If Jack happened today..............

[The Station Cat]

There's been a lot of debate on this subject. With the development of forensic science, finger printing, DNA, basis crime scene management, etc,etc. That if Jack struck today, he would beyond doubt be caught. I'm sure everyone will agree? Yes? No?

Can we sleep soundly in our beds at night?


Four little words.......... "The Monster of Florence". Now excuse my ignorance as I only recently learned of this 'chap'. It seems he was/is the Italian version of our Jack the Ripper. He claimed more victims than Jack and had a far longer reign of terror. Yet despite this and all the advances in science he has never been caught...................

[Ausgirl]

Zodiac.

East Area Rapist.

Mr. Cruel.

Etc.

It's interesting think to think about in terms of how sophisticated JtR really was when it came to evasion tactics.

But really, I think there's a bit of CSI effect in play here.

[Harry D]

Unless he seriously refined his methodology, Jack wouldn't last two seconds today.

[Ausgirl]

Unless he seriously refined his methodology, Jack wouldn't last two seconds today.

Aside from having CCTV to contend with, how so, Harry? It's not like there's no unsolved serial cases anymore. Long Beach being a good current example..

Would JtR, magically transported to the present, have the presence of mind to adjust himself to present-day police practises...? Maybe... I don't know how anyone can be sure he would not (though mutilators aren't, on the whole, brilliant at evading police for terribly long - with a few exceptions.. like JtR..).

[Damaso Marte]

If the police are allowed to use CCTVs, finger prints, DNA evidence, modern search rules, etc., then surely Jack is allowed to use modern serial killer methods too, right? Otherwise where's the sport in it - it would be the police detective version of shooting fish in a barrel.

I imagine that Jack would have a car and internet access, among other modern luxuries.

[Rosella]

How do we know Jack wouldn't last two seconds if he was around today? Yes, he'd have to adapt to modern conditions, but really there are probably dozens of uncaught serial killers walking around today, in the US alone.

[Shaggyrand]

Four little words.......... "The Monster of Florence". Now excuse my ignorance as I only recently learned of this 'chap'. It seems he was/is the Italian version of our Jack the Ripper. He claimed more victims than Jack and had a far longer reign of terror. Yet despite this and all the advances in science he has never been caught...................

To be fair, Il Monstro was mostly active in the mid-80s, last murder was '86 I think, and DNA profiling wasn't a thing yet... Actually even if they had any useable samples from the scenes (which is unlikely because they were all in public places and I don't think he jerked off or dedicated near the sites) and ran them with the late 80s or early 90s methods, they would have destroyed the samples and made them totally useless if he does it again. Il Monstro also shot all his victims, he did do some mutilating on two of them, bit the comparison isn't really right.

[Shaggyrand]

How do we know Jack wouldn't last two seconds if he was around today? Yes, he'd have to adapt to modern conditions, but really there are probably dozens of uncaught serial killers walking around today, in the US alone.

Many serial killers aren't even identified until arrested, especially when they aren't honkies. African American serial killers are very rarely identified until after they get arrested for another crime. Believe its the same for Latino and Hispanic serial killers.

[Fisherman]

Unless he seriously refined his methodology, Jack wouldn't last two seconds today.

Was Sutcliffe more refined?

Did he last more than two seconds?

[Rosella]

True, about Sutcliffe. However, to play devil's advocate here, the police missed several pointers to him simply because it was in pre-database times and they were absolutely swamped with paperwork in a way police in the 21st century aren't.

[Ausgirl]

**Long Island, not 'Beach'

[GUT]

True, about Sutcliffe. However, to play devil's advocate here, the police missed several pointers to him simply because it was in pre-database times and they were absolutely swamped with paperwork in a way police in the 21st century aren't.

But they have more data to try and wade through.

[Jon Guy]

Just as the Suffolk Strangler, Steve Wright was traced, CCTV would have captured Sutcliffe, probably with the victims in the car with him.

Sutcliffe and the Ripper`s clothes would have been covered in the victims blood, unseen to the naked eye.

Today, we also have computers to wade through records and not index cards.

Also, the DNA data bank is building up, with all offenders (from motoring offences to murder) having to give DNA samples, which are kept on a data base.

[wigngown]

True, Rosella. The Sutcliffe muders and the masses of paperwork it generated, and the evidence that was missed, certainly introduced computerisation a lot quicker than had been intended. (OHMS?) I believe in one Police station they had to have the floor supported as it was in a state of near collapse due to the weight of the 1000's of paper files!

Best regards.

[The Station Cat]

I agree CCTV would play a major part in the investigation of Jack today, where as the wasn't any in rural Florence. So fair point I suppose ....