Tweet
I know many people dismiss the butcher or “Leather Apron” idea for Jack the Ripper but quite possibly it’s the one that makes the most sense. Once we throw away this Bogyman idea of the 1888 Whitechapel murderer and think of how this person might realistically fit into the picture then we get a more realistic idea of the killer. My theory is below and of course it may as well be totally wrong, but I feel it’s the one that makes the most sense. Your thoughts on this are welcome as are your theories on “Jack’s” occupation or trade.
(This post is rather long so bare with me)
(Also off topic, I am new to posting on this site, but have been using Casebook and other sources to study the events of the Whitechapel murders for some time.)
Whitechapel seems to have had within its district several small slaughterhouses and or number of butcher shops to feel the people of the area. Now this was in the age before reliable refrigeration like we have today and slaughterhouses/butcher shops could not waste time in slaughtering the animals as well as cutting up the meat to sell/ship it before some sort of spoilage might occurred or at the very least the quality of the product would suffer which might hurt sales.
It sold be noticed that with so many slaughterhouses in the area poor cuts of meat would not sell well if at all, again affecting the bottom line (sales). The result is that these butchers or meat cutters had to work a lot more swiftly and accurately then many do today - being a butcher in those days was as much an art as it was a craft and many butchers had honed their knife skills to almost machine like performances. This in my opinion would explain the "surgical" like appearance of the Ripper's work. Begin able to work quickly as well as in the dark notes of someone who has done this type of work with his hands hundreds of times and can probably do this with his eyes closed if he wished. Also since this the 1880’s and in Whitechapel (a poor neighborhood) then this person is also used to working with few tools and most likely just with one good knife.
Local butchers and meatcutters also must have had a good working knowledge Whitechapel's streets and back alleys, so as to deliver products to their regular customers quickly and effectively (again before any spoilage can occurred). I am of the belief that our suspect was not so much an owner of one of theses butcher shops but a worker or an apprentice at one - Someone who did lots of the slaughtering and the gutting of the animals at the shop as well as doing most of the deliveries to the regular cliental. Someone who knew the neighborhood very well and waked its streets just about everyday, this would also give our “Jack” lots of time to see the policemen on their daily routes as well as those woman of loose character who would eventually become his victims.
I also believe that if this were a well-known local meatcutter/butcher worker who might of also did meat deliveries in the area, then people would think little of him having at least some blood on his clothing - even in the off hours of work, since people who lived and worked in the Whitechapel area at this time were known to not be so keen on hygiene.
Also I further believe he worked mostly with Pigs at this slaughterhouse. The reason is because pig organs are closer to that of human organs, so close in fact scientists today are experimenting to breed cloned pigs for organs to transplant to Humans someday (Example: http://archives.cnn.com/2000/HEALTH/08/16/pig.clones/). Please note that the torso of a human and that of a pig are very similar with all the organs falling into the same place (even ones like the kidneys and liver). Internally the placement of these organs is very similar on most mammals but the difference between that of pigs and humans is almost nonexistent - even the sizes are the same or in some pigs very similar.
Another added effect of working in a slaughterhouse is the fact of how one can become desensitized to blood, gore and death since on some level it’s dealt with everyday. After a while a person who would have acted violently towards to animals as a child could let those feelings grow as an adult and even think of those he didn’t like as little more then pigs for the slaughter.
Well that’s my leather apron/slaughterhouse theory, I am not married to it but it’s the only one so far that fits well in my eyes…
Now I know that the police at one time (at least at the start of the case) had the same theory, but then later they dropped it - maybe someone can fill me into the real reason why it was dropped. I currently think it may be due to the fact of media influenced the case and thinking by time (winter 1888 and early 1889) made the Whitechapel murderer into some type of super killer (or Bogyman) and people either felt it was a raving madman or an evil genius - skipping over the everyday working man type completely. Funny it seems that this media influence from 1888 has had a sort of lasting effect till today and may in fact have gotten stronger over time. Although at this point I am getting off topic…
(This post is rather long so bare with me)
(Also off topic, I am new to posting on this site, but have been using Casebook and other sources to study the events of the Whitechapel murders for some time.)
Whitechapel seems to have had within its district several small slaughterhouses and or number of butcher shops to feel the people of the area. Now this was in the age before reliable refrigeration like we have today and slaughterhouses/butcher shops could not waste time in slaughtering the animals as well as cutting up the meat to sell/ship it before some sort of spoilage might occurred or at the very least the quality of the product would suffer which might hurt sales.
It sold be noticed that with so many slaughterhouses in the area poor cuts of meat would not sell well if at all, again affecting the bottom line (sales). The result is that these butchers or meat cutters had to work a lot more swiftly and accurately then many do today - being a butcher in those days was as much an art as it was a craft and many butchers had honed their knife skills to almost machine like performances. This in my opinion would explain the "surgical" like appearance of the Ripper's work. Begin able to work quickly as well as in the dark notes of someone who has done this type of work with his hands hundreds of times and can probably do this with his eyes closed if he wished. Also since this the 1880’s and in Whitechapel (a poor neighborhood) then this person is also used to working with few tools and most likely just with one good knife.
Local butchers and meatcutters also must have had a good working knowledge Whitechapel's streets and back alleys, so as to deliver products to their regular customers quickly and effectively (again before any spoilage can occurred). I am of the belief that our suspect was not so much an owner of one of theses butcher shops but a worker or an apprentice at one - Someone who did lots of the slaughtering and the gutting of the animals at the shop as well as doing most of the deliveries to the regular cliental. Someone who knew the neighborhood very well and waked its streets just about everyday, this would also give our “Jack” lots of time to see the policemen on their daily routes as well as those woman of loose character who would eventually become his victims.
I also believe that if this were a well-known local meatcutter/butcher worker who might of also did meat deliveries in the area, then people would think little of him having at least some blood on his clothing - even in the off hours of work, since people who lived and worked in the Whitechapel area at this time were known to not be so keen on hygiene.
Also I further believe he worked mostly with Pigs at this slaughterhouse. The reason is because pig organs are closer to that of human organs, so close in fact scientists today are experimenting to breed cloned pigs for organs to transplant to Humans someday (Example: http://archives.cnn.com/2000/HEALTH/08/16/pig.clones/). Please note that the torso of a human and that of a pig are very similar with all the organs falling into the same place (even ones like the kidneys and liver). Internally the placement of these organs is very similar on most mammals but the difference between that of pigs and humans is almost nonexistent - even the sizes are the same or in some pigs very similar.
Another added effect of working in a slaughterhouse is the fact of how one can become desensitized to blood, gore and death since on some level it’s dealt with everyday. After a while a person who would have acted violently towards to animals as a child could let those feelings grow as an adult and even think of those he didn’t like as little more then pigs for the slaughter.
Well that’s my leather apron/slaughterhouse theory, I am not married to it but it’s the only one so far that fits well in my eyes…
Now I know that the police at one time (at least at the start of the case) had the same theory, but then later they dropped it - maybe someone can fill me into the real reason why it was dropped. I currently think it may be due to the fact of media influenced the case and thinking by time (winter 1888 and early 1889) made the Whitechapel murderer into some type of super killer (or Bogyman) and people either felt it was a raving madman or an evil genius - skipping over the everyday working man type completely. Funny it seems that this media influence from 1888 has had a sort of lasting effect till today and may in fact have gotten stronger over time. Although at this point I am getting off topic…
Comment