August 31st: The Day Jack the Ripper Murdered His First Victim

Friday 31st August 1888 was the day that the unidentified Jack the Ripper killed his first victim, Mary Ann Nichols. She was the first of the five canonical murders blamed on the Whitehall serial killer who was known to typically prey on prostitutes from the slums. Nichols' body was discovered to have been brutally murdered  at about 03.40am in Bucks Row (today known as Durward Street). On discovery, doctors pronounced she had been dead only 30 minutes, and took note of the serious slashings to her throat, face and abdomen.

Jack the Ripper: mystery man

   As this was supposedly the first of Jack the Ripper's murders, the pattern of slashing the throat and abdomen of women was not recognised; but later this was revealed to police as a trait that ran through several killings in the time period. Clearly, the precision of the slashing regarding the abdomen and the throat suggested this murderer must be someone with anatomical knowledge. Though multiple suspects were brought into the case, the lack of evidence surrounding the case meant the police could not finalise any claims. Indeed, several nicknames for the serial killer began to circulate, one of which being the 'Leather Apron'. Unfortunately for a local Jew whose leather shoe-shop was called the Leather Apron, this led to police questioning him as to his whereabouts during the time of the murders. Luckily he had alibis to prove his innocence. 
    To add to the mystery, numerous letters were sent to the police claiming to be from the murderer Jack the Ripper. Confusingly, most of these were written off as hoaxes, however some the police took seriously, namely the 'From Hell' letter:

From hell
Mr Lusk
Sir
I send you half the
Kidne I took from one woman
prasarved it for you tother piece
I fried and ate it was very nise. I
may send you the bloody knif that
took it out if you only wate a whil
longer.
signed
Catch me when
you Can
Mishter Lusk

Mr Lusk was the head of the Whitehall Viligance Committee and the recipient of this letter, and as mentioned in the letter, it was accompanied by half a kidney. The brutality and violence of these clues and murders continued with his next victims, and the police never managed to identify the man who BBC History Magazine and its readers have crowned 'the worst Briton in history'. What do you think?