Jack the Ripper. It describes each of the murders and possible suspects. I wrote this papers as my final for English my senior year.

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Jack the Ripper

"She was lying on her back, lengthways along the footway and outside the gate to Mr. Brown's stables, her left hand touching the gate. Her right hand, which was open, lay by her side and her legs were extended and a little apart. The women's eyes, wide open, stared upwards into the night. Blood oozed out of the wounds in her throat" (Sugden 38). This grueling scene was only one of the many caused by the mysterious Jack the Ripper. He committed five murders between August and November of 1888. Not much is known about Jack the Ripper, and what facts are known vary from source to source. The five women he murdered were Mary Anne Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elisabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes, and Mary Jane Kelly. Killing these five women and never being caught has many people still wondering who was behind the disguise of Jack the Ripper.

Jack the Ripper's first victim was Mary Anne Nichols, born August 26, 1845. Her father Edward Walker worked as a tradesman, a locksmith, and blacksmith (Fairclough 242). Mary, or Polly as her friends called her, had dark hair, brown eyes and a dark complexion (Begg 30). Standing five feet two inches tall, Mary married William Nichols on January 4, 1864. William, a printer by trade, was from Oxford. The two lived in a lodging house on Bouvene Street and later moved in with Mary's father, who at that time lived in Walworth, a town south of Thames River (Fairclough 242). Mary and William had five children. Due to an alcohol problem, Mary and William separated in 1882. Following their separation, between the years 1882 and 1883, Mary moved four times. On March 24, 1883 Mary moved back in with her father; however, he would not deal...