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

[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

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

[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

[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

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]

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

"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]

Sept. 29, 1888 BMJ Article re: Chapman Inquest & Uterine Specimens

Hi, folks.

Here is the corresponding article as published in the British Medical Journal on the same day, September 29, 1888.

I enjoy seeing these articles as they originally appeared and thought others might too, so decided to include it here.

The story about the American wishing to purchase uteri appears to have been received with a great deal of skepticism at the BMJ;
notice the last sentence in particular.

Best regards, Archaic

[Archaic]

It says something about Victorian sensibilities that the Lancet makes much more of the amount of money allegedly offered, than of the inherent absurdity of the rest of Baxter's loopy tale.

Hi, Sam, I noticed that the Lancet seemed to focus on the monetary amounts too.

I have no idea what an "appropriate" monetary amount would be for the purchase of human uterui in the 1880's.

-Maybe the article's author felt that he did?

Cheers, B

[Sam Flynn]

What is MOST remarkable about the article is the date. It was published on the 29th Sept and within a few hours another two women were dead.

Ah, but it could have been written a couple of days previously, Nicole. Baxter's story was covered by the Times on the morning of the 27th September, and one might have expected the Lancet (then, as now, a weekly journal) to have responded pretty quickly, given the nature of the story.

It says something about Victorian sensibilities that the Lancet makes much more of the amount of money allegedly offered, than of the inherent absurdity of the rest of Baxter's loopy tale.

[nicole]

Hi all,

What is MOST remarkable about the article is the date. It was published on the 29th Sept and within a few hours another two women were dead. Extraordinary coincidence?? As for the content of the article and the idea that these women were murdered solely for their organs, it has always sounded very plausible to me. As William of Ockham suggests...If it looks like a duck and qucks like a duck, then it's a duck!!

Nicky

[Archaic]

BMJ's, Baccarat, Electrocutions & Phonographs

Hi, Mike, I just asked Stephen how I go about changing the errant '9' to a '2'.

Yes, the BMJ's are usually pretty legible, but I'm handling all sorts of old books and journals, some of them rather obscure and not very well printed- the tiny cramped type is doing my eyeballs in. There are a number that I had to transcribe in order to post them, because the article is too hard to read as an attachment. (Whenever i have to do that I will try to post the article itself too). I have a bunch more coming.

Speaking of the Baccarat Scandal, boy have I come across a lot of references to that!
Also experiments in Electrocution, loads of articles describing the hideous symptoms of Venereal Disease, and last night I saw an article heralding Edison's experiments with Phonographs- which were hailed as a boon to modern doctors! Had to do with playing back their own case-notes to them via wax cylinders. Yep, nothing like a little hi-tech modern convenience.

Very glad to hear your Dad is doing well.

Best regards, Archaic

[Mike Covell]

Dads responding well to his chemo thanks Arch.

I know what you mean about the text, the BMJ's are pretty clear, but the Hull Press reports are awful in parts, especially when it gets to the Great Baccarat Scandal and the trial of Deeming!

[Archaic]

re: Typo In Date

Hi, Mike, how are you?

You are correct, I must have mistyped the date. Thank you for pointing it out.

My apologies to everyone about the typo; I'll see if it's possible to edit it.

I've been reading so many of these old articles, many of which have inky, faint or blurry type, that my eyes are getting exhausted, and apparently being bleary-eyed doesn't do my typing skills any favors!

Again, thank you very much for letting me know.

Best regards, Archaic

PS: Hope that your Dad's treatments are coming along alright & that your family is doing well.

[Mike Covell]

At the bottom corner of your internet browser you should have a magnifying glass with a list of percentages listed, by clicking on them you can zoom in and out, making the image smaller and bigger.

Here is the banner with the date on Arch, showing it as the 29th not 22nd.