# Who do you think Jack The Ripper could be? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 3, 2006, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-jack-the-ripper-could-be/371272 "2006-09-03T04:17:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![diggleblop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@diggleblop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diggleblop)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2006, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-jack-the-ripper-could-be/371272/1 "2006-09-03T04:17:03Z")
Was he a Doctor? Was he royalty? Just a crazed psychotic nobody? What’s your theory? I personally think he was a Doctor of some sort, maybe passed around as a child, an orphan so to speak. Maybe he was abused quite a bit. But definitely someone people of that era would least suspect. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2006, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-jack-the-ripper-could-be/371272/2 "2006-09-03T04:26:45Z")
(The late) John Fiedler. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2006, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-jack-the-ripper-could-be/371272/3 "2006-09-03T04:32:22Z")
From what I’ve read, the evidence that he showed a level of knowledge or precision which would be expected from a doctor tends to be greatly exaggerated. My guess is that he was some unknown weirdo who has probably never tirned up on any of the popular lists of suspects. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2006, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-jack-the-ripper-could-be/371272/4 "2006-09-03T05:34:11Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] My guess is that he was some unknown weirdo who has probably never tirned up on any of the popular lists of suspects. [/QUOTE] Since the suspect list included, at one time, pretty much every wierdo who could be a suspect (the London cops cast a wide net) I assume otherwise. However, this is FINALLY a GD I can follow! As a good American I have to support my homeboy, Dr Francis Tumelty. Motive (mysogynist who collected the Naughty Bits of women in pickle jars), means (doctor, but no great surgeon), and opportunity (in the neighborhood at the time in question; murders stopped after he left). Those of you who need a refresher course, or need to know pretty much everything there is to know about the case, please go to [http://www.casebook.org/](http://www.casebook.org/) . Warning: You may never sleep soundly again. OTOH, ignore the Royal connection because it’s too stooopid to consider. The movie “From Hell” is “fun” but, (spoiler) like I said…(/spoiler). OTOH, Mary was so mutilated that (spoiler) the end game could work.(/spoiler) (Parentheses used rather than brackets because anybody who’d want to see it has seen it and why discomfort everybody else?) ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2006, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-jack-the-ripper-could-be/371272/5 "2006-09-03T11:25:34Z")
He’s somebody that was never arrested or suspected by the law or the theorists. Most likely, he stopped because he was committed to an aslyum or killed, possibly by a relative(s) who learned the truth. Victorian society encouraged families to hide/bury shameful secrets. If the Ripper’s family **did** learn the truth, you can bet nobody else ever will. ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2006, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-jack-the-ripper-could-be/371272/6 "2006-09-03T12:36:52Z")
Naw, the Queen did it. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2006, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-jack-the-ripper-could-be/371272/7 "2006-09-03T12:58:32Z")
[QUOTE=detop] Naw, the Queen did it. [/QUOTE] Brian May held them down and Freddie Mercury did them in. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2006, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-jack-the-ripper-could-be/371272/8 "2006-09-03T13:05:24Z")
Surely, it was George W Bush. I’ll find the link in a minute. ---
**Author:** ![diggleblop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@diggleblop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diggleblop)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2006, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-jack-the-ripper-could-be/371272/9 "2006-09-03T13:58:23Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] From what I’ve read, the evidence that he showed a level of knowledge or precision which would be expected from a doctor tends to be greatly exaggerated. [/QUOTE] Not arguing at all, but can ya link me to that source stating that his precision slicing and dicing wasn’t the work of a Doctor and exaggerated? I am curiously fascinated by these freaks. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2006, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-jack-the-ripper-could-be/371272/10 "2006-09-03T14:08:43Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] From what I’ve read, the evidence that he showed a level of knowledge or precision which would be expected from a doctor tends to be greatly exaggerated. [/QUOTE] That wouldn’t surprise me; for some reason people tend to see surgical precision where there is none, like it cattle “mutilations” for example. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2006, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-jack-the-ripper-could-be/371272/11 "2006-09-03T14:46:49Z")
[QUOTE=diggleblop] Not arguing at all, but can ya link me to that source stating that his precision slicing and dicing wasn’t the work of a Doctor and exaggerated? [/QUOTE] I don’t have a link handy, but in the books I’ve read on the subject, it’s been said that crimes could have been committed by anyone who had a general anotomical knowledge, such as a butcher. The parts removed from the victims were basically hacked from their bodies, not surgically removed. As an aside, what do ya’ll think of Patricia Cornwell’s theory about the artist? ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2006, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-jack-the-ripper-could-be/371272/12 "2006-09-03T14:59:14Z")
[QUOTE=Lissa] As an aside, what do ya’ll think of Patricia Cornwell’s theory about the artist? [/QUOTE] Utter nonsense. Ridden throughout with shoddy reasoning, speculative jumps, and denial of evidence. It wasn’t Sickert. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2006, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-jack-the-ripper-could-be/371272/13 "2006-09-03T15:24:09Z")
[QUOTE=dropzone] Those of you who need a refresher course, or need to know pretty much everything there is to know about the case, please go to [http://www.casebook.org/](http://www.casebook.org/) . [/QUOTE] The Metroplotian Police also have a decent [Ripper page](http://www.met.police.uk/history/ripper.htm). My “favourite” suspect is [Aaron Kosminski](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_proposed_Jack_the_Ripper_suspects#Aaron_Kosminski). For me, the biggest thing in his favour is the behaviour of the police. Whitechapel was very heavily policed for a few months after the last murder. Immediately after Kosminski’s detention, the police patrols dropped back very quickly. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2006, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-jack-the-ripper-could-be/371272/14 "2006-09-03T16:01:12Z")
[QUOTE=Frank] Utter nonsense. Ridden throughout with shoddy reasoning, speculative jumps, and denial of evidence. It wasn’t Sickert. [/QUOTE] I don’t think she proved Sickert was the JtR but I think she did make a pretty strong case for him writing some of the Ripper letters (but the letters she connects to him were never regarded as authentic). ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2006, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-jack-the-ripper-could-be/371272/15 "2006-09-03T16:07:56Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] I don’t think she proved Sickert was the JtR but I think she did make a pretty strong case for him writing some of the Ripper letters (but the letters she connects to him were never regarded as authentic). [/QUOTE] That’s true. I do tend to believe that he wrote a couple of the letters. Him and every other nutjob in London. OK, so it’s not utter nonsense - only 99 99/100% nonsense. I’m not sure that _any_ of the letters are regarded as authentic anymore. Can’t cite that; I’m not sure where I picked it up. ---
**Author:** ![Wildfire\_MM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f08c70/32.png) [@Wildfire\_MM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wildfire_MM)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2006, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-jack-the-ripper-could-be/371272/16 "2006-09-03T16:11:28Z")
It probably was John Pizer (1850-1897). Pizer was a Polish Jew who worked as a bootmaker in Whitechapel This was revealed as a fact 7-8 weeks ago in the news The police didn’t wanna reveal who the murder was back then because they where afraid of creating waves of antisemitism and a country where antisemitism already was present ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2006, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-jack-the-ripper-could-be/371272/17 "2006-09-03T16:22:54Z")
Cite? The only British info I’ve found so far is this: [ > [@](#): > > The ‘Juwes’ writing pointed to Jewish suspects. Sir Charles Warren (Chief of Metropolitan Police) ordered2 the removal of the writing on the wall, seemingly to avoid a confrontation with the immigrant population. There was already unrest caused by the false arrest of one man, John Pizer (see below). > > […] > > John Pizer > > A Jewish shoemaker - he was a man with access to five inch blades and who owned a leather apron. Pizer not only had a stabbing conviction against him, but also displayed a well known dislike for prostitutes. He unfortunately fitted the description of the suspect ‘a short man with a dark beard and moustache and a foreign accent’. Upon his arrest, the press described Pizer as having a 'cruel sardonic look’5. Pizer though, had a solid alibi and he received a compensation payment from the libel courts after his release. ]([http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A704567](http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A704567)) No, it’s quite obvious that Jack was taken away by the Vorlons and… ..what? ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2006, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-jack-the-ripper-could-be/371272/18 "2006-09-03T16:25:57Z")
It was meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2006, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-jack-the-ripper-could-be/371272/19 "2006-09-03T17:08:39Z")
[QUOTE=Least Original User Name Ever] It was meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! [/QUOTE] Why do I picture you twirling your pearls like Bea Lillie when you say that? I go with John Pizer or Aaron Kosminski. None of the “celebrity suspects” seem to make much sense, evidence-wise. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2006, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-jack-the-ripper-could-be/371272/20 "2006-09-03T21:26:10Z")
[QUOTE=Wildfire\*\*MM] It probably was John Pizer (1850-1897). Pizer was a Polish Jew who worked as a bootmaker in Whitechapel This was revealed as a fact 7-8 weeks ago in the news [/quote] I don’t know what “news” you saw, but Pizer is one of umpteen possibles discussed in the case over the years without any decent supporting evidence. There are no new revelations about him of which I’m aware. > [@](#): > > The police didn’t wanna reveal who the murder was back then because they where afraid of creating waves of antisemitism and a country where antisemitism already was present Well, you don’t want to risk creating something, especially if it’s already present. :rolleyes: Your theory reeks of fitzschnappel. Despite all the rumors, I don’t believe the Ripper was Kaiser Wilhelm. Means, yes - motive, maybe - but the lack of opportunity is the clincher. Plus it’s hard to commit multiple murders or cut up bodies when you’ve only got one functional hand. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-jack-the-ripper-could-be/371272.md?page=2)