I have done a
large amount of research on Jack the Ripper as has anyone who took Global Ed
English IV with Ms. Rozman. Therefore, our spooky Jack the Ripper “From Hell”
walking tour was captivating. I have always believed that the most plausible
suspect for Jack the Ripper is Joseph Barnett, and now I am nearly certain he
was the killer. Barnett was in a romantic relationship with Mary Jane Kelly
prior to her killing. In 1888, when the murders occurred, he lost his license
as a fish porter. The loss of his job created additional financial stress in an
area of London that our tour guide explained was already facing economic
hardship. Mary Kelly then returned to prostituting in the streets of
Whitechapel District to earn enough income to survive. Joseph Barnett detested
prostitutes and was furious with Mary for returning to the streets to sell her
body although it was a common “profession” in Whitechapel. It is believed that
Barnett killed multiple prostitutes to scare Mary Kelly out of the profession.
When the scare tactic did not work, an outraged Barnett felt the only solution
was to kill his lover as well. It is important to note that Mary Kelly was the
Ripper’s last victim which indicates Barnett felt his mission was accomplished
after killing Kelly and putting an end to her prostitution.
The Ripper is
assumed to have medical experience and anatomical knowledge of some kind
because of the way he conducted the multiple complex murders, and even removed
organs from some of the corpses. Joseph Barnett is suspicious because of his
job as a fish porter, which often entailed using a sharp knife to gut fish.
Barnett was also very familiar with the streets of Whitechapel because he lived
and worked in the district, which made it easy for him to get around in the
middle of the night when the murders took place. Seeing the complex streets of
London firsthand made me realize that this is a vital piece of evidence. The
person who got away with the murders had to have been a native to the area to
navigate the dark streets so successfully.
The evidence
supports that Joseph Barnett is the most likely suspect to be Jack the
Ripper. Few things in the world are more
powerful than love, which is why Barnett is presumably the Ripper. Despite the
limited scientific methods available at the time, investigators were able to
figure out a few things about the Ripper. Since he claimed his victims on the
weekend in the early morning hours, it was believed he lived alone and
therefore could stay out all night without his whereabouts being questioned. It
is known that after Barnett lost his job he moved out of the apartment he
shared with Mary, and thus lived alone. The police also knew much about his
appearance, which happened to be very similar to that of Barnett’s. Finally,
the most important linkage between Barnett and the Ripper is again that
November 9, 1888 was Jack the Ripper’s final day of killing. This was the day
that Mary Jane Kelly was not only killed, but as our guide graphically
explained, had her breasts cut off, uterus removed, heart extracted, and face
extensively mutilated. The trauma inflicted to the corpse of Mary Kelly made it
clear that the murderer was seeking revenge against her, and therefore they
must have had personal ties to each other. Our guide said by the time the
Ripper was done with Mary Kelly’s body, “she no longer looked like a woman. She
did not even look like a human. Just a pile of bloody flesh on the nightstand.”
There is no
denying the vast amount of evidence working against Barnett. While I clearly
believe Joseph Barnett was the real Jack the Ripper, it is impossible to tell
who actually committed the unforgettable murders. For now, only the true Ripper
knew who brought a brutal ending to the lives of five young women.
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