I heard he sent a letter along with one of his victim's kidneys. I don't know, I have to research it and see if I can find anything on it. edit - Found TONS of info on Jack... quoteOver the course of the Ripper murders, the police and newspapers received many thousands of letters regarding the case. Some were from well-intentioned persons offering advice for catching the killer; the vast majority of these were deemed useless and subsequently ignored.
Perhaps more interesting were hundreds of letters which claimed to have been written by the killer ("Jack the Ripper" was a nickname coined by one such writer); however, the vast majority of such letters are considered hoaxes. Many experts contend that none of them are genuine, but of the ones cited as perhaps genuine, either by contemporary or modern authorities, three in particular are prominent:
The "Dear Boss" letter, dated September 25, postmarked and received September 27, 1888, by the Central News Agency, was forwarded to Scotland Yard on September 29. Initially it was considered a hoax, but when Eddowes was found with one ear severed, the letter's promise to "clip the ladys ears off" gained attention. Police published the letter on October 1, hoping someone would recognise the handwriting, but nothing came of this effort. The name "Jack the Ripper" was first used in this letter and gained worldwide notoriety after its publication. Most of the letters that followed copied the tone of this one. After the murders, police officials contended the letter was a hoax by a local journalist.
The "Saucy Jack" postcard, postmarked and received October 1, 1888, by the Central News Agency, had handwriting similar to the "Dear Boss" letter. It mentions that two victims—Stride and Eddowes—were killed very close to one another: "double event this time." It has been argued that the letter was mailed before the murders were publicised, making it unlikely that a crank would have such knowledge of the crime, though it was postmarked more than 24 hours after the killings took place, long after details were known by journalists and residents of the area. Police officials later claimed to have identified a specific journalist as the author of both this message and the earlier "Dear Boss" letter.
The "From Hell" letter, postmarked October 15 and received by George Lusk of the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee on October 16, 1888. Lusk opened a small box to discover half a human kidney, later said by a doctor to have been preserved in "spirits of wine" (ethyl alcohol). One of Eddowes' kidneys had been removed by the killer, and a doctor determined the kidney sent to Lusk was "very similar to the one removed from Catherine Eddowes," though his findings were inconclusive [1]. The writer claimed to have "fried and ate" the missing kidney half. There is some disagreement over the kidney: some contend it had belonged to Eddowes; others argue it was "a macabre practical joke, and no more." [2]
Some sources list another letter, dated September 17, 1888, as the first message to use the Jack the Ripper name. Experts believe this was a modern fake inserted into police records in the 20th century long after the killings took place. They note that the letter has neither an official police stamp verifying the date it was received, nor the initials of the investigator who would have examined it if it were ever considered as potential evidence. Neither is it mentioned in any police document of the time, and some who have seen it claim that it was written with a ballpoint pen, which was not invented until some fifty years after the Ripper crimes.
herequoteThe following suspects were named by one or more police officials as possibly being Jack the Ripper:
Montague John Druitt (August 15, 1857–December 1?, 1888). Having received a degree as a lawyer, he occasionally practiced his occupation while he was more permanently employed as a private school teacher from 1881 until November 21, 1888. He was also known as a sportsman and was an amateur cricket player. Under unknown circumstances, he last attended the school in Blackheath on November 19, 1888, and was officially dismissed two days later. His body was found floating in the River Thames on December 31, 1888. The examination suggested his body was kept at the bottom of the river for several weeks by stones placed in his pockets. The police concluded that he committed suicide by drowning under a state of depression, although he was known as a good swimmer. His disappearance and death shortly after the fifth and last canonical murder led some of the investigators of the time to suggest he was the Ripper, putting an end to the series of murders. More recently some have expressed doubts if he committed suicide or was himself murdered. Recent research shows that between the Kelly murder and his death he had been involved as legal representation in a court case and, according to the judge, argued his side well. Some people suggest that this counters the notion that Druitt had broken down mentally after the Kelly murder.
Severin Antoniovich Klosowski (alias George Chapman -- no relation to victim Annie Chapman, December 14, 1865–April 7, 1903), junior surgeon and later barber. Born in Nargornak, Poland, he acted as an assistant and later a junior surgeon from December 1880 till February 1887. Then he immigrated to England. When he settled in London is unknown, but there he found employment as an assistant hairdresser and later opened his own barbershop. Though he relocated his shop several times, he was believed to be in Whitechapel at the time of the murders. He is mentioned being present in London in April 1891, but he seems to have established his new residence in Jersey City, New Jersey, USA, shortly after that time. Already he had started a series of short-lived common law marriages. On December 25, 1897, Mary Spink, his wife at the time, died of poisoning. She was followed by Bessie Taylor (d. February 14, 1901) and Maud Marsh (d. October 22, 1902). The subsequent deaths of all three "wives" after sudden sicknesses with nearly identical symptoms finally drew attention to him. An examination of the bodies found them having ingested large doses of antimony mixed with the medicine their attentive "husband" was providing. He was arrested, put on trial and executed by hanging. His perceived misogyny, his surgical knowledge and his presence in Whitechapel during the canonical murders and the possibility that he was near New York at the time of Carrie Brown's murder immediately produced the theory that he was Jack the Ripper, although he is known as a poisoner and not a mutilator. Recent research suggests he did not reach the United States until after the Brown murder. He was at one time the favored suspect of Inspector Frederick Abberline.
Aaron Kosminski (1864/1865–1919). Member of London's Jewish population. He was transferred to a mental hospital in February 1891. He was named as a suspect in Chief Constable Melville Macnaghten's memoranda, which stated that there were strong reasons for suspecting him, and that he strongly resembled "the man seen by a City PC" near Mitre Square. (This is the only mention of any such sighting, and it has been suggested by some autors that Macnaghten really meant the City Police's witness Joseph Lawende, though others suggest alternative explanations). Assistant Commissioner Robert Anderson said several times that the Ripper had been positively identified, stating in his memoirs that he was a poor Polish Jew from Whitechapel who was incarcerated in an asylum before he could be charged. In marginalia in his copy of the memoirs, Chief Inspector Swanson (Anderson's desk officer on the case) said that this man was Kosminski, adding that he had been watched at his brother's home in Whitechapel by the City police, that he was taken to the asylum with his hands tied nehind his back, and died shortly afterwards. These last two details are quite untrue of Kosminski, who lived until 1919. His insanity took the form of auditory hallucinations, a paranoid fear of being fed by other people, and a refusal to wash or bathe. He was described as harmless in the asylum, although he had once threatened asylum attendants with a chair. He was previously reputed to have threatened his sister with a knife. These two incidents are the only known indications of violent behavior. His inclusion in the list of suspects has been seen by many recent scholars as more the result of Anti-Semitism at the time of the murders than a genuine connection to the case.
Michael Ostrog (1833– 1904?), professional con man. Used numerous aliases and disguises. He was mentioned as a suspect by an official who joined the case in 1889, the year after the "canonical five" victims were killed. Researchers have failed to find evidence that he committed crimes any more serious than fraud and theft. In fact, records show he was jailed for these offenses in France during the Ripper murders, which would seem to be an iron-clad alibi. He is last mentioned alive in 1904.
"Dr." Francis Tumblety (c. 1833–1903). Seemingly uneducated or self-educated American, he earned a small fortune posing as an expert doctor throughout the USA and Canada and occasionally traveling across Europe as well. Perceived as a misogynist, he was connected to the deaths of some of his patients, though it is uncertain if this was deliberate or not. Francis was in England in 1888. He was arrested on November 7, 1888, "on charges of gross indecency", apparently for engaging in homosexual practices. He was released on bail on November 16, 1888. Awaiting trial, he instead fled the country for France on November 24, 1888. It has been suggested that he could have been released in time for the murder of Mary Jane Kelly (on November 9) and be arrested again after it. Notorious in the United States for his scams, news of his arrest led some to suggest he was the Ripper. Whether he was a killer or an eccentric regarded with unjust suspicion is a matter of debate.
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I think the "Ripper" part implies that he didn't do it with much of a degree of neatness.
