Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Investig. Psych. Offender Profil. 2: 1–21 (2005)
Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling
J. Investig. Psych. Offender Profil. 2: 1–21 (2005)
Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI: 10.1002/jip.22
The Jack the Ripper Murders: A Modus Operandi and Signature Analysis of the 1888–1891 Whitechapel Murders
ROBERT D. KEPPEL, JOSEPH G. WEIS, KATHERINE M. BROWN, and KRISTEN WELCH
1Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, Texas, USA 1University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
Abstract
A number of females, commonly recognized as 11 victims, were murdered in separate events in Whitechapel, London between 1888 and 1891. An evaluation of the murders revealed that six of those murders were linked by a number of distinct, personal signature characteristics, including picquerism, overkill, incapacitation, domination and control, open and displayed, unusual body position, sexual degradation, mutilation, organ har- vesting, specific areas of attack, preplanning and organization, and a combination of sig- nature features. The signature characteristics observed in these infamous Jack the Ripper murders were compared to a 1981–1995 cohort of 3359 homicide cases from Washington State’s HITS database. The analysis revealed that the signature displayed in six of the Whitechapel murders was extremely rare. There were only six records of female victims, one a prostitute, with probed, explored, or mutilated body cavities. There were only two cases, both females who were not prostitutes, where the body was left in an unusual posi- tion and body cavities were explored, probed, or mutilated. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Key words: forensic science; serial murder; signature murder; criminal profiling; crime scene assessment; picquerism; Jack the Ripper
INTRODUCTION
Between 1888 and 1891, 11 female victims were murdered in the Whitechapel area of London. At the time, it was not known which of the crimes had been committed by the same killer. To date, there is still wide debate on which victims can be attributed to the same murderer.
Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling
J. Investig. Psych. Offender Profil. 2: 1–21 (2005)
Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI: 10.1002/jip.22
The Jack the Ripper Murders: A Modus Operandi and Signature Analysis of the 1888–1891 Whitechapel Murders
ROBERT D. KEPPEL, JOSEPH G. WEIS, KATHERINE M. BROWN, and KRISTEN WELCH
1Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, Texas, USA 1University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
Abstract
A number of females, commonly recognized as 11 victims, were murdered in separate events in Whitechapel, London between 1888 and 1891. An evaluation of the murders revealed that six of those murders were linked by a number of distinct, personal signature characteristics, including picquerism, overkill, incapacitation, domination and control, open and displayed, unusual body position, sexual degradation, mutilation, organ har- vesting, specific areas of attack, preplanning and organization, and a combination of sig- nature features. The signature characteristics observed in these infamous Jack the Ripper murders were compared to a 1981–1995 cohort of 3359 homicide cases from Washington State’s HITS database. The analysis revealed that the signature displayed in six of the Whitechapel murders was extremely rare. There were only six records of female victims, one a prostitute, with probed, explored, or mutilated body cavities. There were only two cases, both females who were not prostitutes, where the body was left in an unusual posi- tion and body cavities were explored, probed, or mutilated. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Key words: forensic science; serial murder; signature murder; criminal profiling; crime scene assessment; picquerism; Jack the Ripper
INTRODUCTION
Between 1888 and 1891, 11 female victims were murdered in the Whitechapel area of London. At the time, it was not known which of the crimes had been committed by the same killer. To date, there is still wide debate on which victims can be attributed to the same murderer.
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