A while back Chris asked what my theory was for who committed the Whitechapel Murders. I said I'd tell him but that I wanted to get my ducks in a row, so to speak, before I said anything. I thought instead of just my spouting off, we could all chime in and say what our theory is. Should make for some interesting conversation.

So, we've got five prostitutes murdered in the East End of London in 1888. Each was strangled, then had their throat slit. All of the victims except for Liz Stride were mutilated, with the mutilations becoming more vicious with each murder. The first victim, Polly Nichols, had her abdomen sliced open while the last, Mary Jane Kelly, was butchered beyond the ability to recognize her as human. One victim, Liz Stride (again) was not mutilated. It is suspected that the killer was interrupted and only had time to strangle her and slit her throat.

What do I think we have here? I think we're looking for a white male, in his 20s-30s. He was most likely a native of the East End or, at the very least, had lived there for a long time. I say that because of the way the killer was able to disappear through the maze of streets and back alleys that made up the East End. This was a man who was very, very comfortable in this territory. For this reason, I think we can rule out rich or upper-middle class men coming into Whitechapel and Spitalfields in search of a quick hook-up with a cheap whore. That's not to say these men didn't indulge in that sort of behavior, but I just don't think that men from that social strata would be that familiar with the East End.

I think the killer was a combination of the Organized and Disorganized Serial Killer types as specified by the FBI. He was able to lure the victims to an out of the way place and hold himself together long enough to fool them that he was just another trick. He brought along his tool (a knife appropriate for his work). The disorganized aspects he displayed come up in the savagery of his mutilations. His mutilations of their genitals, abdomen and (in the case of the last two victims) their faces show an attempt to depersonalize the victim. This is classic disorganized behavior.

I think the increasing savagery of the killings (check out the victims' photos posted in the photo section) shows that he was increasingly coming apart at the seams. The killing and mutilation of Mary Jane Kelly is beyond the pale. He may have killed himself. I believe the killings came to a halt after Kelly's death, because the police pulled their extra patrols off the street. The only time they do that is if the suspect is dead or incarcerated.

So, having written this incredibly long post (and please, for the love of God people, somebody else post their theory too!), who do I think he was? I think there are two prime suspects based on the two best known possibilities. One is Montague John Druitt, a failed lawyer who committed suicide shortly after Kelly's murder. The other is Aaron Kosminski, a Polish Jew who immigrated to the East End to avoid the pogroms in Eastern Europe and who was committed to a mental hospital after Kelly died.

Then again there is the possibility put forward by Donald Rumbelow, the note Ripper expert. He said that on judgment day when all of us who've tried to figure out who the killer is join and ask the killer to identify himself once and for all, there's a good possibility we'll all look at ourselves and say "Who's he?"