Once upon a Victorian evening
In London's east end
There were women screaming
Victims of murder in 1888
Commited by a Ripper called Jack
Five women in total met their fate
He killed with so much savagery and lust
There was likely no woman he thought he could trust
His victims were prostitutes
London's most poor
Opening their legs for a pittance
A sad existence, this is true
Earning only enough every night
For a bed and a few bites of food
Now whoever Jack was
(And there are as many suspects
as there are authors who have written
books about him)
He was a man possessed by a drive to kill
To rip into his victims if only for a thrill
The gutwrenching crimes he committed
Are infamous the world over
And five ordinary women
have been immortalized by their killer...
Mary Ann Nichols, 08/31/1888
Annie Chapman, 09/08/1888
Elizabeth Stride, 09/30/1888
Catherine Eddowes, 09/30/1888
and Mary Jane Kelly, 11/09/1888
As the last moments of their lives
Knew nothing but unspeakable horror
I pray that their rest is peaceful, forever more.
Excellent summary of the case. I think, with good reason, that one can make a plausible argument that Mary Kelley actually escaped. There are three great difficulties in the last murder that none of the more classical theories can explain away: the sudden end of the spree; the difference, in both setting and method, of the fifth murder; and the repeated sightings, at least two of them, by independent witnesses, of Mary Kelley on the day after she was supposedly murdered. One hypothesis, however, will explain all three anomalies in a single sentence.
Starward