Montague John Druitt was the chief suspect for Melville Macnaghten, who ran the Metropolitan Police’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) from 1890. Druitt was born into a middle-class family with a history of mental illness. Well educated and trained as a lawyer, he taught at a boarding school but was discharged for unknown reasons sometime in 1888. Police believe he killed himself by jumping into the Thames; his body was found on December 31, 1888, after having been in the icy waters for about a month. Despite Macnaghten’s later idea that Druitt was the Ripper, senior police officials stated that nothing implicated him.
Photograph by Age Fotostock
Several sleuths, most famously mystery author Patricia Cornwell, believe British painter Walter Sickert was Jack the Ripper. The artist’s works focused on sexuality and violence, themes common to life in the East End. He even titled one painting “Jack the Ripper’s Bedroom.” Cornwell funded DNA testing of several 'Ripper' letters, despite no proof that the real killer sent them. So far, none of the tests have given a conclusive connection to Sickert’s DNA.
Photograph by Album
After the murder of Mary Ann Nichols, the press reported on a sinister figure nicknamed Leather Apron who had been harassing women in Whitechapel. Following the death of Annie Chapman, the police arrested John Pizer, a Jewish cobbler, known for wearing a leather apron around the streets. Coverage of the crimes revealed a strong anti-Semitic bias prevalent in London at the time. Pizer’s alibis were strong, and he was released without charges.
Photograph by Bridgeman, ACI
In his 1976 book, Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution, British writer Stephen Knight argued that the Ripper murders were the result of a conspiracy orchestrated by the royal family. According to this theory—completely discredited by experts—the Duke of Clarence (above), Queen Victoria’s grandson and second in line to the throne, had fathered a child with an East End woman. Her friends had threatened to expose him unless he paid them a hefty sum, so the royal family covered up his indiscretions by killing the blackmailers.
Photograph by Cordon Press
Knight’s book claimed the queen’s personal physician, Sir William W. Gull—who has been fingered by other Ripperologists as Jack himself—was a part of the conspiracy and helped carry out the killings to protect the monarchy.
Photograph by Bridgeman, ACI
Some officials were convinced at the time that the perpetrator was Aaron Kosminski, a Polish barber known to have mental health issues. This theory gained more weight in 2014, when a shawl believed to have belonged to Catherine Eddowes was tested, and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) similar to Kosminski’s was found. Critics pointed out that his mtDNA subtype is very common, weakening the idea of it being a 'smoking gun'.
Photograph by AFP/GETTY IMAGES
