Drifting around town and murdering in cold blood in Victorian London isn’t what someone should brag about, though brag, Jack the Ripper did in several letters sent to the London authorities.
In one letter, the killer discusses their “work” proudly, casually calling out the cops for their lack of ability in finding them, “I have laughed when they look so clever and talk about being on the right track.” However, this didn’t provide much evidence toward cracking the case, only that this individual had some problems and let the world know downright explicitly. Signing off as “Jack the Ripper,” the figure behind the killings has never been uncovered, and many assumed a man probably did it.
Though there’s less talked about, less man suspect that was in the fold: a woman by the name of Mary Pearcey. Let’s start off by looking at the terrifying profile pic of her below:
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Pearcey’s father had been a murderer. She was known for drinking heavily and is said to have never worked for money, believed to have hung around many rich men instead. Pearcey then started an affair with a man by the name of Frank Samuel Hogg, and the plot only thickens from here.
After the police received 600 letters from the Ripper, some strangely specific predictions were noted, for example, detailing mishaps that would occur to the next Ripper victim. In another letter received by the London cops, the Ripper boasted that after a brief pause in their career– “I love my work and want to start again.” Ahh, yes, a determined, hard worker with high ambition– imagine if only they worked in another field?
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Yet, how does this relate to Mary Pearcey, the supposed (very lax) murderer? Well, the letters were carefully studied, and the mitochondrial DNA from on a stamp opened the possibility of a female killer. Despite this evidence not being enough, there are a few more reasons to speculate her role in this fatal play.
We know that the Ripper was cruising along murdering and disemboweling women, five to be exact, during a three-month killing spree in the Whitechapel District in 1888. According to Big Think, while there’s been talk that Jack was a 23-year-old man named Aaron Kominski, “The alleged proof comes from a blood and semen-stained shawl said to have been found near the mutilated body of Jack the Ripper’s fourth victim, Catherine Eddowes.” This evidence has been deemed too weak to close the case, as the shawl may have never been at the scene of the crime– perhaps they had previous encounters that are really none of our business.