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

[Steadmund Brand]

If Jack were around today he would be easy to catch.. I mean, he would be VERY OLD and unable to get around well ....

Seriously, the sad truth is, he would probably get away with things for a while anyway, probably be a bit more prolific, may not even be thought of as a serial killer after the first few, as they were not "exact" duplicates.. In time there would be something that would lead the authorities to him/her/them, probably a fluke thing, I don't think it would be DNA/Fingerprints etc. But yeah, sadly he would last far longer than 2 seconds..

Steadmund Brand

[MsWeatherwax]

I'm thinking here of Steve Wright, the Ipswich Strangler - he also murdered 5 prostitutes, over around a one month period (off the top of my head...I know they were quite close together).

Although he was eventually caught and imprisoned, he did manage to kill 5 women before that happened.

So in answer to the question - unfortunately, I think that if Jack was alive today, he would probably still manage to kill. I think it's far more likely that he would be caught, but it's not impossible that he wouldn't be either.

Sadly, the lifestyle of the women concerned makes them far more vulnerable to killers of this type. I can remember reading interviews with sex workers at the time who acknowledged that being on the streets with a known serial killer at large was dangerous, but their addictions or financial situations meant that they couldn't stop. At the time, I recall thinking that it was terribly sad that we still have women in the same situation in the 21st century as we did in Victorian London.

[Robert St Devil]

No, he wouldn't be... only because that's the lore of Jack the Ripper - to never be caught.

Two things:
1. If you're going to modernize the police force, you have to modernize Jack the Ripper. Some out there think that he eluded the police because he knew something about their procedures.
2. Before Jack the Ripper, there was The Monster and his picquerizing knees. Before him, Spanko. Just seems that there's this phenomenon out there.

[Jon Guy]

I'm thinking here of Steve Wright, the Ipswich Strangler - he also murdered 5 prostitutes, over around a one month period (off the top of my head...I know they were quite close together).

Although he was eventually caught and imprisoned, he did manage to kill 5 women before that happened..

That`s an excellent point, Ms W, but all five of the Suffolk Strangler`s victims were found during a 10 day period (2nd Dec to 12 Dec) and Wright was arrested a week later (19/12). Which is quite a short period.

In the Ripper`s case the murders were over a much longer period and the victims were found where they were killed, and soon after the murder. So I`d say the Ripper would not have got away with it today, doing what he did in 1888.

[MsWeatherwax]

That`s an excellent point, Ms W, but all five of the Suffolk Strangler`s victims were found during a 10 day period (2nd Dec to 12 Dec) and Wright was arrested a week later (19/12). Which is quite a short period.

In the Ripper`s case the murders were over a much longer period and the victims were found where they were killed, and soon after the murder. So I`d say the Ripper would not have got away with it today, doing what he did in 1888.

I agree that the time frame was much shorter, but I thought that he started killing at the end of October - I think there was quite a gap between him killing the first girl and the discovery of the first body (I don't think the first girl to be murdered was the first girl to be discovered, but I might be getting that wrong).

Either way, in principle, I agree - the gaps between the Whitechapel Killers murders were much longer, and his victims were left more publicly. Certainly, with the amount of CCTV in London now it's entirely possible that manned CCTV operators would pick up the murder as it happened and he could be tracked and apprehended as he left the scene.

I suppose it all depends on how organised Jack really was - it would be interesting to see how modern day Jack's methods would be affected by his environment. We would certainly find out if he was an uncontrolled, impulsive killer or not.

[miss marple]

In the Sutcliffe case the police were completely misled by 'Wearside Jack' the geordie voice tape sent to Oldfield, head of the investigation. This stupid and dangerous prank, meant that Sutcliffe was not caught for another two years as the police abandoned other leads to focus on Sunderland rather than Yorkshire. John Humble the hoaxer had also sent letters claiming to be Jack.He was not identified for over twenty years and briefly went to prison for perverting the course of justice. He should have stayed there, women died because of him It was by sheer chance Sutcliffe was picked up by a traffic cop later.
The police investigation was a shambles.

Miss Marple