Jack the Ripper

Emma Smith was sexually assaulted and robbed by a gang near the junction of Osborn Street and Brick Lane, dying the next day from peritonitis caused by the attack. She was included in the broader Whitechapel Murders file but is not generally regarded as a Jack the Ripper victim.

Martha Tabram (also known as Martha Turner) was stabbed 39 times in a frenzy, potentially with two different weapons. Some historians discuss her as a possible early Ripper victim, but her inclusion in the canonical series remains disputed.

Mary Ann 'Polly' Nichols, 43, is considered the first canonical victim. Her throat was slit twice, and her abdomen was partially ripped open by a deep, jagged wound.

Annie Chapman, 47, was found with her throat cut. Her abdomen was entirely laid open, and her uterus had been removed.

The Central News Agency receives a letter, dated September 25, signed 'Jack the Ripper'. This is the first time the name is used. The author taunts the police and promises to 'clip the lady's ears off'.

Elizabeth Stride, 44, was found with her throat cut but with no other mutilations. It is believed the killer was interrupted during the attack by the cart of Louis Diemschutz.

Less than an hour after Stride's murder, Catherine Eddowes, 46, was found dead. Her throat was slit, and she was severely mutilated, with her left kidney and a major part of her uterus removed.

A postcard, postmarked and received the day after the 'Double Event', also signed 'Jack the Ripper'. It refers to the murders and taunts the police for not catching him.

George Lusk, head of the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee, receives a letter and a small box containing half of a preserved human kidney, allegedly taken from Catherine Eddowes.

Mary Jane Kelly, around 25, was the final canonical victim. She was murdered indoors, allowing the killer an extended period of time for the most extensive mutilation of the series.

Sir Melville Macnaghten, Assistant Chief Constable of the Metropolitan Police, writes an internal memorandum listing three suspects: Montague John Druitt, Aaron Kosminski, and Michael Ostrog. This document heavily influenced the major Ripper theories for decades.

Descendants of Catherine Eddowes and suspect Aaron Kosminski supported a legal application for a new inquest into Eddowes's death, citing DNA analysis of a shawl said to be associated with the case. The shawl evidence and the resulting identification claims remain heavily disputed.