Tiza's blog: Jack the Ripper

Francis Thompson was born on the 18th of December 1859, in the town of Preston, Lancashire. He was born respectable middle class family, his father Charles Thompson being a local doctor. The second born son of the family, yet the oldest child as the first was born a stillborn. He had two other siblings, both female. Both of his parents were dedicated Roman Catholics, though Mary only then recently converting from her Protestant background, causing her family to disown her. Preston, his town of birth has also been known for its strong association with Christianity, often being called the most Catholic city in England. As a result Francis received a very pious upbringing from early age.

He was fist entered into school of the Nuns of the Cross and Passion as a child. At the age of 11, he was submitted into Ushaw College, a Roman Catholic seminary, hoping to become a member of the clergy. It was rumored that is was common practice for students to “initiate” their new classmates, Francis being whipped in the time he was there. Records say that his days at the college were for the most unpleasant, resulting in him developing into a self proclaimed 'expert in concealment'. Some other attributes hinting at his secret suffering was his difficulty with conforming to what was thought as appropriate domestic behavior. For example lack of punctuality, refusal to give up toys, wanting to be able to play with dolls as a boy. His initial recoil from these schoolyard bullies might’ve had a factor in his “feminism” he was described on having later in life, also him becoming increasingly reserved due to this drove him to start composing poetry in secret. During the time he became known for his love of literature and disregard for all sport, excluding cricket valued as an onlooker. Seven years afterwards he returned home with a note saying: “I have been most reluctantly compelled to concur ... that it is not the holy will of God that he should go on for the priesthood ... I quite agree with you in thinking that it is quite time that he should begin to prepare for some other career. If he can shake off a natural indolence which has always been an obstacle with him, he has ability to succeed in any career.”

Having failed his priesthood, just as his mother did prior to him, he began his reluctant 6 year study of medicine, attending Owens College and practicing as a surgeon on the Manchester Royal Infirmary registrar. Despite all his effort, he showed little or no interest in the subject, some may say he would even go as far as hating the job that his father laid out for him. He failed 3 medical examinations before dropping the career path completely. Around 1879 Francis Thompson was diagnosed with a lung infection, being medicated with laudanum, a alcoholic herbal preparation made out of ethanol and opium, perhaps initiating his addiction for opium. It is also in this time he received De’Quincey’s ‘Confessions of an opium eater’ as a gift from his mother. A book describing the ecstasy or illusions experienced when under the influence of the drug, if anything further encouraging him to voluntarily take opium, but this time for creative purposes. Thompson became a devoted admirer of De’Quincey’s work, including one of his books published in 1827 ‘Murder Considered as One of the Fine Arts’, describing ways in which a poet could commit murder.

In 1880 was the death of his mother Mary Morton Thompson, aged 58. Francis was 21 at the time. 2 years later he was completely addicted to opium, suffering a mental breakdown from his failure in his career in medicine, upset from his rejection from the numerous publishers he secretly sent out poetry to, quarreled with his father on the subject of stolen opium and continuing on in his downward spiral of depression and opium. This was not made any better by his father’s desire to remarry. It was at this point in his life that he decided to leave for London in pursuit of his career as a poet. Of course it did not go quite as well as he planned, him instead spending most of his time as a homeless vagrant selling matches to earn money, although he did spend a brief amount of time as a priest, surgeon and solider. He also worked in a medical factory for a while, where he next to his profession as a surgeon could of acquired a dissecting scalpel. That he possessed one was partially confirmed, as he wrote a letter to the editor of ‘Merry England’ (a magazine during the time) remarking that he should have to swap it for a shaving razor soon. He also admittedly proclaimed that he possessed a leather apron.

In the winter of 1887 the editor of ‘Merry England’, Mr. Wilfrid Meynell received a package containing an essay a few poems and a note reading:

“Dear Sir,
In enclosing the accompanying article for your inspection, I must
ask pardon for the soiled state of the manuscript. It is due, not to
slovenliness, but to the strange places and circumstances under which
it has been written ... I enclose a stamped envelope for a reply ..
regarding your judgement of its worthlessness as quite final ...
Apologizing very sincerely for my intrusion on your valuable time,
I remain,

Yours with little hope,
Francis Thompson
Kindly address your rejection to the Charing Cross Post Office.”

Unable to contact the sender through the return address, the only way to find this unknown poet was to publish his work and hope that whoever it was would show up and claimed the work as his. It succeeded, Francis Thompson showed up at Meynell’s office, him and his spouse from that day appointing themselves as his guardians, taking care of his food, shelter, company and his physical well-being, as well as what they could of his mental well-being sending him to rehabilitation in a clinic and a monastery. It worked to some extent, four years into his rehab he wrote to Meynell saying: "Nor need you fear the opium. I have learned the advantage of being without it for mental exercise; and I have learned to bear my fits of depression without it. Personally I no longer fear it." Despite this he being taking laudanum again and quickly relapsed back into his opium addiction.

In the meanwhile, Thompson is said to have fallen in love with a prostitute, who she was, was never revealed. It was said that they took up lodging together and sharing income. Thompson described her in his poetry as his savior. She left one day and was never seen again.

He died in 1907 from a mixture of tuberculosis and opium.

Most of his personality and physical traits were apparently inherited from his mother disconnection with life and disregard for world prosperity being the random family trait. He has also been described as having issues with indolence or insensitivity to pain. Some sources state that he was an ascetic, someone who abstains from worldly pleasures, such as intercourse and alcohol. In appearance he was of medium height but with a light frame that made him seem taller, dark brown hair, easily mistaken for black, dark blue-grey coloured eyes that seem full of intelligence, shallow complexion and light and a point beard. He was often seen wearing a great ulster coat with frayed clothing, though during the time of the murders he was already under Meynell’s care who could’ve provided him with better clothes. He also often wore a neck tie that he adjusted with his facial expression. It was thought that it was a weapon used to strangle women with.

His motive is mainly theorized around his Roman Catholic background. In the time of the Roman Empire, it was believe there are certain spots of sacred grounds called sanctuaries. If someone committed a murder but reach one of these sanctuaries they would be pardoned. It was thought that if a person could walk onto one of these areas and not get struck by the wrath of god whoever the person may be must be innocent. Out of the few sanctuaries that exist in London all the murders committed by the White Chapel murderer occurred in these areas. Another thing that corresponds with the Catholic religion is the dates of when the women were murdered. 31^st of August, the date Mary Ann Nichols the first victim was murdered also happens to be the feast day of St. Raymond, the patron of innocence, who was imprisoned by Muslims and lips pierced and shut with a padlock, he died after being let free on his way to the pope. On the 8^th of September, Annie Chapman’s murder falls on the feast day of Saint Adrian, who was imprisoned then martyred by being thrown into a furnace. On the day of the double murder of Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Dowwes, 30^th of September is the feast day of Saint Jerome. Lastly on the 9^th of September, the feast day of Saint Theodore, a roman soilder who was torture after setting fire to a temple, Mary Jane Kelly was murdered. Looking at this, you could say that whoever was doing the killings might’ve deluded themselves into thinking that they were acting out the will of God. Convincing themselves into believing that he, through them required a sacrifice for these saints representing innocence, butchers, soilders, doctors and scholars. It is possible that Jack the Ripper tried to replicate the five wounds of Christ’s crucifixion. Also they might consider it a way to clear the world of sin and allow forgiveness. Creating a “messiah” image about themselves, the one chosen by God. I will not pass the possibility of all this just being a huge coincidence, but if so, why is the killing pattern so irregular? Only killing precisely on those dates? The killer seems effective enough in evading the police, so why wait so long to commit another murder? It is the same with the place. There is hardly any connection between the five victims except for the fact they were prostitutes and in a dire need of funds, they also had no known contact with each other, so in theory it could have been any other women in the same situation. What if the only connection between the five of them that they were simply at the right, or perhaps I should say wrong place at the wrong time? And that they were, expendable?? A small price to pay for “the greater good”. Although, that still leaves a few things unanswered, such as, why just prostitutes? Why not a vagrant thief?? Or dealer??

In Francis Thompson’s case, I think that there may be another contributing factor. His disasters relationship with the unknown prostitute might’ve thrown him into a violent state, consciously or subconsciously wanting revenge for her desertion. Using this idea of sacrificing may only serve as a way to justifies his answers, allowing him to be free from guilt by claiming he is doing it in the name of God. By doing this he is verifying in his mind that he is the “good guy”, a knight on a crusade to cleanse the world instead of a murderer killing prostitutes as revenge. Funnily enough, the murders started happening just around the time she left him. These killings could also be made in spite of his failed career in monastery and medicine. This is far from what any reasonable educated man would do, but Thompson wasn’t anywhere near reasonable. Drugged up on Opium, it was probably much easier for him to convince himself of his “quest”. As opium is a narcotic, it would help him feel even less on top of the lack of empathy he already has, probably proving helpful in the careful dissection and disembowelment of human bodies.

Another reason, might’ve been for inspiration, for his poetry.

'Swiftly he followed her
Ha! Ha!
Eagerly he followed her
Ho! Ho!
From the rank, the greasy soil,
Red bubbles oozed and stood;...
Into the fogginess
Ha! Ha!
Lo, she corrupted
Ho! Ho!
Comes there a Death
With the looks like a witch,...
And its paunch [stomach] was rent
Like a brasted drum;
And the blubbered fat
From its belly doth come
With a sickening ooze-Hell made it so!
Two witch babies, Ho! Ho! Ho!’

An extract from a non published piece of his called ‘The Ballad of the Witch Babies’, a poem about a knight who hunts down women to disembowel. In his only short story ‘Finis Coronat Opus’ or in English; ‘End Crowning Work’ the plot revolves around a young poet the sacrifices a women in a pagan temple, trying to gain inspiration and achieve fame. The thoughts of this ‘hero’ while in a killing are done in quite great detail. It ends with him smashing a crucifix on an alter and committing suicide after he realizes the entity he unleashed devours reality. His poem ‘Sister Songs’ describes the poets realization of a new female birth in a trance.

EVIDENCE

Most of the evidence shows that Jack the Ripper, was indeed a educated man with enough medical knowledge to remove the kidney’s from the front without damaging any surround organs in complete darkness and remove the genital organs in one clean stroke. Many believe that the prostitutes were hunted down for sexual pleasure, but autopsies show that there are neither signs of intercourse nor any evidence of the killer having masturbated over the body. Thompson with his pious background and thorough education would almost perfectly fit this description. Though he expressed no actual interest in the area, his experience as a surgeon would have given him, if nothing, enough knowledge to dissect a human body so precisely. Being an ascetic he would have to abstain from such behavior, explaining the absence of intercourse. Having to go through the grueling works hours as a surgeon, he would’ve also have been able to show the brutality exhibited in some of the murders. Brutal yet Careful. As for the grossly mutated state of the bodies, that might be going back to his failed medicine career, perhaps in spite, or revenge by trying to frame a medical practitioner (though I doubt it as he had no real interest in the practition), likely to be something influenced by his past experience and the delirium of the opium. Or perhaps it has some sort of symbolic meaning, possibly related to Christ, it might’ve been some way of signifying how pain cleanses the soul, a possibility could be that he had drugged the prostitutes so that they were non responsive but could still feel and tortured them slowly in a way of relieving their sins. It might’ve solely been for the publicity, letting the citizens know that redemption is coming(?) or perhaps just for the adrenaline/creative inspiration of doing something so gruesome. Or perhaps he was sick minded, opium deteriorating him psychologically. The lack of blood can be explained by the manner the body is cut. If the body is dead before the neck is cut the blood will be less pressurized and so not as much would leak. The absence of noises of victims hearing the noises, could be explained by either Thompson choking his victims or using some sort of herb or chemical to knock them out. I’m not entirely sure how wealthy he was at the time, but depending on how successful his literature was he might also have paid witnesses to keep quiet or give a false lead. The message on the wall (The Juwes are the ones that will not be blamed for nothing) and a few of the letters could’ve been done to lead the police off track, as he was a writer it shouldn’t have been to difficult to place he self in someone else’s shoes. This was probably just to toy with the authorities, though if he believes he is actually on a quest for God he might try and warn them off in some way or gloat as he finds himself superior to them. The choice of the victim’s was a mixture of the suspects traumatic break-up, Christian laws, chance and expendability. With an exception to the last murder victim, Mary Jane Kelly, who was young ad beautiful in contrast to the last four victims. I expect by this point Thompson’s mental health had deteriorated to beyond the point he could still slightly rationalize. He himself confessed he was in possession of a scalpel and a leather apron. Sources also say that he was left handed.

It may never be certain is Francis Thompson was our Whitechapel murderer or just an unlucky writer turned junkie. As far fetched as this theory might seem to you, there will always be a possibility. I hope with the evidence and motive I’ve provided that I’ve provided this suspect with maybe a bit more credibility.

TIMELINE

31.8.1888

-“No murder was ever more ferociously or more brutally done”-Star Newspaper

- Mary Ann Nicholls (Polly) slain in Bucks Row

- Robert Anderson appointed Assistant Commissioner for Crime; selects Donald Swanson to head the case

4.9.1888

- The first press reports of a man named 'Leather Apron' appear.

8.9.1888

-Ann Chapman (Dark Annie) murdered in Hanbury st.

10.9.1888

- George Lusk elected president of The Whitechapel Vigilance Committee.

27.9.1888

- The 'Dear Boss' letter received at the Central News Agency, the first to use the name 'Jack the Ripper.'

30.9.1888

- Elizabeth Stride killed at 1:00 am at Duffield’s Yard, Berner st.

-Catherins Dowwes killed at 1.45 am at Mitre Square, Aldgate

1.10.1888

- The morning issue of the ‘Daily News’ prints Dear Boss letter.

- 'Saucy Jacky' postcard received at the Central News Agency.

16.10.1888

- George Lusk receives a package including the "From Hell" letter and half a kidney

9.11.1888

- Mary Jane Kelly murdered in 13 Miller’s Court

- Last letter: “How can they catch me now? I love my work and want to start again…..soon. Good Luck Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper”

-Sir Charles Warren resigns

LONDON 1888

Victorian times in London would differ greatly depending on who you asked. At the time the city was grossly divided, the gap between the rich and the poor easily seen. In the West end would be those in the upper class, this area would contain all the newly made buildings, best entertainment and a much better education than those in the other end. They were able to enjoy the leisure’s of bay windows and maybe even electricity and running water in general they were overall more prosperous. The East end was as dirty and poor as the West end was prosperous. "…the hell of poverty. Like the enormous black, motionless, giant Kraken, the poverty of London lies there in lurking silence and encircles with its mighty tentacles the life and wealth of the City and of the West End." This was how it was described in JH Mackay’s The Anarchists. Sanitation was non existent, tons of sewage dumped right into the Thames River, the water was thick with soot and waste, the occasional carcass also floating along. The Thames was also their source of drinking water, next to being the thing they just empty their privies into. And so it earned the nickname the ‘Venice of drains’ or if you’d prefer the ‘Capital of Cholera.’ The air was constantly thick and foggy as a result of the coal generated power, sometimes so thick you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face. A layer of black silt covered everything. Not even the rich could escape the filth and smell in the air. Every house was cramped and uncomfortable due to the overpopulation, with less than basic facilities. People were so desperate for money they’d take up fishing dead bodies out of the river as a job, or scavenge junk heaps for a piece of rope to sell, though most families were driven to work in factories. Though Jack the Ripper’s serial killing episode is probably what comes to your mind with the subject of crime, they were unusual, petty crimes such as pick pocketing and food stealing much more common, as well as mob violence, highway men, smugglers and other new rebellious ideas sparked up by the Industrial Revolution. Besides, poisoning someone was much more popular is those days. Despite the prescence of 2 police forces, the Metropolitan police or “Bobbies” who covered all of London except for the square mile in the middle which had it’s own police force. In the case against the White Chapel murderer, where these two forces had to work with eachother to capture the killer, it’s been said that though the men themselves got along fine but it was the sergeants had a dislike for one another, possibly hindering their chances of capturing Jack. Although, if they still weren’t able to arrest him it wouldn’t have been very surprising. The technology at their disposal was quite primitive, only ways of catching a felon is to get him to confess or catch him in the act. Without any forensics or the enormous amount of data we have stored about people, it was surprising that they managed to arrest any criminals at all. Keep in mind that these people still belived that if you took a picture of the victim’s eyes closely following their death it would show you the face of the murderer.