Jacks hatred of women?

[Errata]

Or like a guy who became fascinated with the displays of anatomical Venuses around and became obsessed with learning whether women were really like that or not.

fair enough.

Or maybe he thought that if he collected enough uteruses he would "level up".

whatever the reward, it does not appear to have been an obvious one.

[Ginger]

For most of my life, I'd thought that the Ripper was motivated solely by a desire to poke around inside women's bellies, handle their organs, etc. I'd viewed the actual murders as incidental details - that the Ripper had to kill because there was no other way for him to get dead women, and that prostitutes were just the easiest prey. I saw him as being more fascinated by women than anything, with that fascination having taken a very wrong turn at some point.

Tom Wescott's outstanding "The Bank Holiday Murders" ( http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ie=UTF8&btkr=1 ) changed my mind on that. I'm still not sure that I'd go so far as to say that Jack hated women per se, but I think he viewed them as legitimate targets upon which to vent his anger and frustration.

[John G]

We could be looking at a mission-oriented killer who felt he was performing "God's work" by cleaning up the streets of whores, as Peter Sutcliffe did. Not all of the Ripper's victims were prostitutes at the time of their deaths but try telling that to a psychopath listening to the voices in his head.

If the Ripper was religiously motivated, that might tie into the intent behind the GSG.

The difficulty is that serial killers are not always completely honest about their motivations. Thus, I do not believe Sutcliffe's claim to have been instructed by God to kill prostitutes, and it certainly doesn't explain why he targeted non-prostitutes, including a 14 year old schoolgirl who he attacked down a quiet country lane. Nor the fact that there was clear evidence of a sexual motive, i.e. the special garment he wore beneath his trousers (in fact, even the psychiatrist, who argued that Sutcliffe was schizophrenic, accepted that the divine mission argument would have to be rejected if a sexual motive could be demonstrated). The jury didn't accept this argument either, rejecting his plea of insanity and finding him guilty of murder.

[Michael W Richards]

I think he killed unfortunates because of their availability.

I would add vulnerability, to my eye the man that killed both Polly and Annie factored in their physical state at the time he met them....Polly was inebriated, and Annie was feeling ill. Both were soliciting alone in a diminished physical condition.

Worth noting that Liz was sober and we dont know what she was doing, Kate was sober and we dont know what she was doing, and Mary was apparently in her own room, undressed, and in bed.

[Pierre]

i was wondering with all this profiling about 'Jack',it is often mentioned,' he had a hatred of women'
Did jack really have to have a hatred of women to do this to them?or was he just a killer?

Thanks for any help/comments

Hi,

Nobody is "just a killer". A killer always has his motive(s).

Regards, Pierre

[dixon9]

or 'her' motives

[Errata]

Hi,

Nobody is "just a killer". A killer always has his motive(s).

Regards, Pierre

Yes, but killers have a great tendency to have a total lack of self awareness. So even if they don't lie about their motives, which is strongly in their favor to do, they may actually just be plain wrong about their motives because they aren't examining their interior self in any meaningful way.

A killer always has motives, but we can't rely on them to communicate those motives truthfully or effectively.

[John G]

Yes, but killers have a great tendency to have a total lack of self awareness. So even if they don't lie about their motives, which is strongly in their favor to do, they may actually just be plain wrong about their motives because they aren't examining their interior self in any meaningful way.

A killer always has motives, but we can't rely on them to communicate those motives truthfully or effectively.

Yes, I would agree with this. Peter Sutcliffe, who I referred to earlier, is a good example of a serial killer who almost certainly lied about his motives.