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Welcome to Criminal Adaptations, where we take a look at some of your favorite movies and the true crime stories that inspired them.
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I'm Remy.
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I spent over a decade working in the film and television industry in Los Angeles, California.
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And I'm Ashley, a clinical psychologist and forensic evaluator in the state of Oregon.
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Welcome back, everybody.
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So glad you could all join us once again for one of our more historic episodes.
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Now, Ashley, if you could go back in time and solve one unsolved mystery in all of history, what would it be?
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Ooh, way to put me on the spot.
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That is a really tough question.
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The first thing that comes to my mind is what happened to Amelia Earhart?
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Not just where she is, because obviously her plane crashed somewhere, but like where did it crash?
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Did she die immediately?
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Was she alive for a while?
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I think that would be interesting.
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I think I would have to pick the subject of today's episode.
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Jack the Ripper.
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And that's probably because it's almost 140 years old, and everyone is still arguing about who did it.
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I mean, it's probably the most famous unsolved serial killer murder spree of all time.
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The Zodiac would be a good one too.
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I know every couple of years somebody comes out with definitive proof that they know who Jack the Ripper is, and everyone spends a bunch of time talking about it, and then it's completely bullshit.
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Oh yeah, we will get into a lot of those claims today.
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That is because today we will be covering probably the most famous movie to tackle this mystery, From Hell.
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The only problem is it doesn't exactly try and solve the case, and instead it creates a conspiracy theory, so insane that it kind of ends up being pretty entertaining.
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And we've got a lot to cover today, so let's find out what happens when you take one of history's most famous unsolved murder cases, throw in a royal conspiracy, a secret society, Johnny Depp, and apparently some psychic detective powers as well.
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One day, men will look back and say I gave birth to the 20th century.
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From Hell was released in 2001 and was directed by Albert and Alan Hughes, better known as the Hughes Brothers.
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It was written by Terry Hayes and Raphael Iglesias, and stars Johnny Depp as Inspector Frederick Aberleen, the Scottinyard detective investigating the Whitechapel murders, alongside Heather Graham as Mary Kelly.
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The supporting cast includes Ian Holm, Ian Richardson, Jason Fleming, and Hagrid himself, Robbie Coltrane.
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You're a wizard, Harry.
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Now, although the movie takes place during the Jack the Ripper murders, it isn't a direct adaptation of the real case.
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Instead, it's based on Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell's graphic novel, From Hell, which I also read for this episode.
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And man, is it a beast of a book?
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Alan Moore first began developing From Hell in the late 1980s after becoming fascinated with the Jack the Ripper murders.
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He became so obsessed with the case that he even enlisted fellow comic writer Neil Gaiman to help him track down rare books and historical documents at the British Museum.
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The story began publication in serialized installments in 1989 before finally wrapping up in 1998.
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That is a really long run.
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Rather than trying to solve the Ripper murders, Moore built his story around a theory proposed by author Stephen Knight in his 1976 book, Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution.
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The theory claimed the murders were part of a royal conspiracy involving Prince Albert Victor, Queen Victoria's grandson, which became the foundation for Moore's own story.
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And I don't even get into this theory because it was so convoluted and involved like three separate people and just made no sense to me in my opinion, so I just discounted it.
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From Hell went on to become one of the most acclaimed graphic novels of the 1990s, and it didn't take long before From Hell became the very first Alan Moore work to receive a feature film adaptation.
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Moore, however, wanted absolutely nothing to do with the project and intentionally distance himself from the production, later stating that he preferred not to watch film adaptations of his work because he viewed comic books and movies as two entirely different mediums.
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The project itself spent several years bouncing around Hollywood before eventually landing at 20th Century Fox.
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Around that same time, the Hughes brothers signed on to direct after passing on Planet of the Apes, which Tim Burton went on to direct, unfortunately.
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From Hell was a natural fit for the brothers who had been fascinated with Jack the Ripper ever since they were about seven years old after watching an episode of In Search of, hosted by Leonard Nimoy.
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They spent years reading
Load full transcript
books and watching documentaries about the murders, and by the time From Hell came along, they had already made a name for themselves with Menace to Society, Dead Presidents, and American Pimp, eventually landing From Hell as their first major studio production.
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According to the Hughes brothers, Daniel Day Lewis was their first choice to play Inspector Aberleen, and both Brad Pitt and Jude Law were reportedly considered before Johnny Depp ultimately signed on.
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Would you have preferred any of those actors over Johnny Depp?
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I don't think any of those actors could have saved this film, unfortunately.
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Not even Daniel Day.
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Though he would have done a much better job.
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Ironically, Depp initially turned the role down because he'd just finished playing another investigator in Victorian England in Sleepy Hollow.
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But his longtime interest in Jack the Ripper eventually convinced him to take part in the project.
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He later said he'd been reading books about the murders since childhood and owned more than two dozen on the subject.
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I was about seven, maybe seven, eight years old.
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And I remember seeing a documentary on public television about uh about the Ripper and uh just that that began the fascination, you know.
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I was just immediately uh intrigued and uh wanted to learn more and was amazed that such a huge case and such an awful crime had gone on unsolved for hundreds and so hundreds of years.
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So uh yeah.
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Studd early.
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Oh Johnny, it hasn't been hundreds of years.
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Someone's not good at math.
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Also, I would be so concerned if I had a seven-year-old boy who became obsessed with Jack the Ripper.
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Right?
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The directors started getting interested in him around that same time.
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I was not into serial killers when I was seven or eight years old.
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In Alan Moore's graphic novel, Inspector Frederick Aberleen is portrayed as a highly respected Scotland Yard detective.
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But once Depp landed the role, the character was rewritten as a younger inspector whose opium addiction gives him psychic visions that help guide his investigation.
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Can you guys hear my eyes rolling?
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You may recognize this tired old psychic detective trope from characters like Alison Dubois in Medium, Johnny Smith in The Dead Zone, or Wednesday Adams in Wednesday.
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And personally speaking, I've always found the whole investigator conveniently sees visions of the crime thing to be pretty cliche and unimaginative.
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The story itself also underwent some pretty major changes from the graphic novel.
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In Moore's original version, readers learned the killer's identity relatively early in the story, making it less of a murder mystery and more of a character study centered on Sir William Gull.
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The movie ditches this concept completely and instead turns the story into a more traditional whodunit built around Aberleen trying to solve the murders.
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And personally speaking, the graphic novel is a thousand times better than the movie is, but we'll get more into that later.
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The film also invents Aberleen's romance with Mary Kelly and greatly scales back the graphic novel's heavy focus on Freemasonry, the occult, and Gull's lengthy philosophical monologues in an effort to make the story more accessible to general audiences.
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I know, I know, we'll get into it.
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Principal photography began on June 5th, 2000, with most of the film shot in Prague, the Czech Republic.
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Although Prague has some incredible historic architecture, which we can both vouch for, production designer Martin Childs said it looked very little like Victorian London.
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Because of that, enormous sections of Whitechapel had to be built from scratch at Barandov Studios, using surviving photographs, newspaper illustrations, and historical records from 1888, to painstakingly recreate the streets, buildings, and many of the actual murder locations.
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Did it look good?
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I will say the sets in this film looked really good.
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The sets in the costumes, A plus is all around there, the film and the acting, not so much.
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The special effects team even studied real coroner's reports and surviving crime scene photographs, so the victim's injuries would be as historically accurate as possible.
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Production hit an unexpected setback when Nigel Hawthorne, who had originally been cast as Sir William Gull, withdrew after being diagnosed with terminal cancer.
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Ian Holm ultimately stepped into the role, and because the two actors were very different physically, several scenes had to be reworked before filming could continue.
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So now that we've covered how this whole thing came together, let's head back to Victorian London, where Johnny Depp is about to solve the case of Jack the Ripper with a little help from a few poppy-fueled psychic premonitions.
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Jack the Ripper, 1888.
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Our story begins as the opening credits
play intercut with extreme close-ups of Inspector Frederick Aberleen, played by Johnny Depp, preparing and smoking opium from a long ivory pipe.
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We then fade in on a blood red sunset over London in 1888, before panning down into Whitechapel, where the cobblestone streets are packed with cockney boozers, hustlers, hussies, drunken vagrants pissing in the streets, and prostitutes haggling on nearly every corner.
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Among them are Martha Tabram, played by Samantha Spiro, Polly Nichols, played by Annabelle Epsian, Dark Annie Chapman, played by Catherage, Liz Stride, played by Susan Lynch, and Mary Kelly, played by Heather Graham.
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As we follow Mary down an alleyway, she is accosted by two men dressed in black.
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One man has a dramatic scar running across his face, while the other man, named McQueen, played by David Schofield, begins cutting the buttons off of her dress one by one with a large switchblade.
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McQueen reminds Mary that he was expecting payment from her and the girls last Monday, and gives her one more day to come up with the money, or he'll be introducing her and her friends to the sharp end of his blade.
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Mary and her cohorts sleep together in a church that night and wash themselves in a public fountain the following morning.
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Wait, so it's portrayed that all those women are like friends?
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I wouldn't go as far as saying friends, more like co-workers, I guess.
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The women are soon joined by Anne Crook, played by Joanna Page, who is eager to show off her newborn daughter, Alice, to the other women.
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Anne is also a former prostitute herself, but is now being supported by her wealthy baby daddy who goes by the name of Albert.
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Elsewhere on Cleveland Street, a carriage driver named Nettley, played by Jason Fleming, is minding his own business when a mysterious man sneaks up behind him, puts a knife to his throat, and tells him he'll soon be transporting a very special passenger who is not to be disturbed and must be taken wherever he wishes to go.
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Well, that's ominous.
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I know, right?
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Meanwhile, Anne has given Mary her baby for safekeeping while she goes off to have a quick mid-morning rendezvous with her boy toy Albert.
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The couple's sexcapades are suddenly interrupted, however, when Anne and Albert are abducted by a group of men in bowler hats, while Mary and Martha watch helplessly from around the corner of the building.
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Hours later, there is still no sign of Anne anywhere, so Mary decides to take baby Alice to Anne's parents for safekeeping, while Martha stays behind to keep on working.
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Now alone, Martha walks down a dimly lit cobblestone street when she is suddenly grabbed by an unseen figure lurking in the darkness and dragged into an alley where we see only brief glimpses of light glistening off the killer's knife as it is viciously plunged into Martha over and over again.
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We then cut to an opium den filled with tattooed women and random guys sprawled all over the place looking higher than giraffe balls, including our protagonist, Inspector Aberline, who is likewise chasing the dragon.
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In the middle of his drug-induced stupor, Aberline has a psychic vision of Martha's murder, filmed and edited like a jigsaw trap sequence from one of the many saw films.
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Did the graphic novel have psychic visions?
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No, he is not a psychic in the novel.
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He is not a drug addict in the novel.
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He is just a normal inspector who is a good man trying to go about his business.
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All of this is created because Johnny Depp joined the project.
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And apparently they must have thought that this character would suit him more?
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I don't know what that says about him.
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Aberen is eventually found by Sergeant Peter Godley, played by Robbie Coltrane.
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You're a wizard, Harry.
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Who promptly bitch slaps Aberleen, yanks him to his feet, and drags him out because unfortunately for Aberline, there is a murder to investigate.
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After plunging his face into a basin of cold water, Aberline and Godley spark up a couple of cigarettes before heading down to the morgue.
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There, they are briefed on Martha Tabram's murder, and Aberline learns that before slitting her throat, the killer removed her lady parts and took them with him as a keepsake.
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Meanwhile, down at the Royal London Hospital, we are introduced to an unimposing gray-haired physician named Sir William Gull, played by Ian Holm, as he lectures a group of medical students about a revolutionary new procedure for treating insanity.
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Today's patient also just so happens to be Anne Crook.
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I do not like where this is going one bit.
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Anne's arms and legs are strapped to an operating table before being rendered unconscious with chloroform and wheeled into a packed operating theater.
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There, Dr.
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Farrell, played by Paul Rise, cuts into her scalp and repeatedly hammers a long chisel-like instrument through her skull while Gull calmly narrates the entire procedure.
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Anne survives but is
left profoundly mentally impaired and unable to communicate coherently.
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Why did they lobotomize her?
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Oh, you'll find out soon.
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It's a pretty big reveal.
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We then cut to sometime later, where Polly has just finished with a customer in a filthy alleyway.
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He tosses a few shillings on the ground, and as she scrambles to pick them up, McQueen appears and slams her against the wall, then threatens to gouge her eye out, claiming the money on the ground belongs to him and his gang.
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Fortunately, a constable arrives just in time and sends McQueen on his way.
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Not long afterward, Polly reunites with the other women, still shaken and looking for comfort.
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Liz tries to console her through physical intimacy, but Polly rejects her, leaving Liz to walk away as Polly stands alone in the street crying.
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Later that night, Polly rides alone in a carriage with a mysterious man in a top hat, his face completely hidden in darkness.
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As she casually eats grapes, he offers her a drink and talks about the ancient architecture of Whitechapel before suddenly grabbing her by the throat and pulling her into the shadows with him.
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What's it called again?
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Cleopatra.
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She was a beauty, wasn't she?
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It was carved 1500 years before the Son of God was born.
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Six men died to bring it here from Egypt.
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So I left this out of my portion.
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There was speculation that one of the Ripper victims ate grapes before she died, although this has been disproven since there is no evidence that there was stomach contents in her stomach at time of death.
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But it was not Polly Nichols.
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It was Elizabeth Stride, who was the third victim.
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Oh, all of the women in From Hell are given the grapes.
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Every one of them.
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Oh, the Ripper gives them the grapes?
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Yes, the Ripper always gives them grapes to earn their trust because apparently back in the day grapes were pretty expensive and hard to come by.
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And then he would give them a drink of something that would drug them a little bit, and then he would murder them.
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Moments later, Polly lies dead in the street with her throat slit.
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The mysterious man calmly works out of a briefcase filled with surgical instruments, doing something unseen to her lower torso before packing up, walking away, and seemingly vanishing into thin air.
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Pauly's body is discovered not long afterward by a patrolling constable.
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Also, from this point on, I'm just gonna call the killer the Ripper because that's who he is.
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Hours later, Aberleen arrives at the crime scene, now overrun by curious citizens and police who have left Polly exactly where she was found for everyone to gawk at.
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Sergeant Godley briefs him, explaining there were no witnesses and nobody heard so much as a peep.
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With a little help from yet another one of his opium-fueled psychic visions, Everline concludes Polly was murdered elsewhere and brought there by carriage.
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He also discovers a grapevine in Polly's pocket, which he believes came from the killer since grapes would have been far too expensive for a Whitechapel prostitute to afford.
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Polly's body is eventually brought to the morgue, where two coroners become sick at the sight of her mutilated abdomen.
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Even Aberleen admits he's never seen anything like it, describing the killer as an irrationally meticulous butcher.
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Believing the murderer has at least some working knowledge of anatomy and dissection, Aberleen orders every veterinarian, butcher, and furrier in the district to be interviewed as potential suspects.
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Aberen also explains that Polly's throat was slit, she was stabbed once in the chest, disemboweled, and had at least one of her organs removed.
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Aberen later tells his superior, Sir Charles Warren, played by Ian Richardson that the killer may actually be a wealthy Englishman, but Warren immediately dismisses the idea and is far more interested in blaming a minority.
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Anti-Semitism was rampant in London at the time because London was experiencing an influx of immigrants, many of which were Jewish people from surrounding areas.
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Yeah, one of the people he tries to sort of put the focus on is a Native American man who is just in town for a Wild West show and has nothing to do with any of this except he's in a Wild West entertainment show.
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As news of Pauli's murder hits the papers, Whitechapel quickly descends into paranoid hysteria.
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One evening, Aberleen treats himself to a steaming hot bath and a large glass of green absinthe, spiked with a few drops of laudanum, sending him into another vision, this time of his wife, who died during childbirth.
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How does this guy get anything done?
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Seriously, he does this like every single night, it seems, and in all of these scenes, he is just zoning out, zonked out of his gourd.
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During
Polly's funeral, the ropes suddenly give way as her casket is being lowered, sending it crashing into the grave and breaking open, exposing her horribly disfigured body to everyone in attendance.
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Afterward, Aberleen and Godley question the remaining women, who are convinced McQueen, leader of the Nickel gang, is behind the murders.
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They are called the Nickel Gang because they operate on Nickel Street.
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Later that night, the women gather in their crowded lodging house, where we learn Mary immigrated from Ireland when she was eight.
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They also discuss taking Anne Crook's disappearance to the newspapers before the landlord bursts in, furious that four women are sharing a room meant for one.
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He slaps one of them and throws them all out onto the street, forcing them to look for customers so they can afford another room for the night.
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Elsewhere, the ripper sits down to an elegant meal of one of the rarest-looking cuts of meat I have ever seen, paired with red wine, mixed with a few drops of blood, and laudanum.
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Laudanum was apparently pretty popular back then.
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Afterward, he puts on white gloves, a black top hat and cape, and retrieves a red-lined black briefcase neatly packed with surgical instruments.
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The scene is basically portrayed like Batman getting his suit on and all of his gadgets ready before heading out into the night.
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Back on the streets, Annie is approached by Nettley, the carriage driver, who tells her that a wealthy gentleman specifically requested her company and is eager to meet her over on Hanover Street.
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Though Annie is apprehensive, she is quickly convinced when Nettley offers her a fresh bunch of red grapes to eat along the way.
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Once they arrive, Nettley directs Annie into a nearby alley where we hear the sounds of her murder mere moments later as the film jarringly flashes between quick graphic glimpses of her horrific attack.
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Aberen arrives the following morning to find the crime scene already surrounded by onlookers.
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Another of the circle of friends, Annie Chapman.
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Dark Annie, they call her.
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You still say this isn't the Nichols boys?
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Leather apron.
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We could be looking for a butcher after all.
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This one.
00:26:12.470 --> 00:26:14.470
Or fellow whore in this case.
00:26:14.710 --> 00:26:16.949
He's really outdone himself this time, hasn't he?
00:26:16.949 --> 00:26:21.589
He not only severed the intestines, he's carefully ranged them around the neck and shoulders.
00:26:21.589 --> 00:26:24.789
I think he's taking more organs this time.
00:26:25.909 --> 00:26:36.230
In case you couldn't tell by the clip, Aberline saw Annie's murder during another drug-fueled vision quest, and notices another grape stem clutched in her hand.
00:26:36.230 --> 00:26:45.269
He begins theorizing that the killer is using grapes to gain the women's trust before carrying out what he believes are ritualistic murders.
00:26:45.269 --> 00:27:00.470
Later, Aberleen tells Sir Charles Warren that Annie's uterus was removed and, believing the killer has advanced anatomical knowledge, requests a surgeon with a strong stomach and stable mind to assist with the investigation.
00:27:00.470 --> 00:27:08.149
This leads Aberline to the London hospital where he arrives during a fundraiser featuring renowned surgeon Dr.
00:27:08.149 --> 00:27:18.470
Frederick Treves, showcasing Joseph Merrick, better known as the Elephant Man, to a room of wealthy donors, physicians, and aristocrats.
00:27:18.470 --> 00:27:23.750
Afterwards, the guests move on to a reception for drinks and mingling.
00:27:26.949 --> 00:27:27.429
You Dr.
00:27:27.429 --> 00:27:27.990
Farrell.
00:27:32.869 --> 00:27:35.429
Oh my lord, you're the ripper case.
00:27:35.429 --> 00:27:36.470
Am I right?
00:27:36.710 --> 00:27:37.029
Yeah.
00:27:37.509 --> 00:27:38.309
Jolly good.
00:27:38.309 --> 00:27:40.470
You've come to the perfect place.
00:27:40.470 --> 00:27:42.470
We've got butchers of plenty here.
00:27:43.669 --> 00:27:44.389
I see.
00:27:44.389 --> 00:27:48.069
Well, I can certainly use the expertise of someone like yourself to help solve this past.
00:27:48.069 --> 00:27:51.589
They tell me you're the best young surgeon in earth.
00:27:52.389 --> 00:27:56.549
I don't see how a reputable surgeon could know anything about it.
00:27:56.549 --> 00:28:07.990
This country's overrun with foreigners, orientalists, Jews, socialists trying to stir things up against our monarchy.
00:28:07.990 --> 00:28:12.549
That's where you should be considering everything.
00:28:13.669 --> 00:28:21.909
Aberline seems to be looking at all of those doctors as not only ones that can help him, but also suspects.
00:28:22.230 --> 00:28:23.669
Oh, he definitely is.
00:28:23.669 --> 00:28:30.149
He's looking at practically everyone except Godly and the women as potential suspects.
00:28:30.149 --> 00:28:39.189
Aberen continues through the reception before meeting Sir William Gull, physician to the royal family and former surgeon Extraordinaire.
00:28:39.189 --> 00:28:55.589
In private, Aberleen shows him a sketch of the murder weapon, which Gull quickly identifies as a Liston knife, which is a long amputation knife, originally designed for surgical speed before anesthesia became widely available.
00:28:55.589 --> 00:28:58.389
Oh my god, that sounds horrific.
00:28:58.389 --> 00:29:09.349
Yeah, it's meant to cut things as quickly and efficiently as possible.
00:29:09.349 --> 00:29:25.269
When Aberline
mentions that the victims had been drugged with laudanum after recognizing the smell on their breath, Gull inquires if Aberline uses the drug personally, noting that only doctors and addicts could recognize the scent so easily.
00:29:25.269 --> 00:29:40.470
Gull also agrees that the killer must be highly educated with extensive anatomical knowledge, explaining that Annie's liver would have been extremely difficult to remove so quickly without considerable surgical experience.
00:29:40.470 --> 00:29:51.429
Back at the police station, Aberleen studies a map of Whitechapel with Godley and the other detectives, plotting each murder and noticing a deliberate pattern.
00:29:51.429 --> 00:29:54.230
Spoiler alert, it turns out it's a pentagram?
00:29:54.230 --> 00:29:56.230
Doubt that's accurate.
00:29:56.230 --> 00:30:05.189
He then predicts where the Ripper will strike next and orders uniformed constables to keep the area under constant surveillance.
00:30:05.189 --> 00:30:13.509
Despite skepticism from the other officers, Aberleen doubles down hoping they'll catch the killer before he strikes again.
00:30:13.509 --> 00:30:27.750
Sidebar, directors Albert and Alan Hughes reportedly pinned real post-mortem photographs of the Ripper victims to the police station set to unnerve the cast and get more authentic performances.
00:30:27.750 --> 00:30:33.109
I think we've talked about our feelings about this sort of thing in past episodes.
00:30:33.109 --> 00:30:34.710
It's pretty distasteful.
00:30:35.109 --> 00:30:37.909
Yeah, and extremely disturbing.
00:30:38.309 --> 00:30:43.429
The film then cuts to the Ripper meeting privately with his coachman, John Nettley.
00:30:43.429 --> 00:30:51.589
Clearly shaken, Netley laments that there are still three women left to kill, and questions whether he can continue.
00:30:51.589 --> 00:31:07.189
The Ripper responds with a cryptic speech about evil and humanity, insisting they've entered the most extreme and utter region of the human mind, before declaring, HEL, we are in hell.
00:31:07.189 --> 00:31:16.949
That night, Mary is brought in to speak with Aberleen, who asks why she's still working the streets if she believes McQueen murdered her friends.
00:31:16.949 --> 00:31:27.909
Frustrated by the lack of progress, Mary offers to testify that McQueen threatened to cut her unless she paid him a pound a week in protection money.
00:31:27.909 --> 00:31:37.829
Aberen refuses, warning that even if McQueen went to prison for a year or two, the nickel gang would simply retaliate against Mary and the other women.
00:31:37.829 --> 00:31:49.029
Aberen then heads to Special Branch Headquarters, identifying himself as Inspector Adderly, to get inside while Superintendent Ben Kidney is away.
00:31:49.029 --> 00:32:02.949
He slips into the records room and searches the files before discovering one labeled Crook Annie Mary, containing paperwork from the Merylbone Workhouse, which Aberline quickly copies down.
00:32:02.949 --> 00:32:11.909
When Godly spots Kidney and his men returning, he starts a fire that causes a small explosion, creating enough chaos for Aberline to escape.
00:32:12.149 --> 00:32:13.909
That seems a bit extreme.
00:32:14.230 --> 00:32:16.949
Agreed, it's a pretty big explosion, too.
00:32:16.949 --> 00:32:27.909
Not long after, Aberline and Mary visit the Merrowbone workhouse in search of Anne, finding her lobotomized in a dingy cell and mumbling incoherently.
00:32:27.909 --> 00:32:38.149
Mary desperately tries to get through to her friend, but Anne no longer understands what's happening around her and is unable to answer any of her questions.
00:32:38.149 --> 00:32:49.509
After leaving the asylum, Mary tells Aberline that Anne's wealthy gentleman was actually a painter who hired the women as models and that she personally witnessed the two Mary at St.
00:32:49.509 --> 00:32:51.589
Savior's Catholic Church.
00:32:51.589 --> 00:33:01.349
When the conversation turns to Baby Alice, Aberline reveals that Special Branch listed her as an unknown child and dumped her in Bishopsgate.
00:33:01.669 --> 00:33:04.389
I thought she was left with someone's parents.
00:33:04.710 --> 00:33:09.509
She was, but apparently she was picked up and brought to an orphanage.
00:33:09.509 --> 00:33:15.269
So there's something shady going on with Anne Crook and her baby.
00:33:15.269 --> 00:33:22.149
Aberen then takes Mary to an art gallery and asks if she recognizes anyone in the portraits.
00:33:22.149 --> 00:33:30.149
When they reach a painting of Prince Albert Victor, Mary immediately identifies him as the man she knew as Albert.
00:33:30.149 --> 00:33:43.990
Aberen realizes Anne's husband and Alice's father was actually Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence, grandson of Queen Victoria, and second in line to the British throne.
00:33:44.389 --> 00:33:47.269
I feel like we are well on our way to Crazyville.
00:33:48.149 --> 00:33:50.309
Buckle up, we're just getting started.
00:33:50.309 --> 00:34:01.429
Aberen later visits Sir William Gull at home and is initially told he's too ill for visitors, but Gull agrees to see him after learning it's Inspector Aberline.
00:34:01.429 --> 00:34:17.110
Questioned about Prince Albert Victor and Anne Crook, Gull confirmed that Albert contracted syphilis and explains that the resulting tremors in his hands would make performing such precise murders virtually impossible.
00:34:17.110 --> 00:34:24.389
He also lacks the anatomical knowledge necessary to perform the mutilations, sending Aberline back to Square One.
00:34:24.389 --> 00:34:33.190
So I guess his initial feeling was that Prince Albert was murdering these women in retaliation for catching syphilis?
00:34:33.829 --> 00:34:37.029
It's not the most wild of theories we'll discuss later.
00:34:37.670 --> 00:34:39.190
The film then cuts to Dr.
00:34:39.190 --> 00:34:51.750
Farrell's Masonic initiation, where he kneels blindfolded with a ceremonial blade pressed against his chest,
while reciting an oath officially inducting him into the secret society.
00:34:52.230 --> 00:34:54.309
I'm assuming this is Freemasons.
00:34:54.869 --> 00:34:55.750
It is indeed.
00:34:55.750 --> 00:35:02.389
They all wear a fancy matching ring, so they're pretty easy to identify for a secret society.
00:35:02.389 --> 00:35:22.069
Back at the police station, Aberline and the detective sift through another pile of letters claiming to be from Jack the Ripper, dismissing nearly all of them as hoaxes, when they're suddenly interrupted by a constable rushing in with a package containing half a human kidney postmarked from hell.
00:35:22.069 --> 00:35:29.829
That night, Aberleen tells Mary he wants her and the remaining women off the streets for the next few days.
00:35:32.789 --> 00:35:34.069
What about baby Alice?
00:35:34.069 --> 00:35:35.110
Are you sure she's alright?
00:35:35.269 --> 00:35:36.630
Yeah, she's alright.
00:35:36.630 --> 00:35:38.789
We'll get her out after this is over.
00:35:39.029 --> 00:35:40.230
We'll get her.
00:35:40.789 --> 00:35:41.429
Listen.
00:35:41.429 --> 00:35:45.670
I want you and your friends off the streets until I can sort this thing out.
00:35:45.909 --> 00:35:47.509
Off the streets for how long?
00:35:47.750 --> 00:35:48.710
A few days at least.
00:35:48.869 --> 00:35:53.029
Well, you better throw us in jail then, because we have no money for food and no money for a dust.
00:35:53.509 --> 00:35:55.190
Alright, you take this.
00:35:55.190 --> 00:35:58.230
Get a room.
00:35:58.230 --> 00:35:58.949
Stay there.
00:35:58.949 --> 00:36:01.110
Don't tell anyone where you're going.
00:36:01.110 --> 00:36:02.309
I don't want to know.
00:36:02.309 --> 00:36:06.069
In three days, come to the tembells.
00:36:06.069 --> 00:36:07.989
I'll leave a message with the bargain.
00:36:07.989 --> 00:36:09.909
Well.
00:36:12.389 --> 00:36:15.509
I wish I could show you the little village where I was born.
00:36:15.509 --> 00:36:17.670
It's so lovely there.
00:36:17.670 --> 00:36:21.989
It's by the scene the way you said you saw me.
00:36:21.989 --> 00:36:28.469
I used to think it too small to spend a life in, but now I'm not so sure.
00:36:30.710 --> 00:36:35.989
And with that, the two part ways with a deep, passionate kiss.
00:36:35.989 --> 00:36:38.069
Permission to speak freely.
00:36:38.069 --> 00:36:42.389
I just cannot take this love story between Mary and Aberlyn seriously.
00:36:42.389 --> 00:36:51.590
Johnny Depp and Heather Graham have absolutely zero chemistry, and every romantic scene between them falls completely flat.
00:36:51.829 --> 00:37:10.069
Even incorporating a love story between the lead investigator and one of the women who I think you told me Mary actually survives in this movie, which she does not in the real story, including that is just stupid and completely unnecessary.
00:37:10.069 --> 00:37:12.549
Also, the accents in this suck.
00:37:12.949 --> 00:37:13.829
Sustained.
00:37:13.829 --> 00:37:19.110
And most of the acting is pretty bad across the board as well, unfortunately.
00:37:19.110 --> 00:37:33.190
Back at the lodging house, Liz makes advances towards the new French girl, Ada, played by Estelle Skornik, who repeatedly rejects her until Mary steps in and tells Liz to leave her alone.
00:37:33.190 --> 00:37:41.829
The argument escalates until Liz smashes a window, then storms out into the night, shouting back that she needs another drink.
00:37:41.829 --> 00:37:52.389
After leaving the lodging house, Liz encounters the Ripper and briefly mistakes him for someone she knows before accepting a drink and walking off with him.
00:37:52.389 --> 00:38:00.869
When she realizes something is wrong, she tries to run, but Nettley tackles and restrains her while the Ripper slits her throat.
00:38:00.869 --> 00:38:07.909
Before he can mutilate the body, Netley hears someone approaching, forcing them to flee before finishing the job.
00:38:07.909 --> 00:38:21.670
Meanwhile, Aberline reviews Superintendent Benjamin Kidney's military records and discovers that before joining Special Branch, Kidney served with the Grandeer Guards assisting as a field surgeon.
00:38:21.670 --> 00:38:41.110
Suddenly, Aberline has a remarkable epiphany, realizing that the women are being killed because they witness Prince Albert Victor's marriage to Anne Crook and the birth of their daughter Alice, a scandal that could rock the British throne to its very core if ever exposed.
00:38:41.509 --> 00:38:43.909
Okay, that's what's going on here.
00:38:43.909 --> 00:38:47.110
Also, Aberlyne just figured that out.
00:38:47.110 --> 00:38:48.069
How?
00:38:48.469 --> 00:38:54.469
He's taking drugs and finding the answers just floating in the air out there, Ashley.
00:38:54.469 --> 00:38:57.509
Pretty simple if you're a psychic detective.
00:38:57.509 --> 00:39:04.150
But yeah, this is a pretty far-fetched version of the true events.
00:39:04.150 --> 00:39:08.789
Even compared to the novel, the movie takes it up a few notches.
00:39:08.789 --> 00:39:15.829
That same night, shortly after murdering Liz, the Ripper strikes again, killing Catherine Edoes.
00:39:15.829 --> 00:39:32.389
While examining Liz's body, Aberleen experiences another psychic vision and races towards the second crime scene, but is ambushed on his way by several men who brutally beat him and warn him to stop digging into things and just find a damn scapegoat.
00:39:32.389 --> 00:39:51.110
Despite the attack, Aberleen regains consciousness and makes his way to Meter Square, where he discovers Catherine's body beneath a chalk message reading, The Jews are the men that will not be blamed for nothing, with Jews incorrectly spelled J-U-W-E-S.
00:39:51.110 --> 00:40:01.989
Recognizing it as potential evidence, Aberline protests when Sir Charles Warren orders the message scrubbed from the wall to prevent anti-Jewish riots.
00:40:01.989 --> 00:40:10.230
Warren then blames Aberline for bungling the investigation, suspending him
from duty, and stripping him of all his authority.
00:40:10.230 --> 00:40:21.110
Three days later, Aberline leaves a letter for Mary with the bartender at the Ten Bells, just as promised, before heading to his favorite opium den to drown his sorrows.
00:40:21.110 --> 00:40:29.110
There he has another drug-induced vision showing Mary being murdered by the Ripper beneath the shadow of a Masonic symbol.
00:40:29.110 --> 00:40:35.590
Convinced the visions are trying to tell him something, Aberleen begins researching the history of the Freemasons.
00:40:35.590 --> 00:40:39.750
Now, a bit of context for the blissfully unaware.
00:40:39.750 --> 00:40:49.670
The Freemasons are one of the world's oldest fraternal organizations, with the modern group officially founded in London in 1717.
00:40:49.670 --> 00:41:02.789
They are known for secret ceremonies, symbols, and rituals, and its members have included politicians, military officers, judges, businessmen, and even members of the royal family.
00:41:03.110 --> 00:41:05.670
Interesting, I didn't know they were founded in London.
00:41:05.909 --> 00:41:13.110
Shortly after, Mary picks up Aberline's letter at the Ten Bells but is spotted by Nettley as she leaves.
00:41:13.110 --> 00:41:21.989
Back in her room, she opens the envelope and discovers Aberline has enclosed enough money for her to leave London once and for all.
00:41:21.989 --> 00:41:31.269
Meanwhile, Aberline confronts Sir William Gull with everything he's uncovered about Prince Albert Victor, Anne Crook, and the murders.
00:41:31.269 --> 00:41:39.349
Rather than deny it, Gull calmly admits Aberline is essentially correct and reveals himself as Jack the Ripper.
00:41:39.349 --> 00:41:50.710
He then launches into a lengthy diatribe defending the murders as serving a greater purpose involving the crown, Freemasonry, and the course of history.
00:41:51.670 --> 00:41:53.750
Below the skin of history.
00:41:53.750 --> 00:41:57.110
A London's veins.
00:41:57.110 --> 00:42:02.789
These symbols, the mitre, the pentacle star.
00:42:02.789 --> 00:42:13.509
Even someone as ignorant and degenerate as you can sense that they coarse with energy and meaning.
00:42:13.509 --> 00:42:19.110
I am that meaning.
00:42:21.429 --> 00:42:22.949
I am that energy.
00:42:26.949 --> 00:42:27.909
Two things.
00:42:27.909 --> 00:42:32.069
Man, the Ripper is incredibly narcissistic.
00:42:32.069 --> 00:42:36.230
Two, the actor has black eyes in every single scene he's in.
00:42:36.230 --> 00:42:37.750
It's kind of unnerving.
00:42:38.069 --> 00:42:43.110
It is the same actor from the first alien movie who played the robot.
00:42:43.110 --> 00:42:46.630
So he is a classic actor who's been around in a bunch of stuff.
00:42:46.630 --> 00:42:53.029
He played Bilbo in the Lord of the Rings movies, not the Hobbit movies, the Lord of the Rings movies.
00:42:53.029 --> 00:42:55.670
So he's a pretty established British actor.
00:42:55.989 --> 00:42:59.349
Yeah, I remember him in all of
those things, now that you mention it.
00:42:59.670 --> 00:43:08.389
Unwilling to accept Gull's justification, Aberleen pulls his pistol, ready to rid the world of Jack the Ripper once and for all.
00:43:08.389 --> 00:43:15.429
Before he can fire, Benjamin Kidney sneaks up behind him and knocks him unconscious yet again.
00:43:15.429 --> 00:43:18.710
He should probably get a CAT scan at this point.
00:43:18.710 --> 00:43:24.949
And this allows Gull to slip back into the night in search of his final victim.
00:43:24.949 --> 00:43:30.069
Aberline wakes up in the back of a moving carriage between Kidney and Dr.
00:43:30.069 --> 00:43:34.869
Farrell, who is in the midst of preparing a syringe to inject him with.
00:43:34.869 --> 00:43:44.069
Realizing what's happening, Aberline fights back, donkey kicking Kidney through the window and tipping the whole damn carriage over in the process.
00:43:44.069 --> 00:43:51.590
Emerging virtually unscathed, Aberline takes off to save Mary post haste before it's too late.
00:43:51.590 --> 00:44:05.509
Elsewhere, Gull quietly slips into Mary's room through the broken window while she is fast asleep, then murders the woman in bed, carrying out by far the most extensive and extreme mutilations thus far.
00:44:05.509 --> 00:44:06.309
Far.
00:44:06.309 --> 00:44:12.710
After removing her heart, Gull places it in a pot on the stove, leaving it to boil.
00:44:12.710 --> 00:44:31.670
As the organ begins to heat, a brilliant light fills the room, and Gull is transported into a surreal Masonic ceremony, where he represents the murder as if it were a surgical demonstration, culminating in a standing ovation from his captivated audience.
00:44:31.989 --> 00:44:35.909
I'm assuming he's having some sort of like psychotic episode here.
00:44:36.230 --> 00:44:37.670
Oh yes, absolutely.
00:44:37.670 --> 00:44:40.710
It's better portrayed in the graphic novel.
00:44:40.710 --> 00:44:46.549
By the time Aberleen arrives, the victim has been mutilated beyond recognition.
00:44:46.549 --> 00:44:59.509
Sidebar, after the Ripper kills his final victim, the officer describing the condition of the body is reading directly from the real-life police report documenting Mary Jane Kelly's murder.
00:44:59.509 --> 00:45:09.190
While searching the room, Aberleen finds a lock of dark hair and realizes that the victim isn't Mary at all, but is actually Ada.
00:45:09.190 --> 00:45:15.190
He quietly conceals the hair, knowing Mary survived and escaped before Gull arrived.
00:45:15.509 --> 00:45:18.309
Ooh, Gull is gonna be in trouble.
00:45:19.029 --> 00:45:30.309
Back at the Ten Bells, Aberleen finds a letter from Mary explaining that she's fled to Ireland with baby Alice, where they'll be living by the sea, waiting for him.
00:45:30.549 --> 00:45:33.909
I'm assuming she just stole that baby from the orphanage.
00:45:33.909 --> 00:45:36.710
And also, does Mary live in the graphic novel?
00:45:37.029 --> 00:45:38.230
She does not.
00:45:38.230 --> 00:45:44.789
In the graphic novel, Gull realizes he's killed the wrong woman and then he comes back and murders her.
00:45:44.789 --> 00:45:47.590
And there's no love story, she does not survive.
00:45:47.590 --> 00:45:51.829
But I think the novel and the film make up this victim, Ada.
00:45:51.829 --> 00:46:00.469
We later learn Queen Victoria was far from pleased with how Gull had handled the whole Albert situation.
00:46:00.469 --> 00:46:05.989
So he is summoned before his fellow Freemasons to answer for his actions.
00:46:13.590 --> 00:46:18.150
You stand accused of mayhems that have placed our brotherhood in jeopardy.
00:46:18.150 --> 00:46:22.230
You stand before your peers, masons and doctors both.
00:46:22.549 --> 00:46:25.029
I have no peers present here.
00:46:25.029 --> 00:46:26.230
What?
00:46:26.230 --> 00:46:32.869
No man amongst you is fit to judge the mighty art that I have wrought.
00:46:32.869 --> 00:46:38.469
Your rituals are empty oaths you neither understand nor live by.
00:46:38.469 --> 00:46:42.469
Great architect speaks to me.
00:46:42.469 --> 00:46:46.869
He is the balance where my deeds are weighed and judged.
00:46:49.269 --> 00:46:50.069
Not you.
00:46:51.909 --> 00:46:58.630
So it sounds like they're mad at him for the way he killed the women, not that he killed them at all.
00:46:58.949 --> 00:47:14.630
Yes, it is better explained in the graphic novel, but William Gull is hired to get rid of these women to cover up this big scandal that Albert had a child with one of these prostitutes.
00:47:14.630 --> 00:47:20.150
But he was never told to do what he did and go as far as he did.
00:47:20.150 --> 00:47:22.710
He was only told to take care of them.
00:47:22.710 --> 00:47:29.269
So they were pretty appalled by his actions when they found out what he had done.
00:47:29.269 --> 00:47:38.789
And in response, the Freemasons sentenced Gull to a lobotomy, along with a lifelong confinement in an insane asylum.
00:47:39.110 --> 00:47:39.989
Poetic.
00:47:40.309 --> 00:47:50.869
Although Godly encourages Aberline to reunite with Mary, Aberline realizes that if he leaves London, the people watching him will likely follow.
00:47:50.869 --> 00:47:55.110
Because he's still being watched by the Freemasons, apparently.
00:47:55.110 --> 00:48:02.710
Rather than risk leading them to her, he stays behind, burning the letter she had left for him.
00:48:04.949 --> 00:48:07.750
I'm telling you, it's safe to go to her.
00:48:10.710 --> 00:48:15.750
If I disappear or change my routine, sir, they might wonder why.
00:48:17.110 --> 00:48:19.190
You know who you're gonna turn into, don't you?
00:48:19.190 --> 00:48:22.389
That boring old bugger in the pub that nobody wants to sit beside.
00:48:22.389 --> 00:48:26.710
Because as soon as he's had a few drinks, he goes on and on about the girl that got away.
00:48:26.710 --> 00:48:28.230
Is that what you want?
00:48:28.230 --> 00:48:30.469
Do you want to live the rest of your life like a ghost?
00:48:30.469 --> 00:48:31.349
Is that it?
00:48:32.309 --> 00:48:32.630
No.
00:48:32.630 --> 00:48:37.590
What I want is to go to her.
00:48:37.590 --> 00:48:44.309
But at the slightest hint that she's alive, they will spare no expense, no expense, and no trouble.
00:48:44.309 --> 00:48:46.469
So I study.
00:48:46.469 --> 00:48:48.469
And watch them.
00:48:52.150 --> 00:48:59.590
So I feel like he could just publicly announce his retirement and leave, and the Freemasons would leave him alone.
00:48:59.909 --> 00:49:02.549
That's basically what happens in the graphic novel.
00:49:02.549 --> 00:49:09.110
He retires, he doesn't want to work on any more cases after this, and just sort of lives a quiet life.
00:49:09.429 --> 00:49:22.389
I took this out of my section, but I'm pretty sure he ends up retiring, not right after the Ripper murder stopped, but some years after, and he moves to the United States and becomes like a private detective.
00:49:22.789 --> 00:49:35.590
And I also just want to point out here that Robbie Coltrane, you're a wizard, Harry, is far closer to how Aberleen is depicted in the graphic novel.
00:49:35.590 --> 00:49:43.269
Godley discovers Aberline dead in an opium den from an apparent drug overdose not long after.
00:49:43.269 --> 00:49:46.630
And that was the Hughes Brothers from Hell.
00:49:46.630 --> 00:49:48.710
Any initial response, Ashley?
00:49:49.029 --> 00:49:49.909
Yeah, what the hell?
00:49:49.909 --> 00:49:50.869
He just dies?
00:49:51.509 --> 00:50:12.389
Yeah, he basically stays behind, and it's implied that Mary lives a life on a cliff in Ireland in a little cottage and raises baby Alice, and they live happily ever after, but Aberleen must sacrifice his own happiness to let them live their lives.
00:50:12.389 --> 00:50:15.590
So he just ends up overdosing on opium.
00:50:15.590 --> 00:50:17.909
And yeah, that's the end of the movie.
00:50:17.909 --> 00:50:29.029
Godly puts a couple of pennies on his eyes, which are change for the ferryman of death, says, Good night, sweet prince, and that's the end of the movie.
00:50:29.029 --> 00:50:31.590
There's not even any title cards at the end.
00:50:31.590 --> 00:50:33.190
It's just the end.
00:50:33.670 --> 00:50:35.429
What did you think about this movie?
00:50:35.429 --> 00:50:42.630
A lot of times when we're doing these episodes and you show me clips, even ones that you're like, this really wasn't my favorite movie.
00:50:42.630 --> 00:50:50.469
You can agree with me on some of my observations that put the movie in a better light if it's not already in a good one.
00:50:50.469 --> 00:50:57.029
But this one, I don't really have much positive to say from what I saw.
00:50:57.029 --> 00:51:03.110
The accent sucked, the acting sucked, it didn't look visually striking to me at all.
00:51:03.110 --> 00:51:05.590
I do not want to see From L.
00:51:06.309 --> 00:51:07.829
And I don't blame you.
00:51:07.829 --> 00:51:11.509
This movie is Edgelord crap.
00:51:11.509 --> 00:51:13.509
It is not a good film.
00:51:13.509 --> 00:51:25.909
It is filmed in a way where it's trying to make the murders almost look cool and make Jack the Ripper seem like this supernatural force that is hunting these women.
00:51:25.909 --> 00:51:29.590
And it's really dumb and it's not pulled off well at all.
00:51:29.590 --> 00:51:37.269
It is still a ridiculous story in the graphic novel, but it is given a lot more time to grow and breathe.
00:51:37.269 --> 00:51:44.710
So it just comes together a lot better than it does in this two-hour adaptation.
00:51:45.590 --> 00:51:59.909
If I were doing this movie, I would have it follow the five Ripper victims and just switch from each one to each one and tell the story from that woman's point of view.
00:51:59.909 --> 00:52:06.469
I think that would be way more interesting than an extravagant, supernatural detective who done it.
00:52:06.869 --> 00:52:09.110
And I totally agree with you again.
00:52:09.110 --> 00:52:21.909
The graphic novel does spend a lot more time developing the women characters, and you get to know a bit more about their lives and how hard all of their lives are.
00:52:21.909 --> 00:52:32.389
Each and every one of them is living in squalor and abuse and scraping by day to day in completely different ways.
00:52:32.389 --> 00:52:43.110
And it is truly, truly tragic, but all of that is condensed to maybe like one scene or a line of dialogue or completely cut out in the film.
00:52:43.110 --> 00:52:49.269
It does not do any justice to the victims whose story really should be the focus here.
00:52:49.269 --> 00:53:03.750
And just personally speaking, if they were to ever remake this story or try and do a more historically accurate version of it, I think that Robert Eggers could do a brilliant job portraying this sort of thing on screen.
00:53:03.750 --> 00:53:22.309
He has a obsessive attention to detail, and focusing on each one of the victims, you could even have it be a short story for each one of them, I think would be a better telling of this horrific, tragic, unsolved series of murders.
00:53:22.630 --> 00:53:31.429
It's also kind of a choice to make a movie inspired by this graphic novel, which, okay, we could argue that that was the source material.
00:53:31.429 --> 00:53:36.469
So that's why they included the Prince Albert, Sir William Gall, Freemason shit.
00:53:36.469 --> 00:53:40.389
But if you're gonna make it on a graphic novel, then make it on the graphic novel.
00:53:40.389 --> 00:53:43.670
Don't like add even more crazy stuff to it.
00:53:43.989 --> 00:53:54.389
Yeah, the entire love story is preposterous and offensive, and really, really, really badly executed and corny.
00:53:54.389 --> 00:53:56.630
And should not have been in this movie.
00:53:56.630 --> 00:53:59.590
But let's move on to the release.
00:53:59.590 --> 00:54:13.829
Before From Hell hit theaters, an early cut of the film was screened for the MPAA, which was reportedly so graphic that it
initially received the dreaded NC17 rating.
00:54:13.829 --> 00:54:28.630
In order to secure a more marketable R rating, several scenes were trimmed, most notably Mary Kelly's murder, which was significantly toned down from the original cut and the historical crime scene.
00:54:28.630 --> 00:54:41.670
From Hell was ultimately released in theaters on October 19, 2001, with an R rating for strong violence and gore, sexuality, language, and drug content.
00:54:41.670 --> 00:54:56.230
The film opened at number one with just over $11 million before finishing its run with $31.6 million domestically and $74.6 million worldwide against a $35 million budget.
00:54:56.549 --> 00:54:58.069
Huh, respectable.
00:54:58.309 --> 00:55:12.789
Today, From Hell holds a 57% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, where the site's consensus reads visually impressive, but this latest Ripper tale is dull and far from scary.
00:55:13.190 --> 00:55:15.190
I am shocked it is that high.
00:55:15.509 --> 00:55:16.069
Me too.
00:55:16.069 --> 00:55:20.069
I was really expecting this to be around 30 something percent.
00:55:20.069 --> 00:55:30.710
The Hughes brothers reunited for their next film, The Book of Eli, in 2010, before eventually going their separate ways as solo directors.
00:55:30.710 --> 00:55:40.710
Since From Hell, Johnny Depp's career has experienced some of the biggest highs and lowest lows in all of Hollywood.
00:55:40.710 --> 00:55:48.869
Following the film's release, he became one of the biggest movie stars on the planet thanks to the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.
00:55:48.869 --> 00:56:02.549
But years of substance abuse, unprofessional behavior on film sets, and a very public legal battle with ex-wife Amber Heard all took a serious toll on the actor's reputation and career.
00:56:02.549 --> 00:56:11.590
The Fallout has cost him several high-profile roles, including that of Grindelwald in the Fantastic Beasts franchise.
00:56:11.590 --> 00:56:13.670
You're a wizard, Harry.
00:56:13.670 --> 00:56:19.029
Effectively bringing his Hollywood career to a complete standstill.
00:56:19.029 --> 00:56:29.590
Following the conclusion of the Defamation trial in 2022, Depp largely shifted his focus towards smaller independent and European productions.
00:56:29.909 --> 00:56:31.829
Because that's all he could do.
00:56:32.150 --> 00:56:51.269
Yeah, nobody was hiring this guy, but in 2026, Depp will make his first major studio return, starring in Ty West Ebenezer, followed by the upcoming Mark Webb action thriller, Daydrinker, in 2027, co-starring Penelope Cruz.
00:56:51.269 --> 00:56:53.190
So he's trying.
00:56:53.190 --> 00:57:05.670
But whether or not those films mark the beginning of a full Hollywood comeback for the ring-wearing wannabe gypsy drug-outled bandana aficionado is something only time will tell.
00:57:05.670 --> 00:57:09.269
But personally speaking, I sure hope not.
00:57:09.670 --> 00:57:11.269
I think there's too much baggage.
00:57:11.269 --> 00:57:14.150
It'd be like if Will Smith tried to make a comeback.
00:57:14.150 --> 00:57:20.309
You might be able to land some movie roles, but you're never gonna be even close to where you once were.
00:57:20.789 --> 00:57:22.069
Nor should he be.
00:57:22.069 --> 00:57:26.789
At this point, the only reason he would want to come back is for more fame.
00:57:26.789 --> 00:57:36.789
He is still rich, he still owns an island, he could just go off and live the rest of his life like Aberleen did in the novel, but he likes the attention.
00:57:36.789 --> 00:57:49.590
Having already distanced himself from the production before From Hell was released, writer Alan Moore remained deeply unhappy any time his work was adapted for movies or television.
00:57:49.590 --> 00:58:07.750
In the years that followed, he asked for his name to be removed from all future adaptations of his work he no longer owned, refused to accept any royalties, and declined screen credit on such other adaptations as V for Vendetta and Watchmen.
00:58:07.750 --> 00:58:14.549
To this day, his policy still remains in place for every major adaptation of his work.
00:58:14.789 --> 00:58:16.309
Oh, you should rethink that.
00:58:16.309 --> 00:58:20.230
V for Vendetta is so good, and people loved Watchmen.
00:58:20.230 --> 00:58:21.670
I am so confused.
00:58:21.670 --> 00:58:26.230
How does he not own the rights to these graphic novels he wrote?
00:58:26.549 --> 00:58:40.789
Unfortunately, it was a common occurrence back in the 80s when you worked for a publishing company like DC or Marvel, and you invented a character or wrote a story about them, you didn't own it.
00:58:40.789 --> 00:58:41.750
They did.
00:58:41.750 --> 00:58:50.549
So when you leave, they can do whatever they want with it, and your name will still be on it, but you don't have any control over what happens to it.
00:58:50.869 --> 00:58:52.230
That really sucks.
00:58:52.549 --> 00:59:07.110
And it still sucks to this day because I know a lot of creators of some of these huge Marvel films aren't really paid much at all because they worked for a company and invented that character and wrote that story while they were working there.
00:59:07.110 --> 00:59:09.670
It's really unfortunate.
00:59:09.670 --> 00:59:19.670
So I guess the only question left is: was Jack the Ripper really a royal physician carrying out murders for the crown to cover up a sex scandal?
00:59:19.670 --> 00:59:23.509
Or was this whole damn story just a bunch of baloney?
00:59:23.750 --> 00:59:25.670
Oi, let's find out, mate.
00:59:25.670 --> 00:59:29.190
Please excuse my awful, awful accent.
00:59:29.190 --> 01:00:07.670
By the mid-19th century, the population of London was growing at an astonishing rate.
01:00:07.670 --> 01:00:17.989
The census reached roughly 5 million by 1888, with the East End being one of the most densely populated and impoverished parts of the city.
01:00:17.989 --> 01:00:29.269
Severe overcrowding led to inadequate sanitation,
poorly maintained housing, and thousands of people living in conditions difficult to comprehend today.
01:00:29.269 --> 01:00:40.549
The East End had a substantial economic underclass, and for women with few employment opportunities, prostitution became one of the ways they survived.
01:00:40.549 --> 01:00:44.869
London's housing crisis steadily gained the government's attention.
01:00:44.869 --> 01:01:01.269
In 1875, Parliament passed the Artisans and Laborers Dwellings Improvement Act, which allowed local agencies to identify and acquire unhealthy and overcrowded housing, demolish it, and redevelop the land.
01:01:01.989 --> 01:01:05.590
So it was just kicking all of these people out on the streets?
01:01:06.230 --> 01:01:08.469
Well, the idea was good in theory.
01:01:08.469 --> 01:01:14.150
Get rid of the worst slums and replace them with healthier housing for the working class.
01:01:14.150 --> 01:01:18.549
But as you just highlighted, reality posed greater challenges.
01:01:18.549 --> 01:01:26.789
In Whitechapel and surrounding areas, thousands of people were displaced as buildings were condemned and destroyed.
01:01:26.789 --> 01:01:36.230
Tenants were often left in deteriorating buildings while awaiting demolition since landlords had little incentive to spend money on repairs.
01:01:36.230 --> 01:01:49.750
The legislation was amended in 1879 to give authorities greater responsibility for rehoming people displaced by the improvements, but resources didn't come close to meeting the demand.
01:01:49.750 --> 01:01:55.509
Many ended up in lodging houses, where you paid a small amount for a bed for the night.
01:01:55.509 --> 01:02:05.989
Some lodging homes consisted of open areas packed with rows of beds, with 60, 80, or even more people sleeping in a single room.
01:02:05.989 --> 01:02:10.069
This was the world of Whitechapel in 1888.
01:02:10.069 --> 01:02:15.110
Extreme poverty and very limited resources for the people living there.
01:02:15.110 --> 01:02:19.269
Keep this in mind as we start talking about Jack the Ripper.
01:02:19.269 --> 01:02:23.349
He wasn't operating in a quiet, stable suburban area.
01:02:23.349 --> 01:02:30.549
He was functioning in a crowded, chaotic part of London where thousands of people were struggling to get through each night.
01:02:30.549 --> 01:02:39.750
Poverty and desperation also contributed to problems with alcohol, drug use, and violence, particularly against women.
01:02:39.750 --> 01:02:48.630
From April 1888 to February 1891, 11 women were murdered in the Whitechapel district.
01:02:48.630 --> 01:02:53.509
These cases are collectively known as the Whitechapel murders.
01:02:53.509 --> 01:02:57.750
But that doesn't mean the police thought they were all committed by the same person.
01:02:57.750 --> 01:03:06.630
The first two murders are sometimes considered possible Ripper victims, but they're generally left out of the official victim count.
01:03:06.630 --> 01:03:09.989
Elizabeth Smith and Martha Tabram.
01:03:10.469 --> 01:03:15.670
Martha Tabram is portrayed in the film, but not Elizabeth Smith.
01:03:16.309 --> 01:03:21.670
Both cases have similarities to the later murders, but there's also significant differences.
01:03:21.670 --> 01:03:28.069
Elizabeth Smith was attacked at around 1.30 in the morning on April 3rd, 1888.
01:03:28.069 --> 01:03:32.949
She suffered a brutal sexual assault and severe head injuries.
01:03:32.949 --> 01:03:39.029
She survived long enough to tell police she was attacked by two or three men and died the next day.
01:03:39.029 --> 01:03:48.469
Because she described multiple attackers, the prevailing theory was that her murder was the result of gang violence rather than the work of a lone serial killer.
01:03:48.949 --> 01:03:50.469
Like the nickel gang.
01:03:50.949 --> 01:03:58.710
Four months later, 39-year-old Martha Tabram was found lying on the landing of a staircase shortly after 5 a.m.
01:03:58.710 --> 01:04:01.269
on August 7, 1888.
01:04:01.269 --> 01:04:10.309
She was stabbed 39 times, primarily in her chest and abdomen, but also in her neck and general area.
01:04:10.309 --> 01:04:25.349
The sheer number of wounds, lack of an obvious motive, and the fact that her murder occurred just weeks before the first canonical Ripper murder led some researchers to argue she was an early victim of Jack the Ripper.
01:04:25.349 --> 01:04:28.309
But there are some problems with that theory.
01:04:28.309 --> 01:04:34.309
Unlike the Canonical 5, Tabron was stabbed rather than having her throat cut.
01:04:34.309 --> 01:04:39.029
She also didn't have extensive abdominal mutilation.
01:04:39.029 --> 01:04:49.750
Investigators also had evidence suggesting she might have been with two soldiers shortly before her death, although the exact circumstances remain unclear.
01:04:49.750 --> 01:04:54.469
There's considerably less debate with the next five murders.
01:04:54.469 --> 01:05:01.110
43-year-old Mary Ann Nichols, whose nickname was Polly, but I just call her by her name.
01:05:01.110 --> 01:05:12.230
47-year-old Annie Chapman, 44-year-old Elizabeth Stride, 46-year-old Katherine Edoes, and 25-year-old Mary Jane Kelly.
01:05:12.630 --> 01:05:17.110
I did not realize Mary Jane was so much younger than the others.
01:05:17.750 --> 01:05:22.789
These five are almost universally recognized as Jack the Rickbur victims.
01:05:22.789 --> 01:05:31.750
To spare myself and you, Remy, and of course our listeners from having to hear about the gruesome details five separate times.
01:05:31.750 --> 01:05:52.469
Four occurred on or very close to a weekend.
01:05:52.469 --> 01:05:57.909
Each had their throats cut, and in most, the wounds were incredibly deep.
01:05:57.909 --> 01:06:00.469
I'm talking like hitting the spine.
01:06:00.469 --> 01:06:07.909
Their body showed varying degrees of mutilation, particularly to The abdomen and genital area.
01:06:07.909 --> 01:06:12.230
Several of the women also had bruising or injuries to their
faces.
01:06:12.230 --> 01:06:21.110
This led doctors who conducted the autopsies to opine that the killer likely restrained them or covered their mouths to prevent them from screaming.
01:06:21.509 --> 01:06:23.750
Which is how it's portrayed in the film.
01:06:24.150 --> 01:06:29.750
And all of the mutilation to their bodies is believed to have happened after they died.
01:06:29.750 --> 01:06:34.309
In all cases, the opinion was that they died from having their throats cut.
01:06:34.789 --> 01:06:41.190
So he would murder them and then do all of these atrocious things to their corpse.
01:06:41.590 --> 01:06:41.909
Yes.
01:06:41.909 --> 01:06:49.110
And in each case, the doctors opined that it would only have taken him less than five minutes to do what he did.
01:06:49.110 --> 01:06:52.150
The exception is Mary Jane Kelly.
01:06:52.150 --> 01:07:00.869
The murder weapon was believed to have been a sharp narrow knife with a six to eight inch blade, though the exact weapon was never identified.
01:07:00.869 --> 01:07:05.509
A final similarity is that all but the last victim were killed outside.
01:07:05.829 --> 01:07:09.829
Which is why I assume Mary Jane's was so much worse.
01:07:09.829 --> 01:07:11.509
He was inside.
01:07:15.750 --> 01:07:17.750
That's exactly what they thought.
01:07:17.750 --> 01:07:28.789
Mary Ann Walker, aka Polly, was born in 1845 and married William Nichols, a printer's machinist, when she was 18 years old.
01:07:28.789 --> 01:07:34.150
The couple had five children between 1866 and 1879.
01:07:34.150 --> 01:07:39.989
They separated in 1880, with William taking custody of their children.
01:07:39.989 --> 01:07:43.349
The reason for the separation depends on who you asked.
01:07:43.349 --> 01:07:52.389
Nichols' father later claimed William had been unfaithful, but William blamed Nichols' drinking habits for the divorce.
01:07:52.389 --> 01:08:00.630
Whatever the reason was, William was obligated to provide financial support after their separation, and he did so for a time.
01:08:00.630 --> 01:08:07.269
According to his account, those payments stopped after he learned Nichols was working as a prostitute.
01:08:07.269 --> 01:08:20.150
On the night of August 30th, 1888, Nichols was out drinking in Whitechapel and reportedly told a friend she had made enough money to pay for her lodging for the night.
01:08:20.150 --> 01:08:22.069
But she never made it home.
01:08:22.069 --> 01:08:24.630
At approximately 3 40 a.m.
01:08:24.630 --> 01:08:30.550
on August 31st, her body was discovered by two cart drivers in the middle of the road.
01:08:30.550 --> 01:08:33.829
At first, the men thought she might still be alive.
01:08:33.829 --> 01:08:38.550
They stopped to examine her before summoning a nearby police officer.
01:08:38.550 --> 01:08:44.949
She was buried without a headstone at Manor Park Cemetery on September 6th, 1888.
01:08:44.949 --> 01:08:49.750
In 1996, a memorial plaque was installed at her gravesite.
01:08:50.229 --> 01:08:51.909
Well, that's nice, at least.
01:08:52.149 --> 01:08:53.029
I know, right?
01:08:53.029 --> 01:08:56.789
It's kind of one of the only shining lights in this entire story.
01:08:56.789 --> 01:09:08.309
The fact that over a hundred years after she died, someone at this cemetery thought, hey, maybe we should just put her name on a gravestone here and just eat the cost.
01:09:08.710 --> 01:09:11.510
It's the least that anyone can do.
01:09:11.510 --> 01:09:15.909
I mean, these women were treated like nothing their entire lives.
01:09:15.909 --> 01:09:21.670
They should be at least commemorated in death somehow beyond their murders.
01:09:22.149 --> 01:09:34.630
And I think an important thing to point out here is that all of these victims that we're going to talk about, they also had jobs, at least opportunities where they would make income when they could.
01:09:34.630 --> 01:09:37.029
They didn't want to be living this lifestyle.
01:09:37.029 --> 01:09:43.109
They had to turn to sex work in order to have a safe place to lay their heads down at night.
01:09:43.430 --> 01:09:55.109
That is portrayed in the graphic novel much more that these women would find lodging with men who fancied them and wanted to pay for their company.
01:09:55.109 --> 01:10:02.789
But usually the men would turn violent or something would happen along the way and they'd end up right back out on the street again.
01:10:03.109 --> 01:10:13.829
And in several of these cases, the women were out when they were because they were kicked out of the lodging home they were staying at because they didn't have enough money for that night's rent.
01:10:13.829 --> 01:10:20.390
So they were out trying to get the four pounds or whatever they needed to pay for a bed for the evening.
01:10:20.710 --> 01:10:25.269
Which is portrayed in the graphic novel, but not so much in the film.
01:10:25.750 --> 01:10:31.269
Annie Smith was born in 1840 and married John Chapman in 1869.
01:10:31.269 --> 01:10:36.710
The couple had three children between 1870 and 1888.
01:10:36.710 --> 01:10:41.909
Chapman struggled with alcohol throughout her life, but there were periods of sobriety.
01:10:41.909 --> 01:10:49.109
Her drinking reportedly became much worse after the death of her youngest child, who also had a physical disability.
01:10:49.109 --> 01:10:55.750
She suffered another devastating loss when her 12-year-old daughter died of meningitis in 1882.
01:10:56.069 --> 01:10:59.430
God, these women led such tragic lives.
01:10:59.750 --> 01:11:06.149
Not long after, John took custody of their surviving daughter and Chapman moved to London.
01:11:06.149 --> 01:11:11.670
There, she supported herself by crocheting and selling flowers and other small goods.
01:11:11.670 --> 01:11:23.269
John continued providing her a weekly allowance, but that support ended when he died of cirrhosis in 1866, causing her to resort to sex work to survive.
01:11:23.269 --> 01:11:31.909
Despite her struggles with alcohol
and poverty, people who knew Chapman described her as intelligent, sociable, and good natured.
01:11:31.909 --> 01:11:42.630
On the night of September 7, 1888, she was seen drinking and attempting to earn money, likely to pay for her lodging for the night.
01:11:42.630 --> 01:11:44.630
Around 5 45 a.m.
01:11:44.630 --> 01:11:50.630
on September 8th, her body was discovered in the backyard by a tenant who lived in the building.
01:11:50.630 --> 01:12:03.750
At the inquest, a woman named Elizabeth Long testified that she'd been walking home at 5.30 in the morning when she saw Chapman and a man standing near the doorway where the body was discovered.
01:12:03.750 --> 01:12:14.630
She described the man as approximately 40 years old with a dark mustache and complexion, wearing a dark coat and brown deerstalker style hat.
01:12:15.269 --> 01:12:19.909
Which was an extremely common look back in the day.
01:12:20.229 --> 01:12:24.949
According to Long, she heard the man say something like, Will you?
01:12:24.949 --> 01:12:27.510
And Chapman replied, Yes.
01:12:27.510 --> 01:12:31.189
Another resident of the building was also awake at the time.
01:12:31.189 --> 01:12:39.510
He reported hearing voices coming from the backyard, a woman saying, No, no, and something strike the fence.
01:12:39.510 --> 01:12:45.829
The doctors who examined Chapman's body found something that distinguished her from Mary Ann Nichols.
01:12:45.829 --> 01:12:49.670
Part of her uterus and bladder were removed.
01:12:49.670 --> 01:12:55.350
She was buried at Manor Park Cemetery on September 14th, 1888.
01:12:55.829 --> 01:12:57.670
So her organs were just gone.
01:12:57.670 --> 01:13:02.630
They weren't found like nearby or a few days later or anything.
01:13:02.630 --> 01:13:04.949
They were just completely gone.
01:13:05.350 --> 01:13:09.189
They were near her body, from what I recall from my research.
01:13:09.189 --> 01:13:15.350
There is one victim whose kidney was removed, but we haven't gotten to her yet.
01:13:15.350 --> 01:13:26.869
The next two victims are remarkable because they were both killed during the early morning hours of September 30th, 1888, just 45 minutes apart.
01:13:26.869 --> 01:13:35.590
Elizabeth Gustoff's daughter was born in Sweden in 1843 and moved to London in the 1860s.
01:13:35.590 --> 01:13:39.829
She had already been working as a prostitute before arriving in England.
01:13:39.829 --> 01:13:45.750
She was married to carpenter John Stride from 1869 to 1881.
01:13:45.750 --> 01:13:55.350
By the mid-1880s, Stride was living in East London and in an on-again-off-again relationship with Doc worker Michael Kidney.
01:13:55.350 --> 01:14:07.109
On the evening of September 29, 1888, she was seen around Whitechapel with several men.
01:14:07.109 --> 01:14:11.829
One witness reported seeing a man accosting a woman around midnight.
01:14:11.829 --> 01:14:17.989
He grabbed the woman, threw her to the ground, and shouted something in a foreign language.
01:14:17.989 --> 01:14:24.949
Another witness reported seeing a woman who might have been stride talking with the man earlier that evening.
01:14:24.949 --> 01:14:31.350
He recalled hearing her say something along the lines of, no, not tonight, some other night.
01:14:31.350 --> 01:14:41.750
That man was described as being in his 30s, wearing dark clothing and a black hat, dark hair, mustache, and fair in complexion.
01:14:41.750 --> 01:14:43.670
At approximately 1 a.m.
01:14:43.670 --> 01:14:48.550
on September 30th, Stride's body was found by a cart driver in the street.
01:14:48.550 --> 01:14:59.269
Her throat was cut, but unlike the previous two canonical victims, there were no abdominal or genital injuries, which immediately raised a question.
01:14:59.269 --> 01:15:02.949
Was Elizabeth Stride actually a victim of Jack the Ripper?
01:15:02.949 --> 01:15:11.350
Evidence suggesting she was is largely circumstantial, but there is one particularly important detail.
01:15:11.350 --> 01:15:21.510
When she was discovered, she was warm and blood was still flowing from the wound in her neck, suggesting she died very shortly before she was found.
01:15:21.510 --> 01:15:28.550
The leading theory is the ripper was interrupted while attacking her and went looking for another victim that night.
01:15:28.550 --> 01:15:33.829
She was buried at East London Cemetery on October 8, 1888.
01:15:33.829 --> 01:15:37.590
Catherine Edoes was born in 1842.
01:15:37.590 --> 01:15:47.029
Both her parents died when she was 15 years old, and after a brief stint in an orphanage, she and her siblings were taken in by relatives.
01:15:47.029 --> 01:15:51.189
Those who knew her described her as intelligent and joyful.
01:15:51.189 --> 01:15:57.510
In the early 1880s, she began dating Thomas Conway, a former soldier.
01:15:57.510 --> 01:16:02.149
They had three children between 1863 and 1873.
01:16:02.149 --> 01:16:09.189
The relationship ended around 1880 due to alcohol abuse and Conway's violent behavior.
01:16:09.189 --> 01:16:13.989
After leaving Conway, Edos began seeing a laborer, John Kelly.
01:16:13.989 --> 01:16:18.069
The two lived together in lodging houses at the time of her death.
01:16:18.069 --> 01:16:33.109
She was taken into custody and spent several hours at the police station.
01:16:33.109 --> 01:16:36.789
She was last seen walking home around 1.35 a.m.
01:16:36.789 --> 01:16:45.750
Her body was found 10 minutes after she was released from the police station and just 45 minutes after Elizabeth Stride's murder.
01:16:45.750 --> 01:16:49.750
Her injuries were more extensive than the previous victims.
01:16:49.750 --> 01:16:53.590
Her throat was cut and her face was severely mutilated.
01:16:53.590 --> 01:16:59.750
Her abdomen was completely open, and her left kidney and part of her uterus were removed.
01:16:59.750 --> 01:17:03.909
The uterus was still at the scene, but the kidney was completely missing.
01:17:03.909 --> 01:17:10.470
She was buried in an
unmarked grave at Manor Park Cemetery on October 8, 1888.
01:17:10.470 --> 01:17:15.750
Like Mary Ann Nichols, a memorial plaque was added in 1996.
01:17:15.750 --> 01:17:20.229
The last of the canonical five is Mary Jane Kelly.
01:17:20.229 --> 01:17:25.350
Unlike the other four women, almost everything about her life is unknown.
01:17:25.350 --> 01:17:27.430
Even her age is debated.
01:17:27.430 --> 01:17:39.269
She was probably born around 1863 or 1864, which would have made her 24-25 years old when she was killed, two decades younger than Jack the Ripper's other victims.
01:17:39.269 --> 01:17:47.750
According to accounts, she married a Welsh miner when she was 16 years old, but he died in a mining accident a few years later.
01:17:47.750 --> 01:17:53.269
After his death, Kelly reportedly moved to London and became involved in prostitution.
01:17:53.590 --> 01:18:08.069
There is a pattern with a lot of these victims where they were married to a man for a period of time, and for different reasons that relationship ended, and in order to survive, they turned to prostitution.
01:18:08.550 --> 01:18:20.149
And for Mary Kelly, there's kind of reports that she lived with her cousin after her husband died, and her cousin is who introduced her to prostitution.
01:18:20.149 --> 01:18:28.470
In April 1886, Kelly met and started living with a fish porter named Joseph Barnett.
01:18:28.470 --> 01:18:36.630
Their relationship was affectionate at times, but also increasingly turbulent due to his disapproval of her lifestyle.
01:18:36.630 --> 01:18:41.829
They eventually separated, though he continued to see her rather frequently.
01:18:41.829 --> 01:18:53.350
By November 1888, Kelly was living alone in a tiny room on 13 Miller's Court and was seen drinking in the area on the evening of November 8th.
01:18:53.350 --> 01:18:57.590
She returned to her room with the man around midnight.
01:18:57.590 --> 01:19:05.750
Another sex worker who lived nearby heard her say something along the lines of, Come along, you fool, as they entered the room.
01:19:05.750 --> 01:19:09.750
This is the last confirmed sighting of her alive.
01:19:09.750 --> 01:19:17.430
There's another witness who became one of the most famous and controversial in the Ripper cases, George Hudson.
01:19:17.430 --> 01:19:24.069
He was an unemployed laborer who later told police he encountered Kelly around two in the morning.
01:19:24.069 --> 01:19:37.670
According to his account, she was approached by a man who was unusually well dressed with a dark mustache, pale complexion, dark coat, and a large Ostracon style hat.
01:19:37.670 --> 01:19:51.510
He claimed he saw the man give Kelly money and followed them back to Miller's court, which took him something like 45 minutes, because he like waited outside for a while, because he thought the man looked suspicious.
01:19:51.510 --> 01:19:59.590
Because he didn't come forward until after the inquest, some wonder if he exaggerated or fabricated his account
for notoriety.
01:19:59.829 --> 01:20:02.309
It is a questionable story.
01:20:05.750 --> 01:20:17.029
Sometime between 3 30 and 4 in the morning on November 9, 1888, two residents near Kelly's room heard a faint cry that sounded like someone saying murder.
01:20:17.029 --> 01:20:19.269
No one investigated.
01:20:19.269 --> 01:20:27.029
In the east end, hearing cries, arguments, and drunken shouting was hardly unusual.
01:20:27.029 --> 01:20:33.590
Another resident recalled hearing what sounded like someone leaving Kelly's room around 5 45.
01:20:33.590 --> 01:20:41.109
Five hours later, the landlord's assistant went to Kelly's room to collect overdue rent.
01:20:41.109 --> 01:20:48.710
He peeked in the window when his knocks went unanswered and ran to the police station to report his discovery.
01:20:48.710 --> 01:20:52.550
A severely mutilated body lying on the bed.
01:20:52.550 --> 01:20:59.829
Police inspector Walter Beck and surgeon George Baxter Phillips were among those who responded to the scene.
01:20:59.829 --> 01:21:03.670
Officers immediately restricted access to the room.
01:21:03.670 --> 01:21:13.189
They were so concerned about preserving evidence and potentially catching the killer that they considered using bloodhounds to track whoever left the property.
01:21:13.189 --> 01:21:17.750
A telegram was sent requesting assistance, but no dogs came.
01:21:17.750 --> 01:21:24.470
With their telegram unanswered, police finally entered the room at approximately 1.30 in the afternoon.
01:21:24.470 --> 01:21:28.630
What they found was unlike anything they had encountered before.
01:21:28.630 --> 01:21:32.149
Kelly's body was brutalized beyond recognition.
01:21:32.149 --> 01:21:36.789
Her abdomen was opened and much of her flesh was removed.
01:21:36.789 --> 01:21:42.550
Organs were removed and strategically placed around her and on the kitchen table.
01:21:42.550 --> 01:21:46.949
There was also a still smoldering fire fueled by women's clothing.
01:21:46.949 --> 01:21:48.550
She was buried at St.
01:21:48.550 --> 01:21:53.510
Patrick's Roman Catholic Cemetery on November 19, 1888.
01:21:53.510 --> 01:21:57.989
She is the last widely accepted victim of Jack the Ripper.
01:21:57.989 --> 01:22:11.989
As the murders continued, the investigation grew into a massive law enforcement effort involving multiple police agencies, detectives, volunteers, and private investigators.
01:22:11.989 --> 01:22:21.109
At first, the murders were handled primarily by the Whitechapel Division of the Metropolitan Police, led by Inspector Edmund Reed.
01:22:21.430 --> 01:22:22.949
Wait, where is Aberline?
01:22:23.430 --> 01:22:25.109
Well, funny you should ask.
01:22:25.109 --> 01:22:35.670
After the murder of Mary Ann Pauline Nichols, the first of the Canonical Five, Scotland Yard sent additional detectives to assist.
01:22:35.670 --> 01:22:41.029
Among them were Frederick Aberline, Henry Moore, and Walter Andrews.
01:22:41.430 --> 01:22:43.269
Was there anyone named Godley?
01:22:43.590 --> 01:22:44.470
I can't recall.
01:22:44.470 --> 01:22:51.430
There's so many names in here that I just took out the ones that weren't imperative to the story.
01:22:51.430 --> 01:22:56.149
And Walter Andrews, Henry Moore, never mentioned again.
01:22:56.149 --> 01:23:04.069
And by all accounts, once Scotland Yard sent detectives, Aberline was the leader of the force.
01:23:04.069 --> 01:23:10.470
And after the discovery of Catherine Edoes, the City of London police became involved.
01:23:10.470 --> 01:23:18.710
On September 10th, 1888, two days after Annie Chapman's murder, 16 local tradesmen met at a pub.
01:23:18.710 --> 01:23:26.789
They were not only concerned about the murders themselves, but also about the effect the growing panic was having on local businesses.
01:23:26.789 --> 01:23:35.430
Believing the police weren't doing enough, they formed the White Chapel Vigilance Committee and elected George Lusk as their leader.
01:23:35.430 --> 01:23:37.829
Their goal was straightforward.
01:23:37.829 --> 01:23:45.750
Patrol the streets each night, typically from 12 to 5, to help deter or identify the killer.
01:23:45.750 --> 01:24:01.829
After the murders of Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Edhouse on September 30th, widely referred to as the double event, the committee even offered their own reward of 500 pounds after the government refused to do so.
01:24:01.829 --> 01:24:07.590
This was approximately 20,000 US dollars adjusted for inflation.
01:24:07.590 --> 01:24:13.350
They also hired private detectives to investigate the murders and question witnesses.
01:24:13.350 --> 01:24:20.229
Like the growing team of investigators, the leading theory about who was responsible changed over time.
01:24:20.229 --> 01:24:27.430
Early on, many suspected they were connected to gang violence or criminal groups operating in Whitechapel.
01:24:27.430 --> 01:24:33.269
As they continued, the idea that a single person was responsible took hold.
01:24:33.269 --> 01:24:37.029
An obvious question was why these women?
01:24:37.029 --> 01:24:43.510
Unlike the movie From Hell, it wasn't because of some royal Freemason conspiracy.
01:24:43.510 --> 01:24:48.710
The victims had very little money, so robbery wasn't an obvious motive.
01:24:48.710 --> 01:24:52.069
Their occupation seemed to be what made them targets.
01:24:52.550 --> 01:24:57.350
Which is unfortunately still the case to this day, I believe.
01:24:57.350 --> 01:25:03.350
Prostitutes are among the most commonly targeted for serial killers.
01:25:03.989 --> 01:25:08.229
Typically, yeah, because they are vulnerable.
01:25:08.229 --> 01:25:24.390
They are typically at a stage of their life where they aren't in close contact with family members, and there's other elements of their lifestyle that could make police view them as less worthy of a full investigation.
01:25:24.390 --> 01:25:31.269
The increasingly elaborate mutilations also led investigators to speculate about the killer's
background.
01:25:31.269 --> 01:25:38.390
Several physicians examined the bodies, most of whom believed the killer had some knowledge of human anatomy.
01:25:38.390 --> 01:25:47.350
That led to speculation that he may have worked in a profession where he regularly handled knives and human or animal bodies.
01:25:47.350 --> 01:25:55.269
Doctors and surgeons were obvious possibilities, but so were butchers, slaughtermen, and even barbers.
01:25:55.269 --> 01:26:07.189
Whitechapel was also close to the London docks, where ships arrived from all over the world with thousands of sailors, dock workers, and transient laborers.
01:26:07.189 --> 01:26:20.470
Some theorists suggested the Ripper might have worked on a cattle ship, which could potentially explain his familiarity with cutting flesh, the timing of the murders, and his ability to escape.
01:26:20.470 --> 01:26:23.590
And now we get to my favorite theory.
01:26:23.590 --> 01:26:26.869
What if Jack the Ripper wasn't a Jack at all?
01:26:26.869 --> 01:26:28.710
What if she was a Jill?
01:26:29.189 --> 01:26:31.909
I'm not gonna cover the Adam Sandler movie.
01:26:32.229 --> 01:26:36.869
The most famous version of the theory came about in 1972.
01:26:36.869 --> 01:26:43.510
The basic argument is that the killer used her profession as a midwife to gain the victim's trust.
01:26:43.510 --> 01:26:51.909
I can see why this initially would raise eyebrows, but I can also understand why it's kind of taken hold.
01:26:51.909 --> 01:27:01.189
A female killer could have potentially moved through Whitechapel without attracting the same attention as a man wandering around alone with a blood-covered knife.
01:27:01.189 --> 01:27:08.949
If she had blood on her clothes, she might have had an easier time explaining it away by saying it was from childbirth.
01:27:08.949 --> 01:27:13.670
But then we get to kind of a bizarre version of the theory.
01:27:13.670 --> 01:27:22.949
Some propose that the victims actually died during botched abortions and that the killer mutilated their bodies to conceal the true cause of death.
01:27:23.510 --> 01:27:25.829
That is preposterous.
01:27:26.149 --> 01:27:29.510
Well, and there's one significant problem with this idea.
01:27:29.510 --> 01:27:38.069
And that's the problem with Jill the Ripper.
01:27:38.069 --> 01:27:41.590
And frankly, a lot of other Ripper theories.
01:27:41.590 --> 01:27:50.390
The idea is fascinating, but it's based on speculation, unconfirmed theories, and assumptions rather than actual evidence.
01:27:50.789 --> 01:28:00.630
If it had been Jill the Ripper, it would have been the most horrifically brutal female serial killer of all time.
01:28:01.430 --> 01:28:05.350
Yeah, in my opinion, these murders are way, way.
01:28:05.350 --> 01:28:08.229
Way too brutal to have it be a woman.
01:28:08.229 --> 01:28:10.630
I don't want to sound sexist or anything.
01:28:10.630 --> 01:28:19.670
I don't even think that's sounding sexist, but I am 99.9% sure Jack the Ripper was a Jack, not a Jill.
01:28:19.670 --> 01:28:24.390
So, what did law enforcement do to try to catch the Ripper?
01:28:24.390 --> 01:28:26.869
Surprisingly, a lot.
01:28:26.869 --> 01:28:39.189
They conducted house-to-house searches after each murder, interviewed thousands of people, collected statements from any witness they could find, and followed up on endless leads.
01:28:39.189 --> 01:28:52.390
More than 2,000 people were interviewed, hundreds were investigated as possible suspects, and roughly 80 men were arrested at various points in connection with the murders or related offenses.
01:28:52.390 --> 01:29:04.470
Early in the investigation, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Charles Warren ordered every available officer onto the streets to deter or catch the killer in the act.
01:29:04.470 --> 01:29:17.430
After the double event on September 30th, some officers suggested all prostitutes found crawling the streets after midnight should be arrested or warned that police wouldn't protect them.
01:29:17.430 --> 01:29:22.869
The first was thought to be too drastic, but unfortunately the second was adopted.
01:29:23.269 --> 01:29:28.630
The one where they're basically like hands off and don't do anything?
01:29:28.949 --> 01:29:35.430
It's basically police saying if they saw a sex worker at night, they would say, go home.
01:29:35.430 --> 01:29:46.149
We're not gonna do anything to try to deter the killer from you, which I don't think is the correct reaction to have to these women that are being hunted.
01:29:46.149 --> 01:29:58.470
On October 19th, 1888, 80,000 leaflets were distributed throughout Whitechapel asking residents to provide any information they might have about the murders.
01:29:58.470 --> 01:30:00.630
On November 10th, Dr.
01:30:00.630 --> 01:30:10.309
Thomas Bond, a police surgeon who examined several of the victims, wrote a report detailing what he believed were likely characteristics of the killer.
01:30:10.309 --> 01:30:16.390
This profile isn't as strong as the ones we see today, aka Mindhunter.
01:30:16.390 --> 01:30:19.989
Bond described the killer in fairly broad terms.
01:30:19.989 --> 01:30:30.309
A strong, daring, self-controlled man with a tendency towards solitary behavior and a sexually motivated homicidal impulse.
01:30:30.630 --> 01:30:32.630
Sounds like a movie pitch.
01:30:33.029 --> 01:30:40.550
Importantly, Bond didn't believe the killer had any special anatomical or surgical knowledge.
01:30:40.550 --> 01:30:46.949
Unlike others, he thought the mutilations could have been done by someone without medical or butcher training.
01:30:47.189 --> 01:30:48.550
What do you think, Ashley?
01:30:48.949 --> 01:30:50.949
I tend to disagree with Dr.
01:30:50.949 --> 01:30:51.670
Bond.
01:30:51.670 --> 01:31:02.789
In all of the cases except for the last of Mary Kelly, the ripper was able to mutilate and remove portions of organs within five to ten minutes.
01:31:02.789 --> 01:31:09.109
And with Katherine Edoes,
her left kidney was removed and taken with him.
01:31:09.109 --> 01:31:18.949
And several of the doctors said that it was in an area that you kind of would have to know where you're searching for to be able to get it out and to get it out quickly.
01:31:19.269 --> 01:31:22.630
Yes, that is what I found in my research as well.
01:31:22.630 --> 01:31:32.309
Apparently, the kidney is sort of hidden in the body, and it's very difficult to find unless you know exactly where it is.
01:31:32.789 --> 01:31:41.670
But I also don't necessarily think that Jack the Ripper was a doctor, especially in the late 1800s.
01:31:41.670 --> 01:31:59.430
I do think that anyone who had any sort of experience, even working with animal carcasses, would have the general idea of where these certain organs were situated and how to cut skin in a timely and efficient manner.
01:31:59.430 --> 01:32:08.630
So despite best efforts, the investigation faced many obstacles, some of which had nothing to do with police incompetence.
01:32:08.630 --> 01:32:13.430
The biggest problem was that forensic science was still in its infancy.
01:32:13.430 --> 01:32:24.710
In 1888, the detection of crimes relied heavily on local knowledge, informants, eyewitness testimony, and catching the perpetrator in the act.
01:32:24.710 --> 01:32:27.670
We have said this to each other time and time again, Remy.
01:32:27.670 --> 01:32:32.470
I don't understand how any crimes were solved before DNA.
01:32:32.710 --> 01:32:35.590
You basically had to be caught in the act.
01:32:35.909 --> 01:32:42.309
Well, and in Jack the Ripper days, fingerprinting wasn't even an established forensic technique.
01:32:42.309 --> 01:32:47.670
It would be another 17 years before it was used in the first court case in England.
01:32:47.989 --> 01:32:51.029
They didn't even have blood types yet, right?
01:32:51.350 --> 01:32:54.229
Yes, blood evidence was even more primitive.
01:32:54.229 --> 01:32:59.989
Not only did they not have blood types, they couldn't even tell the difference between animal and human blood.
01:33:00.229 --> 01:33:02.229
Wow, so it was like blood was blood.
01:33:02.229 --> 01:33:03.670
That's all they could tell.
01:33:03.989 --> 01:33:08.470
Commissioner Charles Warren was also problematic at points.
01:33:08.470 --> 01:33:15.430
After Catherine Edo's murder, police discovered graffiti written in chalk on a wall near the murder scene.
01:33:15.430 --> 01:33:20.789
It read something like, The Jews are the men that will not be blamed for nothing.
01:33:20.789 --> 01:33:30.149
The exact meaning, spelling, and punctuation are debated, but it appeared to suggest a Jewish person was responsible for the murders.
01:33:30.149 --> 01:33:45.189
Responding officers wanted the writing photographed before it was removed, but Commissioner Warren ordered it washed away before sunrise, fearing it would inflame anti-Jewish violence in an already tense neighborhood.
01:33:45.189 --> 01:33:50.069
From a public relations standpoint, the decision was disastrous.
01:33:50.069 --> 01:33:55.670
The press and public criticized him for destroying potentially valuable evidence.
01:33:55.670 --> 01:33:59.670
Within days, the pressure mounted for him to resign.
01:33:59.670 --> 01:34:06.229
He eventually did on November 8, 1888, the same day Mary Jane Kelly was killed.
01:34:06.229 --> 01:34:11.590
His resignation is why the telegram for the Bloodhounds went unanswered.
01:34:11.590 --> 01:34:14.470
The other officers didn't know he had resigned.
01:34:29.430 --> 01:34:35.750
So he left this message and misspelled words to kind of throw them off his scent.
01:34:36.069 --> 01:34:45.029
So keep this in mind in the next section where we talk about the correspondence that reportedly came from Jack the Ripper.
01:34:45.029 --> 01:34:53.590
And right before we get to that, it's important to note that the public and the media were the final confounding factors to complicate the investigation.
01:34:53.590 --> 01:35:00.789
Jack the Ripper is often cited as the first serial killer to create a worldwide media frenzy.
01:35:00.789 --> 01:35:15.189
At the height of the investigation, police were getting hundreds of thousands of letters and other communication each week, many from cranks, hoaxers, attention seekers, and people claiming to know the identity of the killer.
01:35:15.189 --> 01:35:17.269
And the media didn't help.
01:35:17.269 --> 01:35:23.829
Newspapers aggressively competed for readers, and stories about the murder sold extremely well.
01:35:23.829 --> 01:35:27.109
It didn't matter if what they printed was actually true.
01:35:27.430 --> 01:35:32.229
Times have not changed too much in that regard, unfortunately.
01:35:32.470 --> 01:35:34.149
Then came the letters.
01:35:34.149 --> 01:35:41.510
On September 27, 1888, the Central News Agency received a letter addressed, Dear Boss.
01:35:41.510 --> 01:35:51.829
The writer claimed responsibility for the murders, mocked police, threatened to kill again, and signed it, yours truly, Jack the Ripper.
01:35:51.829 --> 01:35:57.269
And just like that, one of the most famous names in criminal history was born.
01:35:57.590 --> 01:35:59.109
So it came from a letter.
01:35:59.109 --> 01:36:02.309
It wasn't a name that the media invented.
01:36:02.710 --> 01:36:04.390
No, it came from this letter.
01:36:04.390 --> 01:36:15.510
Before this, the killer was known by a variety of nicknames, including Leather Apron, due to a local man named John Pizer being a suspect, but more on him later.
01:36:15.510 --> 01:36:24.949
Police and journalists were skeptical that the dear boss letter was genuine, at least until Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Edoes were murdered.
01:36:24.949 --> 01:36:30.789
In the letter, the killer promised that he would remove the ears of his next victim.
01:36:30.789 --> 01:36:34.710
Edo's ear was cut, but not actually removed.
01:36:34.710 --> 01:36:38.229
The coincidence made the letter seem more credible.
01:36:38.229 --> 01:36:49.189
Two days later, on October 1st, the Central News Agency received another communication, the saucy Jackie postcard, signed by Jack the Ripper.
01:36:49.189 --> 01:36:57.909
It referred to Edo's and Stride's murder as the double event, a phrase that became permanently associated with these killings.
01:36:57.909 --> 01:37:03.590
For decades, people debated whether these communications were actually written by the murderer.
01:37:03.590 --> 01:37:09.590
Today, most consider them hoaxes, though there's no way to actually prove who wrote them.
01:37:09.590 --> 01:37:15.029
And unfortunately, the chain of custody for these documents is not what we would expect today.
01:37:15.029 --> 01:37:19.189
Bold disappeared shortly after the investigation was shelved.
01:37:19.189 --> 01:37:32.309
The postcard was never recovered, but the Dear Boss letter was anonymously returned to the Metropolitan Police and is now preserved in the National Archives, along with other material related to the investigation.
01:37:32.309 --> 01:37:35.510
There was even a bizarre confession decades later.
01:37:35.510 --> 01:37:49.350
In 1931, journalist Fred Best reportedly confessed that he and a colleague at the Star fabricated several Ripper letters and postcards to keep the public interested in the story.
01:37:49.670 --> 01:37:52.390
This is depicted in the graphic novel.
01:37:52.630 --> 01:38:05.510
Some modern linguists have argued that the Deer Boss letter and saucy Jackie postcard were written by the same person, while others have questions whether such analysis can tell us much about the authorship at all.
01:38:05.829 --> 01:38:10.470
There's definitely one of them that is real, though, right?
01:38:11.029 --> 01:38:15.590
Well, that gets us to one other letter that is worth mentioning.
01:38:15.590 --> 01:38:20.869
Because unlike the others, it's much more plausible to have come from Jack the Ripper.
01:38:20.869 --> 01:38:40.309
On October 16th, 1888, George Lusk, chairman of the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee, received a package with half a human kidney and a letter with the words from hell listed on the return address, which gave the document its name.
01:38:40.309 --> 01:38:47.989
Unlike the Dearboss letter, this one was short, poorly written, and in a noticeably different style.
01:38:47.989 --> 01:38:53.350
The writer claimed to have taken the kidney from one of the victims and eaten half of it.
01:38:53.350 --> 01:38:58.390
It was later determined to have been preserved in liquor before it was mailed.
01:38:58.390 --> 01:39:05.189
Doctors examined the kidney and concluded it was human and came from the left side of the body.
01:39:05.189 --> 01:39:09.029
It was widely assumed to have belonged to Catherine Edoes.
01:39:09.029 --> 01:39:21.430
Several other women were attacked or murdered in Whitechapel from November 1888 to February 1891, but none were definitively linked to Jack the River.
01:39:21.430 --> 01:39:26.069
Public and
media interest fell during the months after Kelly's murder.
01:39:26.069 --> 01:39:37.750
By the spring of 1889, many suspected the culprit was dead, arrested for another crime, committed to an asylum, or simply left London.
01:39:37.750 --> 01:39:40.390
So now let's get into some suspects.
01:39:40.390 --> 01:39:52.630
I'm going to start with some men who were actually considered or investigated by police during the original investigation, before getting into some of the more elaborate suspects proposed decades later.
01:39:52.630 --> 01:39:59.670
Before we do that, though, there's an important problem with the historical record that needs to be highlighted.
01:39:59.670 --> 01:40:06.710
A great deal of the original police documentation was destroyed, lost, or stolen over time.
01:40:06.710 --> 01:40:21.670
One of the most important surviving documents is the McNaughton Memorandum written by Sir Melville McNaughton in 1894, several years after he joined Scotland Yard as an assistant chief constable.
01:40:21.670 --> 01:40:32.869
Because he wasn't directly involved in the investigation, it's unclear where this information came from, but many suspect it was taken from Frederick Aberline's files.
01:40:32.869 --> 01:40:42.470
The memo identifies three primary suspects Montague John Druitt, Aaron Kosminsky, and Michael Ostrog.
01:40:42.470 --> 01:40:49.909
Druitt was a 31-year-old barrister and assistant schoolmaster from an upper middle class family.
01:40:49.909 --> 01:40:54.710
He came from a long line of surgeons, but wasn't a physician himself.
01:40:54.710 --> 01:41:03.029
According to McNaughton, Druitt became a serious suspect after he was found dead in a river on December 31, 1888.
01:41:03.350 --> 01:41:05.909
This is in the graphic novel as well.
01:41:06.149 --> 01:41:08.149
His death was ruled a suicide.
01:41:08.470 --> 01:41:10.949
He is a Patsy in the novel.
01:41:11.269 --> 01:41:16.949
His family reportedly thought he was the murderer because he was, quote, sexually insane.
01:41:16.949 --> 01:41:22.470
Otherwise, we have no idea why he was suspected of being Jack the Ripper.
01:41:22.470 --> 01:41:27.750
He wasn't identified by witnesses or even connected to Whitechapel.
01:41:27.750 --> 01:41:33.510
According to the memo, even Aberline didn't consider him a convincing suspect.
01:41:33.510 --> 01:41:46.149
Next up is Aaron Kosminski, a Polish Jewish immigrant who worked as a hairdresser in Whitechapel and struggled with mental illness for most of his adult life.
01:41:46.149 --> 01:41:53.350
In 1889, he was admitted to a hospital after exhibiting increasingly concerning behavior.
01:41:53.350 --> 01:41:59.109
In 1891, he was admitted to Colony Hatch Lunatic Asylum.
01:41:59.109 --> 01:42:01.590
God, the names of these places were wild.
01:42:01.909 --> 01:42:06.710
Yeah, you don't hear the words lunatic asylum very much these days.
01:42:07.029 --> 01:42:09.829
Which is where he remained for the rest of his life.
01:42:09.829 -->
01:42:17.510
There are police accounts describing him as someone with a strong hatred of women, particularly prostitutes.
01:42:17.510 --> 01:42:24.149
He was suspicious enough to put under surveillance, but there wasn't any evidence to arrest him.
01:42:24.149 --> 01:42:29.189
There's also surprisingly little to suggest he was physically violent.
01:42:29.189 --> 01:42:36.630
One documented incident occurred in 1892 when he attacked a hospital worker with a chair.
01:42:36.630 --> 01:42:42.550
Otherwise, he was generally apathetic, withdrawn, and inactive.
01:42:42.550 --> 01:42:59.109
He became a more famous suspect in 2014 when ripperologist Russell Edwards claimed he had a shawl, supposedly recovered from the scene of Catherine Edo's murder, and had DNA connected to Kosminsky.
01:42:59.109 --> 01:43:05.989
The results were later featured in the 2019 documentary Jack the Ripper, the case reopened.
01:43:05.989 --> 01:43:11.269
If the evidence was as straightforward as it was presented, we'd have our answer.
01:43:11.269 --> 01:43:12.550
But it's not.
01:43:12.550 --> 01:43:14.470
There are huge problems.
01:43:14.470 --> 01:43:19.109
First, the shawl might not even have belonged to Edo's.
01:43:19.109 --> 01:43:24.390
It wasn't mentioned in any surviving police reports about the crime scene.
01:43:24.390 --> 01:43:31.430
Second, it's been handled by hundreds of hands over the years, creating an obvious contamination problem.
01:43:31.430 --> 01:43:35.829
Lastly, is the type of DNA that was tested.
01:43:35.829 --> 01:43:39.750
The researchers relied on mitochondrial DNA.
01:43:39.750 --> 01:43:49.029
Unlike nuclear DNA that is individualized, this type is inherited through the maternal line and is thus shared by many.
01:43:49.750 --> 01:43:53.350
Yeah, I'm calling BS on this riparologist.
01:43:53.829 --> 01:44:04.470
And the last suspect named in the McNaughton memo is Michael Ostrog, a Russian-born man with an extensive criminal record, though little of it was violent.
01:44:04.470 --> 01:44:13.029
Ostrog was a career con man and petty thief with multiple aliases and claimed occupation, including as a doctor.
01:44:13.029 --> 01:44:17.989
He was arrested countless times for fraud, theft, and other minor offenses.
01:44:17.989 --> 01:44:26.309
In 1887, he was committed to a French asylum where he, for some reason, was dubbed a homicidal maniac.
01:44:26.309 --> 01:44:31.350
Despite that distinction, he was released in March 1888.
01:44:31.750 --> 01:44:36.550
One year later, after being diagnosed as a homicidal maniac?
01:44:36.869 --> 01:44:45.430
By the time of the Ripper murders, he'd come to the attention of British authorities and was named a suspect, despite no evidence connecting him to the murders.
01:44:45.430 --> 01:44:52.390
There was also evidence suggesting he was in France during at least part of the period when the murders were occurring.
01:44:52.390 --> 01:45:00.470
Okay, so Remy, do you think any named in the McNaughton memo are suspects that you would want to investigate more into?
01:45:00.869 --> 01:45:04.630
No, I don't think any of these are our guy.
01:45:04.630 --> 01:45:06.869
None of these sound credible to me.
01:45:07.189 --> 01:45:08.149
I agree.
01:45:08.149 --> 01:45:10.229
And so now we'll move on.
01:45:10.229 --> 01:45:17.829
As I mentioned earlier, roughly 80 people were arrested at various points in connection with the murders or related suspicions.
01:45:17.829 --> 01:45:27.189
Many were quickly cleared and initially investigated because of rumors, suspicious behavior, or simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
01:45:27.189 --> 01:45:34.069
One of the earliest suspects was connected to an early nickname given to the killer, leather apron.
01:45:34.069 --> 01:45:42.309
After Mary Ann Nichols was murdered, a bloodstained piece of a leather apron was found in the vicinity of the crime scene.
01:45:42.309 --> 01:45:52.869
Local residents began speculating that it belonged to John Pizer, a Polish-born Jewish bootmaker known to wear a leather apron while working.
01:45:52.869 --> 01:45:59.590
He was arrested on September 10th, 1888, despite no real evidence against him.
01:45:59.989 --> 01:46:03.109
Other than the fact that he wore a leather apron.
01:46:03.430 --> 01:46:08.470
Which I am sure so did so many other professional men at this time.
01:46:08.470 --> 01:46:21.029
A search of his home revealed several long-bladed knives and a collection of homemade hats.
01:46:21.029 --> 01:46:28.869
Coincidentally, Nichols reportedly told people shortly before her death that she had acquired a new hat.
01:46:28.869 --> 01:46:36.069
Piser was released from custody after police established his alibis for the murders of Nichols and Chapman.
01:46:36.069 --> 01:46:43.510
He was also awarded compensation from at least one newspaper who publicly named him as the killer.
01:46:43.510 --> 01:46:48.630
Ironically, another piece from an apron was found near Catherine Edo's body.
01:46:48.630 --> 01:46:53.829
It belonged to John Richardson, though he was ultimately cleared of any wrongdoing.
01:46:53.829 --> 01:46:59.510
There was also William Piggott, a ship cook arrested the same day as Pizer.
01:46:59.510 --> 01:47:06.390
He came under suspicion because he was found at a pub with cuts on his hands and blood on his clothes.
01:47:06.390 --> 01:47:15.350
After a few hours in custody, he became increasingly incoherent, declared insane, and sent to an asylum.
01:47:15.350 --> 01:47:21.189
He was eliminated as a suspect after the murders continued during his confinement.
01:47:21.510 --> 01:47:25.989
Jesus, that went as badly as it could have possibly gone.
01:47:26.309 --> 01:47:32.949
Another suspect who seemed plausible was Jacob Eisenschmid, a Swiss-born butcher.
01:47:32.949 --> 01:47:39.269
He was arrested on September 13, 1888, shortly after the murder of Annie Chapman.
01:47:39.269 --> 01:47:52.869
Part of the reason he was considered was because
he matched the description of a man with a distinct ginger mustache who was reportedly seen wearing bloodstained clothing and acting suspiciously the night of Chapman's murder.
01:47:52.869 --> 01:47:58.309
Two days before his arrest, two physicians contacted police about him.
01:47:58.309 --> 01:48:04.710
AishenSmid apparently lived a relatively quiet life until about a year before the murders.
01:48:04.710 --> 01:48:09.510
His mental health deteriorated when his businesses began failing.
01:48:09.510 --> 01:48:14.470
According to his wife, he became violent, erratic, and unpredictable.
01:48:14.470 --> 01:48:22.229
She claimed he frequently attacked women in Whitechapel, rarely came home, and always carried large knives.
01:48:22.229 --> 01:48:26.149
This does sound like an excellent fit for the Ripper profile.
01:48:26.149 --> 01:48:35.430
The only problem is once again there was no evidence against him, and he was still in custody when Stride and Edoes were murdered on September 30th.
01:48:35.430 --> 01:48:41.670
He was subsequently committed to a psychiatric institution where he remained for the rest of his life.
01:48:41.989 --> 01:48:44.710
They're just committing everybody back in the day.
01:48:44.949 --> 01:48:48.630
Then there was Charles Ludwig, a German hairdresser.
01:48:48.630 --> 01:48:55.590
He came to police attention after stabbing a man while drunk at a coffee stall on September 18th.
01:48:55.590 --> 01:49:00.710
Prior to that, he was wanted for trying to slash a woman's throat with a razor.
01:49:00.710 --> 01:49:05.189
Like others before him, he was still in custody at the time of the double event.
01:49:05.189 --> 01:49:07.590
Next up is a really fun one.
01:49:07.590 --> 01:49:08.309
Dr.
01:49:08.309 --> 01:49:10.149
Francis Tumbletty.
01:49:10.149 --> 01:49:16.229
He's the suspect you'd concoct if you were writing Jack the Ripper fanfiction.
01:49:16.229 --> 01:49:19.989
Tumbletty was born and raised in Rochester, New York.
01:49:19.989 --> 01:49:28.309
He reportedly disappeared around the age of 17 and resurfaced a decade later, claiming to be a great physician.
01:49:28.309 --> 01:49:43.670
He had no medical training but earned a small fortune traveling around the United States and Canada as a self-proclaimed Indian herb doctor, selling questionable remedies like Tumbledi's pimple destroyer and Dr.
01:49:43.670 --> 01:49:46.390
Morris's Indian root pills.
01:49:46.390 --> 01:49:56.789
He had a reputation for being eccentric and hating women, possibly because his ex wife engaged in prostitution during their marriage.
01:49:56.789 --> 01:50:05.430
A stranger claim made by people who knew him was that he had a large collection of uteruses from quote, everything.
01:50:05.430 --> 01:50:07.350
Class of women.
01:50:07.350 --> 01:50:08.470
End quote.
01:50:09.109 --> 01:50:12.390
Can you explain that at all?
01:50:12.789 --> 01:50:17.510
I think it's referring to every social and economic class of woman.
01:50:17.510 --> 01:50:18.309
I don't know.
01:50:18.309 --> 01:50:19.510
It's sketch.
01:50:20.069 --> 01:50:22.949
That's a weird way to phrase it.
01:50:23.350 --> 01:50:32.869
Tumblady fled to London following accusations of medical malpractice and allegedly trying to procure an abortion for a prostitute.
01:50:32.869 --> 01:50:44.710
On November 7, 1888, just two days after Mary Jane Kelly's murder, he was arrested for homosexual activity, which was illegal in Britain at the time.
01:50:44.710 --> 01:50:59.189
Shortly after his arrest, Scotland Yard contacted police in San Francisco requesting handwriting samples, suggesting they were interested in comparing his writing to some of the communications attributed to Jack the Ripper.
01:50:59.189 --> 01:51:09.029
Because he was known in the United States for his pending criminal charges, the New York Times reported that his arrest in London was connected to the Ribber murders.
01:51:09.029 --> 01:51:15.269
After being released on bail, Tumbletti fled England and returned to the United States.
01:51:15.269 --> 01:51:20.869
Scotland Yard tried to extradite him, but American authorities declined.
01:51:20.869 --> 01:51:28.390
The charges against him weren't extraditable, and there was no compelling evidence connecting him to the Ripper murders.
01:51:28.390 --> 01:51:35.510
He was a problematic fit for the witness descriptions, and that he was older and considerably taller.
01:51:35.909 --> 01:51:43.510
Even though it's not a strong candidate, it's the most plausible one so far, I would say.
01:51:43.909 --> 01:51:50.949
The last two suspects from the 1800s worth mentioning are William Bury and Frederick Deming.
01:51:50.949 --> 01:51:58.550
Burry had recently moved to Scotland before murdering his wife Ellen on February 4th, 1889.
01:51:58.550 --> 01:52:02.949
A few days later, he went to police claiming she committed suicide.
01:52:02.949 --> 01:52:07.109
He eventually admitted to killing her but denied being Jack the Ripper.
01:52:07.109 --> 01:52:12.630
The circumstances of Ellen's murder attracted attention because of the Ripper case.
01:52:12.630 --> 01:52:20.949
She was strangled and had cuts to her abdomen, though they were minor compared to the mutilations of the Canonical Five.
01:52:20.949 --> 01:52:24.869
He was sentenced to death and hung in April 1889.
01:52:24.869 --> 01:52:28.229
That's when the Ripper theory really took off.
01:52:28.229 --> 01:52:36.470
Executioner James Barry promoted the idea that Bury was Jack the Ripper, pointing to several things he found suspicious.
01:52:36.470 --> 01:52:43.909
One was graffiti associated with Bury's residence that allegedly accused the occupant of being the Ripper.
01:52:43.909 --> 01:52:47.109
Barry interpreted this as a confession.
01:52:47.109 --> 01:52:55.189
There were also claims that his wife told police her husband knew something about the serial killer, but neither of these claims is strong.
01:52:55.189 --> 01:53:01.989
There's no proof Bury
wrote the graffiti, and the sources of Ellen's statements are difficult to verify.
01:53:01.989 --> 01:53:08.949
Police did show some interest in him because he left Whitechapel shortly after Mary Jane Kelly's murder.
01:53:08.949 --> 01:53:14.869
And when he was arrested, he reportedly expressed concern about being accused of the slangs.
01:53:14.869 --> 01:53:18.470
The biggest problem with the Bury theory is the Ripper's MO.
01:53:18.470 --> 01:53:26.550
Ellen was strangled rather than having her throat cut, and the abdominal injuries were minor compared to the other murders.
01:53:26.869 --> 01:53:34.949
It seems like if you committed just about any crime in the vicinity during this time, you were a suspect.
01:53:35.430 --> 01:53:42.069
It's if you did anything to raise suspicion about you for any reason, you were a suspect.
01:53:42.069 --> 01:53:45.750
And finally, we have Frederick Deming.
01:53:45.750 --> 01:53:52.069
In 1891, he murdered his wife and four children at their home in Lancashire.
01:53:52.069 --> 01:53:57.269
He then fled Britain for Australia, where he married and killed a second woman.
01:53:57.269 --> 01:54:05.269
Her body was discovered beneath the floorboards of his home, which led police to discover the bodies of his family back in England.
01:54:05.269 --> 01:54:09.109
He was arrested, convicted, and sentenced to death.
01:54:09.109 --> 01:54:21.590
While in prison, he reportedly boasted about being responsible for the Whitechapel murders, though evidence suggests he was either in prison or outside of England during most of the killings.
01:54:21.590 --> 01:54:32.229
Still, the rumors were persistent enough that a plaster cast of his face was sent to Scotland Yard after he was executed in May 1892.
01:54:32.229 --> 01:54:41.750
It was displayed for years as the death mask of Jack the Ripper and eventually placed in the Metropolitan Police's famous Black Museum.
01:54:41.750 --> 01:54:48.470
So, Remy, now before we turn to more modern suspects, any of those guys still float your boat?
01:54:48.869 --> 01:54:55.109
I mean, none of them are incredibly strong candidates in my eyes.
01:54:55.109 --> 01:54:59.909
But if I had to go with one of them, it would be Dr.
01:54:59.909 --> 01:55:01.269
Trembletti.
01:55:01.269 --> 01:55:09.829
He's the only one that it seems even remotely plausible that he could have been the guy.
01:55:10.149 --> 01:55:21.909
I really like the theories where it's someone that was in Whitechapel for a short amount of time, and the reason the killing stopped is because they moved or they were institutionalized.
01:55:21.909 --> 01:55:31.989
Because, in my opinion, a killer that is acting in this like just extreme horrific manner, he's not just gonna start and stop within a couple months.
01:55:31.989 --> 01:55:33.909
Something happened to this guy.
01:55:33.909 --> 01:55:34.949
So I agree.
01:55:34.949 --> 01:55:36.789
As crazy as Dr.
01:55:36.789 --> 01:55:42.710
Trombletty is, of all those ones,
in my opinion, he's the most convincing.
01:55:42.710 --> 01:55:44.550
Which isn't saying much.
01:55:44.869 --> 01:55:48.550
No, none of them are truly viable suspects to me.
01:55:48.869 --> 01:55:51.829
Now let's turn to more modern suspects.
01:55:51.829 --> 01:55:58.710
Over the years, virtually anyone with even the loosest connection to the case was accused of being the ripper.
01:55:58.710 --> 01:56:02.069
And some of the accusations are truly wild.
01:56:02.069 --> 01:56:10.949
Oscar Wilde's boyfriend, George Miles, Winston Churchill's dad, Queen Victoria's physician, Sir William Gull.
01:56:10.949 --> 01:56:12.069
There he is.
01:56:12.069 --> 01:56:24.069
The pining tutor of King Edward VII's oldest son, Prince Albert Victor, and even Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
01:56:24.069 --> 01:56:35.909
Because anyone being accused has been dead for generations, there's no possibility of questioning them, making it easy to construct a theory around almost anyone.
01:56:35.909 --> 01:56:40.229
Nonetheless, let's go over additional suspects presented over the years.
01:56:40.229 --> 01:56:46.149
We'll go chronologically, starting with theories from the early 1900s and working our way forward.
01:56:46.149 --> 01:56:57.109
In 1929, journalist Leonard Matters published The Mystery of Jack the Ripper, one of the earliest books to propose a new identity for the killer.
01:56:57.109 --> 01:57:03.430
Matters claimed that shortly before his death in Argentina, a man known only as Dr.
01:57:03.430 --> 01:57:07.590
Stanley made a deathbed confession about being Jack the Ripper.
01:57:07.590 --> 01:57:09.269
There's just one problem.
01:57:09.269 --> 01:57:13.590
There's no reliable evidence that this man ever existed.
01:57:13.590 --> 01:57:20.149
Matters also named another man as the possible suspect, Severin Klaowski.
01:57:20.149 --> 01:57:29.430
He was born in Poland, trained as a surgical assistant, and worked as a barber after immigrating to Whitechapel around 1888.
01:57:29.430 --> 01:57:37.189
Between 1898 and 1902, he married three women who died from mysterious ailments.
01:57:37.189 --> 01:57:43.670
Turns out, he slowly poisoned them to death with arsenic and became known as the Borough Poisoner.
01:57:43.670 --> 01:57:47.510
He was arrested in 1902 and hanged a year later.
01:57:47.510 --> 01:57:50.390
So why did Matters think he was Jack the Ripper?
01:57:50.390 --> 01:57:59.750
For starters, Klawowski lived in Whitechapel during the Ripper murders, had some surgical training, and resembled witness descriptions.
01:57:59.750 --> 01:58:06.710
Matters also claimed Frederick Aberlein considered Klawski one of his leading suspects.
01:58:06.710 --> 01:58:14.149
But would Jack the Ripper replace his life of brutal mutilation for one of slow poisoning?
01:58:14.149 --> 01:58:15.430
Unlikely.
01:58:15.430 --> 01:58:19.029
Moving forward several decades, we come to Dr.
01:58:19.029 --> 01:58:21.430
Alexander Pedachinko.
01:58:21.430 --> 01:58:27.829
The theory appeared in Donald McCormick's 1959 book, Identity of Jack the Ripper.
01:58:27.829 --> 01:58:34.309
According to his story, the Russian doctor committed the murders while another man served as a lookout.
01:58:34.309 --> 01:58:36.069
This sounds familiar.
01:58:36.069 --> 01:58:43.350
McCormick pointed to Pedachinko's surgical expertise and black mustache to support his theory.
01:58:43.350 --> 01:58:53.510
Once again, there's no reliable evidence that this man ever existed, and since 1959, the book has been increasingly discredited.
01:58:53.510 --> 01:59:05.350
In Jack the Ripper The Bloody Truth, author Melvin Harris puts forth Robert Stevenson as one of the few suspects who actually fits what is known about the Ripper.
01:59:05.350 --> 01:59:12.390
Stevenson was a journalist and writer interested in the occult, spiritualism, and black magic.
01:59:12.390 --> 01:59:18.710
He had a mustache, lived in Whitechapel, and was 47 years old at the time of the murders.
01:59:18.710 --> 01:59:27.510
On July 26, 1888, he admitted himself to London Hospital, where he remained until December 7th.
01:59:27.510 --> 01:59:32.789
This means he was hospitalized during each of the canonical murders.
01:59:32.789 --> 01:59:37.590
At first glance, this would seem to completely exonerate him.
01:59:37.590 --> 01:59:44.550
But Stevenson was a voluntary patient, not someone who'd been committed involuntarily.
01:59:44.550 --> 01:59:54.309
He might not have had the same restrictions as other patients and may have been able to move about the facilities and large grounds more freely.
01:59:54.309 --> 02:00:02.309
The hospital was also remarkably close to the crime scenes, in some cases, only a few minutes' walk away.
02:00:02.309 --> 02:00:16.869
While still hospitalized on December 1st, 1888, Stevenson published an article in the Paul Mall Gazette in which he suggested black magic or ritualistic killings as a motive for the murders.
02:00:16.869 --> 02:00:25.109
His well-known interest in the occult contributed to suspicions about him, but police didn't consider him a serious suspect.
02:00:25.109 --> 02:00:33.269
After leaving the hospital on December 7th, he met George March, an amateur detective trying to identify the Ripper.
02:00:33.269 --> 02:00:37.029
They met two or three times a week to discuss the case.
02:00:37.029 --> 02:00:40.470
During one of these meetings, Stevenson claimed Dr.
02:00:40.470 --> 02:00:44.309
Davies, a physician at London Hospital, was responsible.
02:00:44.309 --> 02:00:48.630
The two agreed to split the reward if he was arrested and convicted.
02:00:48.630 --> 02:00:56.390
On Christmas Eve, 1888, Stevenson went to Scotland Yard with a five-page statement explaining why he thought Dr.
02:00:56.390 --> 02:00:57.909
Davies was the killer.
02:00:57.909 --> 02:01:05.510
In it, he claimed he witnessed Davies acting out the Ripper's murders on an imaginary woman at the hospital.
02:01:05.510 --> 02:01:09.989
There's no surviving documentation on how this was followed up.
02:01:09.989 --> 02:01:17.189
Stevenson does seem to be a promising suspect, though his physical condition at the time would have posed a challenge.
02:01:17.189 --> 02:01:24.309
He was a heavy drinker and used drugs to prevent and manage the effects of severe alcohol withdrawal.
02:01:24.309 --> 02:01:31.029
On the other hand, his background may have given him the kind of knowledge some investigators believe the Ripper possessed.
02:01:31.029 --> 02:01:39.189
Unlike most of the witnesses we've already discussed, Stevenson actually fits several elements of contemporary descriptions.
02:01:39.189 --> 02:01:48.309
He lived in Whitechapel, was the right general age, had a mustache, and was physically close to the murder scenes during the entire period of the killings.
02:01:48.309 --> 02:02:00.470
In Donald Rumbello's book, Jack the Ripper, The Complete Case Book, which is the primary source for this portion of the podcast, Stevenson is one of the few individuals said to be a strong suspect.
02:02:00.470 --> 02:02:01.829
What do you think, Remy?
02:02:02.550 --> 02:02:07.350
I think like all of the other suspects, it's reaching.
02:02:07.350 --> 02:02:13.590
I don't think that there is enough to point the finger at this guy either, in all honesty.
02:02:13.909 --> 02:02:26.869
I also don't feel like Jack the Ripper would have teamed up with a sleuth detective and gone to Scotland Yard pointing the detective at a random doctor.
02:02:26.869 --> 02:02:29.189
That just seems reckless.
02:02:29.189 --> 02:02:40.149
But the idea that he was living in a hospital and sneaking out and just running back to this hospital, and that's why he was nowhere to be found in the streets is kind of intriguing.
02:02:40.470 --> 02:02:43.590
It's intriguing, but does it make much sense?
02:02:43.590 --> 02:02:50.550
He was going out butchering these women and then coming back to the hospital completely spotless.
02:02:50.869 --> 02:03:08.229
So all the physicians who examined the bodies post-mortem all agreed that the culprit would actually have very little, if any, blood on him because he cut the throats while he was standing behind them and then laid them on the ground, so all the blood would have flowed downwards, not splattered on him.
02:03:08.630 --> 02:03:11.989
I still think that you would get some on you.
02:03:11.989 --> 02:03:14.229
And is he changing clothes?
02:03:14.229 --> 02:03:20.949
I don't know what you wore when you were committed back in the day, but it is usually white, if it's how it's depicted in movies.
02:03:20.949 --> 02:03:21.909
So I don't know.
02:03:21.909 --> 02:03:24.470
It's an interesting theory, but I don't buy it.
02:03:24.789 --> 02:03:28.630
If he's wearing a black coat, would you even be able to tell if it's stained?
02:03:28.630 --> 02:03:30.630
Where did he get the black coat?
02:03:30.789 --> 02:03:35.029
He just hangs it on a coat rack every night
before he goes back inside?
02:03:35.269 --> 02:03:40.630
No, in a lot of hospitals that you're committed to, especially if you're voluntary, you can wear your own clothes.
02:03:40.949 --> 02:03:46.710
Still, I don't think that there's enough for this guy to be a suspect.
02:03:46.710 --> 02:03:50.949
It's interesting, but I just don't believe it's this guy.
02:03:51.350 --> 02:04:01.109
One last ripper theory from the 1980s involves someone considerably closer to one of the victims than anyone we've discussed so far.
02:04:01.109 --> 02:04:05.189
Joseph Barnett, Mary Jane Kelly's romantic partner.
02:04:05.189 --> 02:04:14.309
The theory is Barnett killed her in a fit of jealousy, possibly because he was angry about her continuing to work as a prostitute.
02:04:14.309 --> 02:04:20.789
According to some versions, he mutilated her body to make the murder look like the work of Jack the Ripper.
02:04:20.789 --> 02:04:29.750
This would explain why her injuries were more extensive, which I could argue that could also be explained by the fact that it was done inside.
02:04:29.750 --> 02:04:40.869
Other supporters take this theory even further, arguing that Barnett killed the other woman to frighten Kelly away from prostitution, which just seems like a lot of work.
02:04:40.869 --> 02:04:53.269
Now we find ourselves in 1992, when a Liverpool resident named Michael Barrett contacted a literary agent saying he had Jack the Ripper's diary.
02:04:53.269 --> 02:05:01.909
It was a scrapbook-style book bound in black cloth with seven bands of gold foil across the two-inch spine.
02:05:01.909 --> 02:05:18.949
The diary begins with the writer describing himself as having done something he can never tell anyone about before launching into a series of disturbing entries about women he killed, his sexual obsession, and attempts to evade detection.
02:05:18.949 --> 02:05:30.949
The author was supposedly James Maybrick, a wealthy Liverpool cotton merchant whose wife was convicted of poisoning him with arsenic in 1889.
02:05:30.949 --> 02:05:47.269
According to Barrett, the diary was discovered beneath the floorboards of a house in Liverpool, but no one could establish a reliable chain of custody showing where this diary had been from 1889 and 1992.
02:05:47.269 --> 02:05:56.550
Scientific testing did find that the ink contained a dye that was consistent with those manufactured during the late 19th century.
02:05:56.550 --> 02:06:03.829
However, the handwriting didn't match what was on Maybrick's will and marriage certificate.
02:06:03.829 --> 02:06:11.430
At one point, Barrett also admitted to forging the diary, though he redacted this claim sometime later.
02:06:11.670 --> 02:06:12.710
Oh no, no, no, no.
02:06:12.710 --> 02:06:14.470
You already said it, you can't take it back.
02:06:14.710 --> 02:06:23.750
And Remy, because I know you just love art so much, we start our list of suspects from 2000s with two artists.
02:06:24.069 --> 02:06:26.789
We're still getting
suspects in the 2000s?
02:06:26.789 --> 02:06:28.550
Alright, lay them on me.
02:06:28.789 --> 02:06:32.149
Walter Sickert and Francis Thompson.
02:06:32.149 --> 02:06:45.109
Sickert was a German-British painter first accused of being Jack the Ripper in 2002 when crime writer Patricia Cornwell published Portrait of a Killer, Jack the Ripper.
02:06:45.109 --> 02:06:46.869
Case closed.
02:06:46.869 --> 02:06:52.789
She points to what she saw as sinister undertones in his artwork.
02:06:52.789 --> 02:07:09.430
The most frequently cited example is his Camden Town Murder Paintings, a series inspired by a murder in 1907, which depicted nude women lying on beds, sometimes with clothed men nearby.
02:07:09.430 --> 02:07:19.269
Cornwell argued Sickert's artistic interest in murder, sexuality, and the feminine form reflected something much darker.
02:07:19.269 --> 02:07:22.390
She also tried to make a scientific case.
02:07:22.390 --> 02:07:36.470
She said she obtained letters and envelopes supposedly handled by Sickert and compared mitochondrial DNA from those sources to recovered envelopes associated with Ripper correspondence.
02:07:36.470 --> 02:07:44.949
The results were presented as evidence that Sickert and the writer of at least one Ripper letter shared a maternal lineage.
02:07:44.949 --> 02:07:47.909
This is where things get complicated.
02:07:47.909 --> 02:07:53.189
First, the Ripper letters of themselves are of questionable authenticity.
02:07:53.189 --> 02:07:59.909
If the letter wasn't actually written by Jack the Ripper, finding DNA evidence on its envelope means nothing.
02:07:59.909 --> 02:08:10.789
Second, as I noted before, mitochondrial DNA isn't unique to an individual, meaning a genuine match wouldn't even mean Sickert touched the letters.
02:08:10.789 --> 02:08:21.750
The envelopes were handled by many people over decades, and the DNA would have been degraded and contaminated long before modern testing was attempted.
02:08:21.750 --> 02:08:25.510
There are also more fundamental problems with this theory.
02:08:25.510 --> 02:08:35.430
Sickert wasn't in Whitechapel for the entire period of the murders, and once again, there's no evidence placing him at any of the crime scenes.
02:08:35.430 --> 02:08:42.149
So despite what Cornwell wants us to believe, this case is very much not closed.
02:08:42.149 --> 02:08:50.869
The other artist we'll look at is Francis Thompson, a poet proposed as a Ripper suspect much more recently.
02:08:50.869 --> 02:08:58.470
He had some medical training and spent some time homeless in London, including in Whitechapel around the time of the murders.
02:08:58.470 --> 02:09:08.710
Beginning in the 2010s, some researchers interpreted passages of his poems as containing hidden references to the Ripper murders.
02:09:08.710 --> 02:09:18.309
The theory gained attention around 2016, but once again, the so-called evidence is extremely subjective.
02:09:18.309 --> 02:09:21.029
Poetry is metaphorical by nature.
02:09:21.029 --> 02:09:30.550
Works containing imagery of death, blood, violence, and sexuality can of course look sinister when read through the lens of the Ripper murders.
02:09:30.869 --> 02:09:32.949
As can a painting.
02:09:32.949 --> 02:09:34.789
These are all absurd.
02:09:35.430 --> 02:09:47.590
In 2019, William Clarkson was named a suspect based on information taken from his biography written in 1937, three years after his death.
02:09:47.590 --> 02:09:55.350
Clarkson was a wig maker who worked for Queen Victoria and lived about two miles from most of the crime scenes.
02:09:55.350 --> 02:10:04.149
He reportedly stalked a former fiance and allegedly claimed one of his wigs was found at one of the crime scenes.
02:10:04.149 --> 02:10:07.430
His profession made him an interesting candidate.
02:10:07.430 --> 02:10:14.390
As a wig maker, he would have worked with sharp cutting tools that could have potentially been used as murder weapons.
02:10:14.390 --> 02:10:17.750
And the theory gets more speculative from there.
02:10:17.750 --> 02:10:30.069
One proposed theory was that he became involved in some sort of blackmailing scheme and murdered the women to conceal it, which makes no sense to me, because come on.
02:10:30.069 --> 02:10:48.550
And finally, that brings us to the most recent major ripper suspect, Hayam Hyams, proposed in 2023 by researcher Sarah Horton in her book One Armed Jack Uncovering the Real Jack the Ripper.
02:10:48.550 --> 02:10:51.909
Hyams was a cigar maker who lived in London.
02:10:51.909 --> 02:10:58.470
In 1889, he attacked his wife with a knife and was committed to a psychiatric institution.
02:10:58.470 --> 02:11:03.510
While there, he became increasingly aggressive towards staff and patients.
02:11:03.510 --> 02:11:11.269
His history of violence, residence, and access to knives are reasons he was cited as a suspect.
02:11:11.590 --> 02:11:13.829
Oh, this is our man, Cyam Hyams.
02:11:13.829 --> 02:11:15.909
That's Jack the Ripper for sure.
02:11:16.149 --> 02:11:17.909
I mean, he does have the best name.
02:11:17.909 --> 02:11:18.550
I don't know.
02:11:18.550 --> 02:11:23.989
So, Remy, before we move on so we don't have to talk about it later, what do you think about any of these guys?
02:11:24.390 --> 02:11:28.069
I don't think any of these guys are Jack the Ripper.
02:11:28.069 --> 02:11:42.710
I think that Jack the Ripper was someone who we will never know, and is not someone who's been named on any suspect list, and may not have been anyone of any consequence either.
02:11:42.710 --> 02:11:55.909
He may have just been a man in an extremely crowded area of London who perpetrated this axe and was just a nobody, and not someone that we will ever know.
02:11:55.909 --> 02:11:59.829
And that's who I think Jack the Ripper actually is.
02:12:00.229 --> 02:12:00.789
I agree.
02:12:00.789 --> 02:12:05.590
I have no theory on whether he was initially from London.
02:12:05.590 --> 02:12:22.949
Or not, but what I think
is that he fled London once these cases started getting too hot and died shortly after, because there's no accounts of these types of killings happening elsewhere.
02:12:22.949 --> 02:12:25.670
Maybe they were happening and they just didn't make the news.
02:12:25.670 --> 02:12:26.390
I don't know.
02:12:26.390 --> 02:12:43.829
But you think with how popular and widely publicized Jack the Ripper was that if a woman turned up with her throat cut and uterus and kidney removed and organs splaying out in Australia or the United States, it would have made the news.
02:12:43.829 --> 02:12:46.949
So because of that, I think he died sometime after.
02:12:46.949 --> 02:12:51.269
And I don't think we will ever know who Jack the Ripper was.
02:12:51.269 --> 02:12:58.229
In the two decades following the murders, the worst of London's slums were cleared and demolished.
02:12:58.229 --> 02:13:06.149
Whitechapel changed, but some of the streets and buildings associated with the Ripper murders survived and can be seen today.
02:13:06.149 --> 02:13:11.109
Many are stops on the various walking tours visitors can take through the area.
02:13:11.109 --> 02:13:14.869
But Jap the Ripper's biggest legacy isn't tangible.
02:13:14.869 --> 02:13:17.909
It's the fascination with the case itself.
02:13:17.909 --> 02:13:24.710
By 1955, there were more than 900 books and articles published about him.
02:13:24.710 --> 02:13:28.630
Today, that number is well into the thousands.
02:13:28.630 --> 02:13:47.750
By 2002, the Ripper inspired more than 50 movies and TV episodes.
02:13:47.750 --> 02:13:53.670
At least four magazines are almost exclusively devoted to the case.
02:13:53.670 --> 02:13:59.430
And it's not hard to understand why Jack the Ripper continues to fascinate so many people.
02:13:59.430 --> 02:14:02.069
It's the ultimate unsolved mystery.
02:14:02.069 --> 02:14:10.949
There are victims, witnesses, and evidence, but we don't have the one thing that would bring the story to an end: a culprit.
02:14:10.949 --> 02:14:14.710
There wasn't a universally accepted solution.
02:14:14.710 --> 02:14:18.229
Everyone can take a stab at solving the case.
02:14:18.229 --> 02:14:21.430
Anyone is free to add their own ending.
02:14:21.430 --> 02:14:26.149
And that is the true story of the Hughes brothers from hell.
02:14:29.350 --> 02:14:39.350
I know on our last episode we talked about questioning whether or not we would even be able to get this episode out in time because there was so much info to cover.
02:14:39.350 --> 02:14:42.149
But damn, Ashley, we did it.
02:14:42.149 --> 02:14:43.269
Good on us.
02:14:43.269 --> 02:14:50.390
We finally covered the most infamous serial killer in all of history with Jack the Ripper.
02:14:50.789 --> 02:14:51.510
We did it.
02:14:51.510 --> 02:15:05.989
We know it's long, and because it's long, we've tried to kind of discuss key points throughout the episode so we can just not beat around the bush and get into our final conclusions for this week.
02:15:05.989 --> 02:15:09.109
Remy, let's just dive into our objection of the week.
02:15:09.590 --> 02:15:12.550
Your Honor, I object! And why is that, Mr.
02:15:12.550 --> 02:15:13.189
Reed?
02:15:13.189 --> 02:15:16.069
Because it's devastating to my case! Overrule.
02:15:16.069 --> 02:15:17.189
Good call!
02:15:17.750 --> 02:15:21.750
I believe you kicked things off last week, so I'm gonna start this week.
02:15:21.750 --> 02:15:33.989
There was a lot of different things about like body parts being removed or cut from different people, but I'm gonna go with the fact that in the movie, Mary's heart, Mary, quote unquote Mary.
02:15:33.989 --> 02:15:41.989
It wasn't Mary in the movie, but who we thought was Mary and who was supposed to be Mary, was being boiled on the stove.
02:15:41.989 --> 02:15:45.750
In reality, she had enough done to her body.
02:15:45.750 --> 02:15:47.989
Why throw in a boiling of the heart?
02:15:47.989 --> 02:15:49.189
Just why?
02:15:49.510 --> 02:16:00.710
I think they threw that in because they had to edit out a lot of the other stuff because of the MPAA, and that was really the only thing that was left in there at the end.
02:16:00.710 --> 02:16:03.109
But that is a good objection.
02:16:03.109 --> 02:16:17.909
However, I don't think that it compares to my objection this week, which is the fact that the elephant man makes an appearance in From Hell and in the graphic novel From Hell.
02:16:17.909 --> 02:16:25.510
Granted, he has a little bit more to do in the graphic novel, but in the movie there is a scene showcasing the elephant man.
02:16:25.510 --> 02:16:41.510
Now, the elephant man did exist during the time of the Jack the Ripper murders, but there are no reports that he was ever in Whitechapel or had anything to do with the Jack the Ripper murders, but was included in the film.
02:16:41.510 --> 02:16:53.750
In the book, Jack the Ripper uses him as a distraction for his first kill, like he has him in the bushes and the woman sees him and is kind of caught off guard, and that's how he ambushes her.
02:16:53.750 --> 02:16:58.389
But in the movie, he's just there for some reason.
02:16:58.389 --> 02:17:01.829
So yeah, that is my objection, Ashley.
02:17:02.229 --> 02:17:10.709
Alright, yeah, that's not one that was even on my radar, because like you had mentioned, which is the reason it was your objection, he's not an original story.
02:17:10.709 --> 02:17:12.870
So yeah, I'm I'm gonna give to you.
02:17:12.870 --> 02:17:14.149
You you got it, Remy.
02:17:14.149 --> 02:17:14.870
You got it.
02:17:15.110 --> 02:17:21.270
I even paused after I mentioned that scene and looked over at you like, you gonna say anything about this?
02:17:21.270 --> 02:17:24.469
And you just shook your head no, and I kept on moving.
02:17:24.469 --> 02:17:29.350
So, all right, I get the objection this week with the elephant man.
02:17:29.670 --> 02:17:33.989
Even including this individual just seems distasteful.
02:17:33.989 -->
02:17:35.590
Why did you have to do that?
02:17:35.590 --> 02:17:38.950
Other than trying to exploit him.
02:17:39.590 --> 02:17:45.350
It is in the graphic novel, and that is, I assume, why it's included in the film.
02:17:45.350 --> 02:17:53.030
However, in the film, it's just kind of thrown in there for one scene and doesn't have any impact on anything.
02:17:53.030 --> 02:18:07.350
However, in the graphic novel, Jack the Ripper, or William Gull, actually sits down with Merrick, the elephant man, and talks to him about how other countries would see him as a god because he resembles an elephant.
02:18:07.350 --> 02:18:22.870
And because of that, he agrees to help him do this thing where he kinda just waits in the bushes as the carriage drives by, and that's enough to distract the woman inside, Martha, as she is brutally murdered.
02:18:22.870 --> 02:18:26.950
But no, he has nothing to do with the true story whatsoever.
02:18:26.950 --> 02:18:31.270
So let's dive into our verdict.
02:18:31.590 --> 02:18:37.030
At the conclusion of each episode, our hosts will deliver a verdict based on the film's accuracy.
02:18:37.030 --> 02:18:42.309
If the film is an honest portrayal of the events, then it will earn a not guilty verdict.
02:18:42.309 --> 02:18:50.789
If the adaptation is mostly factual, but creative liberties were taken for the sake of entertainment, the film will be declared a mistrial.
02:18:50.789 --> 02:18:58.469
But if the film ultimately strays too far from the truth, then it will be condemned as guilty and sentenced to a life behind bars.
02:18:59.989 --> 02:19:04.309
I think that this one is pretty easy.
02:19:04.309 --> 02:19:09.510
I'm giving From Hell a big fat guilty verdict.
02:19:09.510 --> 02:19:11.590
This is not a good movie.
02:19:11.590 --> 02:19:16.469
It portrays the murders extremely distastefully.
02:19:16.469 --> 02:19:33.030
It portrays Jack the Ripper as a blade-style villain with a fancy briefcase and really shiny knives, and just the whole thing is really tacky, and I just get an icky feeling.
02:19:33.030 --> 02:19:41.590
This is a horrific crime spree that occurred, and the movie did not treat it that way at all.
02:19:41.590 --> 02:19:45.510
It treated it like a saw film or something like that.
02:19:45.510 --> 02:19:51.510
They changed Aberdeen to an opium-fueled psychic detective.
02:19:51.510 --> 02:19:57.829
They added so many ridiculous things that it's almost impossible to name them all.
02:19:57.829 --> 02:20:07.350
Though they were following the graphic novel to some extent, the graphic novel is actually way more accurate to the true story than the film is.
02:20:07.350 --> 02:20:14.069
The film is just trash and should not be viewed by anyone.
02:20:14.069 --> 02:20:20.789
It's not a good movie, it's not historically accurate, it has terrible acting, it has a terrible plot, a terrible ending.
02:20:20.789 --> 02:20:33.670
I'm glad to be done with this movie, and I feel like the story of Jack the Ripper
and especially his victims, these poor women, were not given their due justice in this interpretation.
02:20:33.670 --> 02:20:35.270
How do you feel, Ashley?
02:20:35.670 --> 02:20:38.789
For time purposes, I'm just gonna keep this brief.
02:20:38.789 --> 02:20:39.750
I agree.
02:20:39.750 --> 02:20:44.229
This was a guilty verdict from me within.
02:20:44.229 --> 02:20:50.389
I mean, the second you mentioned he was having a opium-fueled psychic vision.
02:20:50.389 --> 02:20:58.950
And then when you got into the Sir William Gall, the Freemasons, the love story, it just like threw me over the ledge.
02:20:58.950 --> 02:21:01.350
This seems like a bad movie.
02:21:01.350 --> 02:21:09.030
I don't know, I haven't seen it, but I can definitively say it is a bad depiction of the Jack the Ripper case.
02:21:09.350 --> 02:21:12.469
Two guilty verdicts for from hell.
02:21:12.469 --> 02:21:15.750
But what do we have coming two weeks from now, Ashley?
02:21:15.750 --> 02:21:20.389
It's pretty different than a serial killer from Victorian England.
02:21:20.709 --> 02:21:22.229
It is very different.
02:21:22.229 --> 02:21:34.950
We are launching into a political crime, a protest crime, and a Netflix movie that I'm pretty sure was fairly well regarded and is recent.
02:21:34.950 --> 02:21:38.309
We are gonna be talking about the trial of the Chicago 7.
02:21:38.629 --> 02:21:44.069
It is starring Jeremy Strong, Sasha Barron Cohen, and several others.
02:21:44.069 --> 02:21:45.750
And I saw it a while back.
02:21:45.750 --> 02:21:48.229
I don't really remember much about it.
02:21:48.229 --> 02:21:50.870
I think it came out during lockdown times.
02:21:51.110 --> 02:21:52.709
Isn't Eddie Redmane in it too?
02:21:52.870 --> 02:21:54.870
Yes, Eddie Redmane is in it as well.
02:21:54.870 --> 02:22:07.270
Like I said, I don't remember a lot about it, but it will be a refreshing change of pace from all of the horrific things that we have been studying for the past two weeks.
02:22:07.510 --> 02:22:11.750
I have never seen it and I don't know much of anything about the true story.
02:22:11.750 --> 02:22:14.469
I do know the movie is pretty well regarded.
02:22:14.469 --> 02:22:22.149
So I'm very, very excited to take a step away from Brutal Murder to talk about the trial of the Chicago 7.
02:22:22.149 --> 02:22:26.870
And as normal, we will play a little clip of the trailer at the end.
02:22:26.870 --> 02:22:35.190
And before we get to our famous closing line, if you like what you hear, please do give us a rate review and subscribe.
02:22:35.190 --> 02:22:36.549
It really helps us out.
02:22:36.629 --> 02:22:40.309
And until then, court is adjourned.
02:22:41.430 --> 02:22:47.750
We want to underscore again that we're coming to Chicago peacefully, but whether we're given permits or not, we're coming.
02:22:47.750 --> 02:22:51.909
We're going to Chicago to protest the Vietnam War.
02:22:51.909 --> 02:22:54.229
There's no place to be right now, but in it.
02:22:54.789 --> 02:22:58.149
We watched for a decade while we reveled without a job.
02:22:58.149 --> 02:23:00.069
Tell us how to prosecute a war.
02:23:06.309 --> 02:23:08.709
Are you concerned about an overreaction from the cop?
02:23:08.709 --> 02:23:11.670
You all right?