A Psychological Profile of the Ripper

[Kattrup]

• Psychopathy (manipulative and volatile; lacking a conscience or empathy towards others)
• Letters thought to be authentic reveal narcissistic tendencies, but I am not comfortable labeling Ripper as an officially diagnosed narcissist absent evidence of his psychological state at the time of the murders
• Hematomania (obsession with blood)
• Always sliced the left carotid (right handed killer), but subdued the victim through strangulation into a position where the slice could be made from behind with limited blood spurting
• Mutilations usually involved the severing of both femoral arteries, often in the process of removing organs, which produced a massive flow of blood, yet were always carried out postmortem to avoid spurting with the pulse, indicating careful calculation
• “Dear Boss” letter refers to “proper red stuff” and how he saved some from a victim to write with, further leading towards an indication of hematomania
• Superficial charm led victims to let down their guard; may have enticed them with grapes, which were far too expensive for any Whitechapel resident to afford in the time period
• Intelligent and careful; too calculated and arrogant to be a simple case of a man experiencing schizophrenic episodes
• Targeted prostitutes not for what they were, but for their availability and ease
• No sexual motive; women were butchered, but never sexually assaulted
• No sadism; mutilations occurred after quick deaths; doesn’t get off on pain and terror, but on blood and damage

Hi Kristen

welcome and thanks for your post.

I wonder what leads you to think about hematomania? The available testimony seems to be agree on there being very little blood visible, and that the killer would probably not be drenched in it. Overall, the blood does not appear to play any prominent role in the murders, compared to for instance the inner organs. Besides, it was mostly dark, so the killer would not have been able to savour the blood visually, beyond perhaps its characteristic sheen.

You write that grapes were far too expensive for any Whitechapel resident to afford - well, it that were so, why were they being sold in Whitechapel, one might ask? i.e. the fact that someone was selling them on the street attests to there being a market for them - besides the occassional upperclass slum tourist.

I personally believe the Dear Boss letters to be genuine, but as others have stated, it's not really considered to be the case, so one must be careful to use it as a basepoint.

[GBinOz]

Hi Dave,

Perhaps were can come to an agreement: Both right, nobody wrong....and all gratuities in unmarked bills.

[GBinOz]

You rang? - YouTube

Nice try Dave. This was Lurch's signature:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgKxham7q7Y

[DJA]

You're slipping Dave. "you rang" was Lurch. Maynard G Crabbes was "Work!" (What does the G stand for? Walter!)

You rang? - YouTube

[GBinOz]

I thought I was the only one who was planning to ask God that. Forget the meaning of life and all that jazz. Who was Ripper and why are mosquitoes and spiders with hair necessary?

I have checked my emails and it seems that I have not been informed of the coup in which God was replaced by St Peter. I am always the last to be updated on such matters.

[GBinOz]

You rang!

You're slipping Dave. "you rang" was Lurch. Maynard G Crabbes was "Work!" (What does the G stand for? Walter!)

[GUT]

You rang!

Good ole Maynard we had a Radio bloke here who went by Maynard F# Crebbs

[FISHY1118]

I thought I was the only one who was planning to ask God that. Forget the meaning of life and all that jazz. Who was Ripper and why are mosquitoes and spiders with hair necessary?

Now there's 3 of us

[DJA]

Hi Kirsten,

I have been interested in JtR for nearly 50 years and in that time favourites have come and gone. When I depart this life and approach St Peter at the pearly gates my first question will be "who was JtR?". I anticipate that when he reveals the answer to my question my response will be "Who?".

There are many on this forum who have single suspect barrows to push. Others are more clinical in their analysis of the actual evidence. You will sort out who is who. Since no one knows the answer there is a great deal of speculation involved, and it can not be otherwise. Enjoy.

Cheers, George

You rang!

[FISHY1118]

I agree that if any letter is genuine it would be “From Hell” but even it I only put it about 55:45. Pity we didn’t have DNA to see if the Kidne was genuine or another distraction.

I think you'll find somewhere written , the kidney sent to lusk was indeed identified as a human kidney , and it matched closely in condition to eddowes other kidney ..now having said that it might not have been hers but there nothing that says it couldn't have been hers also.

When I depart this life and approach St Peter at the pearly gates my first question will be "who was JtR?". I anticipate that when he reveals the answer to my question my response will be "Who?"

I thought I was the only one who was planning to ask God that. Forget the meaning of life and all that jazz. Who was Ripper and why are mosquitoes and spiders with hair necessary?

[GBinOz]

Thank you! Those are all very good points. What are your thoughts on the research presented in "American Ripper?" I found it to be very convincing, but I'm not well-read on the other suspects, so I'll be doing some more investigation. The most interesting things to me were the fact that Holmes ran so many financial scams that he had some kind of business document for almost every transaction he ever made. There were so many filings and lawsuits that they were actually able to pinpoint where he was in his life at what time solely by the dates and locations of the documents. Then, suddenly, he vanishes from the radar in the US in the late summer of 1888. Acting on a hunch, they check passenger manifests to the UK and find one of his aliases on one from the US to the UK and one that was the associated return trip dated sometime after Mary Kelly's murder. They showed a lot more evidence as well, but another compelling one for me was when they hypothetically combined the cases and were able to trace a seamless pattern of escalation by beginning with Ripper's first murder and ending with Holmes' execution. It was as if he had been practicing and learning in London and not worrying about where he left the bodies because he knew he'd be leaving. By the time he built his Murder Castle in Chicago, he had murder and body disposal down to an industrial science.

Hi Kirsten,

I have been interested in JtR for nearly 50 years and in that time favourites have come and gone. When I depart this life and approach St Peter at the pearly gates my first question will be "who was JtR?". I anticipate that when he reveals the answer to my question my response will be "Who?".

There are many on this forum who have single suspect barrows to push. Others are more clinical in their analysis of the actual evidence. You will sort out who is who. Since no one knows the answer there is a great deal of speculation involved, and it can not be otherwise. Enjoy.

Cheers, George

[GUT]

Sorry for getting off track with my comments on ID evidence.

[GUT]

Hi Kristen,

Welcome to the boards.

I tend to agree with Jeff and GUT regarding the letters, with the exception of the "From Hell" letter, which I think is probably geniune. I suspect the mis-spelling and grammar in that letter was a deliberate disguise.

I agree with the slice of the carotid after strangulation but I think the body was on the ground when this was done. My daughter is a registered nurse, and former theatre nurse, and I confer with her for opinions on the medical matters. Among her children, my grandchildren, there is high functioning autism, ADHD, Oppositional Defiant Disorder and Anxiety Disorder.

To your "Intelligent and careful" I would add opportunistic and having an ability to blend in and not be noticed.

I try to avoid having favourite suspects as it can lead to a level of confirmation bias. That said, there are suspects that are too unlikely to be subject to consideration.

Great early post. Look forward to more of them from you as time goes by.

Cheers, George

I agree that if any letter is genuine it would be “From Hell” but even it I only put it about 55:45. Pity we didn’t have DNA to see if the Kidne was genuine or another distraction.

Hi Kristen,

Welcome to the boards.

I tend to agree with Jeff and GUT regarding the letters, with the exception of the "From Hell" letter, which I think is probably geniune. I suspect the mis-spelling and grammar in that letter was a deliberate disguise.

I agree with the slice of the carotid after strangulation but I think the body was on the ground when this was done. My daughter is a registered nurse, and former theatre nurse, and I confer with her for opinions on the medical matters. Among her children, my grandchildren, there is high functioning autism, ADHD, Oppositional Defiant Disorder and Anxiety Disorder.

To your "Intelligent and careful" I would add opportunistic and having an ability to blend in and not be noticed.

I try to avoid having favourite suspects as it can lead to a level of confirmation bias. That said, there are suspects that are too unlikely to be subject to consideration.

Great early post. Look forward to more of them from you as time goes by.

Cheers, George

Thank you! Those are all very good points. What are your thoughts on the research presented in "American Ripper?" I found it to be very convincing, but I'm not well-read on the other suspects, so I'll be doing some more investigation. The most interesting things to me were the fact that Holmes ran so many financial scams that he had some kind of business document for almost every transaction he ever made. There were so many filings and lawsuits that they were actually able to pinpoint where he was in his life at what time solely by the dates and locations of the documents. Then, suddenly, he vanishes from the radar in the US in the late summer of 1888. Acting on a hunch, they check passenger manifests to the UK and find one of his aliases on one from the US to the UK and one that was the associated return trip dated sometime after Mary Kelly's murder. They showed a lot more evidence as well, but another compelling one for me was when they hypothetically combined the cases and were able to trace a seamless pattern of escalation by beginning with Ripper's first murder and ending with Holmes' execution. It was as if he had been practicing and learning in London and not worrying about where he left the bodies because he knew he'd be leaving. By the time he built his Murder Castle in Chicago, he had murder and body disposal down to an industrial science.