Jack the Ripper: Was London killer actually a WOMAN? – Bombshell new theory
A WORLD-FAMOUS tourist attraction is exploring the intriguing idea London’s most infamous serial killer was actually a woman – with the London Dungeon changing Jack to a Jackie, played by a female actress, for a limited time only.
Mary Ann Nichols’ mutilated body was found on August 31, 1888 in the East End of London.
Police were initially confused because they were unable to establish a motive – but after four more victims suffered the same fate, there was reason to believe the murders were committed by the same feared suspect.
The five – Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes, and Mary Kelly - came to be known as the canonical five, although other possible victim have been proposed.
Police searched for the killer for months, all the while being taunted by a range of letters signed by ’Jack the Ripper’, leading police to believe that the killer was male.
Interestingly however, Metropolitan Police Chief Inspector Frederick Abberline collected several statements from witnesses who claimed they saw someone wearing Mary Kelly’s clothes as they left the murder scene.
The theory was never investigated, and the killer was never caught.
According to his book The Hand of a Woman John Morris supports the theory that Jack the Ripper was female, claiming that "the idea that Jack the Ripper was a female should not be overlooked".
Morris investigated potential suspects ignored by investigators and the press, putting infertile doctor’s assistant Lizzie Williams at the forefront of his suspicion.
He wrote: “Four of the five Ripper victims had their uterus removed, with the fifth showing signs of an attempted removal.
“Lizzie Williams was unable to have children of her own, and it’s believed this spurned hatred towards prostitutes, who were able to become pregnant so easily.
“It is also widely believed that her husband was involved with the fifth victim, Mary Jane Kelly, which further encouraged her murderous intentions.”
Another woman sometimes suggested as a possible Ripper suspect in Mary Pearcey, who was convicted of the murder of her lover’s wife, Phoebe Hogg, and daughter, also called Phoebe, on October 24 1890, and hanged on December 23.
In May 2006, DNA testing on saliva found on stamps on letters allegedly sent to various newspapers by Jack the Ripper indicated that it came from a woman, leading to Pearcey and other female suspects being proposed.
The London Dungeon’s resident Ripperologist Richard Quincey said: “Jack the Ripper has baffled both the police and public for many years, because the killer has never been identified.
"The air of mystery continues to play on our curiosity, with a range of theories behind the attacks never investigated due to the limited resources that the police had in the year 1800s.
Jack the Ripper: Historian claims to know identity of killer
This I believe will surprise and shock our audiences
“The claim that the Ripper was a female is an interesting view, and one that was never investigated with evidence such as sightings of someone walking away from the murder scene in a victim’s clothes to support this.
“It’s one of London’s biggest mysteries and one that we may never know the truth of, however the story of the infamous killer will continue to live on.’
Andrew Walker, General Manager at The London Dungeon said: "This theory makes you look at the Ripper story in a completely new way and this is definitely something we’d like to reflect within the attraction which is why we have taken our Jack the Ripper show and turned it on its head.
"This I believe will surprise and shock our audiences, just as much as this revelation shocks and surprises those with an interest in the Ripper story."