Letters of Jack the Ripper was checked for fake information
Analysis 209 attributed to Jack the Ripper letters showed that the first two letters definitely belong to the hand of one person. It may confirm the theory that the first letter of the London maniac was fake. While it is still unknown whether the author of these letters do the serial killer who galvanized London of the late nineteenth century.
Analysis 209 attributed to Jack the Ripper letters showed that the first two letters definitely belong to the hand of one person. It may confirm the theory that the first letter of the London maniac was fake. While it is still unknown whether the author of these letters do the serial killer who galvanized London of the late nineteenth century. The study of linguist from the University of Manchester published in the journal of Digital Scholarship in the Humanities.
In the second half of 1888 in London’s Whitechapel area and several other surrounding districts had committed a series of murders of prostitutes.
All of the victims had her throat cut and abdomen opened. The press have dubbed the alleged maniac “Whitechapel Murderer” and “Leather apron”, but much more famous nickname was “Jack the Ripper”.
It was signed one of the letters sent to unknown person in Scotland Yard in September 1888.
Only at the police, the London Newspapers and officials received a lot of letters, but most of them experts have long recognized fakes. It is thought that these fake letters were written by journalists, to ensure the circulation of their publications.
The most important for investigation scientists recognize three letters — the first of them, tentatively called “Dear Governor” (it first appeared the name Jack the Ripper), postcard “Saucy Jacky” and the letter “From hell”.
The first two letters received by London’s Central news Agency and then handed over to the police, and the third got George Lusk of the “Whitechapel vigilance Committee”.
Author Andrea Nini says he was very surprised to hear that there was no forensic analysis of the letters of Jack the Ripper. Earlier, on the basis of handwriting analysis has been put forward is the hypothesis that the first two letters written by one and the same person. Now Andrea confirmed this hypothesis with the help of linguistic analysis. He also suggested that the same author wrote another text attributed to Jack the Ripper — letter “Moab and madeinitaly”.
Andrea analyzed the verbal constructions of letters and identified recurring phrases — for example, to keep back (in the meaning “deny” or “hold”).
In other letters-fakes, some of which may have copied the style of the “Dear boss”, such similarity the researcher is not found.
“Historical evidence support the journalistic theory that the earliest letters (“Dear boss” and “Saucy Jacky”) and “Moab and madeinitaly” could be in the Central news Agency, because the originals of these letters were not sent to the police — says Andrea Nini. — If linguistic data confirm that the “Dear boss” and “Saucy Jacky” by the same author, we can agree that the journalistic theory of linguistics for their support.” However, any conclusions in this case should make historians, not linguists.