There were plenty of reasons why the police did not catch Jack the Ripper. Because the year was 1888, and the finest investigation technology was not around, Whitechapel were unable to do much about it. There was no video evidence as there were no CCTV cameras on any corner of Whitechapel. There were no such things as DNA testing then as well, so they were limited to how they would catch the murderer.
The police were very bright when using some real evidence, and some destroyed it.The police wasn't well trained in self-defence, protection or concerned with deterring crime instead of catching criminals. The police wasted a lot of time on house to house enquires, and could only point there finger on butchers and surgeons. Newspapers pointed the finger at any suspicious person and the police were forced to investigate, which wasted more time. The public slowed things down by rushing the police into finding the killer, People also wrote to the police making statements explaining they were the killer, when they weren't.
Jack the Rippers character was very unpredictable as he could strike at any time. This linked to the police and how it messed with there heads. He was mentally unstable, as everyone thought he was a professional with a surgical knife. The first murder occurred on Friday, 31st August 1888, in Bucks Row, Whitechapel at 4:00am.
Dr Rees Llewellyn is called for and announces the woman dead, she was a prostitute named Polly Nicholls. Her skirt was hitched up and her throat was cut, however it would be later in the night, when her body was fully examined that the extent of her injuries were realised.Five teeth were missing from her mouth, Her tongue was lacerated, she had a bruise on the right side of her jaw, There was a four inch cut along the left side of her neck, An eight inch circular incision was made around her throat, cutting all the tissue and organs to the vertebrae and She had a criss-cross pattern of cuts across her abdomen. The police made and appearance at the scene of the murder and only spent a few days making house-to-house inquires. Because it was in all of the papers, the whole of White chapel knows, despite the polices efforts to keep things under raps.
The police needed help, they asked home secretary to give a reward to anyone who captures the killer, although they refused as it was the polices duty. Only a few days later on the 8th of September at 6am, another prostitute Annie Chapmen's body were found in a spital field outside Whitechapel. It was Dr George Phillips who was on the scene of the murder. Her throat had been savagely cut and her body had been viciously mutilated. Organs removed from her abdomen in a manner, which suggested that her attacker had anatomical knowledge.He also said that he used the same knife for amplitations, and the job would be impossible if the murder wasn't some sort of surgeon.
It was her stomach and intestine, which has been pulled out, so he must have known where all of the organs were. Wayne Baxter's exact words were "the body had not been dissected, but the injuries have been made by someone who had a considerable anatomical skill and knowledge". There were not a lot of people in the Spitt Field at 5:00am, and witnesses said she must have been killed at about 5:30am but the unskilled coroner said 4:30, and the police went with his decision and the whiteness was ruled out.The police made more house-to-house enquire on the murder, so everyone knew what were happening and they started to get recognised in America. Things took a turn and they arrested a man for both o the murders, his name was Leather Apron (aka John Pizer). This made the police look better in the medias eye.
However, he was then released a few days later because there was no evidence to hold him. After Leather Apron was released, a few days later Elizabeth Stride was discovered on Saturday 30th September at 1. 00 am.Her throat had been cut so recently, it was felt that the officer untimely arrival had probably disturbed the Ripper during the attack. Her skirt was lifted up and there were no sign of a struggle. She was the least mutilated of the Ripper victims, but that is due to the officer possibly disturbing the killer before he could finish his work.
More people got annoyed again because they started doing too many door-to-door enquires, rather than looking for him. Catherine Eddowes body was found at almost 1. 45 a. m. he same night as Elizabeth Stride.
After the Ripper had been disturbed he went on to search for another victim. Catherine had been slaughtered like the others, her intestines strewn from her body. The killer was indeed busy tonight; the chalked message appeared on a wall in Goulston Street next to a bloodied piece of Kate Eddowes apron. The message read: The Juwes are The men that Will not Be Blamed For nothing This was a very important piece of evidence because of the spelling of the word 'Jews', as he included an 'e'.
When the commissar Charles Warren arrived at the scene, he washed it away and said "If the writing had been left there, it would have been an onslaught upon the Jews, probably would have been wrecked and lives would probably have been lost" he didn't save this evidence, which might have played a big part in the capture of Jake the Ripper, and shows lack of there investigational skills. A letter was sent to the police with a kidney, and Jack the Ripper called it 'From Hell'. On the 9th of November 1888, Mary Kelly was murdered in her lodgings at 13 Miller's Court sometime after 4:00am.This was the most savage and gruesome attack. Dr Bond and Dr Phillips investigated into the post-mortem.
Her entire body was horribly mutilated, her face hacked beyond recognition. The whole of the surface of the abdomen and thighs was removed, the breasts were cut off, and the arms mutilated by several jagged wounds and the face hacked beyond recognition of the features. Most of her skin had been removed also, but it appeared to everybody that the coroners hadn't much medical knowledge, as Dr Bond states that she died in between 1:00-2:00am, however Dr Phillips said 5:00-6:00am.Because of the vast difference in the times, the police did not use that piece of evidence and showed that they weren't skilled enough. The month of October had passed with no further clues as to the identity of the infamous Ripper.
The attack on Mary Kelly was so dreadful; police believed that the killer's taste for macabre murder and thirst for blood had finally been satisfied. Jack the Ripper was not caught because the police did not take the evidence seriously enough, and only made house-to-house enquires. The newspapers didn't help, as they put down the police and made the public demand a quick arrest.
