by R.A. Scott

Created on: December 13, 2008   Last Updated: April 11, 2009

The sound of horses' hooves echo on cobblestone streets and gas lights cast long shadows down bleak alleys. Men wearing top hat and tails with ladies in fancy dresses taking in a play for the evening are seen in some of these horse drawn carriages. These are just some of the scenes one envisions when thinking of Victorian England. Those weren't the only scenes in England at the time however.

There was another London that people don't often think about. It's a London of dirt and grime. It's a London of shady characters trying to make a an easy quid; at your expense if you're not careful. It's a London of children with dirty faces, torn clothes and no shoes. It's a London of prostitutes and violence. It's a London of women trying to come up with enough money to share a flea infested bed at a local flop-house.

It was a London where a mad man could easily feel at home. It's a London where a man could hunt his prey and no one would notice or care. It's a Victorian London very different from the one we think of. It's a London that Queen Victoria would never step foot in.

Jack the Ripper must have loved the atmosphere of the Whitechapel district of London. Dirty, smelly and no one caring for anyone but themselves. It was overcrowded and poor; so very poor. Often there were 2 or 3 families living in one or two rooms. This was prime hunting territory for a predator.

While there had been murders before and there would be murders after, there was just a little something a little different about the Ripper murders that had the East End of London in fear. It was fall of 1888 and the Ripper would strike 5 times and each attack was worse than the one before it. Mary Ann Nichols was found dead on August 31. September 8 saw the death of Annie Chapman. Elizabeth Stride, known as Long Liz, met her end September 30. September 30 also saw the death of Catherine Eddowes, these 2 deaths are known as the double event because it is assumed that Jack was interrupted in his killing of Liz Stride and he just didn't get his rage out of him that night. So he found another victim later that night. Finally, Mary Jeanette Kelly, known as Mary Jane Kelly, was slaughtered and butchered.

Mary Jane Kelly was found in her room and it is thought she invited Jack in and he had all kinds of time to butcher her body exactly as he wanted. She was slaughtered like a cow and parts of her body and her innards were removed from their rightful places and either placed under Mary Jane in various ways or on the

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