May 31, 1860-Munich Germany- Walter Richard Sickert is born.
1868- Sickert moves to England with his family for an operation needed to correct a deformity in his penis. He attends a series of schools.
1878- Sickert makes first class honors on his London Matriculation exam, but does not attend a university. Instead he persues his love for acting. An avocation, he continues to practice through his early 20's. He would act and tour as a member of Henry Irving's company. Sickert once plays the ghost in Irving's rendition of 'Hamlet'.
Early 1880's- Sickert gives up acting to become an artist. He becomes an etcher and painter as a student of James Whistler (Whistler's Mother). Later, Sickert would become one of Britain's most well known artists.
August, 1888- Around the time of becoming a well known artist, Sickert also becomes someone a little more well known around the world- Jack the Ripper. For 10 weeks, he would hold the little town known as Whitechapel in a grip of fear.
The 'Ripper' confines his attacks on impoverished women, forced to rely on prostitution as a means of income. As such, it is easy to procure victims who were always in dire need of funds.
August 31, 1888- Mary Ann Nichols, 43. Nichols becomes known as the first acknowledged victim of Jack the Ripper. She is killed in the alley where she was prostituting this night. She is found with her throat slashed from ear to ear,exposing vertebrae and her entire abdomen ripped open. Little publicity is given to this case.
September 9, 1888- Annie Chapman, 47. Annie is killed at 29 Hanbury St., just 300-400 yards from her home. She is killed on the cold cobblestone just below several of the tenants' windows. One glance from either of these tenants may have changed the course of history. Annie is attacked, her throat being pressed, causing her breath to be ceased and ridding her of any chance to cry out for help. There would be no evidence of any struggle. She is lowered to the ground where Jack the Ripper proceeds to slash her throat in 2 different places with brutal determination. The injuries to her abdomen commences. She is disembowled. Her uterus and most of her bladder is missing. Her intestines are rested on her right shoulder. The media 'awakens' to the series of atrocities being committed in the East End.
September 27, 1888- Jack the Ripper writes his first series of letters to policeman;
"Dear Boss, I keep on hearing the police have caught me but they won't fix me just yet...I am down on whores and I shan't quit ripping them till I do get buckled. Grand work the last job was. I gave the lady [ref. to Annie Chapman] no time to squeal. How can they catch me know? I love my work and want to start again. You will soon hear of me and my funny little games... The next job I do I shall clip the lady's ears off and send to the police officers just for jolly...Keep this letter back till I do a bit more work, then give it out straight. My knofe is nice and sharp. I want to get to work right away if I get a chance. Good luck. Yours truly, Jack the Ripper"
September 30, 1888- Elizabeth Stride, 45. On this night, Elizabeth Stride is found dead, laying in a pool of blood. The 'Ripper' is interrupted in his mutilation of the Swedish prostitute, and fails in the attempt to remove her ear.
September 30, 1888- Catherine Eddowes, 46. To recompense the failed expedition earlier on, the 'Ripper' resumes his gruesome work on Eddowes. Her throat is slashed, nearly severing her head. A knife is inserted just below her left eye. The killer draws the knife from under the eye, to under the nose. He then proceeds to cut her nose from her face. During the murder of Catherine Eddowes, the attacker saw fit to write a message in chalk on the wall. It was discovered to say:
"The Juwes are not the men to be blamed for nothing." Later examination reveals a kidney is missing. This soon reappears...
"I was not codding [joking], dear old Boss, when I gave you the tip. you'll hear about Saucy Jack's work tomorrow. Double event this time. Number one squealed a bit. Couldn't finish straight off. Had not time to get ears for police. Thanks for keeping last letter back till I got to work again. Jack the Ripper."
A few days later he follows this with a gruesome package which is delivered to George Lusk, Chairman of the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee. The cardboard box contains a kidney which was previously missing from the body of Catherine Eddowes. A note addressed "From Hell" was enclosed and contained the following message:
"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 nice. I may send you the bloody knif that took it out if you only wate a whil longer. Signed Catche me when you can Mister Lusk."[sic]
November 9, 1888- Mary Jane Kelly, 25. Just as the panic created by the 'Ripper' begins to die, the killer performs the most brutal of all his murders, taking several hours to finish the dismemberment. She is completely disembowled. Her entrails are removed and put on a near by table. Her nose is cut completely off her face. Her face is gashed and mutilated. The victim is later discovered to be pregnant.
All the attacks occurred during the many dark evenings of 19th century London, and with the exception of his final known attack Mary Kelly, all occurred in the proximity of London's East End streets, performing his activities in the many darkened alleys and alcoves. Although Miss Kelly appears to be his last victim, many believe that murder before and after the Autumn of 1888 have the Ripper's markings.
1942- At the age of 81, Walter Richard Sickert dies.
2002- Patricia Cornwell discovers paintings by Sickert that resemble many crime scenes of the Ripper. The paintings are done before the crimes. She also discovers a long lost painting entitled 'Jack the Ripper's Bedroom'. DNA and handwriting analyses are done on the Ripper and Sickert- they match. After over a century, someone decided to put her theories to the test and made them eveidence of the Ripper's identity. Had any of the other theorists been interested in solving the case instead of making a quick buck off these senseless murders, many of these victims' families would have gone to their graves with their minds somewhat at ease.
