul will then be properly tarred and feathered,
man; it would turn his head, make him forget even what while his - honest man! - will fly straight to Paradise. And
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to think that, two weeks ago, I believed this man to be a filled with stacks of faggots.
hero! Aha! my good Duke Robert, you shall be shown up
in my history; and no amount of silver idolinos shall save
you from being heartily laughed at!
Nov. 15th. Strange! That idiot of a Prefect’s son, who
has heard me talk a hundred times of Medea da Carpi,
suddenly recollects that, when he was a child at Urbania,
his nurse used to threaten him with a visit from Madonna
Medea, who rode in the sky on a black he-goat. My Duchess
Medea turned into a bogey for naughty little boys!
Nov. 20th. - I have been going about with a Bavarian
Professor of medieval history, showing him all over the
country. Among other places we went to Rocca Sant’ Elmo,
to see the former villa of the Dukes of Urbania, the villa
We returned home late, my companion in excessively
where Medea was confined between the accession of Duke
bad humour at the fruitlessness of the expedition. We
Robert and the conspiracy of Marcantonio Frangipani,
were caught in the skirt of a snowstorm as we got into
which caused her removal to the nunnery immediately
the chestnut woods. The sight of the snow falling gently,
outside the town. A long ride up the desolate Apennine
of the earth and bushes whitened all round, made me feel
valleys, bleak beyond words just now with their thin
back at Posen, once more a child. I sang and shouted, to
fringe of oak scrub turned russet, thin patches of grass
my companion’s horror. This will be a bad point against
sered by the frost, the last few yellow leaves of the poplars
me if reported at Berlin. A historian of twenty-four who
by the torrents shaking and fluttering about in the chill
shouts and sings, and that when another historian is
Tramontana; the mountaintops are wrapped in thick grey
cursing at the snow and the bad roads! All night I lay
cloud; tomorrow, if the wind continues, we shall see them
awake watching the embers of my wood fire, and thinking
round masses of snow against the cold blue sky. Sant’ Elmo
of Medea da Carpi mewed up, in winter, in that solitude
is a wretched hamlet high on the Apennine ridge, where
of Sant’ Elmo, the firs groaning, the torrent roaring, the
the Italian vegetation is already replaced by that of the
snow falling all round; miles and miles away from human
North. You ride for miles through leafless chestnut woods,
creatures. I fancied I saw it all, and that I, somehow, was
the scent of the soaking brown leaves filling the air, the
Marcantonio Frangipani come to liberate her - or was it
roar of the torrent, turbid with autumn rains, rising from
Prinzivalle degli Ordelaffi? I suppose it was because of
the precipice below; then suddenly the leafless chestnut
the long ride, the unaccustomed pricking feeling of the
woods are replaced, as at Vallombrosa, by a belt of black,
snow in the air; or perhaps the punch which my professor
dense fir plantations. Emerging from these, you come
insisted on drinking after dinner.
to an open space, frozen blasted meadows, the rocks of
snow clad peak, the newly fallen snow, close above you; Nov. 23rd. - Thank goodness, that Bavarian professor
and in the midst, on a knoll, with a gnarled larch on either has finally departed! Those days he spent here drove me
side, the ducal villa of Sant’ Elmo, a big black stone box nearly crazy. Talking over my work, I told him one day my
with a stone escutcheon, grated windows, and a double views on Medea da Carpi; whereupon he condescended
flight of steps in front. It is now let out to the proprietor to answer that those were the usual tales due to the
of the neighbouring woods, who uses it for the storage of mythopœic (old idiot!) tendency of the Renaissance; that
chestnuts, faggots, and charcoal from the neighbouring research would disprove the greater part of them, as it had
disproved the stories current about the Borgias, &c.; that,
ovens. We tied our horses to the iron rings and entered:
moreover, such a woman as I made out was psychologically
an old woman, with dishevelled hair, was alone in
and physiologically impossible. Would that one could say
the house. The villa is a mere hunting lodge, built by
as much of such professors as he and his fellows!
Ottobuona IV, the father of Dukes Guidalfonso and Robert,
about 1530. Some of the rooms have at one time been Nov. 24th. - I cannot get over my pleasure in being rid
frescoed and panelled with oak carvings, but all this has of that imbecile; I felt as if I could have throttled him every
disappeared. Only, in one of the big rooms, there remains time he spoke of the Lady of my thoughts - for such she
a large marble fireplace, similar to those in the palace at has become - Metea, as the animal called her!
Urbania, beautifully carved with Cupids on a blue ground; Nov. 30th. - I feel quite shaken at what has just happened;
a charming naked boy sustains a jar on either side, one I am beginning to fear that that old pedant was right in
containing clove pinks, the other roses. The room was saying that it was bad for me to live all alone in a strange
57
country, that it would make me morbid. It is ridiculous long, narrow, tapering, plays with a thick rope of silk and
that I should be put into such a state of excitement merely gold and jewels hanging from the waist; round the throat,
by the chance discovery of a portrait of a woman dead white as marble, partially confined in the tight dull-red
these three hundred years. With the case of my uncle bodice, hangs a gold collar, with the device on alternate
Ladislas, and other suspicions of insanity in my family, I enamelled medallions, ‘AMOUR DURE - DURE AMOUR.’
ought really to guard against such foolish excitement.
Yet the incident was really dramatic, uncanny. I could
have sworn that I knew every picture in the palace
here; and particularly every picture of Her. Anyhow, this
morning, as I was leaving the Archives, I passed through
one of the many small rooms - irregular-shaped closets
- which filled up the ins and outs of this curious palace,
turreted like a French château. I must have passed through
that closet before, for the view was so familiar out of its
window; just the particular bit of round tower in front, the
cypress on the other side of the ravine, the belfry beyond,
and the piece of the line of Monte Sant’ Agata and the
Leonessa, covered with snow, against the sky. I suppose
there must be twin rooms, and that I had got into the wrong
one; or rather, perhaps some shutter had been opened or
curtain withdrawn. As I was passing, my eye was caught
by a very beautiful old mirror-frame let into the brown
and yellow inlaid wall. I approached, and looking at the
frame, looked also, mechanically, into the glass. I gave a
great start, and almost shrieked, I do believe - (it’s lucky
the Munich professor is safe out of Urbania!). Behind my
own image stood another, a figure close to my shoulder, a
face close to mine; and that figure, that face, hers! Medea
da Carpi’s! I turned sharp round, as white, I think, as the
ghost I expected to see. On the wall opposite the mirror,
just a pace or two behind where I had been standing, hung
a portrait. And such a portrait! - Bronzino never painted On reflection, I see that I simply could never have been
a grander one. Against a background of harsh, dark blue, in that room or closet before; I must have mistaken the
there stands out the figure of the Duchess (for it is Medea, door. But, although the explanation is so simple, I still,
the real Medea, a thousand times more real, individual, after several hours, feel terribly shaken in all my being. If
and powerful than in the other portraits), seated stiffly I grow so excitable I shall have to go to Rome at Christmas
in a high-backed chair, sustained, as it were, almost rigid, for a holiday. I feel as if some danger pursued me here (can
by the stiff brocade of skirts and stomacher, stiffer for it be fever?); and yet, and yet, I don’t see how I shall ever
plaques of embroidered silver flowers and rows of seed tear myself away.
pearl. The dress is, with its mixture of silver and pearl, of Dec. 10th. - I have made an effort, and accepted the
a strange dull red, a wicked poppy-juice colour, against Vice-Prefect’s son’s invitation to see the oil-making at a
which the flesh of the long, narrow hands with fringe-like villa of theirs near the coast. The villa, or farm, is an old
fingers; of the long slender neck, and the face with bared fortified, towered place, standing on a hillside among
forehead, looks white and hard, like alabaster. The face olive-trees and little osier-bushes, which look like a bright
is the same as in the other portraits: the same rounded orange flame. The olives are squeezed in a tremendous
forehead, with the short fleece-like, yellowish-red curls; black cellar, like a prison: you see, by the faint white
the same beautifully curved eyebrows, just barely marked; daylight, and the smoky yellow flare of resin burning in
the same eyelids, a little tight across the eyes; the same pans, great white bullocks moving round a huge millstone;
lips, a little tight across the mouth; but with a purity of vague figures working at pulleys and handles: it looks, to
line, a dazzling splendour of skin, and intensity of look my fancy, like some scene of the Inquisition. The Cavaliere
immeasurably superior to all the other portraits. regaled me with his best wine and rusks. I took some
She looks out of the frame with a cold, level glance; yet long walks by the seaside; I had left Urbania wrapped in
the lips smile. One hand holds a dull red rose; the other, snow-clouds; down on the coast there was a bright sun;
58
the sunshine, the sea, the bustle of the little port on the was trimming the lamp previous to swinging it out again,
Adriatic seemed to do me good. I came back to Urbania she said in her odd, prudish little way, ‘You are wrong
another man. Sor Asdrubale, my landlord, poking about to stop singing, my son’ (she varies between calling me
in slippers among the gilded chests, the Empire sofas, the Signor Professore and such terms of affection as ‘Nino,’
old cups and saucers and pictures which no one will buy, ‘Viscere mie,’ &c.); ‘you are wrong to stop singing, for
congratulated me upon the improvement in my looks. there is a young lady there in the street who has actually
‘You work too much,’ he says; ‘youth requires amusement, stopped to listen to you.’
theatres, promenades, amori - it is time enough to be I ran to the window. A woman, wrapped in a black shawl,
serious when one is bald’ - and he took off his greasy red was standing in an archway, looking up to the window.
cap. Yes, I am better! and, as a result, I take to my work ‘Eh, eh! the Signor Professore has admirers,’ said Sora
with delight again. I will cut them out still, those wiseacres Lodovica.
at Berlin!
‘Medea, mia dea!’ I burst out as loud as I could, with a
Dec. 14th. - I don’t think I have ever felt so happy about boy’s pleasure in disconcerting the inquisitive passer-by.
my work. I see it all so well, - that crafty, cowardly Duke She turned suddenly round to go away, waving her hand at
Robert; that melancholy Duchess Maddalena; that weak, me; at that moment Sora Lodovica swung the shrine-lamp
showy, would-be chivalrous Duke Guidalfonso; and above back into its place. A stream of light fell across the street. I
all, the splendid figure of Medea. I feel as if I were the felt myself grow quite cold; the face of the woman outside
greatest historian of the age; and, at the same time, as if I was that of Medea da Carpi!
were a boy of twelve. It snowed yesterday for the first time
What a fool I am, to be sure!
in the city, for two good hours. When it had done, I actually
went into the square and taught the ragamuffins to make
a snow man; no, a snow woman; and I had the fancy to call PART II
her Medea. ‘La pessima Medea!’ cried one of the boys - ‘the Dec. 17th. - I fear that my craze about Medea da Carpi
one who used to ride through the air on a goat?’ ‘No, no,’ I has become well-known, thanks to my silly talk and
said; ‘she was a beautiful lady, the Duchess of Urbania, the idiotic songs. That Vice-Prefect’s son - or the assistant
most beautiful woman that ever lived.’ I made her a crown at the Archives, or perhaps some of the company at the
of tinsel, and taught the boys to cry ‘Evviva, Medea!’ But Contessa’s, is trying to play me a trick! But take care, my
one of them said, ‘She is a witch! She must be burned!’ At good ladies and gentlemen, I shall pay you out in your own
which they all rushed to fetch burning faggots and tow; in coin! Imagine my feelings when, this morning, I found
a minute the yelling demons had melted her down. on my desk a folded letter addressed to me in a curious
Dec. 15th. What a goose I am, and to think I am twenty- handwriting which seemed strangely familiar to me, and
four, and known in literature! In my long walks I have which, after a moment, I recognized as that of the letters
composed to a tune (I don’t know what it is) which all the of Medea da Carpi at the Archives. It gave me a horrible
people are singing and whistling in the street at present, shock. My next idea was that it must be a present from
a poem in frightful Italian, beginning ‘Medea, mia dea,’ someone who knew my interest in Medea - a genuine
calling on her in the name of her various lovers. I go about letter of hers on which some idiot had written my address
humming between my teeth, ‘Why am I not Marcantonio? instead of putting it into an envelope. But it was addressed
or Prinzivalle? or he of Narni? or the good Duke Alfonso? to me, written to me, no old letter; merely four lines, which
that I might be beloved by thee, Medea, mia dea,’ &c. &c. ran as follows
Awful rubbish! My landlord, I think, suspects that Medea ‘TO SPIRIDION.- A person who knows the interest you
must be some lady I met while I was staying by the bear her will be at the Church of San Giovanni Decollato
seaside. I am sure Sora Serafina, Sora Lodovica, the Sora this evening at nine. Look out, in the left aisle, for a lady
Adalgisa - the three Parcae or Norns, as I call them - have wearing a black mantle, and holding a rose.’
some such notion. This afternoon, at dusk, while tidying By this time I understood that I was the object of a
my room, Sora Lodovica said to me, ‘How beautifully the conspiracy, the victim of a hoax. I turned the letter round
Signorino has taken to singing!’ I was scarcely aware that and round. It was written on paper such as was made
I had been vociferating, ‘Vieni, Medea, mia dea,’ while the in the 16th century, and in an extraordinarily precise
old lady bobbed about making up my fire. I stopped; a nice imitation of Medea da Carpi’s characters. Who had written
reputation I shall get! I thought, and all this will somehow it? I thought over all the possible people. On the whole, it
get to Rome, and thence to Berlin. Sora Lodovica was must be the Vice-Prefect’s son, perhaps in combination
leaning out of the window, pulling in the iron hook of the with his lady-love, the Countess. They must have torn a
shrine-lamp which marks Sor Asdrubale’s house. As she blank page off some old letter; but that either of them
59
should have had the ingenuity of inventing such a hoax, the left of the church, when I was suddenly stopped by the
or the power of committing such a forgery, astounds me sound as of an organ close by; an organ, yes, quite plainly,
beyond measure. There is more in these people than and the voice of choristers and the drone of a litany. So
I should have guessed. How pay them off? By taking the church was not shut, after all! I retraced my steps to
no notice of the letter? Dignified, but dull. No, I will go; the top of the lane. All was dark and in complete silence.
perhaps someone will be there, and I will mystify them Suddenly there came again a faint gust of organ and
in their turn. Or, if no one is there, how I shall crow over voices. I listened; it clearly came from the other lane, the
them for their imperfectly carried out plot! Perhaps this one on the right-hand side. Was there, perhaps, another
is some folly of the Cavaliere Muzio’s to bring me into the door there? I passed beneath the archway, and descended
presence of some lady whom he destines to be the flame a little way in the direction whence the sounds seemed to
of my future amori. That is likely enough. And it would be come. But no door, no light, only the black walls, the black
too idiotic and professorial to refuse such an invitation; wet flags, with their faint yellow reflections of flickering
the lady must be worth knowing who can forge 16th- oil-lamps; moreover, complete silence. I stopped a minute,
century letters like this, for I am sure that languid swell and then the chant rose again; this time it seemed to me
Muzio never could. I will go! By Heaven! I’ll pay them back most certainly from the lane I had just left. I went back
in their own coin! It is now five - how long these days are! - nothing. Thus backwards and forwards, the sounds
Dec. 18th.- Am I mad? Or are there really ghosts? That always beckoning, as it were, one way, only to beckon me
adventure of last night has shaken me to the very depth back, vainly, to the other.
of my soul. At last I lost patience; and I felt a sort of creeping terror,
I went at nine, as the mysterious letter had bid me. It which only a violent action could dispel. If the mysterious
was bitterly cold, and the air full of fog and sleet; not a sounds came neither from the street to the right, nor from
shop open, not a window unshuttered, not a creature the street to the left, they could come only from the church.
visible; the narrow black streets, precipitous between Half-maddened, I rushed up the two or three steps, and
their high walls and under their lofty archways, were prepared to wrench the door open with a tremendous
only the blacker for the dull light of an oil-lamp here and effort. To my amazement it opened with the greatest ease.
there, with its flickering yellow reflection on the wet I entered, and the sounds of the litany met me louder than
flags. San Giovanni Decollato is a little church, or rather before, as I paused a moment between the outer door and
oratory, which I have always hitherto seen shut up (as so the heavy leathern curtain. I raised the latter and crept
many churches here are shut up except on great festivals); in. The altar was brilliantly illuminated with tapers and
and situated behind the ducal palace, on a sharp ascent, garlands of chandeliers; this was evidently some evening
and forming the bifurcation of two steep paved lanes. I service connected with Christmas. The nave and aisles
have passed by the place a hundred times, and scarcely were comparatively dark, and about half-full. I elbowed
noticed the little church, except for the marble high relief my way along the right aisle towards the altar. When my
over the door, showing the grizzly head of the Baptist in eyes had got accustomed to the unexpected light, I began
the charger, and for the iron cage close by, in which were to look round me, and with a beating heart. The idea
formerly exposed the heads of criminals; the decapitated, that all this was a hoax, that I should meet merely some
or, as they call him here, decollated, John the Baptist, being acquaintance of my friend the Cavaliere’s, had somehow
apparently the patron of axe and block. departed: I looked about. The people were all wrapped
A few strides took me from my lodgings to San Giovanni up, the men in big cloaks, the women in woollen veils
Decollato. I confess I was excited; one is not twenty-four and mantles. The body of the church was comparatively
and a Pole for nothing. On getting to the kind of little dark, and I could not make out anything very clearly, but
platform at the bifurcation of the two precipitous streets, it seemed to me, somehow, as if, under the cloaks and
I found, to my surprise, that the windows of the church or veils, these people were dressed in a rather extraordinary
oratory were not lighted, and that the door was locked! So fashion. The man in front of me, I remarked, showed
this was the precious joke that had been played upon me; yellow stockings beneath his cloak; a woman, hard by, a
to send me on a bitter cold, sleety night, to a church which red bodice, laced behind with gold tags. Could these be
was shut up and had perhaps been shut up for years! I peasants from some remote part come for the Christmas
don’t know what I couldn’t have done in that moment of festivities, or did the inhabitants of Urbania don some old-
rage; I felt inclined to break open the church door, or to go fashioned garb in honour of Christmas?
and pull the Vice-Prefect’s son out of bed (for I felt sure As I was wondering, my eye suddenly caught that
that the joke was his). I determined upon the latter course; of a woman standing in the opposite aisle, close to the
and was walking towards his door, along the black alley to altar, and in the full blaze of its lights. She was wrapped
60
in black, but held, in a very conspicuous way, a red rose, made use of within the memory of man. Could it have been
an unknown luxury at this time of the year in a place like all a hallucination or a dream - perhaps a dream dreamed
Urbania. She evidently saw me, and turning even more that night? I have been out again to look at that church.
fully into the light, she loosened her heavy black cloak, There it is, at the bifurcation of the two steep lanes, with
displaying a dress of deep red, with gleams of silver and its bas-relief of the Baptist’s head over the door. The door
gold embroideries; she turned her face towards me; the does look as if it had not been opened for years. I can see
full blaze of the chandeliers and tapers fell upon it. It the cobwebs in the windowpanes; it does look as if, as Sor
was the face of Medea da Carpi! I dashed across the nave, Asdrubale says, only rats and spiders congregated within
pushing people roughly aside, or rather, it seemed to me, it. And yet - and yet; I have so clear a remembrance, so
passing through impalpable bodies. But the lady turned distinct a consciousness of it all. There was a picture of the
and walked rapidly down the aisle towards the door. I daughter of Herodias dancing, upon the altar; I remember
followed close upon her, but somehow I could not get up her white turban with a scarlet tuft of feathers, and
with her. Once, at the curtain, she turned round again. She Herod’s blue caftan; I remember the shape of the central
was within a few paces of me. Yes, it was Medea. Medea chandelier; it swung round slowly, and one of the wax
herself, no mistake, no delusion, no sham; the oval face, lights had got bent almost in two by the heat and draught.
the lips tightened over the mouth, the eyelids tight over Things, all these, which I may have seen elsewhere,
the corner of the eyes, the exquisite alabaster complexion! stored unawares in my brain, and which may have come
She raised the curtain and glided out. I followed; the out, somehow, in a dream; I have heard physiologists
curtain alone separated me from her. I saw the wooden allude to such things. I will go again: if the church be shut,
door swing to behind her. One step ahead of me! I tore why then it must have been a dream, a vision, the result
open the door; she must be on the steps, within reach of of over-excitement. I must leave at once for Rome and
my arm! see doctors, for I am afraid of going mad. If, on the other
I stood outside the church. All was empty, merely the hand - pshaw! there is no other hand in such a case. Yet if
wet pavement and the yellow reflections in the pools: a there were - why then, I should really have seen Medea; I
sudden cold seized me; I could not go on. I tried to re-enter might see her again; speak to her. The mere thought sets
the church; it was shut. I rushed home, my hair standing my blood in a whirl, not with horror, but with ... I know not
on end, and trembling in all my limbs, and remained for an what to call it. The feeling terrifies me, but it is delicious.
hour like a maniac. Is it a delusion? Am I too going mad? Idiot! There is some little coil of my brain, the twentieth of
Oh, God, God! am I going mad? a hair’s-breath out of order - that’s all!
Dec. 19th.- A brilliant, sunny day; all the black snow
slush has disappeared out of the town, off the bushes
and trees. The snow-clad mountains sparkle against the
bright blue sky. A Sunday, and Sunday weather; all the
bells are ringing for the approach of Christmas. They
are preparing for a kind of fair in the square with the
colonnade, putting up booths filled with coloured cotton
and woollen ware, bright shawls and kerchiefs, mirrors,
ribbons, brilliant pewter lamps; the whole turn-out of the
pedlar in ‘Winter’s Tale.’ The pork shops are all garlanded
with green and with paper flowers, the hams and cheeses
stuck full of little flags and green twigs. I strolled out to
see the cattle-fair outside the gate; a forest of interlacing
horns, an ocean of lowing and stamping: hundreds of
immense white bullocks, with horns a yard long and red
tassels, packed close together on the little piazza d’armi
under the city walls. Bah! why do I write this trash? What’s Dec. 20. I have been again; I have heard the music;
the use of it all? While I am forcing myself to write about I have been inside the church; I have seen Her! I can no
bells, and Christmas festivities, and cattle fairs, one idea longer doubt my senses. Why should I? Those pedants say
goes on like a bell within me: Medea, Medea! Have I really that the dead are dead, the past is past. For them, yes; but
seen her, or am I mad? why for me? - why for a man who loves, who is consumed
Two hours later. - That Church of San Giovanni with the love of a woman? - a woman who, indeed - yes,
Decollato - so my landlord informs me - has not been let me finish the sentence. Why should there not be ghosts
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to such as can see them? Why should she not return to the my arms as I held it in my fingers, kiss her lips as I kissed
earth, if she knows that it contains a man who thinks of, its petals, should I not be satisfied if she too were to fall to
desires, only her? dust the next moment, if I were to fall to dust myself?
Dec. 22, Eleven at night. I have seen her once more! -
almost spoken to her. I have been promised her love! Ah,
Spiridion! you were right when you felt that you were not
made for any earthly amori. At the usual hour I betook
myself this evening to San Giovanni Decollato. A bright
winter night; the high houses and belfries standing out
against a deep blue heaven luminous, shimmering like
steel with myriads of stars; the moon has not yet risen.
There was no light in the windows; but, after a little effort,
the door opened and I entered the church, the altar, as
usual, brilliantly illuminated. It struck me suddenly that
all this crowd of men and women standing all round, these
priests chanting and moving about the altar, were dead -
that they did not exist for any man save me. I touched, as
if by accident, the hand of my neighbour; it was cold, like
wet clay. He turned round, but did not seem to see me: his
face was ashy, and his eyes staring, fixed, like those of a
blind man or a corpse. I felt as if I must rush out. But at
that moment my eye fell upon Her, standing as usual by
the altar steps, wrapped in a black mantle, in the full blaze
of the lights. She turned round; the light fell straight upon
her face, the face with the delicate features, the eyelids and
lips a little tight, the alabaster skin faintly tinged with pale
pink. Our eyes met.
I pushed my way across the nave towards where she
stood by the altar steps; she turned quickly down the aisle,
A hallucination? Why, I saw her, as I see this paper that I
and I after her. Once or twice she lingered, and I thought
write upon; standing there, in the full blaze of the altar. Why,
I should overtake her; but again, when, not a second after
I heard the rustle of her skirts, I smelled the scent of her
the door had closed upon her, I stepped out into the street,
hair, I raised the curtain which was shaking from her touch.
she had vanished. On the church step lay something white.
Again I missed her. But this time, as I rushed out into the
It was not a flower this time, but a letter. I rushed back
empty moonlit street, I found upon the church steps a rose
to the church to read it; but the church was fast shut, as
- the rose which I had seen in her hand the moment before
if it had not been opened for years. I could not see by
- I felt it, smelled it; a rose, a real, living rose, dark red and
the flickering shrine-lamps - I rushed home, lit my lamp,
only just plucked. I put it into water when I returned, after
pulled the letter from my breast. I have it before me. The
having kissed it, who knows how many times? I placed it
handwriting is hers; the same as in the Archives, the same
on the top of the cupboard; I determined not to look at it
as in that first letter.
for twenty-four hours lest it should be a delusion. But I
must see it again; I must ... Good Heavens! this is horrible, ‘TO SPIRIDION.- Let thy courage be equal to thy love,
horrible; if I had found a skeleton it could not have been and thy love shall be rewarded. On the night preceding
worse! The rose, which last night seemed freshly plucked, Christmas, take a hatchet and saw; cut boldly into the body
of the bronze rider who stands in the Corte, on the left side,
full of colour and perfume, is brown, dry - a thing kept for
near the waist. Saw open the body, and within it thou wilt
centuries between the leaves of a book - it has crumbled
find the silver effigy of a winged genius. Take it out, hack
into dust between my fingers. Horrible, horrible! But why
it into a hundred pieces, and fling them in all directions,
so, pray? Did I not know that I was in love with a woman
so that the winds may sweep them away. That night she
dead three hundred years? If I wanted fresh roses which
whom thou lovest will come to reward thy fidelity.’
bloomed yesterday, the Countess Fiammetta or any little
seamstress in Urbania might have given them me. What On the brownish wax is the device -
if the rose has fallen to dust? If only I could hold Medea in ‘AMOUR DURE - DURE AMOUR.’
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Dec. 23rd.- So it is true! I was reserved for something Not so, Serene Highness. You too shall taste what it is to
wonderful in this world. I have at last found that after which wander after death, and to meet the dead whom one has
my soul has been straining. Ambition, love of art, love of injured.
Italy, these things which have occupied my spirit, and have What an interminable day! But I shall see her again
yet left me continually unsatisfied, these were none of tonight.
them my real destiny. I have sought for life, thirsting for
11 o’clock. No; the church was fast closed; the spell had
it as a man in the desert thirsts for a well; but the life of
ceased. Until to-morrow I shall not see her. But to-morrow!
the senses of other youths, the life of the intellect of other
Ah, Medea! did any of thy lovers love thee as I do? Twenty-
men, have never slaked that thirst. Shall life for me mean
four hours more till the moment of happiness - the moment
the love of a dead woman? We smile at what we choose
for which I seem to have been waiting all my life. And after
to call the superstition of the past, forgetting that all our
that, what next? Yes, I see it plainer every minute; after
vaunted science of to-day may seem just such another
that, nothing more. All those who loved Medea da Carpi,
superstition to the men of the future; but why should the
who loved and who served her, died: Giovanfrancesco
present be right and the past wrong? The men who painted
Pico, her first husband, whom she left stabbed in the castle
the pictures and built the palaces of three hundred years
from which she fled; Stimigliano, who died of poison; the
ago were certainly of as delicate fibre, of as keen reason, as
groom who gave him the poison, cut down by her orders;
ourselves, who merely print calico and build locomotives.
Oliverotto da Narni, Marcantonio, Frangipani, and that
What makes me think this, is that I have been calculating
poor boy of the Ordelaffi, who had never even looked upon
my nativity by help of an old book belonging to Sor
her face, and whose only reward was that handkerchief
Asdrubale - and see, my horoscope tallies almost exactly
with which the hangman wiped the sweat off his face,
with that of Medea da Carpi, as given by a chronicler. May
when he was one mass of broken limbs and torn flesh: all
this explain? No, no; all is explained by the fact that the
had to die, and I shall die also.
first time I read of this woman’s career, the first time I saw
The love of such a woman is enough, and is fatal - ‘Amour
her portrait, I loved her, though I hid my love to myself in
Dure,’ as her device says. I shall die also. But why not? Would
the garb of historical interest. Historical interest indeed!
it be possible to live in order to love another woman? Nay,
I have got the hatchet and the saw. I bought the saw
would it be possible to drag on a life like this one after the
of a poor joiner, in a village some miles off; he did not
happiness of to-morrow? Impossible; the others died, and
understand at first what I meant, and I think he thought me
I must die. I always felt that I should not live long; a gipsy
mad; perhaps I am. But if madness means the happiness of
in Poland told me once that I had in my hand the cut line
one’s life, what of it? The hatchet I saw lying in a timber-
which signifies a violent death. I might have ended in a
yard, where they prepare the great trunks of the fir-trees
duel with some brother student, or in a railway accident.
which grow high on the Apennines of Sant’ Elmo. There was
No, no; my death will not be of that sort! Death - and is
no one in the yard, and I could not resist the temptation; I
not she also dead? What strange vistas does such a thought
handled the thing, tried its edge, and stole it. This is the
not open! Then the others - Pico, the Groom, Stimigliano,
first time in my life that I have been a thief; why did I not
Oliverotto, Frangipani, Prinzivalle degli Ordelaffi - will they
go into a shop and buy a hatchet? I don’t know; I seemed
all be there? But she shall love me best - me by whom she
unable to resist the sight of the shining blade. What I am
has been loved after she has been three hundred years in
going to do is, I suppose, an act of vandalism; and certainly
the grave!
I have no right to spoil the property of this city of Urbania.
Dec. 24th.- I have made all my arrangements. Tonight
But I wish no harm either to the statue or the city; if I could
at eleven I slip out; Sor Asdrubale and his sisters will
plaster up the bronze, I would do so willingly. But I must
be sound asleep. I have questioned them; their fear of
obey Her; I must avenge Her; I must get at that silver image
rheumatism prevents their attending midnight mass.
which Robert of Montemurlo had made and consecrated in
Luckily there are no churches between this and the Corte;
order that his cowardly soul might sleep in peace, and not
whatever movement Christmas night may entail will be a
encounter that of the being whom he dreaded most in the
good way off. The Vice-Prefect’s rooms are on the other
world. Aha! Duke Robert, you forced her to die unshriven,
side of the palace; the rest of the square is taken up with
and you stuck the image of your soul into the image of your
staterooms, archives, and empty stables and coach houses
body, thinking thereby that, while she suffered the tortures
of the palace. Besides, I shall be quick at my work.
of Hell, you would rest in peace, until your well-scoured
little soul might fly straight up to Paradise; - you were I have tried my saw on a stout bronze vase I bought of
afraid of Her when both of you should be dead, and thought Sor Asdrubale; and the bronze of the statue, hollow and
yourself very clever to have prepared for all emergencies! worn away by rust (I have even noticed holes), cannot
63
resist very much, especially after a blow with the sharp one, went back to bed again. ‘Some cat, no doubt!’ he said.
hatchet. I have put my papers in order, for the benefit of I closed the house door softly behind me. The sky had
the Government which has sent me hither. I am sorry to become stormy since the afternoon, luminous with the full
have defrauded them of their ‘History of Urbania.’ To pass moon, but strewn with grey and buff-coloured vapours;
the endless day and calm the fever of impatience, I have every now and then the moon disappeared entirely. Not
just taken a long walk. This is the coldest day we have had. a creature abroad; the tall gaunt houses staring in the
The bright sun does not warm in the least, but seems only moonlight.
to increase the impression of cold, to make the snow on I know not why, I took a roundabout way to the Corte,
the mountains glitter, the blue air to sparkle like steel. The past one or two church doors, whence issued the faint
few people who are out are muffled to the nose, and carry flicker of midnight mass. For a moment I felt a temptation
earthenware braziers beneath their cloaks; long icicles to enter one of them; but something seemed to restrain
hang from the fountain with the figure of Mercury upon me. I caught snatches of the Christmas hymn. I felt myself
it; one can imagine the wolves trooping down through the beginning to be unnerved, and hastened towards the Corte.
dry scrub and beleaguering this town. Somehow this cold
As I passed under the portico at San Francesco I heard
makes me feel wonderfully calm - it seems to bring back
steps behind me; it seemed to me that I was followed. I
to me my boyhood.
stopped to let the other pass. As he approached his pace
As I walked up the rough, steep, paved alleys, slippery flagged; he passed close by me and murmured, ‘Do not go:
with frost, and with their vista of snow mountains against I am Giovanfrancesco Pico.’ I turned round; he was gone. A
the sky, and passed by the church steps strewn with box coldness numbed me; but I hastened on.
and laurel, with the faint smell of incense coming out,
Behind the cathedral apse, in a narrow lane, I saw a man
there returned to me - I know not why - the recollection,
leaning against a wall. The moonlight was full upon him;
almost the sensation, of those Christmas Eves long ago
it seemed to me that his face, with a thin pointed beard,
at Posen and Breslau, when I walked as a child along the
was streaming with blood. I quickened my pace; but as
wide streets, peeping into the windows where they were
I grazed by him he whispered, ‘Do not obey her; return
beginning to light the tapers of the Christmas trees, and
home: I am Marcantonio Frangipani.’ My teeth chattered,
wondering whether I too, on returning home, should be
but I hurried along the narrow lane, with the moonlight
let into a wonderful room all blazing with lights and gilded
blue upon the white walls.
nuts and glass beads. They are hanging the last strings of
those blue and red metallic beads, fastening on the last At last I saw the Corte before me: the square was
gilded and silvered walnuts on the trees out there at home flooded with moonlight, the windows of the palace
in the North; they are lighting the blue and red tapers; the seemed brightly illuminated, and the statue of Duke
wax is beginning to run on to the beautiful spruce green Robert, shimmering green, seemed advancing towards
branches; the children are waiting with beating hearts me on its horse. I came into the shadow. I had to pass
behind the door, to be told that the Christ Child has been. beneath an archway. There started a figure as if out of
And I, for what am I waiting? I don’t know; all seems a the wall, and barred my passage with his outstretched
dream; everything vague and unsubstantial about me, cloaked arm. I tried to pass. He seized me by the arm, and
as if time had ceased, nothing could happen, my own his grasp was like a weight of ice. ‘You shall not pass!’ he
desires and hopes were all dead, myself absorbed into I cried, and, as the moon came out once more, I saw his face,
know not what passive dreamland. Do I long for tonight? ghastly white and bound with an embroidered kerchief;
Do I dread it? Will tonight ever come? Do I feel anything, he seemed almost a child. ‘You shall not pass!’ he cried;
does anything exist all round me? I sit and seem to see ‘you shall not have her! She is mine, and mine alone! I am
that street at Posen, the wide street with the windows Prinzivalle degli Ordelaffi.’ I felt his ice-cold clutch, but
illuminated by the Christmas lights, the green fir-branches with my other arm I laid about me wildly with the hatchet
grazing the windowpanes. which I carried beneath my cloak. The hatchet struck the
Christmas Eve, Midnight. - I have done it. I slipped out wall and rang upon the stone. He had vanished.
noiselessly. Sor Asdrubale and his sisters were fast asleep. I hurried on. I did it. I cut open the bronze; I sawed it
I feared I had waked them, for my hatchet fell as I was into a wider gash. I tore out the silver image, and hacked it
passing through the principal room where my landlord into innumerable pieces. As I scattered the last fragments
keeps his curiosities for sale; it struck against some old about, the moon was suddenly veiled; a great wind arose,
armour which he has been piecing. I heard him exclaim, howling down the square; it seemed to me that the earth
half in his sleep; and blew out my light and hid in the shook. I threw down the hatchet and the saw, and fled
stairs. He came out in his dressing gown, but finding no home. I felt pursued, as if by the tramp of hundreds of
64
invisible horsemen.
Now I am calm. It is midnight; another moment and she
will be here! Patience, my heart! I hear it beating loud. I
trust that no one will accuse poor Sor Asdrubale. I will
write a letter to the authorities to declare his innocence
should anything happen ... One! the clock in the palace
tower has just struck I hereby certify that, should anything
happen this night to me, Spiridion Trepka, no one but
myself is to be held... ‘A step on the staircase! It is she! it
is she! At last, Medea, Medea! Ah! ‘AMOUR DURE, DURE
AMOUR!
‘NOTE. - Here ends the diary of the late Spiridion
Trepka. The chief newspapers of the province of Umbria
informed the public that, on Christmas morning of the
year 1885, the bronze equestrian statue of Robert II
had been found grievously mutilated; and that Professor
Spiridion Trepka of Posen, in the German Empire, had
been discovered dead of a stab in the region of the heart,
given by an unknown hand.
The Master Ghost Hunter

A Life of Elliott O’Donnell
The final book by Richard Whittington-Egan
A dapper figure - gold-rimmed pince-nez, scarlet-lined cloak, silver-
knobbed cane - Elliott O’Donnell was the world-famed prince of ghost
hunters. His life spanned 93 years, 1872-1965.
He remembered Jack the Ripper, the ghost of whose victims he sought,
and Kate Webster, the savage Irish cook of Richmond, who slaughtered
her mistress, Mrs Julia Thomas, and boiled her head up in a saucepan.
Other phantoms ranged from poltergeist, weird box-headed elemental
spirits with eyes that glowed like yellow moons, sweet-visaged old
ladies in bonnets and crinolines, to an evil Dublin ghost that tried to
strangle him. He hunted the haunted and the haunters throughout
England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Further afield, he came face to
face with supernatural horrors in New York, and San Francisco, and
we accompany him on a horse-ridden expedition into the heart of a
haunted American forest.
www.mangobooks.co.uk
65
Fiction Reviews
By DAVID GREEN
Included in this issue:

The Next Victim, Gutted, Stalking Jack the Ripper,
Jack 2, My Ripper Hunting Days and The Ripper’s Shadow
THE NEXT VICTIM: A JACK THE RIPPER NOVEL drive the narrative forward, and readers of this magazine
KJ Kirk will probably guess early on where the story is heading.
Camillus (2016) Yet this is an eloquent, engrossing novel with moments
Kindle Edition 414pp of real tension. It’s also rich in atmospheric details ‒ the
£2.42 texture of pig skin burning in the sun; the mushroom
smell of dry rot in Hanbury Street. The gaslit alleyways,
KJ Kirk’s powerful retelling
the manure works and slaughter yards of the East End are
of the Jack the Ripper story
pungently described, forming a suitably dismal backdrop
focuses on the lives of a
for the wrecked and violent lives that emerge from them.
group of prostitutes working
the streets and pubs around The Next Victim examines the status of women in
Whitechapel. society and looks askance at Victorian notions of decency
and respectability. It does not flinch from depicting scenes
At the heart of her novel is
of pain, loss and humiliation, yet somehow, despite all this
Polly Wilkes, a likeable young
grimness, the author has given us a tale of courage and
woman from an educated
hope.
middle-class background
who has recently fallen on
hard times. Her new best GUTTED
friend is Lizzie Stride. There Mia Darien
is a captivating scene early on where the pair enjoy an 2016
improvised Swedish-style steam bath in the boiler room Kindle Edition, 32pp
at their doss house on Flower and Dean Street. But for the £0.99
most part existence is bleak and comfortless. The book Mia Darien is the author
opens with the murder of Mary Ann Nichols in Buck’s of a series of paranormal
Row and the action of the novel takes place largely in suspense novels collectively
the shadow of the Ripper’s subsequent killing spree. The known as the Adelheid
book is full of grossly unappealing punters smelling of sequence after the fictional
beer, fish and sweat; especially convincing is the portrait New England town where
of Michael Kidney, a vicious, glowering presence with his many of the tales are set. Her
padlocks and knives. For Polly, though, life changes for the target readership seems to be
better when she begins a relationship with Metropolitan teen and young adult women.
police sergeant Alfred Cruikshank, a genuinely good I haven’t read the previous
and wholesome man. Far more problematical, however, books, and I probably won’t
are her dealings with the Lubnowski family and Aaron be buying any of the future
Kosminski… titles, but there’s much to
Perhaps the author relies too much on coincidence to enjoy in Gutted, a morbid short story that lurches into the
66
world of vampires and Jack the Ripper. alongside cream lace gowns and pale pink underskirts.
The story’s protagonist is Abby, a creepy 2,000-year- Knives dip into pots of teatime lemon curd while scalpels
old vampire trapped in the body of a prepubescent girl. disappear into bloody tissue. Autopsy stitches resemble
It turns out that Abby was working as a prostitute in the needlework on lavender silk dresses.
Whitechapel during the autumn of 1888: interrogated
“I watched, fascinated, as little spots of red [wine]
now by the police over a hundred years later she reveals
splashed onto the white tablecloth like blood
all she knows about the Ripper murders ‒ Polly Nichols
splattering on the walls near the victims’ heads.
was ripped apart by a butcher; Martha Tabram was
stabbed to death by the jealous wife of a soldier; Catherine I closed my eyes. Everywhere I looked there was some
reminder of the atrocious acts being committed in
Eddowes was carved up by an abortionist called Sophie
Whitechapel.”
Maddox. The tension builds as we learn that Abby has a
more personal involvement in the death of Mary Kelly… There are wonderful set pieces in Bedlam lunatic
Mia Darien’s teen fantasy reworking of the Whitechapel asylum, at the Barnum & Bailey Circus at the Olympia, and
mystery is decently handled. It’s not great literature, but in the night-time streets of east London.
I’m sure her fans will lap up this latest episode in the Audrey Rose is a spirited, rather headstrong character.
series. She can be meek and ladylike when circumstances require
it, but mostly she’s bold and stroppy: at one point she
STALKING JACK THE RIPPER threatens to knee Superintendent William Blackburn of Y
Kerri Maniscalco Division in the testicles. She desires to break free from the
Jimmy Patterson Books, 2016 constraints of home and family life, and much of the book’s
ISBN 978-0-3162735-0-3 energy stems from this sense of rebellion at Victorian
Kindle Edition, 336pp propriety. There’s a budding romance, too, between the
£4.99 two young protagonists (“My heart trotted in my chest like
Another publication aimed a carriage horse running through Trafalgar Square”), and
at younger readers is Kerri the resulting sparks are almost as exciting as the mystery
Maniscalco’s debut novel surrounding the Whitechapel murders.
Stalking Jack the Ripper. The But it’s Jack the Ripper who dominates the novel.
book’s focus on mortuary Interestingly, the author develops a sinister subplot
science, prostitution, opium involving torture machines and bloodstained bolts and
addiction, and serial murder gears found at the murders scenes, which gives her novel
means it won’t appeal to a juicy steampunk feel. And the story climaxes with one
everyone, but the author of the most depraved, demented, and gloriously macabre
handles these themes damsel in distress/mad scientist spectacles in recent
responsibly, and the result literature. Fantastic!
is an enjoyably gruesome
gothic thriller tuned to the JACK 2
miseries and excitements of adolescence. Steve Perrin
Against her family’s wishes, 17-year-old Audrey Rose 2016
sneaks off to her uncle’s basement mortuary in Highgate Kindle Edition, 19pp
to study forensic science. And what a mortuary it is: £1.00
deep burgundy wallpapers, sawdust on the floor, and a It’s November, 1988. Three
corner table bearing a platter of scones with raspberry schoolchildren have gone
jam. It’s here that Audrey Rose learns how to dissect missing and a fourth has been
cadavers. And it’s here that she meets fellow apprentice brutally murdered. The fear
Thomas Cresswell, a dashing but rather obnoxious is that a serial abductor is at
Sherlock Holmes-type youth. When the killings begin large. The victims, who all go
in Whitechapel, Audrey Rose and Thomas join forces to to the same school, are called
track down the perpetrator. Soon, Audrey Rose will dig Mary Nicolas, Annie Clapton,
up terrible secrets about her own family and uncover the Elizabeth Strode, and Catherine
horrific truth about Jack the Ripper… Medowes. The police and the
The book is a queasy mix of the girly and the grisly ‒ newspapers quickly pick up on
lots of fetid meat, open wounds and stinking chamber pots the Jack the Ripper connection,
67
captivated by Isabel, and she by him. Their blossoming

and the copycat killer is dubbed Jack 2. relationship (I suppose you’d call it a sizzling romance) is
Given what’s happened to her classmates, you might intricately woven into the story of their hunt for Jack the
wonder why the parents of 14-year-old Marie Kelly allow Ripper.
their daughter to walk to and from school on her own in Cutbush is perhaps the most interesting character in
the autumn darkness on the centenary of the atrocity in the book with his frequent intense headaches, paranoid
Miller’s Court, but off she goes… She seems more alarmed delusions, and irrational outbursts. Could he be Jack the
at the thought of double science with Mr Ferguson that Ripper? Could he be the Torso Killer? Will he attack his
she does of the Double Event… Inevitably, a strange man cousin? Will he get the better of Noah Zane, the rampant
follows her, and then he’s seen lurking around the netball nobleman hero who traipses round the East End looking
courts… for clues? Lustful yearnings keep the story ticking over
Of course, there is a gruesome twist at the end, and when the mystery flags, but by the end I’d grown tired of
many of the cultural references to 1988 − the birthday Isabel and the odious Zane brothers.
concert for Nelson Mandela at Wembley Stadium, The
Hitcher on VHS, Who Framed Roger Rabbit − are spot MISBEGOTTEN
on for a story which itself seems a kickback to the lurid Sarah Smith
horror paperback fiction of nearly thirty years ago. 2016
Kindle Edition, 409pp
BEDEVILED BY HER SUSPICIONS £3.27
Patricia Catacalos Sixteen-year-old Ania
2016 Marczynski and her twin
Kindle Edition, 213pp brother Sebastian flee
£3.15 Russian-occupied Poland
Thomas Hayne Cutbush is and sail to England to begin
a fascinating Jack the Ripper a new life. Arriving in the
suspect. He cropped up last East End in March 1888, they
year in Eoin McNamee’s are taken in by their uncle,
novel Blue is the Night (see Thomas Grey, a sergeant in
review in Ripperologist the Metropolitan police, and
144); now Patricia Catacalos his disturbed, unbalanced
features him in the second wife. Ania senses there is
volume of her Zane Brothers something evil about her
Detective Series. new family, and sure enough
Isabel Haynes runs a hat she soon becomes a prisoner in their home, prey to her
shop in Mile End. She fears uncle’s depraved lusts. Meanwhile in the world outside,
her cousin Thomas may be a vicious killer (possibly someone known to Ania) starts
responsible for the Leather Apron murders. She hears prowling the streets of Whitechapel…
him creeping out of the house around midnight, returning In part this is a novel about the immigrant experience
before sunrise with his boots stained with mud. And and the struggle to adjust to an unfamiliar culture and
then there are his drawings of mutilated women inserted a new language. Equally, it can be read as a classic
between the pages of medical textbooks, and items bildungsroman exploring Ania’s growth from innocence
of bloodied attire presumably left by him in her shop. to maturity via themes of love, desire and friendship. And
Isabel approaches the Zane Brothers Detective Agency in in a sense it is also a Victorian ghost story: Ania is cursed
Mayfair, hoping they will take on the case and dig up the with the ability to see and speak to the newly dead ‒ firstly
truth about Thomas. her deceased parents in Poland, then her murdered infant
Bedeviled by Her Suspicions is perhaps best described as cousin Olivia, and finally ghastly visitations from each of
a Victorian murder mystery romance. The Zane brothers, the victims of Jack the Ripper.
Evan and Noah are virile bachelor toffs: square-jawed, Misbegotten probes the inner lives of its female
piercing blue eyes, long black hair, boyish appeal. Noah characters, sustaining a mood of despair and creeping
pretends to be Isabel’s beau as a strategy for insinuating terror. Ania’s uncle is a truly monstrous creation with his
himself into the Cutbush household where he can observe night-time molestations and his police photographs of the
Thomas at close quarters, but of course, he is instantly Ripper victims spread out on his study desk…
68
Unfortunately, the book suffers from a careless edit and Sergeant Thick are taking a close interest in Riley’s
and lack of proofreading, which detract from the reader’s Ripper hunting activities, yet both officers seem
enjoyment and tarnish an otherwise excellent novel. preoccupied with an earlier ongoing investigation into
Irish Nationalism and Fenianism.
MY RIPPER HUNTING DAYS My Ripper Hunting Days can be enjoyed simply as an
Bernard Boley historical murder mystery, but I suspect Bernard Boley’s
2016 true intentions lie elsewhere. He has written a picaresque
ISBN 978-2-9816286-0-2 drama about courage and personal responsibility and
Paperback, 416pp the consequences of family legacy. Its theme is not only
£8.27 how individual lives may be shaped by the course of
Woodrow Riley is a highly history but how history itself is shaped by the actions
unusual young Irishman. of individuals. Ambitiously, several of the novel’s most
He works as a laboratory important characters are kept on the periphery of the
assistant at the London tale, and the Jack the Ripper murders are illuminated
Hospital preparing bodies largely by subordinating them to the unfolding of Riley’s
for dissection. He seems a individual destiny. These are risky literary manoeuvers,
rather creepy figure at first, but the author pulls them off magnificently.
more at home among the This is a thoughtful, skillfully plotted and fascinating
dead than the living, until work that shines with intelligence.
a chance encounter with
Francis Tumblety propels his THE RIPPER’S SHADOW
life in a new direction. Laura Joh Rowland
Tumblety’s elaborate scheme is to harvest the Crooked Lane Books (January 10, 2017)
reproductive organs of deceased prostitutes and have ISBN 978-1-68331-005-1
Riley preserve them using the facilities at the Hospital. Hardcover, 368pp
To that end Riley supplies Tumblety with a black bag $25.99
containing amputation knives. But then the mutilated Laura Joh Rowland is
bodies of women start turning up in Whitechapel… Riley best known for her long-
sets out to hunt down the man he believes has committed running series of murder
murder; but he also embarks on a journey of self-discovery, mysteries featuring samurai
delving into his own past and uncovering uncomfortable detective Sano Ichirō.
personal truths. Recently she has turned to
The novel is presented in diary format, which writing historical fiction
poses conundrums for the reader: is it a reliable and set in Victorian England,
comprehensive document? Does it set out to deflect producing two novels
suspicion from Riley by manipulating the evidence in charting the outrageous
his favour? Tumblety may be a credible Ripper suspect, further adventures of
but what exactly is his relationship with Riley? Is the Charlotte Brontë. Now she
younger man being drawn unwittingly into the role of changes direction once again
an accomplice? Nothing is quite what it seems and the to explore the sleazy underbelly of the East End at the
astute reader soon learns to mistrust what the narrator is time of the Jack the Ripper murders.
telling us (at least part of the time). Characters dissemble Sarah Bain is an independent woman running a
and utter untruths; they adopt disguises or assume false photography studio in Whitechapel. Her work consists
identities. Innocent conversations turn out to be tip-offs mainly of wedding pictures and commemorative portraits
or confessions. of the dead. To supplement her meagre income she
Several subplots offer counterpoint to Riley’s hunt for reluctantly branches out into the erotica trade, taking a
the Ripper. Early on, he falls under the influence of Gordon series of ‘boudoir photographs’ of street prostitutes: her
Fitzgerald, a wealthy philanthropist from Dublin, who models are Martha Tabram, Mary Ann Nichols, Annie
has his own agenda. And it is with Fitzgerald’s daughter Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Kate Eddowes and Mary Jane
Elizabeth that Woodrow seeks to resettle destitute East Kelly. When the Jack the Ripper murders begin, Sarah
End families in Quebec. Meanwhile, Inspector Abberline realises to her horror that the killer (or killers) is targeting
69
her models… these minor points are easily overlooked as the price
The Ripper’s Shadow isn’t a salacious read − the author worth paying for an otherwise vastly entertaining novel.
actually spends little time exploring the pornography Her characters are memorably drawn, and they develop
scene of 1880s London. But the novel throbs nonetheless and mature during the course of the tale. Sarah Bain, the
with frustrated desires and dark, perverted passions. plain virgin spinster brought up by her mother to distrust
The story focuses on a motley group of characters from the world, exudes a real sense of sadness, yet in time she
the fringes of society (a street urchin, a homosexual will learn the value of companionship, even friendship.
aristocrat, a Jewish butcher and his wife, and a young The novel is full of shadows and darkness, from dense,
music hall actress) who band together with Sarah to solve swirling London pea-soupers to chiaroscuro effects in
the mystery of Jack the Ripper, in the process transforming wet plate photography. Childhood traumas cast a shadow
themselves into heroic adventurers fighting for social over the present, and Sarah’s missing father is a murky
good and overthrowing corrupt authority. figure looming in and out of focus throughout the novel.
The book is full of iconic Victorian garnish: gas-jet There are dark rooms for developing photographs - and
lighting, hansom cabs, narrow filthy streets, lunatic even darker places where terrible acts are committed. But
asylums. Villainous Sir Charles Warren is depicted as a sometimes people can step out of the shade into the light.
war criminal gloating over atrocities in the Kaffir War, and This is a vivid, enjoyable novel with a likeable cast of
there is a wonderfully sick and creepy scene acted out in characters and plenty of intrigue and suspense. The good
a Victorian fainting room – easily one of the best things news is that The Ripper’s Shadow is the first volume in a
I’ve read all year. And of course there is Jack the Ripper, fresh new series: I’m keen to see what Sarah Bain gets up
with titillating photographs of his victims from life and to next.
gruesome photographs of his victims in death.

The author has clearly researched the Ripper murders,
and on the whole her novel convinces. Occasionally, IN THE NEXT ISSUE we review Killing Jane by Stacy Green.
though, her understanding of late nineteenth-century Plus there will be another instalment in our Proper Red
criminal justice lets her down so that anachronisms Stuff series looking at Ripper fiction before 1900.
and historical inaccuracies creep in, plus her storylines
DAVID GREEN lives in Hampshire, England, where he works as a
sometimes wobble on the brink of preposterousness.
freelance book indexer. He is currently writing (very slowly) a book
Yet Laura Joh Rowland is such a superb writer that about the murder of schoolboy Percy Searle in Hampshire in 1888.
Non-Fiction Reviews
We regret that due to illness Paul Begg has been unable to complete his non-fiction book reviews
for this issue. Happily having recovered, these will appear in the next edition.
70
OVER 200 JACK THE RIPPER AND ASSOCIATED TITLES ON LAYBOOKS.COM INCLUDING:
LAY (LORETTA) & WOOD (ADAM) - The Whitechapel Album h/b Numbered Limited Edn. MACNAGHTEN (SIR MELVILLE L.) - Days of My Years h/b £425
New £25
MATTERS (LEONARD) - The Mystery of Jack the Ripper h/b £150
ANDERSON (SIR ROBERT) - The Lighter Side of My Official Life h/b Insc. and Signed +
handwritten letter to sister £425 MAYBRICK (FLORENCE ELIZABETH) - Mrs. Maybrick’s Own Story h/b £90
DEW (EX-CHIEF INSP. WALTER) - I Caught Crippen h/b £375 ROBINSON (BRUCE) - They All Love Jack : Busting the Ripper hb/dw Signed New £35
GRIFFITHS (MAJOR ARTHUR) - Mysteries of Police and Crime (1902 edn. in 3 volumes) SIMS (GEORGE R.) - The Mysteries of Modern London h/b £175
h/b £150
SIMS (GEORGE R.) - My Life Sixty Years’Recollections of Bohemian London h/b Signed
JEYES (S.H.) & HOW (F.D.) - The Life of Sir Howard Vincent h/b Signed by Ethel Vincent (Fair only) £150
£400
SWEENEY (LATE DET.-INSP. JOHN) & RICHARDS (FRANCIS) - At Scotland Yard h/b £225
LEESON (EX-DET. SGT. B.) - Lost London h/b (fair only copy) £120
WHITTINGTON-EGAN (RICHARD) - A Casebook on Jack the Ripper h/b signed £250
LITTLECHILD (CHIEF-INSP. JOHN GEORGE) - The Reminiscences of Chief-Inspector Littlechild
h/b (Good only) £100 SMITH (LIEUT.-COL. SIR HENRY) - From Constable to Commissioner h/b £600
LOGAN (GUY B.H.) - Masters of Crime h/b £180 STEWART (WILLIAM) - Jack the Ripper: A New Theory h/b £900
MCLAUGHLIN (ROBERT) - The First Jack the Ripper Victim Photographs Ltd. Edn. WILLIAMS (WATKIN W.) - The Life of General Sir Charles Warren h/b (ex-Boots) £275
Numbered (73) Signed Robert + Whittington-Egan label As New s/c £225
THE WHITECHAPEL ALBUM

JACK THE RIPPER’S EAST END IN 1995
This 50-page hardback book features a nostalgic look

back at ‘Jack’s’ East End as it was captured, in colour, in
1995 by enthusiastic photographer and Ripperologist,
Ray Luff.
True Crime bookdealer Loretta Lay recently acquired

Ray’s catalogue of over 430 photographs, and with
Adam Wood’s expertise and in-depth knowledge of the
East End, the results have been published in this limited
edition book, with 87 carefully-selected photographs to
represent the area as it was 21 years ago, along with six
rare black/white photographs taken in the mid-1960s.
The book’s publication is limited to 100 numbered

copies.
AVAILABLE NOW FROM MANGOBOOKS.CO.UK

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No.

153 December 2016

MURDER MOST FOUL AN IRISH SUMMER Nina and Howard Brown

THE TELL-TALE BLADE

MURDER MOST FOUL, PART ONE

CELEBRATING THE BICENTENARY OF THE BIRTH OF SIR WILLIAM GULL

FROM THE CASEBOOK

A FATAL AFFINITY: THE CONCLUSION

VICTORIAN FICTION: AMOUR DURE

The Tell-Tale Blade

later murders, with the difference of knives and specific

I’d like to thank researcher Christer Holmgren for two

Murder Most Foul

Associated Press, 9 February 2002

A 17-year old student who had been suspended from

Then he is probably a man of bad character, who ...

He is probably a maniac, so far as the prosecution of one

Again, he is probably able to secure solitude whenever

We must assume that the murderer is a man not open

He is a gentleman who is accepted absolutely in

Finally, he may assume drunkenness, or a ‘boozing’

The organized, non-social offender (IQ above average,

Take a look and try to find Jack.

wife - No children-Local resident - Regularly works 10. Brown, Howard: www.jtrforums.com

And question this most bloody piece of work…

What kind of motive could drive someone to become

Murder groups itself naturally into the following six

Murder for Gain

Typically, such motives for ‘mundane’ murder are

Jack the Practical Man

Jack the Blind Man

There roamed an unknown psychopath who littered

Sounds a lot like the Ripper, doesn’t it? This stark

Jack the Mad Man Jack the Godfather

Jack the Bad Man

Jack the Thrill-seeker

Jack the Anarchist

the Whitechapel Murders were committed. The principle

Dr. Nicola Gray from Cardiff University’s School of

There is also another phenomenon apparent in the

Sexual Deviant of the sexual gratification.37

Very likely the murderous act and subsequent

Dahmer is an unusual serial killer. In Dahmer’s case, Criminally Insane

subsequent mutilation. Others may then abstract various

Some of Dr. Frank Sweeney’s problems may have been

The infamous Ed Gein, role model for Psycho and The

Killers, and serial killers in particular, have often had

Men are what their mothers made them.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Observed sexual promiscuities of the mother when

Criminal history also indicates that if the mother’s own

the same stimulus merely appear repeatedly to ‘keep him

I have always seen something deconstructive about the

In 1866 there was a massacre by Amerindians of A P Wolf 72

She had killed the child, the woman said, as a way of

Here a small child has been murdered in cold blood and

Associated Press, 24 August 2000

And: Prince Eddy’s (Jack the Ripper) favorite thing was

Charles Whitman had killed fourteen people and

Tim Mosley is a lifelong Ripperologist, having been introduced to