Getting inside the Ripper

[GUT]

I feel that, had the Ripper been a pathological collector of organs (whose murders were fueled by the need to possess them), as opposed to an opportunistic colllector (who rummaged when the opportunity presented itself), the missing specimens would have been the same items in each case.

Instead we have two uteruses gone; one bladder; a heart; a kidney; and so on.

I'm not so sure about the heart.

But aside from that the only thing he doubled up on was the Uteri, he might have been after a full set.

[TomTomKent]

Sounds boring but he was just somebody who got a sexual thrill from hurting others. I don't know if he knew which organs he removed, but I think the satisfaction cam from the way it felt to cut flesh and rip bits out rather than collecting something particular from them.

Who can say? He might have been mutilating some victims more than others because he knew he would not be disturbed, because he was lost in the frenzy, because he was more confident, or because he was more and more aware that he had already snuffed the light out behind their eyes and desperately wanted to satisfy a need that was just not fulfilled when he knew he caused no more pain to the victim? It is all speculation and most likely the fevered remnants of horror stories floating in my head rather than anything remotely useful.

I think like others I am tempted by the theories that sound exciting and bias myself by that standard rather than how qualified the profiler may be. Sorrry.

[Rosella]

Strangely, I don't believe that causing physical pain to his victims was the main motivation of JTR. The victims' deaths were in some way just a prelude to the main act, which was to cut and mutilate. The taking of another's life was a completely callous act but he smothered then cut these women's throats very quickly. There was no sadism or torture.

When Jack fantasised about what he'd done later I don't think the actual killing featured much at all. Nor do I think the organs that were taken signified much beyond trophies, souvenirs, an aid perhaps to his fantasies. I think it was the ripping and mutilation that completely occupied his thoughts and was the sexual spur.

[John Wheat]

Absolutely Rosella Jack was largely only concerned with the ripping and mutilation.

Cheers John

[K-453]

Verzeni

Dr. Krafft-Ebing describes in his work "Psychopathia sexualis" the case of Vinzenz Verzeni, who committed Ripper-style lust murders. If he committed such murders today, he would surely be nicknamed the "Italian Ripper" or such, because of the similarity.

http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b5198403;view=1up;seq=110

"Case 20", Page 86 - 90

I recommend this to everybody who wants to get "inside the Ripper".

The interesting thing about Verzeni is, there is no deeper meaning in his murders, no message. There are no freemasons involved, no "Juwes", no conspiring Royals, and no artists who cut their own ears off. It's just that he had the urge to do strange things, and no conscience to stop him.

[Fisherman]

Dr. Krafft-Ebing describes in his work "Psychopathia sexualis" the case of Vinzenz Verzeni, who committed Ripper-style lust murders. If he committed such murders today, he would surely be nicknamed the "Italian Ripper" or such, because of the similarity.

http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b5198403;view=1up;seq=110

"Case 20", Page 86 - 90

I recommend this to everybody who wants to get "inside the Ripper".

The interesting thing about Verzeni is, there is no deeper meaning in his murders, no message. There are no freemasons involved, no "Juwes", no conspiring Royals, and no artists who cut their own ears off. It's just that he had the urge to do strange things, and no conscience to stop him.

Did you pick up on this:

”His cranium is of more than average size, but assymetrical. The right frontal bone is narrower and lower than the left, the right frontal prominence being less developed, and the right ear smaller than the left (by 1 centimetre in lenght and 3 centimetres in breadth), both ears are defective in the inferior half of the helix … Bullnecked, enormous development of the zygoma and inferior maxilla; penis greatly developed, fraenum wanting … Lombroso concludes from these signs of degeneration that there is a congenital arrest of development of the right frontal lobe … As seemed probable, Verzeni has a bad ancestry – two uncles are cretins, a third, microcephalic, beardless, one testicle wanting, the other athropic … Verzenis family is bigoted and low-minded...”

That should tell us a thing or two about what was expected from a villain in 1886, when Kraft-Ebbings book came out. The Lombroso mentioned is of course Cesare Lombroso, one of the fathers of racial biology and criminal anthropology, both underlying sources for phrenology.

The Ripper is a mere two years away when Kraft-Ebbing writes this.

The best,
Fisherman

[Errata]

Did you pick up on this:

”His cranium is of more than average size, but assymetrical. The right frontal bone is narrower and lower than the left, the right frontal prominence being less developed, and the right ear smaller than the left (by 1 centimetre in lenght and 3 centimetres in breadth), both ears are defective in the inferior half of the helix … Bullnecked, enormous development of the zygoma and inferior maxilla; penis greatly developed, fraenum wanting … Lombroso concludes from these signs of degeneration that there is a congenital arrest of development of the right frontal lobe … As seemed probable, Verzeni has a bad ancestry – two uncles are cretins, a third, microcephalic, beardless, one testicle wanting, the other athropic … Verzenis family is bigoted and low-minded...”

That should tell us a thing or two about what was expected from a villain in 1886, when Kraft-Ebbings book came out. The Lombroso mentioned is of course Cesare Lombroso, one of the fathers of racial biology and criminal anthropology, both underlying sources for phrenology.

The Ripper is a mere two years away when Kraft-Ebbing writes this.

The best,
Fisherman

But we do know that frontal lobe damage or malformation in the frontal lobe is not uncommon in serial killers. The part of the brain that controls empathy is right above the eyes, and any damage or lack of development in that area creates sociopaths. In PET scans of serial killers, those are the dim spot they are looking for. Irregularities in frontal bone structure are often a sign or either previous damage or birth defect (in this case, non bilateral defect). It's in fact a sign of possible psychopathy. And Verzini was a psychopath.

I'm not gong to run around espousing the theories of Krafft-Ebbing any more than I'm going to worship at the altar of Freud. But both of them made discoveries and connections that have greatly improved what we know about mental health. Not necessarily what they thought was their magnum opus, but KE actually did get some legitimate work done. Mostly in the gathering of data.

[K-453]

Hi Fisherman,
I pretty much ignored the description of Verzeni's skull. Actually, had I found a source with copy-and-pasteable text, I would have left that part out, replacing it with [...]

Hi Errata,
I don't worship on any altar either.

It's the case itself that is interesting, and what the perpetrator himself said about his motives.

[Fisherman]

But we do know that frontal lobe damage or malformation in the frontal lobe is not uncommon in serial killers. The part of the brain that controls empathy is right above the eyes, and any damage or lack of development in that area creates sociopaths. In PET scans of serial killers, those are the dim spot they are looking for. Irregularities in frontal bone structure are often a sign or either previous damage or birth defect (in this case, non bilateral defect). It's in fact a sign of possible psychopathy. And Verzini was a psychopath.

I'm not gong to run around espousing the theories of Krafft-Ebbing any more than I'm going to worship at the altar of Freud. But both of them made discoveries and connections that have greatly improved what we know about mental health. Not necessarily what they thought was their magnum opus, but KE actually did get some legitimate work done. Mostly in the gathering of data.

I am not contesting that, Errata - he rightly defends his position as a foreground figure even today. What I wanted to point to, though, was how physical traits were looked upon as evidence of criminality on a more general scale, how it was seen as hereditary to a large extent and how it could and would have affected the way of thinking for many people in that age - policemen not excluded.

The best,
Fisherman

[Fisherman]

[QUOTE=K-453;318422]Hi Fisherman,
I pretty much ignored the description of Verzeni's skull. Actually, had I found a source with copy-and-pasteable text, I would have left that part out, replacing it with [...]
QUOTE]

I´m glad you didn´t get around to that - it would deprive the case some of it´s context, and that´s never a good thing. And it´s not just about the skull.

All the best,
Fisherman