Meet Ripper Jack: The ‘armchair detective’ from Tiger King 2 on Netflix

His real name is Johnny Jack Smith and his videos have had over 2.8million views


The return of Tiger King and the crazy world of big cat owners has arrived on Netflix. Tiger King 2 has a big focus on the missing persons case of Don Lewis, Carole Baskin’s ex husband. He mysteriously vanished and there are loads of conspiracy theories about what may have happened to him, one being that Carole herself was somehow involved. Ripper Jack is introduced in the Tiger King series as an online personality who has investigated the case.

But who actually is Ripper Jack? Here is everything we know about him, and how he became “Ripper Jack” the internet sleuth who is interviewed in Tiger King 2 on Netflix.

Who Ripper Jack Media is and everything we know about the armchair detective from Tiger King 2 on Netflix

via Netflix

In Tiger King 2, Ripper Jack is introduced as an ‘armchair detective’ who is looking into the Don Lewis case

Jack, who has nicknamed himself “Ripper” (you can probably guess where that came from) is an “armchair detective” – which basically means he investigates interesting criminal or mysterious cold cases, but not for on behalf of actual law enforcement as a professional job, just for his own fun at home.

He’s part of the Carole Baskin and Don Lewis case because he set up a Facebook group called Don Lewis Cold Case Files after seeing the case in the original Tiger King documentary. In the group he invited other members of the public to share their insight and theories. “I have no background in law. I told people I got my law degree from Google,” he says in Tiger King 2. “I remember I sent a message to this friend – maybe we should start a Facebook group for Don Lewis?”

He then went on to reach out to the Lewis family, who after parting ways with their previous investigator, brought him on board to help them find the truth. The Lewis family, alongside Ripper Jack, then created a billboard advert appealing for information, with his YouTube channel as where to go for more information.

Ripper Jack Media is a YouTuber with 14.7k subscribers whose real name is Johnny Jack Smith

Ripper Jack’s real name is Johnny Jack Smith. His YouTube channel is called RipperJack Media and he currently has nearly 15k subscribers. His latest videos have all been about Tiger King 2, including the news that Carole Baskin is suing Netflix for using footage of her in the second season of the show.

Who Ripper Jack Media is and everything we know about the armchair detective from Tiger King 2 on Netflix

via Netflix

The majority of his videos are about the Don Lewis case, but he’s also done some on the Gabby Petito case, Making a Murderer and Sean Ellis’ case which was explored in Trial 4 on Netflix. Overall his videos have been viewed over 2.8million times.

On his channel, Jack describes himself as: “Seeker of justice and sometimes gamer. This year I’m looking for justice for students from Highland Community College in Kansas, and also justice for Don Lewis. This channel is for entertainment purposes only. I am not an attorney, and do not give out legal advice. Comments I make are based on my opinion, and should be taken as my opinion.”

via Instagram @ripperjackmedia

He’s recently created a new Facebook group called “RipperJack Media – True Crime Armchair Detectives”and it has just under 500 members. On Twitter, Jack refers to himself as a “Justice Seeker and Activist”, adding he is currently the spokesperson for the family of Don Lewis.

Right now, it is believed Jack is living in Ochelata, which is roughly ten miles away from Bartlesville, Oklahoma. He reportedly lives on a huge 45-acre land plot with cats, dogs, chickens, and goats.

Tiger King 2 is available on Netflix now. For all the latest Netflix news, drops, quizzes and memes like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook. 

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