Tom Wescott

"Emma Smith and Martha Tabram were once considered the first victims of Jack the Ripper. Accepted wisdom changed over time and they're now little more than footnotes to the Ripper mystery. But could it be that these early murders are in fact the key to unlocking the secret history of the Whitechapel murders? With new evidence and a fresh evaluation of the facts, we now find ourselves closer than ever to the answers that have eluded historians and criminologists for well over a century."-- From back cover.

The True Story of the First Whitechapel Murders

The Bank Holiday Murders

Dan Norder

Wolf Vanderlinden

"Ripper Notes: Jack the Slasher" is a collection of essays about the famous unidentified Victorian serial killer Jack the Ripper and related topics. Wolf Vanderlinden starts things off with an overview of suspect Hyam Hyams, an insane East End Jew sometimes named as being the Whitechapel murderer. This includes a never-before seen photograph of Hyams in an asylum. Wolf then provides an in depth look at Henry G. Dowd, the New York maniac known as Jack the Slasher. When he was caught the newspapers tried to link him to the more famous killings in London. Next Bernard Brown, editor of the Metropolitan Police History magazine, theorizes about what a New York Ripper would find most familiar in Whitechapel. This is followed by Tom Wescott with a thorough examination of the neighborhood where victim Elizabeth Stride was killed, including a large number of period photographs and illustrations. He then uses information about other murder scenes to try to determine the exact methods the Ripper used to subdue and kill Stride. Next "ESM" provides the facts and never before crime scene illustrations and photos of the little known case of the Vienna Ripper, another killer and mutilator of prostitutes in the late 19th century, one whose methods and personal characteristics could be directly comparable to the London murders. This is followed by Wolf again, this time detailing the known facts of a Lascar sailor named in some news reports as having been the Ripper. Profusely illustrated with rare and never before seen illustrations, Ripper Notes is a nonfiction anthology series covering all aspects of the Jack the Ripper case.

Jack the Slasher

Ripper Notes

"Ripper Notes: Written in Blood" is a collection of essays about the famous unidentified serial killer Jack the Ripper and related topics. Julie Stangeland starts things off with a look at a rarely-seen photograph of the Whitechapel division of London's Metropolitan Police in which, the author argues, Inspector Frederick Abberline can be identified here for the first time. David A. Green then names John Barlas, a Victorian decadent poet and anarchist who was locked up in asylums for the rest of his life shortly after the Whitechapel murders, as the previously unknown lunatic Ripper suspect described in a contemporary newspaper account. Vance McLaughlin follows with a look at three early serial killers in the United States who wrote messages to police and their victims' families. John Bennett reports on his first-hand examination of a 'Dear Boss' letter signed Jack the Ripper and dated September 17, 1888, but that may be a modern hoax slipped into the National Archives to mislead researchers. Tom Wescott has two essays: the first compares the wounds on Polly Nichols, the first canonical Ripper victim, to other area murders, and the second examines the various individuals named "McCarthy" living on Dorset Street in London's East End to try to determine which was the landlord of victim Mary Jane Kelly. Don Souden then argues that John McCarthy was not just a grocer but also Kelly's pimp, and Stephen P. Ryder contributes some Victorian letters to the editor discussing the problems of pimps of prostitution. Dan Norder presents four period paintings to see if a conclusion can be made about which, if any, was featured in "The Fisherman's Widow" print found in Kelly's room at the time of herdeath. Wolf Vanderlinden reports from the 2006 Jack the Ripper conference in Baltimore, Maryland; Kelly Robinson reviews a production of Chris George and Erik Sitbon's "Jack - The Musical" in Charlotte, North Carolina; and various writers critique a number of recent Ripper books and DVD. Profusely illustrated with photos and engravings from the Victorian era, Ripper Notes is a nonfiction anthology series covering all aspects of the Jack the Ripper case.

Written in Blood

Non-fiction work on the Jack the Ripper murders of 1888.

Tom Wescott

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