Would Jack have been caught if he struck today?

[Hellrider]

So ladies and gentlemen, what's your opinion? Would modern police with all the conveniences of modern technology have caught Jack the Ripper if he struck today?

[sdreid]

Probably not if he quit after five. He didn't apparently leave any DNA and he probably wouldn't be dumb enough to leave fingerprints had he known the consequences of doing so.

[Natalie Severn]

I agree with Stan,probably not.
The more you learn about the Ripper ,the more you realise what an operator he was.
Natalie

[Doctor X]

I was about to holler and bluster about "how do we KNOW he did not leave DNA?" but as Stan notes:

. . . he probably wouldn't be dumb enough to leave fingerprints had he known the consequences of doing so.

He probably would make sure not to leave any DNA either, and he probably would not make the killings public.

However, if you could magically transport the murders into modern times, or modern science back in time, it is possible more physical evidence would have been obtained.

However, there are other problems. On another thread, I [Blathered.--Ed.] mused that even if the police sought and obtained fingerprints in 1888, how would they match them to Jack? Unless they just so happened to have interviewed and taken fingerprints from Jack . . . and had the ability to compare them to all of the possible sources . . . I do not see where it helps them at that point in time.

The big problem for modern times other than Jack probably would not commit the murders in the same fashion--in public primarily--is that probably no connection existed between him and the victims. So . . . let us pretend that both fingerprints and DNA evidence is found. Unless the authorities have such from previous or subsequent crimes they now have "Unknown."

Yours truly,

--J.D.

[Christine]

It's not really a valid question. For example, if Jack were alive today, he'd know about fingerprints and DNA and blood stain analysis (think of all the butchers who had to explain their gory clothes to the police), not to mention security cameras, streetlights, and prostitutes with cell phones. So presumably he'd change his actions, unless he really was so mentally addled that he was unable to think these things through.

And of course the newspapers are different, the police procedures for dealing with the press and public are different, the police would know quickly if the Lusk letter were a hoax or not, and so on and so forth.

So whether or not Jack could be caught depends on who or what you think Jack was. If he did the same things, as least as closely as he could do them in an entirely changed city, yes, probably. If you are imagining translating Jack's twisted brain into a 21st century body, you still have to consider that he'd be an entirely different person if he grew up in modern times. Maybe he had brain damage from some entirely treatable disease, or maybe he'd have been treated with anti-psychotics long before he reached the point of murdering anyone.

[Mitch Rowe]

Probably not if he quit after five. He didn't apparently leave any DNA and he probably wouldn't be dumb enough to leave fingerprints had he known the consequences of doing so.

I was just thinking today while reading the fire in the grate thread:

"Its a good thing JTR didnt decide to start the room on fire!"

I think if JTR were commiting crimes in modern age he would have been dumb not to.

[The Grave Maurice]

I think Christine has the right angle on this: it's like comparing apples and oranges. Jack wouldn't be the same, the police tactics and resources would be completely different, even the city isn't the same. It's interesting to note, though, that recent Jack-like killers in England (Sutcliffe and Wright, say) were, in fact, caught.

[Mitch Rowe]

I think Christine has the right angle on this: it's like comparing apples and oranges. Jack wouldn't be the same, the police tactics and resources would be completely different, even the city isn't the same. It's interesting to note, though, that recent Jack-like killers in England (Sutcliffe and Wright, say) were, in fact, caught.

Yes...Wright was caught. And the timeline for the discovery of the victims was very short. But one thing Wright did that JTR didnt.(At least that we know of.)And thats spend time with the victims. The less time the less chance DNA will be found. So if JTR did just pick these Women off the street there may not have been DNA available.

[Bob Hinton]

Caught Or Not?

And of course the newspapers are different, the police procedures for dealing with the press and public are different, the police would know quickly if the Lusk letter were a hoax or not, and so on and so forth.
.

I wouldn't bet on that. the police hunting Sutcliffe were fooled by a hoax tape. Don't forget the overwhelming majority of serial killers are caught today by pure luck, Sutcliffe certainly was.

I believe the Ipswich murderer's capture was due to police work, but only after they had picked up the wrong chap first.

[Stewart P Evans]

A Very Good Job

I wouldn't bet on that. the police hunting Sutcliffe were fooled by a hoax tape. Don't forget the overwhelming majority of serial killers are caught today by pure luck, Sutcliffe certainly was.

I believe the Ipswich murderer's capture was due to police work, but only after they had picked up the wrong chap first.

Robert, a bit harsh on my ex-colleagues of the Suffolk Constabulary, I thought they did a very good job and cleared up these series murders in double quick time. If your evidence leads you to another suspect first that is quite normal. One often leads to another, in this case the actual offender.

[Glenn Lauritz Andersson]

It remains a fact, however, that even today these types of murders, performed in a series by an offender unknown to the victim, are extremely difficult to solve. Not seldom the capture of the offender is a result of pure luck - we've had a couple of cases over here that was finally solved after 15 or 20 years due to that the right witness finally came forward and that DNA was saved and could be linked to that particular suspect. But it was all due to chance and coincidence.
So the point is that even today - if these crimes are solved at all, it may take several years or even decades. This brings, of course, an important perspective to the work of the 1888 police, especially taking their very limitied technical means and limited experience on the subject in consideration.

All the best

[Christine]

I wouldn't bet on that. the police hunting Sutcliffe were fooled by a hoax tape. Don't forget the overwhelming majority of serial killers are caught today by pure luck, Sutcliffe certainly was.

I believe the Ipswich murderer's capture was due to police work, but only after they had picked up the wrong chap first.

In the case of a kidney though, they would simply have compared the DNA. Other sorts of hoaxes certainly have fooled the police, but the reactions of the public, police, and press are also going to change, which in turn changes the actions of the hoaxers, and possibly the actions of the killer.

[Carrotty Nell]

I'm not so sure that DNA would not have been available however careful Jack would have been. I am not a scientist, but I do watch TV documentaries, and I saw recently that DNA can be obtained even from the air waves. For instance if you sneeze in a space your DNA is retained on the air waves. I don't know how long for, but presumably long enough for the DNA in Ripper's Corner Mitre Square and Dutfield's Yard to have been gathered. The odds are therefore that Jack would have been captured. Even if he never crossed the police radar as a Ripper suspect it seems unlikely that he did not have a lesser criminal record prior to his killing spree in which case his DNA would be on record.

Thinking now like a H.G.Wells or a Leonardo da Vinci and postulating what the future of science might be... one day it may be possible to obtain DNA historically. Don't laugh. It's only 100 years since the very idea of DNA would have been incomprehensible. And only 200 years since the idea of flight would have been dismissed. If DNA could be obtained from the air waves from a specific location at a specific time and we could obtain Jack's DNA... well, it won't tell us who he was, but at least our downtrodden Druitts and Kosminskis could be eliminated if we were permitted to exhume their remains.

[Doctor X]

I am not sure what you mean by "air waves"--here in the USA!USA! that means "radio."

If you mean you sneeze out some cells . . . they float . . . yes, but the land somewhere. Anyways, the Ripper murders today would leave such evidence given the time constraints the Ripper fell under.

--J.D.

[sdreid]

DNA is not recovered in all cases and even when it is you need a person to match it to. Jack's big advantage was the limited number of kills.