Reference no: EM133390986
Assignment:
The homicides attributed to "Jack-the Ripper" occurred in the East End of London in 1888. The case was never solved and continues to interest people including investigators and authors over a hundred twenty years later. There are five homicides attributed to the "Ripper." These five homicides are referred to as the "canonical five." Some believe that the Ripper is in fact responsible for more than the five generally attributed to the "Ripper."
Jack-the Ripper is certainly not the most prolific serial murderer so why does he draw so much attention. One reason is that the media in the day gave tremendous coverage to the crimes. Newspapers gave daily updates on the investigation. Another is that the homicides occurred in a neighborhood that was rapidly changing and was facing growing social unrest, extreme poverty, and crime. And of course the nickname caught the imagination of not just the British public but the world as well. Welcome to the world of 19th Century London and the hunting ground of Jack-the Ripper.
You will find documents related to the murder of Mary Ann Nichols in the attached folder. There are ten statements and two images. The statements are from law enforcement officers and a police surgeon, witnesses and informants.
It is September 1888 and you have been asked to assist investigators by preparing a profile of the offender using the statements and images taken during the Nichols' investigation. Recall from your readings that there were early attempts at criminal profiling. In fact, a breakthrough moment in criminal profiling occurs during the "Ripper" investigation. You are limited by the fact that in 1888 many of today's forensic techniques did not exist. So if you are asked to provide investigators with an avenue to pursue do not recommend having an MRI performed on the deceased. But crime scene sketching was employed at the time and there was a growing appreciation of the value of photography as an investigative tool.
Read the Mary Ann Nichols' statements/reports. I recommend that you organize the statements/reports by source (police statements, witness statement....). You will find some of the statements contradictory. For example, one witness claims the victim's hand was cold, while another claims the body was warm. Contradictions are frequently encountered in any investigation and the question becomes how to resolve them. The other problem confronting investigators is how much credibility to give witnesses. And that problem becomes the criminal profiler's problem.
Do the following after reading the Nichols homicide accounts/statements:
Using the Nichols' documents answer do the following:
- Explain what, if anything, can be said about the crime scene itself using the documents to support your answer? Based upon your assessment, what can be said about the offender?
- Explain what can be said about the nature of the attack using the medical report to support your answer? Based upon your assessment, what can be said about the offender?
- Using the documents to support your answer, explain what can be learned from a forensic victimology perspective? Your answer should assess victim vulnerability including lifestyle and amount the victim's exposure based at the time of the attack. Based upon your assessment, what can be said about the offender?
- Using the documents to support your answer, describe the offender according to the FBI's criminal investigative analysis terminology?