Jack the Ripper and the Case for Scotland Yard's Prime Suspect

Robert House

Description

An investigation into the man Scotland Yard thought (but couldn't prove) was Jack the Ripper

Dozens of theories have attempted to resolve the mystery of the identity of Jack the Ripper, the world's most famous serial killer. Ripperologist Robert House contends that we may have known the answer all along. The head of Scotland Yard's Criminal Investigation Department at the time of the murders thought Aaron Kozminski was guilty, but he lacked the legal proof to convict him. By exploring Kozminski's life, House builds a strong circumstantial case against him, showing not only that he had means, motive, and opportunity, but also that he fit the general profile of a serial killer as defined by the FBI today.

• The first book to explore the life of Aaron Kozminski, one of Scotland Yard's top suspects in the quest to identify Jack the Ripper
• Combines historical research and contemporary criminal profiling techniques to solve one of the most vexing criminal mysteries of all time
• Draws on a decade of research by the author, including trips to Poland and England to uncover Kozminski's past and details of the case
• Includes a Foreword by Roy Hazelwood, a former FBI profiler and pioneer of profiling sexual predators
• Features dozens of photographs and illustrations

Building a thorough and convincing case that completes the work begun by Scotland Yard more than a century ago, this book is essential reading for anyone who wants to know who really committed Jack the Ripper's heinous and unforgettable crimes.
Foreword (Roy Hazelwood).

Acknowledgments.

Introduction.

Part One Coming to London.

1. "Fear God and the King".

2. 1881: The Storm Breaks.

3. The Victorian East End.

4. Jewish Tailors in the East End.

Photo gallery.

Part Two 1888.

5. The Murders Begin.

6. Martha Tabram.

7. Polly Nichols.

8. The Police.

9. Annie Chapman.

10. Elizabeth Stride.

11. Kate Eddowes.

12. Lonesome October.

13. The Batty Street "Lodger".

14. Mary Kelly.

15. The Curtain Falls.

16. An Encore? The Murder of Frances Coles.

Photo gallery.

Part Three Aaron Kozminski.

17. Downward Spiral.

18. Anderson's Suspect.

19. Macnaghten and Swanson.

20. A Few Possible Leads.

21. The Identification, the Witness, and the Informant.

Photo gallery.

Part Four A Modern Perspective.

22. Not Guilty?

23. A Modern Take on Serial Killers.

24. Geographic Profiling.

25. Schizophrenia and Violence.

26. Murder Will Out.

Notes.

Photo Credits.

Index.

Sujets

• True Crime
• Murder
• Serial Killers
• Scotland Yard

Informations

• Publié par: Turner Publishing Company
• Date de parution: 11 mars 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781118003237
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 4 Mo

Extrait

Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Foreword
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part One: Coming to London
1: “Fear God and the King”
2: 1881: The Storm Breaks
3: The Victorian East End
4: Jewish Tailors in the East End
Part Two: 1888
5: The Murders Begin
6: Martha Tabram
7: Polly Nichols
8: The Police
9: Annie Chapman
10: Elizabeth Stride
11: Kate Eddowes
12: Lonesome October
13: The Batty Street “Lodger”
14: Mary Kelly
15: The Curtain Falls
16: An Encore? The Murder of Frances Coles
Part Three: Aaron Kozminski
17: Downward Spiral
18: Anderson’s Suspect
19: Macnaghten and Swanson
20: A Few Possible Leads
21: The Identification, the Witness, and the Informant
Part Four: A Modern Perspective
22: Not Guilty?
23: A Modern Take on Serial Killers
Modern Advances in Criminology
The FBI’s Profile of Jack the Ripper
A Motivational Model
24: Geographic Profiling
25: Schizophrenia and Violence
26: Murder Will Out
Notes
Introduction
1. “Fear God and the King”
2. 1881: The Storm Breaks
3. The Victorian East End
4. Jewish Tailors in the East End
5. The Murders Begin
6. Martha Tabram
7. Polly Nichols
8. The Police
9. Annie Chapman
10. Elizabeth Stride
11. Kate Eddowes
12. Lonesome October
13. The Batty Street “Lodger”
14. Mary Kelly
15. The Curtain Falls
16. An Encore? The Murder of Frances Coles
17. Downward Spiral
18. Anderson’s Suspect
19. Macnaghten and Swanson
20. A Few Possible Leads
21. The Identification, the Witness, and the Informant
22. Not Guilty?
23. A Modern Take on Serial Killers
24. Geographic Profiling
25. Schizophrenia and Violence
26. Murder Will Out
Photo Credits
Index

Copyright © 2011 by Robert House. All rights reserved
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey Published simultaneously in Canada
Photo credits begin on page 341 and constitute an extension of the copyright page.
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ISBN 978-0-470-93899-7 (paper); ISBN 978-1-118-00321-3 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-00322-0 (ebk.); ISBN 978-1-118-00323-7 (ebk.)
Foreword
by Roy Hazelwood
Jack the Ripper. The name itself speaks of serial murder, mutilation, and fear. Even though his identity remains shrouded in mystery, he is, without question, the most infamous serial killer in the history of the world. It has always been interesting to me that Jack’s fame persists in spite of the fact that by today’s violent crime standards, he would not rate more than a passing interest by the media. After all, there were only five or six or seven victims.
I first became intimately familiar with the case in 1988 when John Douglas and I were invited to prepare a profile of the unidentified serial killer known as Jack the Ripper. We were asked to present our findings on a television special, before a live audience, marking the one hundredth anniversary of the Ripper’s crimes. This program was on a major network and was hosted by the noted actor Peter Ustinov. We were provided with police and autopsy reports, background information on each of five Ripper victims, maps depicting the crime locations, and articles and book chapters written about the killings.
We prepared the profile and traveled to Hollywood to rehearse for the show. We met with the other guests who were to appear on the program: a noted forensic pathologist, the curator of Scotland Yard’s Black Museum, and a female jurist from London. John and I shocked our new colleagues when we quickly told them that it was our opinion that Jack the Ripper was a paranoid schizophrenic and that his criminal successes could be attributed more to luck than to skill and intelligence.
We were surprised to learn that the program’s producers had identified five suspects from the 1888 case. Included in the group was a schoolteacher who had committed suicide, a surgeon for the royal family, a prince, and a mentally disturbed person named Aaron Kozminski. John and I studied what was known about the suspects, compared our profile to the group of suspects, and determined that Kozminski most closely matched our profile. We then informed our colleagues that if Kozminski wasn’t the Ripper, then it was someone just like him.
Over the intervening years, I have been made aware of a number of other men who were forcefully put forth as the Ripper. I have not, however, been convinced that any of those men were as likely to be responsible for the murders as Kozminski was.
Over those same years, I have often longed for more information on Kozminski, and periodically I have attempted to delve into his background. Because of a lack of time and patience, however, I was largely unsuccessful. But finally, thanks to Robert House, I am able to satisfy my curiosity. Does Mr. House resolve the identity of Jack the Ripper? Probably not, but no one else has either, and besides, that isn’t his purpose. He simply wants to provide his readers with the most complete history of a most likely suspect, and he has done a masterful job.
Aaron Kozminski was a Polish Jew who spent the first fifteen years of his life in Russia. Mr. House begins his book by providing us with an overview of Jewish life in nineteenth-century Russia. He then transitions the Kozminski family to the East End, or Whitechapel section, of London (where the murders eventually occurred) and situates them geographically, economically, and socially for us. In doing so, he sets the stage for the murders that follow.
Mr. House takes us into the corridors of Jack’s murders through a number of different doors. He provides detailed information on each of the Ripper’s victims, interspersing the murder accounts with informative and interesting material about the police investigation, other main suspects, and even the infamous letter allegedly written by Jack.
As I mentioned earlier, John Douglas and I felt that Jack the Ripper was a paranoid schizophrenic, and Mr. House documents Kozminski’s mental deterioration. What will be new information for many readers (as it was for me) is Mr. House’s description of witness and informant accounts that led to the identification of Kozminski as a viable suspect.
Mr. House then brings the reader into the modern era of the serial killer phenomenon. He discusses the FBI study conducted by John Douglas and Bob Ressler, both of whom served in the Behavioral Science Unit at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia. Mr. House also describes the application of a relatively new law enforcement tool, geographic profiling, to the Ripper case. This process has been effectively used by investigators across the western world and is a most valuable tool in such crimes. The reader will find the procedure and its findings in this case to be illuminating and very interesting.
As an FBI agent, I was fortunate to have served in the Behavioral Science Unit with Bob and John and to have consulted on serial murder cases across the United States, Canada, and Europe. I have also conducted face-to-face interviews with killers, rapists, sexual sadists, and child molesters and their wives and girlfriends, and I can unequivocally state that no case has ever captured the attention of criminologists or the imagination of the public like Jack the Ripper—not the Atlanta Child Murders, Ted Bundy, the notorious Night Stalker of Los Angeles, or even the infamous Citizen X case involving the murders of more than one hundred children in Russia.
Jack the Ripper is unsolved and from all indications will remain so. Mr. House, however, has done for all who are fascinated by this case a great favor by writing an extremely well-researched book that sheds light on the individual who is, in my opinion, the most viable of all suspects in this, the most studied serial murder case in all of history. Jack the Ripper still stands apart from all other serial killers, and it is my belief that he will continue to do so far into the future.
Read, learn, and enjoy!
Robert R. “Roy” Hazelwood