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Modern Mysteries

Has serial killer Jack the Ripper's identity been revealed at last ?

By T.K. Randall
July 20, 2023 · Comment icon 42 comments

Image Credit: James Wilson Carmichael
A former police volunteer believes that she has uncovered the identity of the infamous 19th-Century murderer.
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.

Enter Sarah Bax Horton - a former police volunteer whose great-great-grandfather was a policeman who, more than a century ago, was at the heart of the investigation into the man himself.

Her own investigation has revealed compelling evidence that Jack the Ripper was in fact Hyam Hyams - a cigar maker who happened to live in the middle of the area in which the murders had taken place.

An epileptic and an alcoholic, he spent a considerable amount of time in mental asylums and was even arrested after attacking his own mother.
Horton believes that his medical records match him to the physical characteristics of the murderer.

"In the files, it said what the eyewitnesses said - that he had a peculiar gait," she said.

"He was weak at the knees and wasn't fully extending his legs. When he walked, he had a kind of shuffling gait, which was probably a side-effect of some brain damage as a result of his epilepsy."

It was Hyams' mental and physical decline that prompted him to kill, she argues.

As things stand, however, it's difficult to determine whether she has genuinely cracked the case or not.

Source: Yahoo! News | Comments (42)




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Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #33 Posted by Gilbert Syndrome 9 months ago
I've never really understood the interest in Lech. His only connection to the story is that he stumbled upon Polly's body, but someone had to. All of the bodies were found by someone. This notion that he changed his name is farcical, IMO. He was known by both names, there was no deception going on. The entire theory rests on accurate timings, which are all over the place and aren't as accurate as we'd like. Though what I will say about Lech is he's at least a better suspect than the vast majority of suspects people write about.    Out of the known suspects, Bury has to be considered to be of... [More]
Comment icon #34 Posted by Gilbert Syndrome 9 months ago
It's really hard to say, one way or another, but whoever the killer was must have surely been approachable to enough of a degree as to not scare off the victims, and to make them feel comfortable enough to go with him to a quiet spot. This is what rules out the "raving lunatic" type of suspects, IMO.  Mindhunter is a great book, and the Netflix series is also really good. Lots of interesting observations can be gleaned from both.  Without a doubt, the only reason the killer wasn't caught is due to the difficulty the police had in obtaining and retaining proper evidence. They'd have been caug... [More]
Comment icon #35 Posted by glorybebe 9 months ago
Yeah, this is where I wonder if Jack was an everyday Joe, why did they block the info from coming out?  If it was an aristocrat, I can see why they would want the identity to be kept secret.
Comment icon #36 Posted by Katniss 9 months ago
I disagree and will continue to disagree. I already told you in post #25. You are dragging the argument out.
Comment icon #37 Posted by Gilbert Syndrome 9 months ago
It's interesting that you still imagine that we're arguing, you must argue with people a lot on here, and that's something I'm not bored enough to engage in.  You can feel free to disagree, but the fact remains that senior officers at the time were not ready to back Gil Carrillo's theory that several of Ramirez's crimes were connected. The reason being that the types of attacks, murders, weapons used and methods tended to be all over the place. He makes a point of this in the most recent documentary on the crimes. It's a lot easier to recognize the similarity in signatures after the fact, but... [More]
Comment icon #38 Posted by Gilbert Syndrome 9 months ago
I don't think any information was ever blocked by anyone. They just had very little information, and a lot of potential evidence was done away with or missed.  There'll never be a definitive answer, certainly not one that everyone will accept. 
Comment icon #39 Posted by Katniss 9 months ago
I think you need to look up the word 'argument'. It doesn't have to be a heated yelling match. It can also be a calm disagreement with one another. I disagree and argued with your point in my post #25 and that is simply a argument because I disagreed. Edit to add; You continue to reiterate your point because you think I'm wrong and you think you are right thus it's argument. It's not that hard to understand.
Comment icon #40 Posted by Gilbert Syndrome 9 months ago
I'd call it a discussion, but that's just me. You can even call it Shirley if you fancy, lol. It's not a big deal.  You're obviously entitled to your opinion, I just don't particularly agree that Ramirez's signature was as easily distinguishable during the murders as the Ripper's was. That was largely my point, the Ripper's killings at that time were unmistakable, which makes me feel that he had nothing to do with the torsos being found around London before and after the Autumn. I believe he probably started with Martha Tabrahm and ended with Mary Kelly.    That was my initial point, that t... [More]
Comment icon #41 Posted by Gilbert Syndrome 9 months ago
Seriously, though, anyone interested in looking into who may have committed these crimes, go and check out William Henry Bury. It's not a slam dunk, because there'll never be one, but it's probably one of the closest shots we've got outside of an unknown suspect. 
Comment icon #42 Posted by Montello 9 months ago
i dont  believe every year same thing


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