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Modern Mysteries

Has the face of Jack the Ripper finally been revealed ?

By T.K. Randall
January 4, 2023 · Comment icon 15 comments

The face of a serial killer ? Image Credit: College of Policing
The only known facial composite of the infamous serial killer was etched into the handle of a walking stick.
It's one of the best known and enduring murder mysteries the world has ever known, yet more than 120 years after Jack the Ripper's killing spree through the streets of London, there has never been a definitive answer as to who he really was.

Now, though, an intriguing clue has resurfaced in the form of a facial composite image of the culprit etched into the handle of a walking stick owned by Scotland Yard Detective Frederick Abberline who had spent several years of his life attempting to track him down.

The walking stick itself had been kept at a police college in Hampshire for years and was later presumed lost, but now in an unexpected twist, it was recently rediscovered by staff who had been searching through the archives at the College of Policing's headquarters in Ryton.
"Finding this cane was an exciting moment for us," said college content creator Antony Cash.

"Jack the Ripper is one of the biggest and most infamous murder cases in our history and his crimes were significant in paving the way for modern policing and forensics as it caused police to begin experimenting with and developing new techniques as they attempted to try and solve these murders, such as crime scene preservation, profiling and photography."

"This walking cane is such a fascinating artefact which represents such a historically significant time in policing."

Whether the composite will actually help to finally solve the case, however, remains to be seen.

Source: Yahoo! News | Comments (15)




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Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #6 Posted by Gilbert Syndrome 1 year ago
There's no real evidence for it being anyone in particular, tbh.  When it was on display, the caption read something along the lines of how Abberline favoured Pedachenko/Ostrog as a suspect (which in itself is questionable) and that said carving was supposed to resemble the features of said suspect. More of these canes were supposed to have been handed out.  On the face of it, no pun intended, a very interesting piece, but not really evidence of anything. 
Comment icon #7 Posted by Gilbert Syndrome 1 year ago
Battlecreese house in Aigburth, Liverpool, home of James and Florence Maybrick, though not the home of the Ripper, nor the diary, IMO. 
Comment icon #8 Posted by Scholar4Truth 1 year ago
For some reason this image makes Jack The Ripper look Native American. 
Comment icon #9 Posted by Gilbert Syndrome 1 year ago
It's supposedly inspired by the features of a suspect of Eastern European descent, which in turn is probably rooted in prejudice, which wasn't uncommon for the time. How much truth there is to that, though, is debatable, as is the idea that Abberline favoured said suspect at all. 
Comment icon #10 Posted by Sir Wearer of Hats 1 year ago
Looks like Tobin Bell from Saw…..
Comment icon #11 Posted by Occupational Hubris 1 year ago
Well... if his ghost confirmed he wasn't.... 
Comment icon #12 Posted by ercbreeze 1 year ago
Damn, the Unabomber (Ted Kaczynsky) was alive then??
Comment icon #13 Posted by Sean61 1 year ago
What does the walking stick have anything to do with Jack the Ripper?? 
Comment icon #14 Posted by Gilbert Syndrome 1 year ago
Not much. It was a gift to Inspector Abberline years after the crimes. I'm not sure who came up with that particular facial likeness, but it's supposedly inspired by the features of the "preferred suspect" of Abberline, who was of Eastern European descent.     
Comment icon #15 Posted by LadyPhoenix 1 year ago
Evidence of nothing.  Nice find, for museum purposes, but hardly helpful.


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