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Shayne Sanders
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Friday, April 02, 2004 - 4:23 pm: | 
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Why is Jack the Ripper so famous and what makes him different from anyother serial killer? why is he a household name? |
Suzi Hanney
Chief Inspector
Username: Suzi
Post Number: 633
Registered: 7-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, April 03, 2004 - 4:15 pm: |
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Hi Shayne
Guess it could be that we dont..... and probably never will ......know the identity or the thinking behind the person responsible for these killings...thats the fascination!
Suzi |
Glenn L Andersson
Assistant Commissioner
Username: Glenna
Post Number: 1448
Registered: 8-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, April 03, 2004 - 4:41 pm: |
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And because of the historical context... flickering gas lamps, Victorian slum alleys and passages, combined with the fact that it happened over hundred years ago... I guess there are a lot of elements in this case that intrigues the mind and the imagination.
After all, he wasn't exactly the only mutilating serial killer in history.
All the best
Glenn Gustaf Lauritz Andersson
Crime historian, Sweden
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Paul Jackson
Detective Sergeant
Username: Paulj
Post Number: 99
Registered: 2-2004
| | Posted on Saturday, April 03, 2004 - 8:34 pm: |
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Hey Everybody,
Glenn...you forgot to throw in the Fog!
Not that it was that foggy, but, That misconception is an additive to the intrigue.
The Ripper is cool, because he never left a trace, nor a clue, and kept his mouth shut.
But, I agree with you and Suzy on your points..
The whole Victorian setting with the alleys, and
the cobblestone streets, the horses and carriages (buggies as we call them), add to that a few rainy nights and a little romanticized ripping....You've got a damn good mystery.
All the best.
Paul |
Glenn L Andersson
Assistant Commissioner
Username: Glenna
Post Number: 1454
Registered: 8-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, April 03, 2004 - 8:37 pm: |
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Ah, yes... the fog! Rats! 
All the best
P.S. So... you call 'em buggies...?
Glenn Gustaf Lauritz Andersson
Crime historian, Sweden
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Paul Jackson
Detective Sergeant
Username: Paulj
Post Number: 101
Registered: 2-2004
| | Posted on Saturday, April 03, 2004 - 8:51 pm: |
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Hey Glenn,
Yea..horse and buggy. I guess its an American thing. Alright, Im off to watch the FBI files.
Goodnight all....or if its daytime where you are...g'day(as Leanne would say)
Paul |
Glenn L Andersson
Assistant Commissioner
Username: Glenna
Post Number: 1456
Registered: 8-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, April 03, 2004 - 9:01 pm: |
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"G'day" Paul.
I jus watched it a few hours ago.
It is 4:02 am (yes, AM!) here now, so I better go to sleep.
All the best
Glenn Gustaf Lauritz Andersson
Crime historian, Sweden
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Jeffrey Bloomfied
Inspector
Username: Mayerling
Post Number: 327
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, April 03, 2004 - 11:24 pm: |
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I would just add that the term, "famous" is not quite right - "infamous" would be better. Famous has a positive connotation that the Ripper's activities does not deserve.
Also, when one thinks of killers it is hard to recall all who actually achieved permanent name
recognition. Most of them are assassins of political figures or famous people:
KILLER VICTIM
Brutus, Cassius, etc. Gaius Julius Caesar
John Wilkes Booth Abraham Lincoln
Lee Harvey Oswald John Fitzgerald Kennedy
Harry K. Thaw Stanford White
Charlotte Corday Jean Paul Marat
David Chapman John Lennon
Sometimes the Victim was not the famous person, but close to the famous person, and so the killer is remembered too.
Bruno Richard Hauptmann Charles Lindbergh Jr.
However, if the prominence of the victim slowly is lost over time, so is the prominence of the killer.
Charles Julius Guiteau President James Garfield
Leon Czolgosz Pres. William McKinley
John Bellingham Prime Minister Perceval
Fitzroy Goldsborough David Graham Phillips
[American novelist]
Giuseppi Zangara Mayor Anton Cermak of
Chicago
Eugene Prendergast Mayor Carter Harrison Sr.
of Chicago
Harry Orchard Ex-Governor Steunenberg
of Idaho
An unsolved murder case does not necessarily keep the case as a prominent one. A few unsolved killings or mysterious deaths are still bugging the people of the globe:
Lizzie Borden (alleged perpetrator)
Sir Harry Oakes (richest man in the British
Empire - murdered in 1943)
Jimmy Hoffa (disappeared in 1975 - possible mob
victim)
Marilyn Monroe - suicide or murder victim/many
celebrities in and out.
Rev. Martin Luther King - conspiracy to kill "the
dreamer" and by whom?
Malcolm X - hit by rival Black Muslims or by
Federal Government.
Dag Hammersjold (Was the U.N Secretary killed in
a plane crash, or assassinated
- and by whom?)
Olav Palme (Who was behind his assassination?)
Some killings, due to historic color mixed with mystery, retain fascination:
The Princes in the Tower (Richard III's victims?)
Lady Amy Robsart (Robert Dudley's grasp for the
crown of England)
Lord Darnley at Kirk 'a Field (Mary, Queen of
Scot's Revenge?)
Sir Thomas Overberry's death (Was King James I
involved with the
Somersets?)
Sir Edmundberry Godfrey (The "Popish Plot" - 1678)
Campbell of Glenure (The "KIDNAPPED" Murder in the
aftermath of the 1745\6
Jacobite Revolt - was "James
of the Glen" Steward framed?)
Meriweather Lewis (Did the explorer/Governor kill
himself or was he
murdered on the old
Nachez Trace in 1809?)
Mary Cecilia Rogers (Was the "beautiful seegar
girl an abortion victim or
a murder victim, and why did
Edgar Allan Poe write of her)
The battleship Maine (Accidental coal explosion,
or purposeful mining of U.S.
battleship - and by whom?)
Lusitania (is the torpedoing purely a German act
of war, or was it carrying
arms, and set up by the
British?)
Morro Castle (Did the radio engineer, a hero in
the fire, poison the Captain
and set the boat on fire?)
Thelma Todd (Was the screen comedian killed in
an accidental gas
asphyxiation in her garage,
or murdered by the Mob?)
Hindenburg (hydrogen explosion disaster or was
the great zeppelin destroyed
in an anti-Nazi plot?)
Amelia Earhart (Did she die in a plane disaster
due to misplanning, or was
she killed spying on the
Japanese?)
General Sikorski (Was his death in a plane
accident at Gibraltar, in 1943,
a murder by Churchill's
Government to placate Stalin?)
But some historical mysteries sort of drift out
of interest -
William Rufus (1100 - was he really shot in a hunt
mistaken for a deer?)
Benjamin Bathurst (1807 - was the diplomat
who vanished in Germany really
killed at the orders of
Napoleon I, or killed by a
gang of robbers?)
De Selis (1810 - Did the valet kill himself after
attacking the obnoxious Duke
of Cumberland at St. James
Palace, or was he silenced by
the Duke after being assaulted
or propositioned?)
Col.Alfred Loewenstein (1928 - Did he really fall
out of his private plane over
the channel, or did a business
rival - or a family member -
assist him?)
Serge Rubinstein (1955 - was the slick Wall Street
swindler killed by business
foes (who were legion),
business associates, criminals
in a botched kidnapping plot,
or someone else - and would the
lack of a solution actually
mirror a general desire to give
the killer(s) an award for
ridding the world of a pest?)
Certain cases are solved, at least officially, but
the personality of the defendant keeps the case
alive:
Eugene Aram (1759) - schoolteacher, and pioneer
in linguistics, hanged for
killing Daniel Clarke.
William Burke [William Hare, Robert Knox](1827-28)
- the West Port Murders (where
Burke and Hare smothered their
victims, and sold the corpses
to Knox, an anatomist.)]
Maria and Frederick Manning [Fascinating lady, and
dull husband, kill her old
lover, and hide his body
in floor of kitchen of house.
Her wearing black satin at her
execution hurt sales of it for
years.]
Michel Eyraud and Gabrielle Bombarde [1889 - the
only French case in the post
Ripper years to rival the Cream
and Deeming and Birchall cases
for the sweep of the stage of
the crime and arrest - Eyraud
travelled to America, and was
arrested in Cuba. Bombarde's
gamin-type personality made her
the press's darling at the
trial. She went to prison for
the murder, but Eyraud was
guilloutined.]
Dr. Hawley Crippen [1910 - brings together patent
medicines, the English music
hall, early wireless
telegraphy, an international
steamship race, a crime
passionale - for England! -
and a peculiarly unsympathetic
victim. Possibly, except for
Whitechapel, the classic
English murder case.]
George J. Smith & Henri Landru [1910-1919 -
contemporary wife murderers
for gain. Smith invented a
unique method of killing by
drowning in bathtubs. Landru
got it down to a very
efficient system that he
jotted down in a memo book,
down to the last centime he
spent per victim.]
Dr. Marcel Petiot [1930 - 1944 - how many killers
were not only professional men
of competence, but also served
terms as Mayor of a major town
and even (briefly) a term in
the national legislature. He
may have killed several
people in the 1930s, but the
Nazi occupation gave him his
real opportunity - he lured
many unfortunate refugees,
mostly Jews, to a building,
promising to get them out of
Europe, beat them to death,
and then stole their
money and property. He
was eventually guilloutined.]
Whitechapel has local color, perpetual mystification, and thousands of points of interest. But there are many other mysteries, as I have pointed out.
Jeff
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Suzi Hanney
Chief Inspector
Username: Suzi
Post Number: 637
Registered: 7-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, April 04, 2004 - 9:14 am: |
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Hi Jeff,Glenn et al,
Jeff-Wow! impressive post there!!!! love the idea of the black satin at her execution!!!
Glenn..Hi again!!...rats!.......,cockroaches and headlice too!!!Mmmmmm nice times,.....ok if you had a horse and buggy to escape in though!!
Cheers
Suzi |
M.Mc.
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Saturday, April 03, 2004 - 3:01 pm: |
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They still talk about Nero and Vlad just like they talk about Hitler. Evil people such as these are rare, thank goodness. However, it makes them stand out among the rest of us. Jack the Ripper and the Zodiac Killer were not caught unlike other serial killers. Therefore one get caught up in a endless guessing game about them. Plus books and movies are made about them for money of course.  |
Paul Jackson
Detective Sergeant
Username: Paulj
Post Number: 102
Registered: 2-2004
| | Posted on Sunday, April 04, 2004 - 10:44 am: |
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Hey Everyone,
Hey Jeff,
Good post! Wow! Well put together. Anyway,
yea..there are indeed, other great mysteries
out there. I guess its all about the curiosity killing the cat.
M.MC....just go ahead and send in your application of the boards. You need to be a member...I see you all over the boards. Thats a good thing, though.
Paul |
Michael Raney
Inspector
Username: Mikey559
Post Number: 244
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Monday, April 05, 2004 - 1:03 pm: |
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I think besides the great mystery, Jack stays in our minds because of the multiple media stories. Movies, books, magazines, television shows and even comic books.
Mikey |
Shelley Wiltshire
Detective Sergeant
Username: Shelley
Post Number: 65
Registered: 7-2004
| | Posted on Sunday, August 15, 2004 - 6:15 pm: |
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Hi all,
I think Jack the Ripper has been made famous, not just because of the stories ( especially suspicions encircling the Royal Family), the movies and the books, but in 1888 itself, newspapers were falling over themselves selling , not just in Britain but also abroad, Australia, Canada, America etc. They also played on the assumption of a middle class killer ( were cut throats were attributed to the poorer classes generally), but it was also the nature of the killings that sparked off notoriety, that the mutilations were by a sex killer, hence the sex and death intrique, also the police were at the forefront also because the nature of the killings, sure the police had come across terrible murders before, even mutilations of great mess, but they realised that these particular killings were different, in the fact that they were purely sexual, even the police of the day checked to see if semen was on or around the victims, so even the British Bobby was aware of sex killings in 1888, this was through a Dr in Europe (sorry can't recall his name), germany i think, he had worked on the profile and behaviour of a sex serial killer for the past 10 years, he had brought his teachings to Britain in 1883 or 1887, so that Britain had time enough to study properly before Jack the Ripper struck. The fog...yeah i call 'em pea soupers The smell was probably the least to say the worst!
Regards
Shelley
Criminology Student |
Andrew Spallek
Chief Inspector
Username: Aspallek
Post Number: 562
Registered: 5-2003
| | Posted on Monday, August 16, 2004 - 9:51 am: |
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Well said, Shelly. But the media craze over violent sex crimes did not begin in 1888. Remember the sensation caused by the "London Monster" (Rhenwick Williams) ca. 1790. This case is important also because it indicates that the police did indeed have experience with serial sex crimes. Actually, I should say "the authorities" rather than "the police" since there were no proper police in 1790.
Andy S. |
Dustin Gould
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Sunday, January 02, 2005 - 8:41 pm: |
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Hi Shayne,
There's a host of variables, that could have resulted in Jack's killing spree being remembered above all others. For one, it's been highly romanced, as the Victorian Era was just such a period in history. Gentlemen were well groomed and dressed, as were the woman of that time (well, usually). Which accounts for the stereotypical appearance, you almost always read Jack presented in: Top hat, long, flowing opera cape, walking stick, white gloves, etc.. In other words, a much more memorable sight, than say a disheveled, grubby, street person would commit to memory. There's also the incalculable amount of coverage he received. Not only back then in the press, but even today as well. In books and websites. It tends to have a snowball effect, and accumulates more and more interested parties, the longer it goes on. And finally, there's the simple fact, that is has yet to be solved.
All the best,
Dustin Gould |
Kris Moore
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Friday, March 11, 2005 - 6:10 pm: |
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The story of Jack the Ripper has been expanded and hyped up to the point that most people don't think of the fact that he killed--how many people? I don't even know. Many folks today are fascinated purely with his debonare style, the ease with which he took care of his victims. As is the case with many serial killers/robbers/rapists/'bad guys' of yesteryear: Jesse James, David Berkowitz, John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, The Boston Strangler... it is mostly the romanticism (which is somehow, in some obsure way, stuck in to most murder stories) which is remembered and enlarged upon. The longer a serial killer goes undescovered, the more he/she is, quite frankly, idolized and ifamized, the opposite ends of the spectrum but both happening at once. And when the killing or whatever finally stops, they become a fairy tale, something unreal that is used to frighten children into behaving. But why are they forgotten so quickly? I don't really know, blame it on society or our the horrible times we live in. But Jack the Ripper seems to have the same appeal for people as do the other infamous criminals who have lived in the last century or so. My best guess is that people need something totally freakish to scare them back into their place, although no one takes it seriously any more. As I said, blame it on society. |
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