For the first time, the American murders of Jack the Ripper are revealed in the 1891 and 1892 crimes of Severin Klosowski (a.k.a. George Chapman, the Borough Poisoner), a prime suspect in the Ripper case. After his narrow escape from Scotland Yard, the killer would travel to the New York City area where four high-profile murders took place soon after his arrival. With Victorian era New York as his backdrop, Gordon recounts the gruesome scenes. He also details Klosowski's subsequent return to England where he would eventually be convicted and executed for another murder spree―with poison as his weapon of choice.Readers will learn about these unknown Ripper victims: Carrie Brown, an aging prostitute who was brutally slashed and mutilated; Hannah Robinson, a servant girl who was strangled to death; 73-year-old Elizabeth Senior, who struggled bravely against an intruder who stabbed her multiple times in her New Jersey home; and Herta Mary Anderson, a teenaged New Jersey hotel maid, found dead from a bullet wound and cut throat. How could the Ripper evade capture so easily? Why did the American connection remain hidden for so long?

The American Murders of Jack the Ripper

History

Gordon, R. Michael

Americas

Praeger

Over a century ago, a depraved killer skillfully moved through the dark and filthy slums of London’s East End. Despite the increasingly watchful eyes of investigators, the serial murderer—known as “Jack the Ripper” from a signature on a piece of correspondence that has been attributed to him—was never certainly identified. R. Michael Gordon provides a comprehensive look at the crimes and the case evidence, and then discusses the life of the man he believes was the actual killer, detailing the reasons why this person may have been driven to kill. Beginning with an overview of the terror created in the East End of 1888, the book describes the five major periods of the Ripper’s deadly career: early life and schooling; a step-by-step view of the murders, including the Thames Torso Murders that authorities attempted to cover up; the Ripper’s American connection; a return to London where his final victims were subjected to poison; and the capture and execution of the probable—but never proven—Ripper. To most people who worked closely on the Ripper and poisoning cases, justice was finally served.

Alias Jack the Ripper: Beyond the Usual Whitechapel Suspects

Biographies & Memoirs

Historical

McFarland

The Thames Torso Murders have been overshadowed by Jack the Ripper and his crimes, but were just as brutal and gruesome. They began in 1887 in London's East End, just north of the Thames River in Rainham, England. The killer took one victim that year, another in 1888, and two more in 1889. He resumed his crimes in 1902, taking his last victim south of the Thames and leaving her body in a pile of dismembered parts as he had done with most of his other victims. This work delves deep into the case of the Thames Torso Murders. It begins with a look at London in the late 1800s, a time of great confusion and tremendous population increase, and the killer's path to London, which seems to include a murder in Paris in 1886. The book then examines in great detail each murder and the investigation that may have been hindered by the search for Jack the Ripper. It also raises the idea that Jack the Ripper and the Torso Murderer may have been the same man--Severin Klosowski, better known as George Chapman, the Borough Poisoner. It ends with an examination of Serial Killers; the Ripper, Torso, and Borough Poisoner murder cases; the search for clues to the serial killer responsible for the five Thames Torso murders; and Wolff Levisohn, a dark horse who seems to have known much about all three sets of murders, testified at Chapman's murder trial, and then faded away as Chapman was sent to the gallows.

The Thames Torso Murders of Victorian London

McFarland Company

This critical study of NASA's space shuttle program provides an in-depth examination of the events, decisions, and policies that may have contributed to the horrific destruction of the shuttles Challenger and Columbia. It first traces the early development of NASA's shuttle program, specifically examining the problems associated with the designs of shuttles OV-099 (which was to become Challenger) and OV-102 (which was to become Columbia). The reader is then taken through a detailed look at the first successful flights made by Challenger and Columbia and the cancellation of top-secret Shuttle flight 51-C (which would have launched under nearly identical weather conditions as the ill-fated Challenger). An in-depth assessment of the shuttles' disastrous final launches follows, including detailed accounts of the post-flight search and rescue operations, the official investigations into each accident, and the impact of each disaster on the future of NASA's manned space program.

The Space Shuttle Program: How NASA Lost Its Way

Body snatchers and grave robbers were the stuff of Victorian lore, but two real-life culprits took the crimes out of shadowy cemeteries and into criminal court. William Burke and William Hare aided Scottish surgeons competing for anatomical breakthroughs by experimenting on human corpses. As the duo evolved from petty theft to premeditated murder, they unwittingly brought attention to the medical practices of the era, leading to Burke's death by hanging. This account not only explores the work of the resurrectionists, it reflects the nature of serial killers, 1820s criminal law, and Edinburgh's early role as a seat of European medical research. Readers interested in the legal aspects of these crimes will find the trial testimony included to be a valuable resource.

The Infamous Burke and Hare: Serial Killers and Resurrectionists of Nineteenth Century Edinburgh

From the files of Scotland Yard's "Black Museum" (open only to police officers) come true crime stories of some of the most infamous murder cases of the 19th and 20th centuries--the Lambeth Poisoner, "baby farmer" Amelia Elizabeth Dyer, the Gentleman Vampire of Bournemouth, the Brides in the Bath Murders, the Rillington Place murders and many others. Along the way, investigators pass a number of crime-solving milestones, included the first use of fingerprint technology, the early use of photography and the first time "The Yard" enlisted the press to help hunt down a killer.

Murder Files from Scotland Yard and the Black Museum

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

Exposit Books

Four American women dead at the hands of a prime suspect in the Jack the Ripper case.

The American Murders Of Jack The Ripper: Tantalizing Evidence Of The Gruesome American Interlude Of The Prime Ripper Suspect

Lyons Pr

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Books by Gordon, R. Michael