How did he "disappear"?

[Sarah D]

Of course we know that JTR didn't just disappear into thin air. I just finished watching "In Search of Jack The Ripper" on the History channel and it gave me thought? Could JTR have died from one of the many diseases that were in the air like TB, Cholera, or even actually have Syphilis and die from complications from it? Any opinions?

[Mitch Rowe]

Yes.. It has always been a running theory from the inpectors on the case to present day that the ripper had a reason to stop the bloody rampage. Whether he moved away/died/ect there must have been a reason. But we have now seen with BTK that an SK can remain dormant for many many years. So today it remains unclear as to what really happened to the ripper.

[sdreid]

Those so-called experts act like if they repeat the "serial killers never just quit" fanciful tenet that it will make it true. Proof to the contrary is ignored.

[Mascara & Paranoia]

Perhaps he accomplished what he set out to do and just stopped nautrally. If he was one of those so-called compulsive serial killers who 'need' to kill, then I imagine he would've been caught, despite how lucky he obviously was in that respect.

[DarkPassenger]

I've been thinking about this. I've read several conflicting profiles of the Ripper suggesting either categorically that he's organised, or categorically that he's disorganised.

He took prostitutes because they were easy targets

He stalked an area of about a square mile because of the ease of access to him, and because of the abundance of his target group (prostitutes)

He killed them on the spot and left the bodies there where he killed them.

He took considerable risk in killing, suggesting an impulsive killer with an urge to kill.

His mutilations got worse over time - suggesting decompensation and thus slackening self-control and probably mental health.

His first murder was considerably far from the rest - and I think I know why.

According to these central points, he is a compulsive, disorganised killer likely to kill where he knows. Why did he kill far from his base, and then directly around his base? And why did he target prostitutes? What affected his mental state more than anything else?

Think about Michael Lupo. He killed four or five gay men because he had contracted AIDS from a sexual encounter. In the days of the Ripper, syphlis and other nasty STIs were around.

I suspect the Ripper was an outpatient at London Hospital, suffering from a sexually transmitted disease which was gradually affecting his mind. He decompensated to the point of insanity and probably ended up in a workhouse. That, or it killed him. Another possibility is that he was treated for the condition - if that were possible in 1888 - and recovered sufficiently to spend the rest of his days free from the gradual insanity which he had been suffering. Doubtful but possible.

[Byzantine]

In the days of the Ripper, syphlis and other nasty STIs were around. ...Another possibility is that he was treated for the condition - if that were possible in 1888 - and recovered sufficiently to spend the rest of his days free from the gradual insanity which he had been suffering. Doubtful but possible.

The main problem with syphilis was that for centuries individuals were unaware of their own infection until the "acute symptoms of the disease had developed". Leaving preventive medicine out of the question. Some reached advanced stages before even seeking medical advice. Naturally they kept spreading the infection in the meantime.

The Wassermann test, the first effective test for syphilis, was developed by August Paul von Wassermann of the "Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin" in 1906. It was not flawless but was the first to allow early diagnosis and treatment.

The first antibiotic used against syphilis was "Salvarsan" (Arsphenamine), an arsenic-based medicine. It was developed by Paul Ehrlich of the "Royal Institute of Experimental Therapy" in Frankfurt. Ehrlich was actually testing multiple drugs for various uses. The effectiveness of this one against syphilis was discovered by his assistant Sahachiro Hata in 1908. The medicine would not become commercially available until 1910.

In 1912, the laboratory of Ehrlich produced Neosalvarsan, a less toxic variant of the above. It would be the standard treatment provided until the 1940s.

Note that this discoveries took place twenty years following the Ripper case. I am not sure an infected Ripper would have survived long enough to benefit from them.

[Limehouse]

Also, if the Ripper was in the last stages of syphilis, would he have been in any condition to maintain the nerve and swiftness that the killer must surely have possessed?

I remember being shown horrific films at school of people in this condition and they were gibbering wrecks. They could not manage to cross the room in a straight line and they were mentally deranged. It was enough to put you off sex for life. (I think that was the purpose).

[Sam Flynn]

I remember being shown horrific films at school of people in this condition and they were gibbering wrecks. They could not manage to cross the room in a straight line and they were mentally deranged.

I saw something similar, but only after "Filmsoc" made a documentary about the sixth-form common room.

[c.d.]

Also, if the Ripper was in the last stages of syphilis, would he have been in any condition to maintain the nerve and swiftness that the killer must surely have possessed?

I remember being shown horrific films at school of people in this condition and they were gibbering wrecks. They could not manage to cross the room in a straight line and they were mentally deranged. It was enough to put you off sex for life. (I think that was the purpose).

Too bad they didn't practice abstinence per Sarah Palin.

c.d.

[Mitch Rowe]

Oh God! What about Mad Cow Disease? Really painful to watch.

[DarkPassenger]

I propose that if JTR had survived long enough to exhibit the signs of advanced syphllis, he would have voted for Sarah Palin

Maybe I'm being a little tough on him...

[Julius]

Hi everyone, first time poster so please be gentle with me

I believe the police and media attention was making things too hot for him. He decided Kelly would be 'one last job' and then he would disappear to another part of the world until things died down. Of course, we can't know whether he continued killing but changed his MO or whether something else happened to him.