Unsolved Mysteries on Netflix: The most credible Jack the Ripper suspects and theories

All kinds of people have been accused

4 months ago

Unsolved Mysteries is back on Netflix for a volume four, and this time it has gone back in time to one of the biggest cold cases in history: Jack the Ripper. The London killer has been named as the culprit of five murders in the city in 1888, and a number of people have been suspects in the Jack the Ripper case.

However, despite a number of credible theories and years and years of investigating, the serial killer case remains unsolved. The Ripper case involves five murders, that took place in the East End of London. The Ripper victims are Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes, and Mary Jane Kelly. Over the years, it’s been theorised he may have been responsible for more.

The nature of the killings were extremely brutal. Women were strangled, mutilated and slashed across their bodies, sometimes with body parts and organs removed.

So, over the years what have the theories been in the Jack the Ripper case and who have been the most credible suspects? Here’s a rundown.

Jack the Ripper suspects and theories, Unsolved Mysteries on Netflix

via Netflix

The ‘foreigner’ theory

An initial theory near the start of the killings, was that the women were being killed by an unidentified “foreigner”. After second victim Annie Chapman was found, a witness described seeing a man who “looked foreign” with her in the area. It doesn’t appear anything else came from this sighting.

Leather Apron or John Pizer

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A man nicknamed “Leather Apron” was also accused of being Jack the Ripper. This was because a leather apron was found next to one of the bodies, and a ripped off part of the clothing item was found in a doorway nearby. People accused a local man, John Pizer, of being the killer because he wore a leather apron. However, he was found to have alibis for all the killings.

via Netflix

Was Jack the Ripper a surgeon, midwife or butcher?

A main line of investigation was looking into the clear skill set Jack the Ripper had, so suspects would have to have those skills too. The murderer clearly had anatomical knowledge with how he was precisely inflicting such horrific damage to his victims, and even knew how to extract organs. As well as this, the murders were taking place at night in next to no light, and in short time frames and small areas such as alleyways and doorways.

All of this had investigators and the public believing the murders had to have been carried out by someone like a surgeon, midwife or butcher – basically someone with knowledge of the human body and using the tools needed.

Montague John Druitt

via Netflix

A named suspect in the case is Montague John Druitt. He was linked to the case after the murders stopped happening, and police believed the Ripper may have taken his own life. Montague John Druitt’s body was found in the Thames in 1888, seven weeks after the final murder. Montague also suffered with mental health issues.

Dr Francis Tumblety

via Netflix

Dr Francis Tumblety was known as an “eccentric” and, despite spending much of his life in the US, travelled to Europe a lot. He was arrested for “acts of gross indecency with a number of males” but was released on bail before the murder of Mary Jane Kelly.

The timeline of his arrest apparently seemed to fit the timeline of the murders, and according to reports Tumblety was subsequently rearrested on November 12th and held on suspicion of murdering Mary Jane Kelly. He was released and fled London.

Aaron Kosminski

One of the suspects mentioned a lot in the Jack the Ripper Unsolved Mysteries episode is man known as Kosminski. He was from Poland, but emigrated to England in the 1880s. He worked as a hairdresser in Whitechapel. The main reason Kosminski was tied to the Ripper case is because investigators followed a theory that the killer may have been in an asylum, and Aaron Kosminski was institutionalised after he threatened his sister with a knife.

Police officials at the time named one of their suspects as “Kosminski”, and described him as a Polish Jew in an asylum. There’s still no concrete evidence the “Kosminski” in question was Aaron.

via Netflix

Sir William Gull and the royal conspiracy theory

Sir William Gull is a more recently named suspect in the case. It seems a bit more unlikely, but the theory is widely spread nonetheless, and mentioned in Unsolved Mysteries.

Sir William Gull had links to the royal family, and it was theorised the victims of Jack the Ripper found out about an illegitimate heir to the throne, and this was motive for their murders. Honestly, it’s a very confusing theory to get your head around, but because it’s quite out there, the theory has been the subject of some Ripper books and TV shows.

Carl Feigenbaum

According to History.com, one of the suspects who wasn’t spoken about in the Unsolved Mysteries episode about Jack the Ripper was called Carl Feigenbaum. He was a German solider, who was executed for murdering a New York woman in 1894. Detectives said he could have come to London via the docks, and it was said Feigenbaum’s alleged victim had similar injuries to the women Jack the Ripper killed.

It’s also been reported Feigenbaum’s defence lawyer told newspapers his client had admitted to being a serial killer, and that he could place him in Whitechapel during Jack the Ripper’s killing spree.

via Netflix

Walter Sickert

Walter Sickert was a German-born British painter and printmaker. Decades after his 1942 death, several authors and researchers theorised Sickert might have been Jack the Ripper, but claims have since been dismissed.

Sickert took an interest in the Ripper case, and believed he had lodged a room used by the killer. He painted a picture of the room, and titled it Jack the Ripper’s Bedroom. However there is evidence that he spent 1888 outside the UK.

Thomas Cutbush

In February 1894, The Sun published a number of articles accusing Thomas Cutbush of being Jack the Ripper. It’s not really clear why, and police dismissed the claims. However, Cutbush has come up in more modern theories, with people wondering if the police may have covered up the killer’s identity.

Volume four of Unsolved Mysteries is available on Netflix now. For all the latest Netflix news, drops, quizzes and memes like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook.