From Hell

A phrase that could aptly be applied to the week, at least from the point of view of work. How else would you describe being called in at midnight Wednesday for a 5 minute registry tweak? Or being called in yet again late Saturday afternoon?

However, it also happens to be the movie[^] I've just watched.

The movie's based on the theory of Sir William Gull (physician in ordinary to the royal family) being the Ripper, to protect the Royal family from the scandal of Prince Albert marrying a catholic girl. Pretty good movie actually - I've seen it more than once.

Thankfully it didn't dwell too closely on the actual killings. Enough to convey the horror of what was done but not to the extent of being revolting (had it been so I doubt I'd have stayed to the end). Somehow the thought of watching someone being carved to death doesn't strike me as being entertaining...

It sticks pretty closely to the known facts of the case except for two departures right at the end for dramatic impact. If you know the case at all (and if you stick to the classical canon of victims) you know the last victim was Mary Kelly. Well in this movie everyone thinks she's the last victim but she gets away and another girl is butchered in her stead. If you've ever seen that photograph[^] of Mary Kelly as she was discovered the next morning you can imagine that it would be fairly easy to mistake almost anyone of the right sex and physical size for the presumed victim. Well, it could have happened that way!

The second? They show Inspector Abberline dying shortly after the last Ripper murder. Hmmm, that'll be news to his family - he died about 1929 (40 years later).

As you'll guess from the foregoing, I've been a bit of a student of the case for years. Not just the Ripper case actually; I've read much of the literature about the well known (and some not so well known) murder cases. I don't know why, though I speculate it might have something to do with this[^]. Whatever, I believe it's a harmless interest though my second wife did think it somewhat morbid. Mind you, my second wife had some strange ideas at the best of times.

For the record, though to substantiate the belief I'd have to study the Ripper case again to marshall all the relevant facts, I lean toward the belief that the Ripper was Montague J Druitt[^].