Sept. 29, 1888 LANCET: Chapman, Baxter & Organ Specimens

[perrymason]

"A story that presents several inherent improbabilities".......gee, I would think the sudden emergence of a killer who seems focused on mutilating corpses after he murders them in public, who then takes organs from them.....is also inherently improbable. Judging by the fact that the specifics of these acts have never been duplicated or mirrored by another killer since then.

Meaning, the murder and mutilation and organ theft of victims outdoors in highly populated urban areas.

I put that last bit in bold to emphasize that to envision these acts were not intended to shock or frighten the pursuers and residents... would be naive.

Best regards all

[Archaic]

Extreme (And Extremely Sick) Exhibitionism

Hi, Mike.

I definitely believe that the killer wished to shock and horrify as many people as he could by these murders.
I see it as an important aspect of his sexual perversion; a very extreme form of Exhibitionism.

I believe that whatever sick pleasure the killer got from committing these acts was significantly heightened
by committing them so brazenly in places where the victim would quickly be discovered.

Best regards, Archaic

[perrymason]

Hi, Mike.

I definitely believe that the killer wished to shock and horrify as many people as he could by these murders.
I see it as an important aspect of his sexual perversion; a very extreme form of Exhibitionism.

I believe that whatever sick pleasure the killer got from committing these acts was significantly heightened
by committing them so brazenly in places where the victim would quickly be discovered.

Best regards, Archaic

Exhibitionism, or as socio-political statements or disruptive anarchist actions? My inner jury is still out.

Best regards Arch

[Archaic]

Compound Motive

Exhibitionism, or as socio-political statements or disruptive anarchist actions? My inner jury is still out.

Best regards Arch

Well, I suppose it could be a strange combination of both extreme Sexual Exhibitionism and a desire to show the world what he thought of do-gooders, whores, the establishment, and contemporary efforts towards socio-political reform... they aren't mutually exclusive as far as motives go.

I think we can safely assume that Jack the Ripper was not a "bleeding-heart Liberal".

Best regards, Archaic

[Natalie Severn]

I doubt very much he gave much of a thought to how it all "looked"!The urge was to do it!He probably chuckled demonically when he realised what a mess he had left in the street but not much else was on his mind other than making a quick getaway.......
Best
Norma

[perrymason]

I doubt very much he gave much of a thought to how it all "looked"!The urge was to do it!He probably chuckled demonically when he realised what a mess he had left in the street but not much else was on his mind other than making a quick getaway.......
Best
Norma

Hi Norma,

That would certainly fit in with the skinny on Jack the Ripper as far as general opinion goes, and lots of contemporary comments and coverage,....but I wonder to what extent we should look at the cases in isolation?

The backdrop to the Ripper crimes was real Sherlock Holmes stuff in terms of danger to the society at large, and this tiny section on a map was rife with serious and volatile conditions. The government actually feared the "mob" after Trafalgar....they saw a potential for revolution started in that little hotbed of crime and corruption.

Can we look at the crimes in exclusivity? Should we?

My best Nats as always, Happy Holidays 2

[Archaic]

Sexually Degrading the Victim

Hi, Nats.

Killers who sexually mutilate their victims have a strange penchant for 'posing' the body in ways intended to further degrade the victim and to shock whoever discovers them. Sometimes it's very simple, quick posing -usually as if the victim is "inviting" sexual activity, with knees up & legs spread- and sometimes it's so strange, complex and peculiar that police regard it as an integral aspect of the killer's personal 'signature' (as with Gary Ridgway).

Conversely, some killers actually take a second to cover the body up again- with a blanket, or by pulling the skirt back down, etc., and this can be an aspect of their 'signature' too. Police know that people who kill friends or family members often do this, perhaps because they feel ashamed or guilty and want to make the fact that they've just committed murder "go away". Sometimes even victims who have been violently sexually assaulted are covered up by the killer; JonBenet Ramsey is a perfect example of that.

I don't think the Whitechapel murder actually spent any extra time posing his victims, other than Mary Kelly (pillowing her head on her own breast, etc.) But I do think he enjoyed the knowledge that they would be found in a sexually degrading manner with their skirts shoved up, their knees spread apart, and their bodies horribly mutilated.

This was the Victorian era when women wore skirts that went down to the ground; just the glimpse of a stocking-cover ankle was considered either 'erotic' or 'disgraceful', or both.

The men who found Polly Nichols' body immediately pulled her skirts back down, because for her to lie there dead in the street with her skirts shoved up was regarded as terribly humiliating for her. The fact that Polly was not just slaughtered but was also sexually humiliated in public heightened their sense of horror.

I believe that Jack knew this very well, and that it gave him increased pleasure and satisfaction before, during, and after each murder.
This holds true even if he knelt between their open knees in order to mutilate them- it's still a highly sexualized position.

If the killer wanted to earn public notoriety and extensive newspaper coverage, either for his own depraved sexuality & sick ego (as I believe) or for some other purpose (as others theorize), then leaving his victim a sexually-degraded bloody mess in public was the way to go.

I really do believe that Jack enjoyed it, and eagerly anticipated both the moment of shocked discovery and the sensation of public horror
that would attend it.

Best regards, Archaic