Escalation: What would Jack do after Mary Kelly?

[Abby Normal]

Hi Abby,

I find myself at a loss as to how Kelly is rated so highly. He has one kill to his name, but then disappears for decades and finally surrenders himself to an asylum. Can he be shown to have been in Whitechapel at the relevant time? How does he address the theory that serial killers don't just stop. Where are the protests that are seen for the "gap" between Kelly and McKenzie. I'm not trying to be perverse. I just don't understand the popularity of Kelly.

Cheers, George

hi george
hes a murderer, of woman by knife, he was crafty and street smart as tje ripper surely was, he fits the general description, he was a police person of interest, he was local and in the area, and the murders commence with his escape from prison.

amd we know from serial killer history they do sometimes just stop.. rader, gsk, kemper and even turn themselves in.. kemper.

kelly was crazy all right, like a fox. hes just the type i think the ripper would be.

[Lewis C]

Hi Abby,

I find myself at a loss as to how Kelly is rated so highly. He has one kill to his name, but then disappears for decades and finally surrenders himself to an asylum. Can he be shown to have been in Whitechapel at the relevant time? How does he address the theory that serial killers don't just stop. Where are the protests that are seen for the "gap" between Kelly and McKenzie. I'm not trying to be perverse. I just don't understand the popularity of Kelly.

Cheers, George

Hi George,

Some have theorized that Kelly didn't stop, that he may have committed some murders in the US after the Whitechapel murders. That's unproven, but can we really say for sure that that if he was the Ripper, he stopped after the Whitechapel murders?

I don't know what your point is on the gap between Kelly and McKenzie. McKenzie may or not have been a Ripper victim, and if she was a Ripper victim, the question of why there was a gap between her and MJK is there regardless of whom the Ripper was, unless we happen to know for a specific suspect something that would have stopped him during that period. IIRC, Kelly is thought to have left England before the McKenzie murder. If so, he couldn't have been the Ripper if McKenzie was a Ripper victim, but that's also true of Bury, Cohen, Druitt, Hyams, and Tumblety.

[Indian Harry]

I have to admit that even though I've read and seen crime scene photos of the victims of mentioned murderers, I've never actually seen anything as disturbing as Mary Jane Kelly case. In her murder mutilation is so horrific, destructive and disgusting that it's really hard to believe that the killer was not mentally ill in some capacity. Her body was almost completely destroyed with fury, lust and morbid curiousity that's unmatched

I totally agree. I've been reading True Crime since I was 12 years old and I had always thought the name Jack the Ripper was quaint and must certainly be an overstatement of some sort....then when I was 27 I started looking into the case and found the Mary Kelly photo. I was absolutely floored. The very thought that someone back in 1888 without any exposure to modern horror movies or media related to 20th century killers could independently, from their own twisted mind, carry out such an atrocious act disturbed me to my core. I had trouble sleeping that night. It was the last time I had that child like fear of the dark that kids get, for instance, after watching a scary movie.

[I1ariusz]

I totally agree. I've been reading True Crime since I was 12 years old and I had always thought the name Jack the Ripper was quaint and must certainly be an overstatement of some sort....then when I was 27 I started looking into the case and found the Mary Kelly photo. I was absolutely floored. The very thought that someone back in 1888 without any exposure to modern horror movies or media related to 20th century killers could independently, from their own twisted mind, carry out such an atrocious act disturbed me to my core. I had trouble sleeping that night. It was the last time I had that child like fear of the dark that kids get, for instance, after watching a scary movie.

Yes, it was like he was really trying to earn his "Jack the Ripper" title and you can't help to think that John McCarthy was right when he said: it was more work of a devil than that of a man.

[Indian Harry]

It was apparent to the police at the time that Bury was not the ripper, and the local press described him as "a tired, inconsequential, weak little man" and "Brainless and heartless"

Cheers, George

If anything, this demonstrates that the police and press of 1888 wouldn't be able to crack the case on people like Gary Ridgeway and Reginald Christie. Both were small unassuming men.

[DJA]

if anything, this demonstrates that the police and press of 1888 wouldn't be able to crack the case on people like gary ridgeway,henry sutton and reginald christie. Both were small unassuming men.

fify

[John Wheat]

If anything, this demonstrates that the police and press of 1888 wouldn't be able to crack the case on people like Gary Ridgeway and Reginald Christie. Both were small unassuming men.

Hi Indian Harry

Definitely.

Cheers John