wondering what crimesdid JTR commit before the murders???

[ianincleveland]

Im almost totally certain JTR didnt start his criminal ways with the killing of Mary Nicholls.Im pretty certain hed either have raped or stabbed a woman who survived beforehand

[Sam Flynn]

He quite possibly picked pockets, shoplifted or burgled, too, Ian. It's worth reading the article linked here, which refers to the "criminal diversity" of psychopaths, amongst other useful nuggets.

[ianincleveland]

Thanks for that very interesting article.

[Sam Flynn]

No probs, Ian. Thanks to Howard Brown for finding it, too

[kensei]

Plenty of precedent- Richard Ramirez made his living as a professional burglar before he started killing, Ted Bundy started out as a peeping tom and then committed assaults & rapes and a whole spree of incredibly bold shoplifting crimes before his first murder.

[DarkPassenger]

It's about the level of excitement people attain from their activities. A peeping tom will tire of peeping and will go on to housebreaking, sexual assault or rape...but will tire of that too, and will want a harder "hit." So he becomes a prolific rapist and eventually he'll strangle a women to death - and enjoy it.

What Jack could have done before ripping would be very interesting to know...knowing criminals like him, he probably butchered animals and would put in him in league with garden-variety psychopaths who kill for the sheer thrill of it. There's little obvious sexual motive apart from the thrill of ripping so maybe he didn't start as a sex criminal but a petty criminal. Maybe stories about a violent blackmailer may have merit after all.

[andy.s]

I believe The Boston Strangler was first known as "the measuring man" after a series of assaults when he obtained entry to womens houses and used a tape measure around their vital statistics, so it does seem that a sort of escalation does occur in some cases